Strolling Through Our Woods

After church on Mother's Day we took a nice walk around our property.  It was a rather cool afternoon, with a threat of rain and temperatures in just the upper 50s.  We had a very enjoyable little hike, even though we had to wear jackets!

 

These pretty flowers are spiderwort from Mackey Bend, Lisa's homeplace growing up.  Lisa has two big bunches here in the wild garden.  She has several other plants and flowers from her home that reminds her of her mother, but these were the one's blooming when we took the walk.

These gladolia's are from the Mary Castle homestead across the river.  Before she passed away, the new bridge came through and took away all her garden space where they were planted.  She was happy that we were able to re-locate them , along with some of her other plants and flowers, before the bull dozers came through.

  

 

Lisa calls these dewberries.  They are a type of black berry that runs right along the ground.  The berries are among the first to ripen, and are super sweet.  They are better than blackberries or even raspberries!

We have three different varieties of wood sorrel.  I think those above are called violet wood sorrel, due to the purple markings.  The flower also has a violet tint to it.  It is a tasty sour treat on a hike through the woods and helps to quench thirst.

This is yellow wood sorrel.  It does not have the purple markings but tastes the same as the violet sorrel.  There is common wood sorrel that we didn't find on this hike.  We also have several good patches of sheep sorrel around, but we didn't go to them on this walk either.  All the sorrel are high in Vitamin C, good to nibble on, and are good as a tea or to use in salads.  They also contain oxalic acid which is ok, but can be bad for folks suffering from gout, rheumatism, or kidney stones if they consume too much of it at one time. Historically, wood sorrel was used to treat scurvy, fevers, urinary infections, mouth sores, nausea and sore throats.

The above plant is one that Lisa wants to look up.  She thinks it might be Angelica or New Jersey Tea.  We haven't identified it yet.  Looking for and finding plants that she does not know is one of Lisa's favorite things to do!

 I just thought this was a pretty picture looking out across the ravine.

We are very thankful that we have a nice wooded area that we can roam around and explore whenever we feel like it!  Nature is a wonderful place to spend some time!

Target Practice

Matthew, Simon and I had the opportunity to take the Kentucky Hunter's Education class on Saturday. It began at 8:00am and lasted until 4:00pm and I was proud how well Simon paid attention the entire time. There was a 50 question written test at the end of the class and Simon scored a 94% on it, which I thought was great for an 11 year old who has not had many experiences hunting at all. It was a long day, but well worth it, and we had a lot of fun!

Squirrel season is set to begin next weekend, and we may go squirrel hunting the first day! It appears that squirrel population around here has exploded and we are thinking we will be able to really fill our freezers up with squirrell meat this year if we want to.

The class yesterday got us thinking about guns and hunting so after a wonderful service at church this afternoon it seemed that this evening would be a great time to get in some target practice! Matthew went with Rocky and John to shoot behind the fire house down the road and the rest of us went up into Pure Water Hollow to shoot at pop cans and pizza boxes at the clearing.

Simon likes the .410 shotgun the best because it is more his size. Here he is with some practice shots, first with the .410, then with the single shot 12 gauge.




Here Simon is shooting the big double barrel shotgun. You can tell that it is a bit bigger and heavier than the other two, and he has to stand a bit differently to support it. But he could hit the targets with it as well as he did with the .410!



Christina also got in some target practice. She prefers the .410 as well.




I wonder what Timothy thought about all this shooting?



We were using those foam ear plugs but Timothy did not like to leave them in his ears. He preferred using his hands! He actually did not seem to mind the loud noise and would yell "boom!" after the shot was fired. You can see him covering his ears again in this next picture taken from the other angle.



You got a peek of Lisa in that last picture, sitting with Timothy and Christina on the bench. I didn't take one of her shooting, but she is very comfortable with guns and is a good shot!

Simon fired off more rounds than the rest of us, but between the 4 of us, we went through about 40 cartridges. I think some of our shoulders are going to be a bit sore tomorrow!

Here is one of Christina shooting from the other angle. I'm glad she is not afraid of shooting a gun!



We had a lot of fun with the target practice and then did a bit of walking around looking at the various wild plants up in the hollow. Here is what the mint looks like at this time of year. I think it is pretty and it is very aromatic!




These next two pictures don't go along with the idea of target practicing or wild plants, but I thought I would put it up here anyway. For the past couple of days Simon has been working on carving a head out of the dirt mound next to the house. I thought it turned out pretty cool and decided to take some pictures of it today. Sometimes I am amazed at what a creative fellow Simon is! His finger can pull a trigger dozens of times and destroy the targets he is shooting at, and his fingers can also delicately carve and create a masterpiece!

A Morning Adventure On The East Ridge

We had a wonderful spontaneous moment this morning at Pure Water Hollow that found us up at our overlook watching the fog dissipate over the river valley below while we enjoyed a light breakfast on the overlook rock.

Matthew and I were up there yesterday morning cutting some trees and we told everyone how incredible the scene was with everything covered in fog.

