so fast . . .

Can you believe that this young buck, who graced us with his presence just this morning:

Pictured above with his latest dining companion (who is pictured solo, below) . . .

Was this little guy, less than a year ago? I took this picture August 18, 2010.

They grow up so fast! The group of does that he's traveled with over the past year has finally kicked him out. He had too much antler for them. Hence his new dining companion.

I've got my fabrics laid out and ironed . . .

All ready to sew! The question I still have is which pattern?!? Can you believe I'm still undecided? Ugh.

One thing I did decide was that I actually liked my red better when it was wrong side up.

I like the more muted flower pattern, especially for this project. I'm headed back to the bunk room. I'm not coming out until I'm finished! (Or I have to use the restroom, whichever comes first.)

:)

whatever works . . .

These are all photos of food or drink . . .

Taken with my phone . . .

And then texted to my daughter . . .

No matter how small . . .

Or time of day . . .

If I put it in my mouth (and subsequently swallow it) . . .

I send a picture of it to Joc.

Pretty odd, huh? Well, I can't knock it! She suggested instead of writing down everything I eat, to take a PICTURE of everything I eat instead. I suggested that I needed a lot of accountability and encouragement, and asked if she were up to it. She said as long as I sent her *everything* she would be there for me, so I did. Don't knock it, though . . . I've lost 10.8 pounds this first week! Isn't technology fun? And fyi...the pink glass with the 8 oz. marked on it is my water glass. Yes, I even send her a photo every time I get a new glass of water. Haha--good thing we have an unlimited text plan!

On a much more primitive level, here's a couple of fun things we've pulled out of the creek recently:

This old snapping turtle did NOT want to let go of the cage. Mind you, he wasn't stuck, he was hanging on! He was trying dearly to get to the minnows and crawdads that were on the inside! Do you see his tail? It's wicked long.


And speaking of crawdads, this is about the biggest I'll fool with 'em. Any bigger than that and Todd can deal with 'em! I can't wait until Sawyer is big enough to go down to the creek and do a little crawdad catching!

:)

*sigh*

I really miss my camera!

As I pulled into the camp ground tonight, Todd warned me that if I didn't want to hear the raccoons squabbling tonight, I'd better get some corn/seed out before dark! They have been incorrigible the past few nights, chatting *so* loudly they woke us up! They are incredibly obnoxious when they find there's no filled birdfeeders for them to ransack. So I dropped off my stuff (and opened up windows to 'unstuff' the RV) and headed out to spread corn, birdseed, and peanut butter!! The peanut butter is my favorite. We mix cheap, creamy peanut butter with corn meal, pecan meal, and oat flour. Then we spread it on the tree bark. The woodpeckers, nut hatches and (my favorites) the wrens, love it! But the raccoons do, too . . . they lick it completely off the bark! I wish we had an infrared camera so I could watch them!

I noted that the doves moved in as soon as I'd finished setting out feed. I think they were watching me from the tree limbs.

The raccoons tend to move in just after dark, but the deer have already made it up ... at least a group of three have. We saw a group of three this morning, too. It may be the same three. We've been hearing whip-poor-wills the past couple of evenings, too. They definitely tell on themselves (in that there's no mistaking what kind of bird they are). I've heard them, but never seen them, so I looked them up in the bird book. Very nondescript! And nocturnal, to boot.

The (gray) squirrels are just a chattering away up in the trees. Fussing at something or another. I did see the big fox squirrel as I pulled up. He flew away when he caught sight of me!

Todd & I have both, finally, seen chipmunks up here! We'd seen them in the lower part of the camp, but never up here at the RV site. Yay, they made it!!

We've got a work day up here this weekend, but I think the weather is going to do us in. One of the things we've got to do is prepare the permanent site for the RV. The new site isn't far, but it is out of the designated camping area, which is nice. I enjoy the campers, but our big, white monstrosity out in the middle of their tents (and at best, a pop-up camper) kind of takes away from the primitive feel for them!

The utilities came today and dropped off line to hook up the new site. Also some early work day volunteers came up and mowed and trimmed around the pond. It looked very nice as I came home!

This is my 397th post. Wow.

Bon nuit!

:)

living in the wilderness . . . day 3

Remember all the gravel, dirt, and leaves I was talking about a couple of days ago? Sometimes I feel like it's all gradually making its way from the forest to my RV floor! And, because I'm a barefoot person (I really prefer to walk around with no shoes or socks), and the main portion of our RV is floored in linoleum, I am *VERY* aware when the dirt, gravel and leaves have invaded.

Ick. I cringe a little just thinking about it. I don't mind walking on dirt OUTSIDE. Where it belongs. I just don't like the feel of it INSIDE. Where it wants to be.

It typically doesn't *look* bad. We have that color linoleum that blends very nicely with, well, dirt! But it feels _awful_ and makes me walk funny. So. These two are my biggest co-fighters of dirt crimes . . .

