thursday smursday.

In regards to Memorial weekend..."move em in, move em out.", as M would say. We had M's parents up from Thursday through Sunday. Little sister and her honey from Friday through Sunday. Two friends from back home from late night Saturday through Sunday afternoon. S's mom and honey from Sunday through Monday. And we had a our annual cookout on Saturday with the neighbors, local family and most of our weekend-campers. Shew. Monday morning we were both looking at each other with sleepy eyes and sunburns, begging for another hour of sleep and an evening of relaxation. I just finally got the camper vacuumed and mopped yesterday afternoon and emptied out all of the leftovers in the fridge. Back to normal for a bit.

Our owl friends have moved up into the trees on the creekside and besides this morning we haven't heard them even calling. But they're still there, I'm sure of it.

We do however think we heard the mythical Sasquatch (Wild man, Yeti, Meh-Teh, Kikomba); Big Foot. M was woken at around 4am Wednesday morning to a strange kak-kak-kak sound coming from near the bridge at the corner of the property...I even woke up after hearing a loud WooOP WooOP. This repeated many times very loudly, much like someone standing in the yard with a megaphone. The only way we can think to describe the WooOP sound is like the obnoxious Jakovasaurus from South Park. Strange but true. Wonder what kind of wild animal it actually was....? Even stranger was that the little forest creatures such as crickets and other night-musicians were silenced during these calls. Were they hiding?

until next time,
xo
Stephanie

an owl update.

Yesterday we went down to watch the female and spotted a juvenile peeking it's head out from their hole. It was very curious, still flully and grey. Then yesterday evening we were there again to see momma, baby in it's hole and yet another male-sized grey phase screech hanging out just a few limbs from momma. We just saw the red phase male the other day so it's a mystery!!

Yesterday we planted a Big Boy tomato plant, some summer squash, cucumber and strawberries. We are trying out the hanging planters (Topsy Turvy) until we decide on a permanent garden location. M also built a 4x4 raised garden bed that we are going to fill this week. This weekend was spent working hard to finish our chores early so we could relax in the afternoon. This place has really came alive with sounds and lush greenery over the last 2 weeks! Our hammock will be worn out by the end of summer!

p.s. We have also recently spotted a Spotted Towhee, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and heard the loudest Whippoorwill ever, many nights.

xo Stephanie

spring.2011

I can officially say that Spring has arrived here in "the holler"...even as I sit here staring out at a bleak, rainy, 42 degree day. Hey, it's Spring! The weather is excused from being a little iffy from day to day. I just wonder how that differs from our snowglobe winter here?? Definitely over that.

The ramps are up. The grass is growing. The birds are singing. There are daffodils everywhere here...in everyone's yard, along the road...every...where! I have never seen such a sight.

There are also baby animals everywhere! Our closest neighbors have had 6 goats, with more on the way. They also have cows ready. Our other neighbors have lambs...of which I am kicking myself for not going down to visit yet!

This is a little female kid that has been being nursed. Her momma would not take to her so they have been bottle feeding her. I have been helping when I can during the day and have to admit that I have a little soft spot for this sweetie. I call her "Puppy". If you know me...you know I'm silly like that. ;)

She likes to have her head scratched, climb onto my lap and tiptoe quickly after me in the yard. We have high-hopes that she will continue to grow strong and healthy to pull through.

We have even had a few warm nights with rain and in return lots of fog. Lick Run has been rolling right along and sounds wonderfully relaxing.

I have been hoping to hang my hammock from the pavilion soon. I think it might be taken over by M for afternoon snoozes during the weekend though.

In regards to identifying species here, I have a few to share soon after a mushroom hunt we went on last weekend. No morels yet.

Hope everyone is enjoying lovely weather like us.

xo
Stephanie

We're still here!

promise. We haven't fallen off the face of the earth, been eaten by a bear or froze to death. We can tell you that the new jeep that we bought broke down and had to have the transmission repaired. We can tell you that we have both been sick, S is currently in the worst of it...hopefully. We can tell you we are still working at the same places...though S is now in floral, M is still chugging along with the crew at the university, learning new skills all the time. We can tell you that we are unsure of the permanence of all of these things...hopefully the new jeep will continue to run smoothly now that it has been repaired...that we will overcome our illnesses now that the seasons are changing...and that we will continue working. We are unsure of everything except that we made it through our first winter here and the weather just keeps getting better!! {exclamation point}We are very excited about this. The kitties are also very excited about the chance of open windows and the sound of chirpping birds. Winter makes them lazy and restless.

M started pulling the hay out from under the camper and spreading it onto our mudd yard. With the seed that he spread in the fall and the hay hopefully we'll have some grass soon. We have had some chilly, cloudy days lately but the nice ones outweigh those more and more each week.

We took 2 hikes around the property last week. Thank goodness for Spring. We are ready to start enjoying the magic of this place.

Hope everyone is well and you did not get eaten by a bear or freeze to death. ;)

xo

tired of snow pictures yet?

too bad. it's still snowing here!! Here's some pics M took on Wednesday.

Our neighbor's driveway... 

Our driveway...also know as our sledding hill. Trees were down everywhere because of all of this snow!!

Another picture of our neighbor's driveway with M's tire tracks before plowing.

The road in front of our place. Again, trees everywhere!

Snowing cats and dogs!

There is a house when you first turn onto our road that has a huge patch of bamboo. When we came home Wednesday the snow was so heavy that the bamboo was bending down over the road. It was terrifying driving through it blindly but hilarious all the same.

Hope you're keeping warm!!

xo Stephanie

cakes and such.

Some pictures of cakes that I took on my phone. Poor quality but you can see some of my favorites!

I love to airbrush cakes! This 1/2 sheet cake is airbrushed and then I used the rose tip to make both the bottom and larger top border.