This morning, one by one, each of the children asked if Matthew could take them up to the overlook on his 4-wheeler so they could see the morning fog. Before we knew it, cereal, bananas, and drinks were packed and we were all on the truck or 4-wheeler heading up to the overlook.

At first all we could see was white, which was amazing by itself, since we knew there was a vast river valley below us. Soon, the tips of the mountains could be seen on the other side of the river, looking like islands in a sea:



And then more and more trees became visible and we could see some of the farm houses, the fields, and the river below:





It was as if God was rolling back the blanket that had kept His world covered up and tucked in overnight. Now it was morning and time for His creation to greet the new day that He was unveiling.



We were enjoying the blessings of this morning, taking in the view, eating our breakfasts together on the rock:





Here is a shot looking from the other direction:



We perhaps should have packed up and gotten back down to the reality of the chores awaiting us, but instead we decided to do a bit of exploring before descending down to the house.

If we go on the hollow side of the ridge there are many cool cliffs and ledges to climb on. We encountered a friendly brown snake at one of the first places where we could climb down a bit:





After we maneuvered around this small obstacle, there was a great cave-like rock formation that featured built in benches to rest on.

Some of the children had been here before, but this was the first time Lisa and I had seen it. We are now calling it the East Ridge Cave. It was very peaceful there even though the morning hours were beginning to wane.



In this next picture you can see the many holes in the wall of the cliff where water had to once be flowing. This is facinating considering we are up on top of the mountain with the river many hundreds of feet below. There is evidence all around us that the entire earth was once flooded by water, just like the Bible says.



I tried to show in this shot how big the rock is, but I couldn't get it all in the camera. And the flat ledge where Christina is sitting is a cliff that drops about 10 more feet, so this rock is really huge!



And here we have another neat ledge that the children enjoyed crawling through:



While we were exploring this part of the mountain, Lisa was pleased to find some Wintergreen. She has looked all over our property for Wintergreen in the past but has never found it before. Now we know where it grows so we can transplant some to a more convenient location.



On the way back to the house the children saw a pretty little skunk that ran and hid under a fallen tree. They thought about poking it with a stick so it would come out and let them see it better, but thankfully, they decided to leave it alone until Lisa and I caught up to them. We left the skunk alone…

We had much we wished to accomplish this day, so we finally decided it was time to bid the lofty mountain grandeur a fond farewell.

God had blessed us with such a wondrous morning, that the rest of the day is sure to be a great one!

1 comment
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~Melissa on August 14, 2007 at 9:14 pm
I love it and the pictures… you truly live in a very wonderful place. Very beautiful.

Warmly,

Melissa

Picking Blackberries

I just wanted to share a few pictures of our blackberry harvest this year. There is a spot at Pure Water Hollow that is usually packed full of blackberries and this year was no exception!




We only picked berries one evening as an entire family this year, but we could have gotten many, many more if we had made the time to go back. Matthew, Christina, and Simon did go back on their own the other night while we were waiting for Sally to give birth to her piglets, but over-all, we did not spend much time picking berries this year. At least we got enough for Lisa to make about 20 pints of blackberry jam that was/is delicious!


Of couse we ate many berries before they got to the kitchen, and they were so sweet and juicy!


I hope to thin everything out before next summer and get rid of all those tree saplings that are getting in the way, so next year we may have an even greater abundance of blackberries.

We have enjoyed inviting friends over in the past to pick with us, but this year the patch was in such a mess that we just picked on it ourselves.

We still enjoyed ourselves and thanked God for providing this wonderful, natural, food on our property.

Bergamot Makes A Good Tea

I wanted to record what the plant Bergamot looks like because it is another useful edible and medicinal plant growing in Pure Water Hollow. We have had large patches of this growing on the hill between our garden and the Pear Tree path. This year we did not find as much as other years. It makes a good tea that we have enjoyed, especially when combined with other mint leaves. It blooms here in early summer.



I pulled the following info off of someone elses website, so I can’t vouch for the accuracy. We have never used it medicinally ourselves, but we like to know about potential uses for our plants:

Bergamot (Monarda didyma)): Perennial to 1 metre tall and 40cm wide. Also known as Oswego Tea and Bee Balm. Oval leaves, smelling like mint and basil, with pointed tips on stems to 1 metre tall. Grows in large clumps and spreads on runners. Red flowers, which smell of oranges, emerge in shaggy clumps in summer. Pick leaves and flowers through the growing season, but if drying for medicinal purposes, the leaves should be harvested just before flowering or while the plant is in full bloom. Reject any leaves affected by mildew.

Use an infusion of leaves for indigestion, headache, coughs, sore throat, nausea, and menstrual cramps. A steam inhalation of the leaves gives relief for bronchitis.

Medicinal Actions: Expectorant, disinfectant, carminative, antiseptic, antifungal

Usual Dosage: Pour 1 cup boiling water over 1 teaspoon dried leaves. Steep for 15 minutes. Strain, and take 1-2 cups per day.