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 …
Category: Musings
This is an index of posts that fall into my “Musings” category. Usually it’s on a topic that has no other defined focus, but sometimes these are also my philosophical-type posts. Subscribe to Wild Ozark™ » Musings by Email
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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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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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Feels like fall is really here
It’s a foggy morning at Wild Ozark, and chilly too. Feels like fall is really here now. 42*F when I looked at the thermometer right after sunrise.
I went down to the mailbox to mail a letter this morning after …
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For all the little acorns
May they grow to mighty oaks
For the past several weeks one of the first morning sounds have been that of heavy equipment moving into place on the mountains to our southeast. Later, as the sun rises, it’s chainsaws. And …
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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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PawPaw’s Notebook
A while back while visiting down south I thought of PawPaw’s notebook.
My PawPaw was in his 90’s and I knew he wouldn’t be with us much longer so thought I’d ask him for his notebook while he was still …
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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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Do Your Dogs Sing with the Chickens?
Badger howling at coyotes. 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 …
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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 …
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The Impermanence of Things
We’ve had a lot of rain in the last days here in the Ozark Highlands. 7 inches in a few hours Monday night. That’s too much rain for our little creeks and hollers.
Lots of folks have lost homes, cattle, …
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Rattlesnake at the Gate
Gnats have made it nearly impossible for me to stand being outside at my potting bench for very long.
Yesterday I did the little bit of work I needed to do at it while trying not to breathe so the …
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Unripe Fruit
I have a hard time believing I have no pictures – at all – of ripe elderberry fruit. After digging through file after unfruitful file, I thought it might be faster to just go get a new photo.
Not quite.…
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Rainy Days are Writing “Bounty Hunter” Days
It’s been raining off and on here since last night. It seems like it’s been raining every day since I can’t remember when. I’m tired of it and will be glad when the ground is dry and the creeks are …
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Dragons Hatching, Clematis Blooming, and Feeding Horses in the Rain
Dragons Hatching!
Last fall I collected seeds from a large Green Dragon. I put the berries directly into pots and kept them overwinter in the ginseng nursery. The other morning I noticed they were hatching – er, sprouting! The …
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What’s that plant good for?
“What’s that plant good for?”
A curious thing I’m noticing by selling plants at the market is that people almost always have the same question, phrased in various ways.
It’s often the first thing they ask, in general about any …
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An Entourage of Green Ambassadors
Show and Tell
I took my little assembly of show and tell items, and a small entourage consisting of three Green Ambassadors on the road yesterday. We, or at least *I*, had been invited to speak to the Olli Group…
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The cost of doing (DVD) business with Amazon
Ever wondered how much an author makes per book or product through Amazon? Royalties aren’t bad for books and e-books. I get 70% on the ones that are listed exclusively through Amazon if the price is over $2.99, and 35% …
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Raising the Bar at Wild Ozark
Today we were gifted with more snow. Yesterday when I got out of bed, the sun shown brightly with promises of warmth at least from direct sunlight. So I let the horses out to scrounge around for what little grass …