This was a 3 layer, fresh strawberry filled cake for an order. The airbrushing made it look super tall!

This was for a coworker to surprise her mom. It was done in whipped icing. That stuff is sooo much better to work with than buttercream. It's not lopsided...just the way I was holding the camera...promise. =)

And this cupcake cake is my all time favorite! It's 24 cupcakes. =)

M started his new job today! I got a new jeep today too! Pics soon.

xo Stephanie

catching up

I know. It's been a while. But we have been busy!

we had some snow...

then we had lots more snow!

we went fourwheeling...

our jeep went for a ride on it's own...

i made lots of cakes...

and a pile-o-mini cupcakes...

had a root canal and M gots a new job that he starts in a few weeks! Shew. That's alot in the few weeks that we've blogged last. OH and you can see that the camper is skirted now...but I think M did that sometime in December.

until next time
xo Stephanie

warmest wishes.

For 3 days we have been in a winter wonderland. We already have 5-6 inches and there might be another storm this weekend. It 22 degrees outside right now but a cozy 70 in the camper. burr!

I braved the cold today to take some pictures. My toes are still numb.

I had the day off so the day was spent doing chores and a little holiday decorating. Marcus will even be lighting up one of the pines by the road this week!

We hope you are keeping warm!

xo Stephanie

p.s. Pictures from our day at Valley Falls coming soon.

Family photo day!

We had our friend Matt come over and take some pictures of the Swaim family before we moved from VA. While he was there we had him take a couple of us and the kitties in our new home.  We just got them and wanted to share.

M and S with the girls; from left to right: Ozzie, Linx and Elsie. ♥

We had to keep rounding up the kitties to get them in the picture. It was really funny! 

xo Stephanie

p.s. We had snow last week! Not enough to stick but it snowed all day long. crazy.

the pavilion

hello friends and family, im sorry for the delay with my posts, but i have been trying to get as much done as possible outside while the weather is good. before long the weather will be cold and i will have more time to do indoor activities, but lately the weather can be explained best as "almost heaven".

the pavilion has been a hefty project, but im proud to say it is 98 percent finished. it has been a great learning experience. we thank all the people who helped make this project possible. our family and friends have been a huge help and we couldn't have done it without them. of course it helps to have an excellent carpenter to lead the project as i had with mike. lets just say when it comes to carpentry, mike has some skills.

here are some pictures from along the way.

as of yesterday the electricity has been ran, the gravel has been spread and we plan on moving the rv under this coming week. we are really looking forward to it.

marcus

Creepy Crawlies

Our friends Melinda and Michael's little boy Mikey turned 8 this past week. They had a party for him down at our neighbors place with games, food and hayrides! The best part? I got to make the cake and cupcakes!


I went with a Creepy Crawlie theme because 1. what little boy doesn't like monsters and worms? and 2. they were going with halloween decorations and games, including slime! Plus I got to be super creative and have fun with it! ;)

Along with the kids, we also had a really good time. We got to meet some other neighbors and made new friends. =) You can view a close-up and details on the cupcakes at my personal blog HERE!

xo Stephanie

Raptors!

Today we had an awesome experience! One of my new coworkers from the hotel volunteers at the WV Raptor Rehabilition Center and he offered to take us to see the birds they are currently caring for. We jumped at the chance, of course! Right now they have several including red-tailed hawks, a turkey vulture and a few different species of owls; including horned and screech.

This is Annie, the red-tailed hawk. She helps them with educational programs and events. She was truly breathtaking.

She opens her wings on command!

Much has been done since my last blog. We have almost completed the pavilion, I got a job at a hotel in Morgantown working banquets, had a 2nd interview at the hospital for a full-time position, and we have been scouting out plants in the area to photograph (those to come). Marcus has photos and blogging to share about the pavilion, once he actually takes a break! He's outside from dawn til dusk always working on something. You'll hear from him soon.

Hope everyone is enjoying this crisp fall weather!

xo Stephanie

p.s. At the camp or on the way a racoon, groundhog and red-tailed hawk have all been seen. Those are so common that it almost seems silly to share but oh well.

4 years ago today...

we was marrieds. Yah! To celebrate we went out to the little ice cream place up the road. We had sandwiches and split a funnel cake. Mmmm fried dough. We'll be wrapping the night up with Season 1 Disc 2 of the Sopranos.

Progress on the pavilion has been slow...well really not at all. It's been wet and rainy off and on all week. The weather will be back to dry this weekend so work will start again.

I'm heading back to Winchester for the weekend for my last naturalist workshop, then I'll be graduating Sunday. I'll be an official West Virginia Master Naturalist!

Oh and we observed a possum just outside the camper the other night...rooting around under the bird feeders. We have lots of little gold finch and cardinals feeding right now too!

until next time. xo Stephanie


p.s Hi grandma Bonnie! =)

Thursday at the Bunner Hole

Thursday we got up and took a short walk through the woods...very short. It was so hot and muggy out that we decided the day would be better off spent at the Bunner Hole. For those of you not in "the know" the Bunner Hole is just around the corner from us, a hole deep enough for jumping in, spotting a few fish and the perfect place to cool off on a hot day.

I of course laid in a chair and relaxed...the view, the soft sounds of nature, zzzzzzz...

Marcus was more productive and tried to catch a few fish.

Today the weather has cooled down about 15 degrees. It's supposed to be really cool this weekend. Hopefully this will be the final leap into fall. Since we last blogged 2 looong black snacks, 3 doe, a fox and 2 more wild turkeys have been spotted!

We have a little (slow) internets now so we'll be able to blog more regularly. They started on the pavilion today so we should have some photos of the progress soon.

laters! xo Stephanie