TRAILS / Trail Friends

Yesterday morning when I walked outside to take care of feeding my horse, this awesome sky greeted me.  What an awesome sunrise!

We recently went to Brandon, Mississippi to visit Tom's Aunt Ruth and Uncle Murphy.  Aunt Ruth is Tom's Mom's youngest sister.  She is temporarily staying in an assisted living apartment while recuperating from having a toe amputated.  Aunt Ruth reminds us so much of Tom's Mom, Sue.  They both inherited a sunny, pleasantly sweet disposition.  A real bonus to our visit was that Tom's brother Tim and wife Kathy from Georgia met us in Mississippi.  We really enjoyed spending time with family!

                              Uncle Murphy and Aunt Ruth with Tom

At the end of January our good friends Greenstone and Thimbleberry were passing through and stopped for a very short visit.  We always love to see them!  We surprised them when we met them at an Italian Restaurant in Canton by inviting 15 of our friends to join us for Sunday lunch.  It was great to have our friends meet them, and for them to meet some of our friends.  I can't believe it has been four years since we met Greenstone and Thimbleberry on the first day of my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, and now they are friends for life.

                            Thimbleberry, me, and Greenstone at breakfast at the
                           Crooked Creek Farm B & B where they stayed overnight.

                            Here we are inside the WalMart Neighborhood Market
                            where I work part-time.

In January I participated in the 3rd Annual Saddlebag Stampede, a 14 mile walk, benefiting Pegasus Project, an equine rescue organization.  It was a nice cool morning as we walked along while our figures cast long shadows on the roadway ahead of us. 

My friend Jeanne brought her horse along in case she got tired of walking she would just get on her horse's back and ride instead!  (which she did before we were done!)

Three of our Saddlebags (Sue, Diane, Pam) drove/rode in a support vehicle which followed us the entire route.  They carried snacks and water provided by Gill and Jackie.

It took us about 4 hours and 40 minutes to complete the walk and when we finished up back at Jeanne's home we enjoyed a huge lunch.  Jeanne had made tortilla soup and each of us provided side dishes and desserts.  What a feast and great conversation!  I will let you know in my next post the grand total of funds we raised thru this walk for Pegasus Project www.PegasusRescue.org  

Last weekend Tom and I once again headed up to Oklahoma to do some volunteer trail maintenance on the Ouachita Trail.  This is  the view while we were driving along on the Talimena Scenic Byway.  Such a pretty drive with great views!

We left our car parked beside the roadway at Deadman Gap MM8 on the Ouachita Trail and headed east with our loppers, pruners and a dull hand-held weed slinger.  The trail switch backed steeply downhill from the gap.  There were lots of lichen covered rocks and boulders and a varied assortment of mushrooms growing on fallen tree trunks.

Tom "Pyro" on the trail while the hillside behind him is covered in green lichen covered rocks.

                    Lichen and mushrooms abound!

We met a couple of backpacking guys heading the opposite direction, Curtis (from Perryville, Ark.)and his uncle Bruce.  Curtis had begun section-hiking the Ouachita Trail back in September and was about to complete his final section the next day.

After meeting the two hikers going westbound we continued on our way and in a little while we came to the Rock Garden Shelter where we stopped for a break and a snack.  This shelter was constructed by Friends of the Ouachita Trail with assistance from an AmeriCorp  Team in November 2013.  These shelters hold up very well in the elements because this one still looks and smells brand new!

From the Rock Garden Shelter you have an awesome view of the Holson Valley!

Following our refreshing break at the shelter we continued eastward for about another mile lopping and pruning.  By 11:30 a.m. we decided we better stop, turn around, and head back to our car since we still had the four hour drive back home.

The Ouachita Trail is marked quite well with rectangle blue blazes on trees/rocks and has informative signs at trail junctions with other trails that cross the O.T.

What goes down must go up!  Remember we switch backed steeply downhill when we started, and now going back to the car we must switch back up the mountain!  Here Tom is taking a breather.  My little camera can no way capture the fantastic views we are enjoying as we gaze out across the Holson Valley to the next ridgeline.

Yippee!  We made it back to Deadman Gap!  Job well-done!

This is the trail crossing the Talimena Scenic Drive at Deadman Gap.

 

 

When our forsythia bush blooms, the daffodils aren't far behind and I know Springtime is just around the corner!

Yep, the quince bush is blooming also!  Yaaaaa, Spring is coming!

This stump was at the base of the large cedar tree that fell on our house last October, but now it is "yard art". 

 

Trees Ablaze!

Occasionally when the sun is setting here at the edge of the woods, the tops of the trees, even though most are leafless and brown, come ablaze with a fiery orange glow.

 When I snapped this photo, I was facing east......

 ...southeast, looking toward Tex's pasture...(yes, we still have those large sections of cedar tree trunk in our yard!)

 This is the awesome view to the west as the sun disappears behind the tree line......

...then I turn back to the eastern view....

...then back to the west...hard to believe all these photos were taken within a few minutes time....quite different spectacular views!

This was a couple of days later!  Another gorgeous January sunset!

 Ahhhhh.......we are so fortunate.

My Sweetie making his own mug shot next to the "tree face"!  Notice the leaping flames seemingly coming out of that lawn chair!

 We are enjoying an evening fire in Tom's fire pit on the back patio.

