Storms have passed through and trees are down!

Living in the woods has many benefits but there is also one major drawback.  Every storm leaves limbs to be picked up before mowing.  And once in  a while trees will blow down.  My daughter lives in the "city" as we like to call it (although it is actually a small town in southwest missouri) so we think it is important to teach her boys character building skills.  What that really means is Nana and Poppy need help on the homestead!  

This tree is a little outside my scope of skills to deal with so Poppy  drags out the necessary tools and with the help of the grandkids they get to work.  Er,  to building character....

Can you tell the boys are finding character building as something they would prefer to skip? We are teaching them the proper way to earn money while we are at it  The old fashioned way.... You know,  the way where you earn it!

  That is one giant chainsaw.   I have determined I shall own a chain saw of my own some day.  If my sister can run one- then I can too!  

  The Bobcat is put into service and it does a great job!

Once the bigger limbs had been picked up and loaded he drug my old rake out of my flower bed and used it to rake the smaller limbs up.  Whatever works!

Grandson Koda is just glad to see the trailer is full.   He's probably hoping this character building stuff is about over and he is probably ready to get back to "city life"

I see them  taking the trailer load of limbs to be dumped at the burn pile.  And knowing the boy's Poppy it won't be unloaded in any conventional manner.  Just guessing.  I've known him for many years.  Conventional is not a word you use to describe him with..

Ha!  I had a feeling it  wouldn't be unloaded  the conventional way if he could help it!  My only instructions to the boys when they are working with their Poppy  is stay out of his way!  

So thankful that little project is done!  Till the next storm blows through!

Pass your skills on to the next generation

I thought you might enjoy seeing a picture of the grandkids Poppy's hand made work bench.   He seems to enjoy working with wood making projects since he has retired.  He has built two cabins with cedar siding which does look really cool.  He has piles of logs waiting to go through the process of being made into lumber.  And he has his own sawmill and looks to me like every woodworking tool known to man.

Finding the thing in life that makes you happy during your retirement years is a good thing as Martha Stewart always says.    Now to teach his grand kids carpenter skills just as his Uncle Richard taught him.  Don't forget to pass your skills on to the next generation!  Especially skills that are dying out in this day and age!

Long Overdue Update on Kaden Shiloh

Kaden is 8 years old now! He will be starting 3rd grade in the fall. He loves soccer, video games, Pikachu, and baseball. For anyone not aware, Kaden was born with a Congenital Heart Defect called Transposition of the Great Arteries and had open heart surgery when he was 12 days old. The oldest dated blogs under this section give details about his surgery and everything he went through after he was born. 

He has a checkup with his cardiologist every 6 months to a year and he will continue that for the rest of his life. So far, he has been doing really well and has no restrictions from his cardiologist for now. He has pulmonary stenosis(narrowed pulmonary artery) and a slightly enlarged aortic root that his cardiologist is watching. 

 

Kaden having an echocardiogram a couple of years ago.

 These two pictures were taken 8 years and two months apart. He has certainly come a long way from that tiny baby in the NICU!

Neosho National Fish Hatchery

This week we went over to visit the Neosho National Fish Hatchery in Neosho, Mo. It opened in 1888, and is the oldest national fish hatchery still in operation. Unfortunately, they were renovating most of the ponds while we were there so we didn't get to see as many fish as we would have liked.

 This pond was flooded in April 2017, and has debris and trash in it so they are going to have to drain and clean it. The ducks seemed to enjoy it anyway. 

 The kids learned about the life cycles of Monarch butterflies and Rainbow trout. 

The Visitor's Center was built in 2007, and is modeled after the original Visitor's Center that was torn down in the 1950s. We enjoyed walking around the grounds and checking everything out. Water for the hatchery comes partially from nearby Hearrell Spring which provides 300 gallons of water per minute.

The Visitor's Center has a large aquarium and several learning stations that the kids enjoyed. 

 The hatchery raises Rainbow Trout for Branson's Lake Taneycomo, Pallid Sturgeon to be released into the Lower Missouri River, as well as some endangered species of fish and mussels.

Ice Storm of 2013

We have had some unseasonably cold weather this past month (even with a wind chill of 25 below) and on Christmas morning early I grabbed my camera and drove down some country roads to snap some pictures of the incredible ice storm we had.  It was a good thing cause by later in the day the ice was melting and I would have missed it.   Seeing the beauty in all things is good for the soul.  Hope you enjoy my favorite photos of the beauty in ice!

wonder how many people thought it strange to see my blue truck parked along the road sides early on Christmas morning?

Ice hanging down from the eaves of the cabin

 this windmill won't be turning any time soon.

The chicken wire on this fence made a unique pattern don't you think?

I have a friend who passed away and everytime I pass cows I think about him.  He loved these critters!

The ice on the pond is pretty thick

The netting over my chicken pen came down as the ice built up.

Loved the way the ice coated each individual blade of grass...

  The build up of ice on fence wire and the ice on the hay fields was breathtaking..

 Passed a little creek on my travels and stopped.  Forgot ice builds up faster on bridges and wasn't sure I was gonna get the truck rolling again without a push...but I made it and on I traveled..

 The hay for the cows was securely wrapped for weather such as this

 icicles hanging off my gate

 cows huddling against the cold.

 Encapsulated is the word that comes to mind.

 love old barns

and my very favorite pic is this one.  Ice on the fence posts.  Beautiful isn't it?