paradise in Carter County

The weather this weekend was divine. We took Erin to a karate tournament in Olive Hill and then drove over to Carter Caves for a picnic and a walk. Some pics of that adventure, first of all, I snapped off one while I was laying on a grassy bank while the kids played in the creek:

The girls played in the creek and climbed rocks. We found a little waterfall which was pleasant. We walked through a big cave which the creek flows through. We found a log fallen across the creek and the girls took turns trying to walk across. It's up pretty high on one end..nobody was brave enough to go all the way across.

I found a use for my ceramic baboon head Sarah crafted for me. Here's a picture of him listening to my iPod (you can tell he likes the music I chose for him). He has a dual purpose in life - he can hold my cooking tools and he's a paper weight of sorts - holding mail against the wall.

I called about another farm in Lawrence County. This one sounds alike a dream but it's got buildings (barn and shed) and double wide 4 bedroom 3 bath trailer. It's more expensive than our house, so I can't afford it. It has 45 acres of bottom land (cleared) and about 25 acres of woods. I could have a massive pumpkin patch and orchard there, but it's about $150,000 over the price limit. Sigh.

happy music

My iPod is making me happy today. I love music, what would life be without it? I can be sitting in total silence and still hear music in my head (it's pretty hollow in there...acoustics are really good). Someday, my sarah will write and record some music so beautiful it will change the world. I think she will...some day.

Decisions

My sarah will be singing at the Fiddler's Convention in Morehead and the girls and I will be leaving Myrtle Beach early so we can be there and see her. I can't wait! To describe in terms Emily would understand, she will be wickedly awesome!

I suppose I should start looking at airfare to Vegas for the UFAF convention this summer. Also, need to pencil in a weekend to visit Dad at the lake. We didn't go last summer, there weren't enough weekends. We also need at least one weekend for camping.

I downloaded some more iTunes stuff last night (and yes, did a backup...I have learned). I could blow a whole paycheck out there, I think. I've ripped every thing I like that I already own (that isn't seasonal). Our next PC will have a DVD burner...it takes 3 CD's to back up our iTunes music. I feel like a disc monkey.

Back to the Grind

Spring break is over for the girls and everything is back in full swing. We saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat last night and that was delightful - lots of color, visual effects, dancing, and comedy. We all enjoyed it. Emily wanted a tee shirt but they were $30 each. Too expensive, I will look and see if there are any on eBay.

I've set a goal to run the 5K Summer Motion race this summer. I can run 2.5 miles on a treadmill now, so I have 3 more months to get ready which should be plenty of time. It's a lot harder to run outside than to run on a treadmill though. I will get there, it's just going to take some work.

My iPod is back, and I will run a backup of our library and playlists tonight. Emily spent her iTunes gift card (compliments of Easter Bunny) Sunday night. I have a stack of not so great CD's to look through and see if there's anything worth ripping. I have used a little more than a gig of my free space so far. Podicus Maximus is becoming my best friend.

ipod is on the mend

My poor iPod is getting better. SOME LITTLE GIRL deleted a bunch of my music and when we sync'd up, we lost a lot. I have recovered about 80% of it by now and hopefully be tonight the iPod will be happy again.

I saw the property I had hoped would be my dream place. It's close, but not the place I want to dive into debt for. The log portion of the house is indeed awesome. The rest of the house needs lots of work. I love the location, it's back in a hollow, you pass lots of horses and cattle to get to it. The down side, there is another house 50 feet away, owned by the house owner's uncle. Even though he is rarely home (he travels a lot), if he were to sell the property and people were to live there, it would be a bummer. Also, you have to cross the uncle's property to get to the lake. No access to the lake from this property. Also, the property is very rocky and steep. The hills are of course beautiful, but it would be a very difficult hike to enjoy 95% of the land I'd be buying. I will keep looking.

I must now put eggs on to boil. We are going to color eggs for Easter.

Raped

My iPod is sad. Some LITTLE GIRL got bored on her spring break and deleted 90% of his happy music from the iTunes library and then I sync'd him before I realized the library had been purged of most everything I had ripped and downloaded. I lost about $15 in music that I hadn't backed up. I learned a valuable lesson the hard way. I will have to re-rip all those CD's this weekend in all my free time and I'll probably download a few of those songs again. I miss my happy iPod.

dreaming....

I called about the Grayson Lake property last night and it sounds perfect, other than the price. I'm driving out on Friday for a look. There are about 4 acres that are cleared, 34 acres that are wooded. There is an old log/stone house, very small, but people are living in it now. It connects to the state property which surrounds the lake. We can access the lake but we cross the state's property to do so. I'm already dreaming of a pumpkin patch, chestnut trees, a grape arbor, and an orchard.

My cherry tree is blooming and I admired a patch of lovely violets today. Then I saw this magnificent speciman that I totally forgot about planting a few years ago. It's one of my favorite plants (bleeding heart, if you don't already know).

severe spring fever

I came back to the office after running some errands (children) and decided I just had to get out and get a healthy dose of spring in my lungs. Oh my gosh! I could have stayed out all afternoon, I wanted to strip my clothes off and roll in the grass and dandelions. The highlight of my walk was the hawk. I could hear him somewhere in the tree tops but I couldn't see him. Then, finally, he screeched over my head and there he was, way up high. Soaring on the wind, I never saw him flap his wings once, even though I watched him for several minutes. He must get plenty of loft with those big wings. I have never seen any bird so fine as that one. I do hope he can survive with so little fee land left around here.

Which reminds me, I need to call about that acreage at Grayson. I don't really want to go into debt like that but that's the only way I can acquire my dream. I'm also sure that 35 acreas is not enough to get out where I can't hear cars and sirens, but that depends on what's around the area, where-ever that property is.

My Sarah is singing tonight and I know she will be awesome. I wish I could hear her, but she knows I will be thinking about her. I hope she feels better soon, I'm so sorry she is sick.