Shadow's place - and don't forget it!

I took a Netflix out to the mailbox this morning and on my way back notice a dog out in the field that was sitting there watching me very carefully. He looked to be a Lab mix and probably around six months old. By the time I got to the house he was by my side so I walked around to the deck, knowing that Glynda was in the kitchen and she'd be able to see it. She did. But Shadow was on the deck too and the last we heard of the dog he was somewhere in front of the house running and yelping in fear with Shadow right behind him. We think she must have made contact because there was a sudden increase in the barking. A few minutes later Shadow came strolling back to where we were.

After the three of us sat on the deck for about half an hour trying to decide which, if any, of the things on the to-do list were going to get done today, we decided to walk the long trail. Shadow came along as she always does but this was her first trip on the long trail. We stopped for a rest on the new swing at the Treehouse on the way back and then continued the walk going to the mailbox down the road on the west side of the property with Shadow staying with us all the way. On the way to the house after retrieving the mail I looked toward the Reyes house and saw the dog - out in the field again. We tried to show Shadow but she was too short. So I picked her up and pointed her face in the direction of the dog. She tensed up and was gone - bounding through the grass with her hair bristling and the dog took off again. When she was sure he was gone, she came trotting back through the grass to join us. When we got to the house she was coughing and wheezing but got over that shortly and now all is well again. We'll see if the dog comes back and what will happen if he does.

Well ain't that the pits!?!?!

Last year I did OK with my onions - enough so that I was able to hang three bunches in the garden shed and go get some when we needed them well into winter. This year I did everything right! I even planted three varieties - lots of onions! But now they are all going to seed before they get very big at all! I arrived early to help set-up a master gardeners lunch today and talked to the county agent (who was there with his brisket) about the problem. He says that he's getting calls every day from people with the same problem. The late cold weather combined with all the rain is the cause. There won't be any onions around east Texas this year - except for one of the professional growers who was smart enough to know what was going to happen and planted a crop later. Glad he's a friend! I guess I'll be like the Mavs and wait 'til next year.

Weather

It's a beautiful morning today! The sun's warming the cool air and it just feels good to be out in it. Last night though was different, although we slept through most of it. The phone rang about 3:15 or so and it was a "code red" call. There is a new automatic system in Wood County that calls everyone in areas threatened by severe weather. Last nights' call said there was "rotation eat of Mineola". We stayed up for a while afterwards and, since we had no electricity to improve our knowledge of what was going on, we then went back to bed and back to sleep. This morning we found that there had been some very severe winds and that a tornado had struck near Winnsboro. This hit a home of friends of Beverly and Alex and severely damaged their home and knocked down a couple hundred trees. Alex says that there drive is like ours except a lot longer. They couldn't even get out. The "Culpepper" building at 37 and 4919 lost about half of it's roof and a number of big trees are down in other areas along the roads.

Although we're just a couple miles from the Culpepper building, around here things were not as bad. The ground is covered with twigs and leaves and the trail is blocked in a couple places with fallen trees that will require some chain saw work. All structures are OK including the Treehouse, the chapel, the BOD, both bridges, and (the most vulnerable of all), the new greenhouse!

The first picture above is just across the east bridge. The second is the bridge itself that looks just a little worse than several other places along the trail. The last picture is in the area next to the BOD.

Our Bengal Tiger rose is blooming more than ever this year!

Just to confirm - although there's a big variety in the appearance of the blossoms, they are all on the same plant.

Daniel's other new project

The first picture shows you 'what' it is - the second one, 'where' it is! And a good-news aside, Deanna has already seen it. They are in town briefly and she was able to stop by for breakfast Thursday while Cody (ahem) chose to play golf instead - something about weather in PA permitting golf so rarely that he leaves his clubs here so he can play when he comes to TX - something like that anyway:)

Follow-up from yesterday's post

Daniel sent this to me today - the work-in-progress! Yeh Deanna, he did it all on his own!

Daniel has been busy this week!

He made two things for the Orange Trail. There's only one picture here today because the second item is not yet "installed". But, this is what you'll see the next time you take the West Orange Trail to the Treehouse! And just so you don't dismiss this as just a sign, it's half a log and it is heavy! It was cut in half with a chain saw - that's not easy! And take a close look at the lettering - it's really very good. And if you've ever tried to do something like this you know that spacing of the letters doesn't just happen. The one "E" in Treehouse was an adjustment - not an error. The letters were stenciled, the space around the letters is painted, and the whole thing has several coats of polyurethane. Thanks Daniel - for the fact that you made it - but mostly for the fact that you wanted to make it!

