Coleman river trail

It has been so hot here this summer. We have had August in July. Mid to upper 90's with 90 something percent humidity. It has been killing me. Mainly because I am an outside person and it is too hot to be outside. I was having outside withdrawls so I rousted my poor husband out of bed early to go on a hike. Not only is he a couch potato he also is not a morning person. I lured him in by finding a trail on the internet that was in an area he remembered going as a kid. I didn't tell him the last write up I found on the area was in 98, certainly the trail was still there as it was national forest and wilderness area.So off we headed to an area in remote Rabun co. Ga . an area known for the movie "Deliverance" and the Foxfire books. Lush green forests and rocky cold mountain streams..

We found the road from my description . It was still a one lane dirt road. There was a beautiful old homestead in the middle of the national forest looked like it was still occupied.I expected to see a old guy in coveralls playing the banjo on the front porch. As we ascended the narrow winding dirt road a beautiful rumbling stream appeared along side it. We rolled down the windows and the temperature said it was 73 degrees.

The stream was beautiful. Noisy waterfalls where the water squeezed between huge moss covered boulders,and still, reflective pools where the water took a moment to rest before continuing its descent down the rock covered mountain. The description said the trail head was 2 miles in on the right before the bridge. We found it. There was a small pull out big enough for one car and it was occupied. There was nowhere else to park on the narrow road and nowhere to turn around so dissappointed we drove on up. The stream leveled out as we came to the top of the ridge and there were a couple of nice camp grounds on the shoals and somewhere to turn around.Hoping to get to hike we headed back down. Low and behold when we got there the spot was empty. So we began our hike. The description said .9 miles in..

The hike began with a nice stretch of level trail along a nice stream. Then there was about a 200meter climb. As I hopped from tree root to rock I wondered if this was why there were no new write ups on the trail. I was also wondering if the .9mi was straight up. The trail leveled out at the top and started a slight incline. You could see glimpses of the stream down below but mostly you could hear the roaring as it cascaded down the mountain. There were "trails" (More like slide marks) down to the bottom where people had gone down to view the falls. I would have loved to and will some day when I am more prepared, with hiking boots and jeans and enough power to climb back up. We finally caught up with the top of the stream and it was beautiful.

Deep cold pools of crystal clear water beneath swift cascading currents. Surely hiding some elusive native trout. We continued on the trail passing fungi,flowers,and lush green ferns. There were small rivulets of water crossing the trail in steep narrow ravines covered by vegetation and spanned by rickety bridges.

After hiking for about an hour (.9 mi. my butt) with no end to the trail in sight we decided to turn around. The heat was beginning to catch up to us and in this forest the wind couldn't reach you and the humidity was so high my glasses and camera lense kept fogging up.
In conclusion, it was a great adventure to be repeated in the fall with trout pole in hand and jeans and climbing boots.
Coleman River Trail, not for the faint of heart but worth the climb.

Horse Show Saturday

Bounty and I have our first ever breed show tommorrow. I am very nervous. This is his second show and will consist of a 2hr ride in the trailer before the show,showing against others of his breed and age and then a 2hr. ride home. Wish us luck!

The Story of Bosco

Bosco aka "Exclusive Mister" is a beautiful APHA horse that lived with us for about 6 years.He came to us fat,aggressive, and unmanageable. When he was a weanling he was sold at a production sale for a little over $10,000. From what I was able to find out he was bought as a future herd sire/halter horse. His first owners took their breeding program in a different direction. This left a beautiful 2 yo colt to be sold to the highest bidder for $1500. That is when "Bosco" came to Ga. The new owners were inexperienced horse people who were going to train Bosco themselves in their free time. They put him in my husbands family cow pasture and promptly forgot about him. As Bosco got older he became a handfull. With nothing to do but chase cows and eat grass he became aggressive. He would come at people in the pasture.Not being horse people my husbands family made things worse by striking back at him. It was a game to Bosco but very dangerous to the humans as he was now a good 16 hands. The last straw was when Bosco was attacking a cow that was down and then came after one of the uncles. They caught him and put him in a barn. He was fed in the barn the cheapest high protein sweet feed available with some hay and water occassionally. How he didn't founder or colic I don't know. He escaped one day and ended up in our pasture. The uncles were going to shoot him and the owners couldn't do anything with him so he was given to me. I Ended up with a 16 hand, beautiful, aggressive stallion still wearing a halter that was to small for him in my pasture.

