Pond on the Upper Pasture

The pond on our upper pasture. Like most ponds in this part of the county, it is low. The farther east one travels in the south, the worst the drought conditions become.

Fortunately, we have no livestock that depends upon our pond for drinking water. In fact, after twenty plus years of benign neglect, the area above our house can hardly be called a pasture anymore. When we first moved up to the Ozarks, we made a deal with our neighbor: He could use our pasture for his cows in return for keeping it brush hogged. Over the years, his brush hogging sessions have been few and far between, just often enough to make the blackberries, green brier and honey locust up there mad.


Bits and pieces over the past couple of days:

Jo made a trip to town on Monday. We hadn't bought groceries in a couple of weeks and were starting to run a little short on some items. It was actually my "turn" to have to go into town, but Jo didn't have much else to do except wait for her kiln to cool so that she could unload it. She made the run into town so I could stay home and get a few more spoons made.

Our weather is warming, the temperature is supposed to climb into the mid-sixties today. Tuesday was a beautiful, sunny fall day. The sun is also shinning brightly today, but a strong and gusty south wind is blowing.

Pond on the Upper Pasture

Sunday Fog

We spent all day Sunday in the clouds. I don't know if there is a difference between fog and being in a cloud from a meteorologist's point of view, but I can tell you that they are the same when you are surrounded by them. If you stand outside long enough, you'll get wet – or, at least, very damp. I know from past experience that during a drive off our ridge and down into Bear Creek Valley, we would have dropped beneath most of the fog. Down in the valley it would have been much less foggy with a low, overcast sky.

In addition to the constant drip, drip, drip of water off the roof and trees, we also received some rain. According to our trusty rain gauge .8” fell in the morning and we received another .3” in the evening. That's not a great deal of precipitation, but every little bit helps – and it was a slow, gently rain that all soaked into the ground.

Sunday was the kind of day where Rusty and Bucket motivated Jo and I to get a little exercise that we otherwise would have gone without. We would have been content staying warm and dry in the house, shop or studio, but the dogs expected an afternoon walk so we ventured up to the gate. The trip wasn't bad, though we did get a little damp. Jo and the dogs got wetter and had to cut short their morning walk when rain began.


Bits and Pieces from Sunday, 11/25/07:

I cleaned and repaired a rabbit cage so that we could move a couple of our young rabbits. It was an unusual cage-repair session in that I survived without getting wounded. I seldom make it though a rabbit cage repair session without scratching myself on the wire or pinching myself with the pliers at least once.

The squirrels are really cleaning out our birdfeeders this winter. They're always something of a nuisance, but this year I think they are worse. The squirrels have little else to eat. The late freeze we got last spring while most of the trees were just beginning to leaf out and bloom means there there is very little mast this fall. We don't even have any honey locust pods for them to nibble.

Jo got her pots glazed and the kiln loaded. Unfortunately, not everything she wanted to include in this firing would fit into the kiln. She figured and re-figured at least a half dozen times, but there's just no way she can get another glaze firing done before our next show.

Weather: High = 42º. Low = 35º. 1.1" rain.

Sunday Fog

Seedpod

I have no idea what plant this seedpod belongs to. (Maybe someone else does and will clue me in.) It was a "weed" growing alongside our road out. I failed to take note of the plant while it was blooming, but thought the seedpods with square-shaped tops were interesting. (The leaf belongs to a nearby sunflower.)


Bits and Pieces from Saturday, 11/24/07:

Overcast and damp in the AM. Temperature in the mid-thirties.

Clothes needed to be washed despite the lack of sunshine required to operate our solar clothes dryer. The area around our wood stove is now decorated with "unmentionables". It's a good thing we're not expecting a visit from Martha Stewart.

Jo's having problems recording TV programs again, but this time it isn't her fault. She normally tapes several of the Saturday how-to programs broadcast by PBS. She watches them during her lunch breaks during the week. This morning she discovered that AETN had suspended its regular programming and was fund raising. Who knows what Jo actually recorded with her pre-set recording schedule.

(BTW: The Arkansas Educational Television Network is the one and only television channel we can receive up here in the hills. It has several transmitters scattered around the state. We don't spend a lot of time channel surfing.)

Today I donned long underwear for the first time this winter. I'm sure everyone was eagerly awaiting this seasonal fashion statement from the Ozarks.

Jo unloaded her kiln from the bisque firing and waxed the bottoms of the pots so that she can glaze them tomorrow. The wax prevents glaze from sticking to the bottoms when she dips the pot into a bucket of glaze.

The wax she uses comes from a friend who makes candles. It's the extra wax he trims off his candles after removing them from the molds, making it a random mixture of various colors and scents. He remelts the wax into a large block before sending it on to various needy potters. The color of the wax ends up being a blackish purple -- kind of like a bad, deep bruise. As for the aroma wafting off the old electric skillet that Jo uses to keep the wax molten, think of the worst room air freshener you've ever smelled on steroids. The great thing about the wax is that it only costs a coffee mug or two.

Our temperature climbed to 46º today. Drizzle began during the evening.

Seedpod