You can double-click the picture to see it full screen and read the sign more easily, but it says, "Welcome to the land of Wildernest, home of the Trehouse, chapel, and this Orange Trail. A place that brings family and friends together as one for an unforgettable experience!".

Shadow is a good mom!

She's taken very good care of her babies. I've posted before that she walks the trail with us every time we go - if she's around to see us leave. The other day we had walked to the chapel and I guess we were staying too long for her. She left and when we got back to the house she was taking care of her babies. A few days ago I was working on the trails (driving the mower through) and, as I went by the Treehouse, she came running down the steps. I had no idea that she was anywhere around and thought that was a strange place for her. She goes there with us - but on her own?? The next day Glynda found a dead flying squirrel in the shop where the kittens were. She threw it out but Shadow brought it back in. She had probably caught and killed it at the Treehouse and carried it all the way back to the shop. I know she's also caught birds and taken them to the kittens. We were pleased yesterday in talking to the animal shelter in Winnsboro. They said that it would be easy to find homes for the kittens and they'd help us do that.

You haven't seen it from this angle before

unless you rode the zip line and turned around just after you left the Treehouse!
Daniel did it today! The green rope that you see in the picture with Daniel worked as a brake so he could stop and take the pictures. The fact that he was starting up again from a dead stop tells me he was using the fast pulley - and he was doing it by himself! Oh well, glad he has his phone with him so he can call for help if he breaks a leg or something:)

The interior of the chapel is finished . . .

with the exceptions of a few paint touch-up, finishing the laying of the rug, and adding a few more things that would come under the rough heading of decorating. The pictures tell it pretty well except for the color - it looks gray but it's not and, in fact, the color turned out really well. We're happy with it and hope it won't be too long before each of you can visit. The spring trees make the exterior look different too so I included an exterior picture. The little slot that you see in the "altar" in front of the cross is for the prayer box that Bev asked for. The altar is just a narrow table that will be a place for the cross, a bible, and a candle stand. There is an altar rail in front of it and even a little kneeler. There is a bench on both sides - each would accommodate two people so there could easily be a gathering of four. It proved to be an excellent project for using up leftover oak trim from the house that I still had in the shop. Daniel used the word "elegant" and I think I'm happy with that. And, for what it's worth, Daniel and Alex did everything associated with the roof, I did the rest. That's why it took so long!

Just so you know -

The inside of the chapel is not finished yet but it will be soon. It is close enough though to tell if we achieved the feel we were after and the answer is "Yes!". We just got back from a walk there (after dark) and we lit it with some oil lamps. It was nice! Maybe tomorrow or the next day I can post a couple pictures of the completed interior.

Did you see it go?

I did get out of bed early this morning to watch the coverage of the implosion of Texas Stadium - and they really did it! But three of those towers are still standing and I'm pretty sure it because of Troy, Michael, and Emmit! I didn't go to a lot of games but I was often enough on the receiving end of tickets from vendors and had some good times there. I had a friend that worked for the construction company that built Texas Stadium and she got me in to the construction site several times when it was being built and it's really hard to believe that it was that long ago. I remember too that we used to sometimes park at the Cistercian Monastery and walk from there - since we had friends there.

So Texas Stadium is gone. If you want to see the video, here it is.

This is a neat program!

I tried several photos but the one of Dylan turned out best!

I think everyone had a good time yesterday!

Since Deanna and Cody weren't going to be here, Deanna was in charge of the weather and she did a great job - it was beautiful! (Maybe the fact that we had four pastors here helped too?) Overall - a real fun day with lots of good food! Some folks got to ride the zipline for the first. Justin was able to rig a harness for the little ones and so we had several tandem rides. I know that Lilly, Xander, and Levi both went down but I'm not sure about any others. I do know that Kelly said "No!" to James taking Harper! We added a handrail to the return log bridge to help everyone stay out of the water. But - we really do need another harness and we'll have that by Thanksgiving! It's really good to see little groups of people taking to the trails on their own and enjoying their own little good times while "getting back to nature".

Here are my pictures on Snap Fish.

Here are Bambi's pictures on Picasa. The last one is a video of Lilly's zipline ride.