Millipede and Lady Grey the chicken...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

total fail. Poor Millipede. I was really disappointed!




xoxoox

(Not Trespassing): Mr. Teacher's Trash Treasures & Dead Deer

Earlier today I got a call from a neighbor down the road, let's just call him Mr. Teacher. Mr. Teacher said during the night someone had shot a gun in front his house, turned out they had shot a young deer which was slowly dieing in view from his window. He called the police and the game warden, but no one ever showed up... so his third choice was me? :)
When I got there the deer was a bit bigger then i expected, very dead, and was getting too stiff. After checking out all the peculiar marks along the deer's side, we hefted it up into the back of my truck.
Before leaving and investigating the scene a little further, i wanted to walk around and see all the neat things Mr. Teacher had on his land... land handed down to him by his grandparents - which is land bound to hold stories and treasures.

In his mildy overgrown pasture there was an amazingly demolished old car.....

it seemed everything i touched would fall apart, metal cracking with rust, broken bits of what was once a tanker of a vehicle decaying in ruins...

Mr. Teacher also has a ginormous beautiful old barn. The kind with a rock foundations till in tact, one that was well cared for and used. Clean even. Many old things were in there still from days of old...

stacks of tobacco tieing strings and even the baskets they sold tobacco in at the market!

wood so stunning & antiqued that Mr. Teacher says people come and ask to buy the barn wood, and dismantle it. No way! is he not going to do that - he feels selling the land or doing things like that would dishonor his grandfather.

And the deer....

we came back around to the dead deer sitting in the back of my truck making me wish i could bring it back to life like the alien man does in Star Man! It was then i noticed more clues as to what happened in front his house -- broken pieces of headlights, fur scattered in the grass, and empty cans of alcohol where the person who hit the deer had opened their door. They must have shot it after they hit it, then drove away. But they didn't bother to shoot well enough to kill it and it still took hours to die. The deer was still able to walk 15 feet or more before collapsing.

Amazing, at how wasteful people are taught to be these day , they could have taken the deer for meat, for food, for leather.

Amazing that so many people drive with guns ready in their cars.

Amazing, they they attempted to put it out its misery and didn't bother to even shoot it in the head.

XOxoxooxX

Morning & Evening

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

here is my morning...



....
and then my evening...



everything in between was cold wind.

xoxoxo

JuJu the donkey and Beep Beep the chicken

The best eva'. Cute Overload, you can eat this for breakfast! Lunch! and Dinner!

Xoxoxo

Rain Walk: Things Me and Mah' DOnkee Liked

Me and all my animals (chickens, a donkey and one cat) have all been cooped up (so to speak) for the last few days with the constant fall rains. Even though it was still overcast and a drizzle came down on my hooded head I invited JuJu the donkey to go for a walk with me...
She totally wanted to come. On with the halter and out the gate, we ventured not too far from our home but far enough to feel freedom from the gloomy confinement.

JuJu is one of the most alert, consistent, and reliable guard animals I have ever seen - she hears things from farther away then I can even imagine them and is always right on target. She knows when they are just something to notice or if they are a true threat (which a donkey will kill or injure), she always shows me whats far ahead when she stops short of walking, flares her nostrils, and takes on the stiff, high eared pose she has in the pic above.

A lil' further up, I saw what she heard over some hills and hundreds of feet away...

wild turkeys!!! (See them in the pic below, making a run down a nook in the meadow...)

Along the road we also came upon something that is fairly new... someone set up a wood stove for outside cooking! I happen to love this idea, because I have a really old not serviceable wood stove on my porch and have been dreaming of using it as an outside fire/cook stove for Spring, Summer and Fall when it's too warm to fire up the one inside the house.

The wood stove I have is missing a front door, and I thought it could be turned into a Cob Oven! (Read HERE how to build your own cheap outside oven.)

Remember the 'pink trailer' I (didn't) trespass at a few months ago...

JuJu has a thing for the retro trailer too. Everytime we pass it she wants to walk all around it, look in the windows, nibble on some charcoal in a burn pile out front, and just generally chill out there...

I am so glad she doesn't look in the windows of my neighbors who are actually home! ha.

The same someone who must have set up the wood stove, placed two animal skulls side by side on a mossy log. Then I found the plastic daisy. I like old plastic flowers in a weird way, even though I am not sure I should....

The thing me and JuJu like the most though, is the forest in general. The bigger picture, the adventure, the all encompassing balance of it, the safety & the dangers, the sounds, the peace, the tall trees, the wet bark, the weather, the wild plants-

the feeling that things are completely right.

Xoxoxox

Peek-A-Boo With JuJu (the donkey)

After reading up in various places online about Training A Donkey, I finally found one thing that was utterly consistent throughout all the methods & ideas (which ain't easy)... Donkeys are curious! And this curiosity is the way to getting their friendship, love, attention, and eventually it is your biggest tool in training them to do specific tasks.
*
I decided to play Peek-A-Boo with JuJu, to see if she would take interest in my silly antics... this was not a recommended game, I just started doing it to see how she would react. I would stand outside her stall quietly, and then poke my head around saying "ah-boo" in a soft, happy voice. She immediately wanted to know what was going on with me. I did it about 3 times before she had to come out the stall and follow me... at which point I snuck around the barn wall to the other side and poked my head out again, saying "ah-boo"....