Although this has nothing to do with sunsets or fires, I think these were the cutest things!  My sister, Sharon, created these at Christmas using strawberries, cool whip/cream cheese mixture, and chocolate sprinkles for the eyes (which she had to use tweezers to apply!).

 When Sharon was done creating them, Tom told her it resembled a "little Chinese army"!

The red and green grapes piled along side have been rolled in dry Jello mix!  Delicious! 

Thanksgiving

We have so much in our lives to be grateful for, most of all God, and family and friends!

This is our friend Megan, and her husband Stace, both Army Officers, who are currently stationed at Fort Drum in upstate New York, and who are expecting the birth of their first child around Christmas time.  They were here recently for a visit.  So good to see them and so happy for them!  Thank you to both Megan and Stace for their continued service to our country.

Even though I no longer ride my horse, I still meet with my Saddlebag women friends on Thursdays, sometimes for lunch, and most recently to camp out with a few of them at the Mineola Nature Preserve on a Wednesday night preceding their Thursday ride.  I love the artwork on this U.S. Hwy. 69 overpass at the exit for the Preserve.

Most of the Saddlebag women have fairly nice horse trailers with built-in living quarters for camping with their horses.  Me, I brought along my backpacking tent and pitched it under some nice shade trees next to where they were parked and enjoyed a nice evening of good conversation and good food with my good friends.  The next morning after coffee and breakfast with them, I headed home just as they were heading out on horseback.  (Can you see my little backpacking tent pitched under the trees??)

I am thankful for good positive results following my recent colonoscopy at the Athens East Texas Medical Center, where Tom took this cool photo in front of the building, amid the awesome landscape of waterfalls and pools.  That white bird was standing so very still it almost looked artificial!

Yea!  My sister, Donna, who lives in Wyoming, came to Texas for Thanksgiving!  And we went for a walk with Tom, down the road and in behind my Mom's house, passing thru a pasture with some very curious horses.

Yea!  My brother Wendall, who lives in Indiana, also came home for Thanksgiving.  This was the first time all my surviving siblings had been together since 2001, when our Dad died.  So good to spend time together with family! 

               Seated: Wendall, Mom, Me  Standing: Ginny, Donna, Sharon, Don, Norma

Here is my Mom with 11 of her 28 great-grandchildren!

I am thankful for our Christmas cactus plants.  They are so amazing when they burst forth in bloom!

I feel incredibly blessed to live on a quiet country lane......

...Tom and I both feel fortunate to be gainfully employed, and have the funds (Thanks, Tom!) for a wonderful home-improvement this Fall!  We recently had a concrete slab poured under the carport that we added on to our home a couple of years ago.  Before....

                              ...during construction....

                       ...getting ready for the concrete...

                     ...Ta-Dah!  Nice!!

I recently had the privilege of helping at Quality Furniture's Annual Private Sale, where they give away a lot of money and prizes to their loyal customers!   This is their pre-opening briefing from the owner...

                    They are all decked out for the holidays!

My job was to stand by this Christmas tree that was loaded with envelopes stuffed with cash!  Each customer came and chose an envelope, receiving cash ranging from $2-$100.  For every $500 of merchandise purchased during this sale they were awarded additional chances to pick envelopes from the tree.  This job has always been fulfilled by the store owners' mother, however her health has not allowed her to be there to help with this the last two years, so I humbly fill in for her and do my best.  I have to say it is sort of fun to give away other people's money!

 

 

After working in the Canton Wal*Mart for 14 years, I transferred recently to the new Wal*Mart Neighborhood Market in Edgewood which opened on December 10.  So far, I really love it!  It is a small store, and it is great to be working so close to home, only 2.7 miles from our house!  

A couple hundred folks showed up for our Grand Opening ceremonies.....

...and we have experienced overwhelming positive feedback from our customers, who are so glad to have a neighborhood grocery store in our small town offering low prices and great customer service.

We are continually blessed with the most awesome sunsets here at the edge of the woods!

Tom and I went to Oklahoma the first week of December to perform some maintenance on the Ouachita Trail.  We parked at the Big Cedar trailhead and walked westbound lopping as we went along.  We were very thankful to our Trail Captain, Bill Sears, and Ryan who had walked this section the week before, carrying chainsaws to cut the big stuff.  Wow!  Hard work!  Thanks, Bill and Ryan!

Here Tom is navigating across one of the "rock glaciers" on the Ouachita Trail.

We were rewarded with some awesome views.....

We made it the 2 miles to Red Spring....

...this is a real blessing for backpackers to come across a nice water source beside the trail....

....cool, clear water coming up from under the ground!  Just hold a water bottle under the end of the pipe and fill!  (I would still purify it though, cautious person that I am.)

We are being festive here at our little humble abode for the Christmas season....

....a sweet memory from Tom's mother, we still get out her little gumdrop tree each Christmas and load it with fresh gumdrops!

 

And now our other Christmas cactus has bloomed!  Just beautiful!

 

I was surprised recently to find I am now a great-grandmother!  What?  No way I can be old enough to be a "great"  grandmother!  This is my youngest grandson, 21 year old Dylan, and his girlfriend, Alexis, with their sweet baby girl, Juliette!

What a sweet, pretty little bundle of joy!  Juliette, my first great-grandbaby!

This is my son's wife, Sissy, holding Juliette, their first grandchild!

 

I could go on and on and on......we are grateful to be healthy, happy, active....we have the love of family and friends...God is so good to us....