Category: Departures
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Looking back on 10 years of roughing it in the Ozarks – Happy Thanksgiving 2015
Many would consider us still roughing it. Life is a lot more comfortable here now, but we learned a lot about survival since we moved to these wild Ozark hills. Our Wild Ozark Origins When we first moved here to …
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Wild Ozark Nature Journal on Kindle
What is a sketch / nature journal? Sometimes nature writers like to doodle while they’re interpreting nature. My nature journal is a combination of art and written journal entry. It is both nature sketching and nature journal. Here are some sample …
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First Freeze 2015 in the Ozarks
First Freeze It was 30*F when I looked outside this morning near daybreak. Honestly, it was somewhat after daybreak. Yesterday’s fun with the grandkids wore me plumb out and I slept like a rock past my alarm. Technically, the sun …
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Ginseng in November and a Witch Hazel, too
On a whim, I went out to see how the ginseng looked now. I knew it would be dead and wasn’t sure I’d find any. But the four-prong that grows in the nursery plot was still identifiable, at least. You …
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Symbols of Warmth and Sustenance
I brought the camera with me this foggy morning to capture some of the beauty that surrounded me in the hushed quiet of our little Wild Ozark valley. When I came back in I sat on the porch and listened …
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Feeding critters under a gentle patter of rain
This morning I was feeding critters under a gentle patter of rain. There are times when I am tired or don’t feel like going out on my regular chore round, but for the most part I enjoy this part of …
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Coffee Break Reading and some pretty cool Leggings
Get “No Qualms” delivered to your inbox in daily short bites. Perfect for coffee break reading. And check out the cool leggings featuring one of my nature journal entries. One of my passions that I haven’t indulged much in lately …
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Tangerine Sunrise, Goodreads Giveaway, Nature Sketching
When the sun rose high enough to top the trees it washed the hills in a tangerine glow. The trees are changing fast now and I really want to take pictures every day. I have been drawing more often than …
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Rain or Hallucination?
So brief it almost feels now like it was hallucination, rain fell this morning while I was out feeding the critters. The chickens were all like “what’s that wet stuff coming down from the sky?” It’s been many weeks since …
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Beautiful Fall Misty Morning
There is a silence accompanied by a misty morning that is unlike anything else. This morning I sat on the porch to have my morning coffee. The roosters refrained from crowing. The logging activity is either done or stopped for …
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Busy Days at Wild Ozark
I’ve been busy lately, but you wouldn’t know it from my lack of posts to the blog. New projects started (Wild Ozark Nature Journal) and a new website to go with it, new products, and new adventures. Last Friday I …
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The Business ‘Circle of Life’ at Wild Ozark
An older post, but still representative. Eventually I’ll update it but for now, I’ll leave it alone: This is the second year since making Wild Ozark my full-time endeavor. Over the past year, I’ve noticed a life-cycle of sorts. It’s …
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Gathering Lobelia inflata Seeds
Looking for Lobelia Today I donned a surgical mask to go out and gather the seed pods of Lobelia inflata. Why the mask? Well, it’s the time of year when ragweed tries to assault me when I go outside. I’m …
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An Herbal Hoof Poultice for a Horse
Both of our horses foundered recently and I’m not sure what caused it. I suspect there was a large fruit drop from the persimmon and plum trees after the big flood in June. The problems caused by eating something …
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A New Thing – Wild Ozark Serial Fiction
Short Stories Serial fiction delivered to your inbox in 100-300 word segments each day until the story is finished. Wild Ozark Newsletter This is just a short message to invite you to join me for short sections of a short …
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Disappearing for a while
Just a notice to anyone who might wonder why there’s been no posts for a while… I’d been really busy finishing up some projects (10 Common Plants and American Ginseng & Companions). Now that those are done I’m taking a …
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Death from Above – Wasp vs Mantis
There are lots of videos at YouTube about wasp vs mantis, but they always show the mantis winning. Today I saw a wasp carrying the head of a praying mantis. I saw one yesterday, too. I’ve found lots of info …
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A Homesteading Hermit Self-Reliant Writer’s To-Do List
I’m a self-reliant writer for the most part. I’m also a homesteader and close to being a hermit (hermitress) these days. It would take a lot more money than I make at it to delegate any of the tasks, homesteaderly …
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Spider Stick
Anyone who has ever ridden, or rather, *driven* a four-wheeler on a tree-lined path will know exactly why this four-wheeler is sporting a lovely branch of wilted leaves. It’s a “spider stick”. And it’s the person in front, if you’re …
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My First Sheet of Handmade Paper
So, with all the rain here, and now with the truck being broken which means until the road mud dries up some I can’t go out anywhere, I’m doing some of the other things on my creative bucket list. I …
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A Review Round Robin
*** Sorry, but this event has ended *** Join me in a “Review Round Robin” I’ll send you 10 Common Plants in paperback format, and none of this costs anything for you, not even postage (but you don’t get to …
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Do Your Dogs Sing with the Chickens?
We have singing dogs. Every morning at sunrise when the rooster crows and the hens wake, and during the day when the chickens get all a-cluck over an egg laying, the dogs break into song with them. Does anyone else …
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Rattlesnakes and Dogs don’t Mix – Snakebit dog
They’re not aggressive. Really. This one just wanted to be left alone. It’s the second one I’d encountered that week, and both were relatively calm. Badger even stepped on the first one and didn’t notice until after doing it. The …
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The Slow Descent of an Ozark Mountain Landslide
I’ve been observing and recording our slowly descending Ozark landslide. Leaning trees and driveway encroachment, photographed day by day. Since the flood last Monday I haven’t done a whole lot of cleanup. The main reason for that is the landslide.…
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Egg-napping Marans
I have two black marans setting eggs. Each hen was in a separate box, sitting on her own clutch of eggs. There are other boxes for the other hens to lay eggs in, too. I haven’t been finding eggs in …