She caught onto the game and when we got to the next wall she passed me up to show me she knew where I was going already, and had figured out the exciting plot to Peek-A-Boo. WOoo-hooo!

After she came fully around the barn I rewarded her with a treat she loves in her special "treatsie pot". I would love to know more training games we could play together, if anyone has any suggestions, has used any specific techniques, or knows of one fun for us BOTH, send me a link- pretty please!

JuJu Bean says YAYAYAYAYAY!

XOxox

Rural Entertainment: The Fireman's Fair

Ya'll know by now I love local rural events... they are nothing like the big splashy Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest and French Quarter parties I grew up with in New Orleans - instead they are personal, down home, small crowds, nothing fancy, and people are just happy to see the other people who all live the same hidden mountain & farming lifestyle. They don't try to put on a show, they just are themselves. (I mean this even for our local wrestling matches, even if the guys do sport a few sequins!)
So Yesterday right around the bend from the Luck Cabin was the Spring Creek Fireman's Fair, I had gotten a flyer in the mail 2 weeks ago that made it hard to resist attending (see pic above) - seeing that Smokey The Bear was going to be there, they were going to play Bingo, have live music plus live Firemen....I HAD to see.

The first live band rocked the stage, i mean as much as they could rock out without scaring the other locals (aka slow and country).... they kinda rocked it Johnny Cash style, with the Beatles song "Act Naturally" thrown in the mix. And you best believe I danced - in fact a old, smelly drunk man found me (he said he lived "down yonder") and we were the only two people who cut a rug on that green grassy area in front the stage, while a crowd of maybe seven people watched & clapped.

Since me and the drunkard became BFF's, he also taught me how to play HorseShoes! I had never played before, but basically you are throwing heavy ass horse shoes like 40 feet into/across the air in order to hit a tiny metal pole sticking out the ground, in a pile of sand. I hit it once... out of about 30 tosses. :)

My awesome neighbor (remember the one who saved me in the night when I first got my donkey JuJu?) was diggin' into the atmosphere - as we watched the M.A.M.A helicopter fly in. The helicopter landing pad serves two purposes in our rural nook, and that is to bust people growing pot & for when we call 911. Yeah, we are so freakin' rural they can't even get us to a hospital in time before we'd die so they just fly this bad boy in and save us. (see pic above).

There was plenty food & drink --- including fried apple pie, hot dogs, hamburgers.... none of which I can eat since I have Celiac Sprue and shall never be able to partake.
There was also a silent auction. Well. There was a really odd assortment of things for auction, my favorite being this set up below.....

Faux Wiener Dog in a Baby Bed.

I had no idea why they had numbers spray painted on the ground in a circle either, till my neighbor explained this was for the Cake Walk.

I can't eat cake, but I can walk - so i joined in. Basically it's like musical chairs and each person stands on the big ole' number on the ground, they start up the music and everyone gets walkin' in circles (i was getting dizzy) till the music stops. Then they pick a number out of a hat... the kid who picked it picked his own number (little psychic!) and won a cake (go ahead and eat it little kid, cause i can't anyway)!

My Drunkard BFF took this picture of me and smokey the bear. Drunk people don't always get the main attraction in the picture, ya know. But you can tell SMokey The Bear reallllly was there, right?

I thought "Sparky The Fire Dog" was gonna be a real dog, but it was just a dude in a costume. He was not real, like Smokey The Bear. ;)

The BIG main attraction that it seemed so many had prepared for was the Lawnmower Race!! For real, a woman standing next to me during the race told me her son had spent weeks on getting his lawnmower ready for the race, by putting in a go-cart motor... and in fact he had fixed his lawnmower to race a few years back.

Right at the beggining one guy's lawnmower BLEW into smoke, another's broke down had to be pulled off, one older man road slowly on his, while just a few guys were blowing past everyone, nearly tipping over trying to come in first place.

Decorated with Hooters Stickers, numbers, southern flags, cow bells....

I was rooting for the grey Lawnmower, cause i was standing next to his Mama, but he didn't win.......

The Fireman's Fair though was a total WIN!

PS- I never did find tha' Bingo game? Where was it at?

Xoxoxo

Barnyard Relationship Building (when they discover each other)

Yesterday was the first moment that all my animals living at the Luck Cabin lined up in a perfect row and got acquainted. At the moment I have one donkey (Juju Bean), one cat (Toots) and one rooster with one hen (who need names but I am afraid if i name some animal will come and eat them!)
The donkey is being gentle with the chickens now, who are her neighbors in the mini barn - but upon their first meeting JuJu forgot about her HUGE-MUN-GUS size and was hauling ass after the squawkers trying to make friends (they ran and hid to her dismay). When Toots the cat finally came around on the outside of the fence, JuJu knew the smell was familiar, she sniffed the cat, then sniffed my clothes then the cat again - and made an acknowledgement beyond words. But when I put Toots inside the fence, Juju chased her trying to get close.
The BIG discovery though was when Toots, saw the chickens! ANd JUJU, all together. It was all she could do to keep from going crazzzzy - she tore at the ground, attacked sticks and dirt and plants, ran back and forth and showed off to her new friends. (Ya know when kitties get that wild bazzurk look in their eye and let the wind of their spirit control every movement....)
Slowly, we will evolve to all understand each other a little better, get in the groove of habits- luckily animals allow time for that sort of thing. In fact they demand it. Sometimes I wish the humans would let me just observe them from the other side of the fence, quietly before being thrown into hand shakes and introductions. But.... then everyone would think I was the weirdo stalker staring at their yard & houses. ;)

