Signs of a bountiful Spring...

I took a walk around the garden today and thought I'd share my findings with

you...

Lettuce from the garden...

Fuzzy Caterpillar...

Remember...

Buttercup Meadows...

To A Buttercup

You came up through the earth so deep and dark

To listen to the sweet song of the lark

And like the lark's song buttercup you bring

The beauty we have grown to love in Spring.

You seem so glad to show your yellow face

In such a lonely and deserted place
The splendid beauty of your presence grace
The bank by where the free flowing streamlet race.

In the cool breeze of Spring you nod and sway
And with your kin flowers seem to dance and play
And at the Spring sun smile as if to say
We may as well be happy whilst we stay.

The lark which sings that sweet song it must die

And buttercup so too must you and I

But new born buttercups will come each Spring

And listen to another skylark sing.

Francis Duggan

Are you ready to take a hike?

Have you wanted to hike but have been afraid of getting lost or have a fear of hiking alone? Take off and enjoy a day to yourself and leave home life for a day? Wanted to join a hiking group but afraid of not fitting in? JUST NEED SOME GIRL TIME??? Being a 35 yr old mother of three boys, I KNOW!

We are looking for a few great women who would love to explore the local trails and at times, the Appalachian Trail. Day hikes, overnight hike trips and even fishing and camping with the girls!

You can email me at SandraBGray@aol.com for more information!

Photo's shown are of a trek in the woods I took with my Dad this week. Nothin' in the world like eat'n a mess of dry land fish... aka morel mushrooms. Soak the bugs out and fry with cornmeal and a pat of butter for a wonderful treat!

Another win!

The boys played tonight and had another awesome game... this one was a nail biter though. The score was Mets 8 - Cardinals 5 in the bottom of the last inning. We pulled our Cardinals in and asked them for a rally and they delivered, bringing in four runs giving us the win!

Also, I took this picture Sunday of the first trillium blooming along Fall Creek Loop trail at Warriors Path State Park. Hope you enjoy!

Another action packed Saturday...

The boys had a game Saturday morning and once again played a good game. The Cardinals won against the Cubs 16-5 and last night (Tuesday) we won against the MudCats 11-5, currently making us undefeated. You can click this link to view more photos of the bubs in action! http://app3.sellersourcebook.com/users/9001/baseball.jpg

After going home and taking a brief afternoon nap, we took off once again to the golf course at Warriors and let the bubs rip more balls. http://app3.sellersourcebook.com/users/9001/golf.jpg

And so you would think that after this active day they'd be worn out, ready to crash but NO... here is Taylor showing us just how fast he really is...

Take me out to the ball--- game....

We started this season off right! Evan, Taylor and Dylan are playing CHAC this year with the St. Louis Cardinals and had their first game Friday night!

Click to enlarge photos!

This is Evan's second year of pitching machine (38 mph) and the twins first year starting as five year old, the youngest in the league. Evan, who plays second base, threw 4 outs to first in his first game. Dylan, up to the plate, hit the ball, I believe every time he was up. Here his is pictured at first base ready to run!
Meanwhile, Taylor started his first game with a spectacular hit that brought in his first 3 RBI's giving him the first game ball of the season!

I forgot the score, but they did win by a large margin!

WHAT A WEEK!

My posts are backing up on me! After another action packed weekend, I'm finally making time to post the latest happenings.

Friday morning we left Bays Mountain and meandered around Lakeside Trail where we passed by inspection of a very curious doe, then stopping along the way at a few cool sites. The beavers are working overtime now and these pictures do not do justice! We took Food Plot down to the lake, where we came upon what I think was a Maple tree, chewed through on both sides, sap having streamed from its scarrs turned into a very nasty jelly which is probably why the beavers didn't finish this one up. A few yards away lay another downed tree and we believe that the beavers must have gotten hold of a measuring stick for all the sections were close to the same length!

Later we continued along LakeSide trail and took a short cut off trail to an old grave yard. It was a very odd feeling, standing there, a place that very few people knew of. We saw several stones placed in the area, two of which were inscribed, however, only one was ledgable. It was the marker of a three year old child (JWH?) who was born in 1908 yet died in 1911.

April and I broke from the pack on the way back to the dam and headed for a moment of quiet reflection at the ecology ponds before heading back to the parking lot and a quick detour to the lower waterfall from the dam where we took one quick shot. Total hike was 4.4 miles.

Have you ever wondered...

what if? Who would I be now if I had...? What would my life be like now if only I had...?

Having thought long and hard, I have decided to start on a journey that MANY people do but few complete. I have made it my life goal to hike (section) the Appalachian Trail or the AT. Because my family can't have me take off for six months which would be just insane, I am planning to start this summer doing section hikes starting in Damascus, Virginia and finish by fall (school time) as far as I can SOBO (South bound).

This, I know, will truely be an amazing experience and I look forward to the day I set foot and set up my first AT camp in the middle of God's country. I also can't wait to meet the many different walks of life that the trail will have to offer as well as all the amazing scenic views that the average person misses unless they too decide to just start walking.

Hehe... I bet Scott & the bubs won't go! Lol!

Learning to keep my mouth shut...

You would think, after the last hike, I would have done a better job of secretly slipping away. Knowing that today would be the calm before the storm (calling for snow for the next couple days), with temperatures in the upper 70's, I started dressing for a hike on Bays Mountain with Max at my side. NOT!

First it was Evan, "Momma, can I go?". Sure, Evan can handle where I was planning and his company would be nice. "Taylor, Dylan, do you guys want to go?".... their reply..."NO!"
I mutter a thank you under my breath. Then I go break the news to Scott. "Evan, Max & I are going hiking... will be back before we go to Grandpa's." Then he asks... "Where are you going, how long are you going to be there?" So I tell him my plans and in shock, his reply was, "Can you cut it in half (distance), I'd like to go?" Yes, I asked him to repeat.
I slowly see my day drifting away. After a delay of about an hour, we finally make it. Without Max. And unknown to us, Taylor decided to wear flip flops. We made it about a tenth of a mile past the ecology ponds before I finally said enough. I can either continue the hike in disappointment or I can accept the fact the day would not turn out like I wanted and enjoy the rest of the day with my family.

I chose the latter and as we turned back to the Planetiurm, the boys explored the nooks and crannies of the trails, splashing in water puddles and even found a "diamond" of wood in which a beaver had chewed both ends of the tree.

Here, we have Dylan and Evan who love to pose for me and Taylor, our barefoot hiker, prior to changing shoes with Dylan. It really made me want to take my shoes off and feel the mud between my toesies too! But I didn't. Scott was there. :o)

The Baldwin Homestead

Quietly tucked away in the holler amongst cedars, forcynthia and blackberry bushes, we visited the old family homestead back during deer season. Actually, I used it as a tree stand, not that it helped. It still stands pretty solid considering it's age. It consists of three rooms upstairs and an open basement, more or less. Now, it's only residents consist of a monstrosity of gray squirrels and the hundereds of spent walnuts, what seems like a raccoon and the basements seems to occupy coyotes on occasion. What you don't see but I know they are there are also the abundance of copperheads.

Behind the old house is a wonderful bubbling spring which is the first to help feed the creek. Not much remains of the farms old hog shed and smoke house.