Good Dog

Good Dog

January 29, 2011

Our Australian Shepherd, Kelev (Hebrew for “dog”) has become quite the little man. Today was his first time at barking at strangers. My in-laws came over and Kelev gave a hardy bay at them alerting us that they was in the yard. I am very proud of him. You will often hear me telling him “Kelev Tov” which means “Good Dog” in Hebrew.

He is the whole family’s dog, not owning just one of us but all of us equally. He was wanting attention from Stewart and crawled part way in his lap. I think he remembers us holding him while sitting out side and wants to be a lapdog again. While Stewart was scratching him he wiggled around to face me and gave a cheeky grin, as if to say “Cheese!”

He is a bit spoiled, but we love him! Today I began training him to catch a Frisbee in mid air but I think he is a little too lazy for much of that. But that is ok because he is still a Kelev Tov.

Little Miracles

Little Miracles

January 29, 2011

A few weeks ago when a little storm came through we had a pine tree break off about twenty feet up and hung in the tree beside it. We worried and wondered how we was going to get the thing out of the other tree without it hitting my shed, fence, or arbor. It seemed hung in the other tree pretty tight.

Austin come in and said, “Mom, you remember that tree? It fell!” I was worried thinking it probably hit my arbor. I walk out on the porch and looked.

“I don’t see it.” I looked and looked again. Austin walks over to it and says, “Mom, you still don’t see?” I said, “No?” I had to walk out to the tree to actually see what had happened.

The broken tree top had came lose from the neighboring tree and swung down and stabbed into the ground making it look like it was just another tree growing in the cluster. It wasn’t until I walked right up to it that I could see where the tree was splintered from the break.

 

It was stabbed into the earth so well that Stewart went to push it over and it didn’t budge. I know GOD honored my unspoken wish of having that tree come down without damaging anything and also did it without the help of my husband which could have been dangerous. I thank GOD for knowing our needs and providing.
Mat 6:8  …for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

UPDATE: the storm that blew thru on Feb. 1st 2011 brought the tree on down and it is still a blessing because it only crumpled the wire fence… completely fixable!

the downed tree

the hole it jabbed into the ground

the awesome fact that it did not even break a fence post!

SFA Experimental Forest

 

SFA Experimental Forest

January 3, 2011

We headed to Nacogdoches to have a look at the SFA “experimental” forest. The trail is approximately 3 miles, if you do walk both loops, which we did. The trailhead had restrooms that were fairly good, as far as restrooms on trails go, also a picnic area and water fountains. The first loop called the Jack Creek Loop was completely paved for easy access to handicap persons. The second trail called Management Loop has a natural path to walk on. 

We looked around for something to investigate. Naturally the kids find a fallen tree to walk on. Some nice little bridges were built across the low areas.

We found plenty of briars and thorns along the path. Anna got pricked by a large thorn off of a Honey Locust tree that she was trying to pull of the branch. I didn’t even know she had made that face until I uploaded my pictures to the computer, I laughed so hard. We found a curious gall on a briar. Each side of the five sided briar stem had a lump of the gall on it. Austin pulled out his new plant field guide and identified the Devil’s Walking Stick (bottom of the three pictures). We have seen these on several walks sticking up out of the ground without leaves, looking quiet bare. We always wondered what they were called, good job Austin.

Along our walk we found a Squash Bug on the restroom door. Three or four Cicadas shells was found hanging on pine various trees. A few large grasshoppers flitted by (the one pictured is a Two Striped Grasshopper). Very few colors other than browns was present this time of year, we only found an unidentifiable vine with pretty yellow berry like fruit and a bush with some deep red almost purple leaves, and one shelf mushroom with a bit of algae growing on it giving it a green hue. The East Texas winter season has definitely set in.

We read the signs about how control burn fires rejuvenate the forest. These burns were evident in the forest. This one tree looked very sad about it.

One bridge was blocked and marked closed. The small creek it bypassed was dry so I just walked across it. The kids walked the bridge and then saw that the support beams was decayed badly and parts of the bridge had caught on fire. The next bridge we came to Adam had to go under and check the structural safety of it.