Xoxoxo

Mud Wrestling in the Luck Pond

It didn't start out that way... it always starts out innocent, with a finger, a wellie boot, then a toe. Next thing ya know, your legs are sinking and your knees are covered in mud. Then someone pushes you down in the mud and your face is splattered....... then IT'S mutha' freakin' ON! Mud Wrestling!!!!! Mud Zombies start coming towards the other people who are watching in surprise, to pull them down into the dark skanky smelling muck........ dirty loves company!

There was plenty mud slinging, mud being shoved down other people's pants, mud squished just for the lovely feeling of squishing it... i think someone even put some in their own pants to see what it would feel like if ya poop'ed yourself! That is what good times are about. :)

Swimming with the snapping turtles didn't last long though...

This is the kinda girl gang you don't wanna F with. trust me.

Thank gawd for the outside shower here at the cabin which actually has warm water - but only a little bit so we all piled in to wash our clothes and faces off before the warmth ran out!

YiPPpeeeee Zipppppieee!

Xoxoxox

Wrestling In Big Sandy Mush Part 3

Welcome to the Blue Ridge Championship Wrestling in Big Sandy Mush! Oh yeah, I bet you thought it was over, that these guys packed away their speedos and wrestlin' one-sies just cause the winter weather came!?! Hell NO! These guys (and a surprise gal) came back with vengeance, to acrobatically, dramatically, and fantastically fight once again for the championship belt. You know, who wouldn't wanna come wrestle in the middle of nowhere at an abandoned school--- count me in!
I arrived fashionably late as always and missed the beginning of the first round where some smaller guys from South Carolina were getting boo'd off the ring from the strangely mixed crowd. The crowd was not only the die hard kids, guys, & old men who are familiar to me now, but I swear a mini bus load of hippies & hipsters had been dropped off this time too - and they were intoxicated, which meant more DANCING, yelling, jumping, laughing, fun.
I was particularly smitten with the big wrestler from Waynesville NC, because he was wearing the most awesome 'all in one' "USA" red white and blue outfit! He also beat the poor tiny guy from South Carolina... in fact their size difference made it nearly unfair. Moving right along to the next round were some guys I am now familiar with - the Hillbilly & TNT...
Even though the crowd was wild and plenty amazing tricks were being done, I got the feeling the wrestlers themselves were sluggish due to big Thanksgiving meals and lazy holiday-ness was creeping into their souls. Their match went on and on, and ended in a 'draw' in which the announcer said "We have two winners, not two losers!" :)
Then something totally new and shocking happened! A .... girl.... came out with the current Champion.... the crowd went bananas....
She was taking no prisoners, she wasn't there to be sweet - she was there to scream, yell, distract, support her honey and strut her stuff...she was the perfect authentic wrestling ho, to flank the readily boo'd evil Champion. One old man in the crowd started yelling at her "Go Home YOu JeZebel!!!!"With Jezebel at his side, the Champion beat out the opponent with no problem...
This costume below completely got my attention, he wore an "Army" shirt on the front but the back side of his shiny spandex finished the story... it looked like maybe he wrote "KILLER" on there with freakin' white out! Now that is scary stuff. Only true pysco's write on their outfits with shit like spray paint or white out or puffy paint.
KILLER and the whole gang all jumped in the ring at once because the last match was the winner will be the last crazy guy in the ring - and you had to be thrown over the top rope by any of the opponents in order to lose the round! It's a sight to behold when all the tight pant winners and all the loose pants losers are throwing each other out the ring left and right... I basically didn't know WTF was going on till there was only two left.
When you have a Jezebel hottie by your side, you are bound to hold onto the Chamionship belt... all my favorites, all the good guys, all the tiny guys, all the funny guys got thrown over the rope. Evil takes all again!
After it ended I sat in my metal folding chair and watched the men take apart the traveling stage (layers of canvas, padding and wood). I was pretty excited because I was asked by the head guy to be the "Official Blue Ridge Championship Photographer" and was wishing I could accept such an honor. Cause how cool is that? Not sure my health would really permit, but I sure as hec will make an effort. I was also contemplating why the group of Hippies and Hipsters thought that they should be the only ones to get the free wrestling posters being signed by the wrestlers and left the rest of us in the dust! Lame! Can't they share on their commune, and let us have one too!!! ;)
HA! In the words of AC/DC "aAAAHHhhhhhh A, THUNDER!"
Bye Ya'll!!!!
XoXoxoxooooo