I started tryng to gain his trust so we could remove the halter that probably hadn't been off in years. It had started to deform his nose. I knew how dangerous a stallion could be so I was careful and went slowly. I finally was able to cut off the halter and get a new one on and off of him with no problem. His aggression was less with room to run and a proper diet. He was still a nipper so you couldn't turn your back on him. It was obvious if we were going to get him gentled he was going to have to be gelded and go to a trainer. We backed a stock trailer to gate wondering how we were going to load him without someone getting hurt. I went into the pasture and my husband opened the stock trailer. I left the pasture gate opened because the trailer was blocking the gate. Bosco began dancing around and acting up. I was about to give up when low and behold he loaded himself on the trailer and stood there ready to go. We backed the trailer to a box stall at the trainers facility and poured poor Bosco off of the trailer into the stall. Let the rodeo begin.

The trainer started Bosco and as we all figured he was a handful. He was now 6 yo and still a stallion. We had a Vet out to see about gelding him and found out he was a true cryptorchid. What that means is that one testicle is retained within the abdominal cavity. It also means his testosterone is higher due to the fact it is always kept warm which explained his aggressive behavior. It also means a normally cheap easy vet procedure cannot be done. We had to schedule with the local veterinary college to have the testicle laproscopically removed so instead of costing $150 it cost $1500 dollars.This was on top of the $500 dollars a month I was spending for board and training. Oh well its only money and poor old Bosco deserved a break after all he had been through.

It took Bosco a while to recover from his years of testosterone overdose but he turned out to be a really nice horse. He spent 2yrs with the trainer before I brought him home. He was happy to be out of a stall and turned out to pasture with other horses.

We rode him in a few shows and on trails around the farm. He will go anywhere and do anything.(He doesn't like to get his feet wet). We ran out of time to ride him and I hated to waste all of the training we had paid for. I tried to get a lesson program started at the farm so he could be use along with my other fat sassy horses. But my instructor has such a busy life it was hard to keep things going. So we made the hard decision to find Bosco another home . He is now with a family who loves him and who I hope will take good care of him. We miss you Bosco.

Dog Days

Sure is hot. What do you want to do? I don't know what do you want to do? I am going down the hill to see what she is going to do.

Manny was picking on me .Wanna pet me?

He's is making faces behind my back isn't he?

Sneak attack!

Getting Pickled

Thought I would share my recipe for making pickles. My mom used to make pickles but they always were salty. I have taken her recipe and modified it over the past few years. I like what I have come up with and so do my pickle eaters.
You start with about 8lbs of small pickling cucumbers.
We don't spray our gardens with anything but washing gets off the dirt, spines,and lets you check for bugs and bad spots. Nobody wants to eat a pickled bug.

I also use fresh dill heads that I grow in the garden.Ice down the cucumbers while you get everything together,sterilize the jars,and make the brine.

You need 8 quart jars. I use my dishwasher to sterilize them but you can use boiling water too. Large stainless steel pot. Don't use aluminum because it reacts to the acid in the vinegar. In the large pot mix 4cups white vinegar,12 cups water,2/3 cup pickling salt, and bring to a rolling boil.
In the sterilized jars place 1 or 2 dill heads,1 washed grape leaf,1 clove garlic or 1 tsp crushed garlic,1/4tsp red pepper flakes,and 1/4 tsp mustard seed.

Pack the jars with the washed cucumbers. Leave room at the top for brine to cover and still leave 1/2in head space.

Once the cucumbers are in the jars you fill to within 1/2in of the top with the boiling brine. Wipe the rim with clean paper towel and place the 2 piece lid on making sure to only tighten the ring slightly. Place in boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Remove jars and cool. Check seals then let sit for at least a month to let the flavors blend.

2011 Garden

We had to make a smaller garden this year so I had my husband make 3 raised beds 2'x12'. So far they are doing nicely. I am beginning to see that they should have been placed a bit further apart.

This is how they looked mid may.

This is about 1wk ago. So far I have gotten several pounds of radish,lettuce,onion,zuchini,summer squash and herbs out of just one bed.

In another bed I planted cucumbers.They are just beginning to produce. So far I have 8qts and 4pints dill pickles. More to put up now. My family loves my homemade dills so I have trouble keeping enough around for me. Maybe this year. My other bed has green beans and tomatoes. I put up 9 pints of beans so far and another picking due maybe tommorrow. My tomatoes are coming along slowly I think it may be the heat I have quite a few green tomatoes on the vine but not what I expected.

My squirrel planted sunflowers are just beginning to bloom.

Making Hay

I really love this time of year. It is time to bring in the first cutting of hay. There is nothing like seeing the rows of hay bales lined up ready to go in the barn. Makes me feel secure in knowing if nothing else we will have hay to feed the animals through the winter.

We are a little late getting started cutting this year but hay is a crop thats harvest is dependent on the weather. With all of the storms we have had it was a wait for a stretch of dry weather.

Now that we have dry weather it has turned so hot I am afraid all of the grass is going to burn up and there will not be a second cutting. We should have enough with this first cutting though to feed all the animals and sell a bit. I love the smell of fresh cut hay still warm from the sun. Its the little things in life.