New Life, Old Water Garden...

I began removing rocks with the idea of consolidating two water gardens.  I had my work cut out for me.

How many rocks were around and in this water garden?  I'm not counting.  I first made this water garden for Dad after Mom died. I used his rock collection and added more as the pond progressed.

Dad  would sit for hours watching the goldfish swim until he decided to rebuild the pond.  He dug canals circling the pond and to the fence line. There he constructed an earthen dam.   I didn't know what he was doing unless maybe he was routing an overflow path for flood waters.  I let him work.  The garden was for him.  He rounded mounds of dirt over the rocks and patted it into to place until he had the perfect dirt banked stock pond.  He had Alzheimer's.  It was his yard and his pond.  He was enjoying himself.

After he was gone I excavated the rocks and put it back together.  The fish had disappeared but there were frogs.

During the years Marcy has added lilies and parrot grass and planted surprise flowers around the garden for all to enjoy.  The pecan tree leaves fill the pond every fall so I usually deep clean it twice a season.

This season I had decided to combine my two gardens.  I began to remove the rocks...alllllll the rocks.  Picking our leaves and pecans as I cleaned the pond.

Here's the tractor tire water garden after a winter of animals and weather.  I saw bull frogs so the plan changed.  I could not empty this and lose my bull frogs.  The Blue Herons have almost decimated the bull frog population in our large ponds. I decided I'd just clean this one more year and then re-access...later after the eggs hatched and the new frogs were ready to be moved.

So back to Dad's water garden which I had almost completely disassembled.  A surprise awaited me there too.

Nestled under a rock was a "nest" of salamanders.

I love these creatures.

Again, I could not wreck their home.

You know a woman made water garden is good

when the wildlife moves in.

In this dark mess I found eggs

which don't look like frogs to me.

Spring has arrived at the water garden 

I didn't reflect for long.

The wildlife shall stay.

I remove the debris and add water.

I shall replace the rocks making it pet friendly.

The rock garden that began as Dad's will remain

one more year.

Traveling To Stone County

to buy a new bush hog.  Ours was non repairable.  I hope this one lasts a while.  I got to see speeding views but Hubby did stop at the over look on Hwy 58.

I love the rolling hills that hold secrets we may never know.  Crossing the great White River from Izard County into Stone County.  You can see why this place was not easy to settle and had pockets of people who kept to their community and to themselves.

Roads crooked and steep kept these areas isolated well into the '30's.

I am old enough to remember traveling the gravel roads. 

I was born in '54 and some of these roads were not paved then.

Stone County and the St James community became famous worldwide in 1929 when a romance between a young lady, Teller Ruminer, and a "hobo" Connie Franklin supposedly ended in gruesome murder. Depending on which side you talk to the "truth" is different but always interesting.

The book I am now reading is entertaining because I know a lot of these folks and the communities the book covers.  Ghost of The Ozarks:  Murder and Memory in the Upland South by Brooks Blevins.  A true life tale of murder? and mystery among the hilly communities in Stone county.

An old building on the court square.

Dry Creek mentioned in the book was not dry today.

Funny how we look at things differently when we know the history.

We flew home again pulling a bush hog

with one happy Hubby.

Seventy Degrees and Fixing Roof...

I've been planning.  You know that is the most important part of any job.  You gotta have a plan. Since my tractor tire water garden and this water garden need some repairs and cleaning.  I've been planning how to combine them and add a pump.

Both water gardens have been pet friendly and have developed a couple of leaks.  Through foster dogs, my dogs and horses I need to reshape and redo.  I started picking up the crystals from Mount Ida because you have to pick up every thing to change it when I decided...now stay with me...to repair the roof...of the house!

Don't ask me how my brain works.  I have lived with it all my life and still can't fathom how it sometimes goes from A to Z in a split second.

Hey, I'm flexible so I flagged down Hubby to use his tractor bucket to get me on the roof.  I had noticed a small leak on our screened porch during the last rain. This time I wore my Timberland lace-ups instead of my Fat Baby boots These were much better for roofing, I'm raised in the bucket with roofing repair supplies.

I climb out carefully from bucket to the roof because I'm afraid of heights...then why am I up here?!

I spot the problem right away.  A roofing screw had loosened near the spot of the leak.  It's seventy degrees, I have two shirts on and the tin is hot to the touch.  Doesn't take me long to lather up like a work horse and that in turn almost blinds me.  I am scooting across the roof with caulk gun in one hand and the thing that smooths the caulk out...I forget what it called...putty knife, that's it, in the other hand.  I'm caulking, I'm smoothing, I'm eye to eye with a very unhappy red paper wasp!  I'm allergic!  I scoot backwards 'cause I'm not standing up. The wasp decides I'm not the enemy, thank goodness.

I run out of caulk and poor hubby has to bring me more.  He brings me a tube of acrylic caulk, paint able for indoor use.  I said look at the old tube, bring me one just like that please.  I have them obsessively lined up in the tool closet like kinds together.

While he's looking I'm looking.  I discover the chimney needed the flashing caulked.  The place where one roof line meets another needed caulking and I found a stash of leaves where two roof lines angle into each other. Got all those leaves out, finished another caulking tube that Hubby tossed up to me and decided not to caulk the chimney today.  There was another wasp looking at me and I would have to go up another level so that is postponed for a cooler day.

After tossing me another caulk tube I empty that and call it quits.

On the bright side of all this work the tractor did not tip over with my weight in the bucket nor did I fall through or off the roof.  Hubby did get me up and down safely in his handy dandy tractor bucket.  No one yelled at each other. Two empty caulking tubes, one pile of trash.

I opened the windows because Friday was summertime.  I had an ice drink and Hubby told me how his back was hurting because he had to "lift" me so high!

And some say women don't do hard labor!!!  I was through for the day.

How was your Friday?

White Tail Deer

 Watching me

watch them.

The Night of Dance

He called himself Jesse James
I said I was Belle Star
His leather vest and old fashioned tie
Didn't tell me differently

We waltzed
My feet never touched the floor
His eyes never left my face
He said I danced beautifully for an outlaw

He swore I must be royalty
As he swept me around the floor
No backwoods girl
Could dance so well

We never returned to our tables
Dance after dance
We were lost in the music
And in each others arms

The night ended
Much to our regret
The gentleman bowed
And I curtsied

We parted
Jesse and I
Never to know real names
Always remembering the music

For Poetry Jam  Poetry of Dance and sharing with Imaginary Garden With Real Toads.