The broom, with his trusty cohort, the dustpan . . .

and . . .

My handy-dandy central vacuum system, with a toe-kick for sweeping dirt and dust into! I *love* this feature!

Now you may wonder why I need a dust pan, when I've got this nifty 'sweep and suck' system at my disposal. Unfortunately, that sweep and suck system only works on the first floor. And the master bathroom, which also has a linoleum floor, is on the second floor. Hence the dust pan.

I've tried to minimize the creeping dirt & leaves. I've got a throw rug at the door and at the base of the steps, we've got a lovely (pink) mat . . .

But the lovely (pink) mat is no match for leaves and dirt. No matter how frequently I sweep it, Mr. Wind blows the offensive material back in the way. And I think my throw rug repels dirt and leaves instead of clinging to it.

Luckily, there's not too much opportunity for dirt to cling to my shoes, as I don't have too far to walk from car to door . . .

And don't laugh, but when it's raining, I can actually pull up under the awning and stay dry. And if the awnings not out when I get home? It has a remote. It stays in my car!

Okay. You can laugh at that. Seeing as how I *do* live in the wilderness.

And finally, my wilderness is going green!

Tonight we have more campers coming in for an overnighter. These are older boys (10th-12th grade), and their leader is planning on putting them to work! Should be fun stuff.

Have a GREAT weekend! Tomorrow I'm quilting and I'll share some photos from our guild meeting last night--wonderful speaker/teacher!

:)

living in the wilderness . . . day 2

So. Living in the wilderness means there's not a lot of sidewalks, paved surfaces, concrete driveways, patio pads, etc. There's rocks, dirt, and right now, lots of leftover leaves. Lots and lots of leaves. And some more dirt and rocks. And tree roots.

But when it rains?

MUD and PUDDLES!!!

Now we're not totally left without civilization -- we do have a *portion* of the road that leads up from the entrance to the campsite, paved. Maybe a third of it. County maintenance ends about 100 feet before you get to the entrance gate of Camp Macoba, and once inside the gate, you go another 150 feet or so before you hit the pavement. The paved road takes you up the hill to the pavilion, but it does not go into the campground, nor is our RV on a concrete pad. Everything else is loose gravel or just plain dirt.

In our first five months up here, we've had a LOT of snow and (mostly) rain. Ergo, a LOT of MUD and PUDDLES!

This calls for special equipment. No, really it does!! Mainly because there is a gate at the end of the drive that has to be unlocked, opened, driven through, and then closed and locked, every time one goes in or out of the camp. And I think the biggest puddle along the whole route is right there at that gate. Which means my feet get wet every time it rains (and usually for several days later, until the puddle dries). I think at one point there was a consecutive four week time frame where there was a puddle!

I knew what I needed; I just couldn't find exactly the right thing. I wanted my special equipment to be *perfect*! I wanted my special equipment to be . . .

PINK!

Now I'm prepared for the puddles and mud! Bring 'em on!!! I can't *wait* to get out and open the gate and face the muck! I'll be singing in the rain and dancing in the puddles!

Of course, there's no foreseeable rain in our forecast.

*sigh*

I can wear my pink boots to SWEEP! (More on sweeping later this week.)

:)

living in the wilderness...day 1

Not that this is the first day we're living in the wilderness.

Not that we're really living *in* the wilderness. Just the woods. Acres and acres of woods: 109 to be exact.

So it's not our first day, it's more like our 150th day (to be exact). And there are some things I've come to realize that I feel compelled to share.

We have water and electricity. And that's about it. No cable, no phone (except for cell) and no Internet.

Don't think I didn't hear that collective gasp when I said no Internet. I made that very same gasp when I first thought about it! The phone lines, the cable TV I can live without. No Internet? Oh the HORROR!

It's okay. We do have Internet up here. Just not the way most folks get it. We don't have cable, DSL or even the primitive dial up (remember, no phone lines). What we do have is a little credit card sized wireless modem. Through Verizon.

It works pretty darn good, but it has its limits. Both in the speeds it processes and the amount of data I can upload/download in a given month without incurring excessive overage fees.

Uh oh.

You don't think about how many megabytes your blogger pictures are, you just upload 'em, right? Just watch whatever you want on You Tube or Hulu! Download your e-mail to you laptop and then turn around a send a BILLION pictures of the most *darling* grandson in the whole world ever. Ummm, nope. Not any more!

It's why, typically, my posts are photo-less on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. Because I'm home using the cc modem, and not wanting to incur those pesky (hefty) additional charges (again).

So. That's one thing about living in the wilderness. You really shouldn't upload pictures to your blog. (I know, it makes me laugh too!) Tomorrow, I'll share something else. With pictures.

Hasta manana!

:)