This hike was not very exciting so Adam entertained himself playing “Star Wars” using different sticks for his laser guns.

We accidentally stepped on one small little mushroom and Anna had to dramatically drop down to “pray for the poor little thing.” Anna was a bit bored on this walk so she found a piece of stone and was trying to sharpen it with another rock. Adam liked the way this tree had feel and sat on a “Bench GOD made.”

Austin constantly tells his brother and sister not to move bark and rocks so that they won’t mess up the bugs homes causing them to freeze. The next thing he does is pick up this branch, having to show me the perfect cluster of pine cones. “Son, what happened to not messing up natures homes for bugs?” “Oh, this one wasn’t a bugs home.” Sounds like a double standard to me.

Anna proudly announces “Mom, this is an American Holly!” I am very proud she is picking up on the names and is able to identify them now. The science class walks are paying off.

I thought that the multi—colored moss growing on this fallen tree stump was very pretty.

Almost at the end of our hike one large lone vine hung down in the middle of the trail. Both of my “monkeys” had to swing on it. Next Anna stepped out onto two trees that leaned out over the small creek. I warn her to be careful they may not be very secure in the side of that bank.

Austin read a sign about frogs, the quote at the bottom read:

“If we can discover the meaning in the trilling of a frog, perhaps we may understand why it is for us not merely noise but a song of poetry and emotion.” - Adrian Forsyth

I wish more people could see the beauty of GODs creation.

We notice a feather stuck in the bark of the tree. To me it looked like a hawk feather that someone left for others to see, so we also left it.

Then we noticed a large tree gall off in the distant on a tall tree. It is the biggest gall I had ever seen, and looked very odd.

As we left the trail we spotted four bat houses on high poles. We stop to investigate. Disappointed,  I did not see any bats, only bees residing in the houses.

Much to our regret we have decided to pause our hiking trips until Spring returns to us. The weather has turned cold and rainy, which is typical of East Texas, and nature is at rest. So when it awakens again, we will return to the woods to watch in awe, the wonders of GODs promise.

Gen 8:22  While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Black-cats and Wigwams

Black-cats and Wigwams

January 1, 2011

 

Stewart often tells me a story from his childhood about playing at his creek and taking firecrackers and sending them down the creek on little leaf “boats”. He tells how he would blow up anthills and “houses” of twigs. So of course he has to pass this tradition down to our kids. What better way to spend New Years Day than putting explosives in the hands of children.

Adam was excited that the firecracker blew the dirt out of a hole he dug. Then he stuck one inside the wall of the dirt pit and watched the dirt fly.

 

Anna was a bit more timid. She would approach from one way, chicken out and have to try it from a different way. She finally decided to let daddy light them but she would place them where she wanted them. She (with dad’s help) blew up a leaf “boat” that was floating in the water in the wheelbarrow.

 

Austin had no problem lighting his own, he just did not like the loudness of them when they went off, so he would try to cover his ears while popping them. I have to agree, the loud popping can be very unnerving.

He blew up part of the “Swiss Family Robinson” house they built a while back.

After I had enough stress worrying about them popping the Black-cats they meandered to the back of our property where there are trees and brush to play in.

A few days ago Adam had made his very own “club house” back there. Adams design was good, but just a little cramped, so dad decided to improve it a little.

Stewart and the two little ones got busy making what he called “Wigwams.” They worked at propping up tree limbs and sticks, making a slanted wall and adding pine straw to the top for a roof. Adam used a ‘Y’ shaped limb as a “gun” to defend his territory. Kelev, our Australian Shepherd, seemed to enjoy the “wigwam” just as much as the kids, or maybe he was just enjoying the kids.

 

Anna, however, is not so sure about the roof. Looks like it might leak a bit. Adam also is checking it all out, making sure dad did it right.

 

After constructing the smaller one for Anna, Stewart decided he needed to make a big one that they could all fit in.

Adam found a tree limb that had a vine grown into it. The look of it reminded me of the serpent rod Moses had in the Bible that would heal anyone bitten by a snake if they would look at it.

There is just something beautiful about the glow on my kids faces when they are making memories with daddy.