Dear Snake:
You are hereby notified to vacate the premises as of 8/7/2013.
While I am certain that you have enjoyed your residency here in the barn in years past, I must now insist that you leave. Immediately.
Your very presence is causing me great mental anguish. When I accidentally picked you up the other day, mistaking you for a stick, I thought I was going to die. In addition, you pose a threat to my chickens and the eggs I hope they one day produce. You have greatly interfered with my relationship with my magnificent horses as I now am afraid to enter the barn. You have, quite frankly, stolen my barn peace.
I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. And please know that I greatly appreciate any rodent eradication efforts you might have engaged in while residing here.
You have until midnight on the date stated above to be vacate.
I mean you no harm, only the best of luck.
Regards,
Rebekah, The New Farm Owner
(who finds you intriguing and wants no harm to fall upon you, but cannot find the courage to share the barn with you. Can. Not.)
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Good Morning from the Ozarks,
Here in SW Missouri, we pick persimmon seeds, open them up, check to see if there is the shape of a knife, fork, or spoon to predict the winter, it works every year. We are hoping to see the shape of a spoon this year, that will mean shoveling lots of snow.
We too start preparing for winter in August, our local sawmill gives away their scraps, so we load up for cooking on my old cookstove.
We have a "ice storm pantry" named after the ice storm in 2007, where we keep all extras and necessities "just in case". Every time I go grocery shopping I buy an extra item or two all thru the year to stock up gradually.
Growing up in San Diego Calif where the temps are pretty warm all year long, I longed for a white snowy winter, and still do here in the Ozarks.
This year the Farmer’s Almanac promises us one too, YAY!!
Happiness to you, gathering your beans, and counting on a snowy winter!
Diana, Noel, Mo.
Oh how the traditions are so wonderful! Miss the Appalachian mountains fogs, had never heard about the beans though – nice to know. Around here we watch the horses, if they start getting their heavy coats on we know it is going to be an early cold, how much for how long is a guess though, nothing accurate like the beans. Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your anniversary of loving the mountains. God Bless.
I grew up a few miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway and I remember it being said that the number of foggy days would be how many frosts you would have. But I like the idea of snowy days better! Now I am in Idaho in town and can’t see the mountains (boo!)unless I drive to the interstate (sometimes the only high spot around). I wonder if the number of smoky days has some significance? I know it means dry and lots of wildfires! So I am "green" with envy of you (green being only where the irrigation water flows here.) Totally different place, but I am trying to "bloom where I am planted". I even found a 12′ 1956 glamper that is sitting in my back yard (a girl can dream, can’t she?) I am now 65 and my dreams sort of outweigh reality, but I am still active and thankful for what I have. Best to you.
Here in the Shenandoah Valley of Va. W watch the "wooly worms". I don’t know their real name. They are brown fuzz with a black fuzzy stripe. We were always told that if they didnt have the stripe and were solid brown, it would be a hard winter. Or maybe if they were all black with no brown. I can’t ever remember! This year I have seen very few of any combination! What does that mean?! I am voting for a snowy winter!
Oh I am glad we do not have that ritual, we get plenty of snow without adding the fog days into the mix. I would sure love to ship some of the white stuff to you because you appreciate it so much more than I. Beautiful foggy picture and I would love to visit that store, right down my alley. We have a local general store but it looks so modern. Have a great week!
You would think as a resident in Minnesota that we would have such a tradition as counting foggy mornings to predict upcoming snow events in the winter but I haven’t heard of such. Oh, and Rebekah, you need hot chocolate in your snow pantry! When we hear a snow storm is coming we check our hot chocolate supply, our tea, toilet paper and cat food. I always have soup frozen in the freezer.
Darn you Rebekah! What are you doing saying the " S " word out loud already? Hahahah. I’m already seeing grumpy faces on my fellow New Englanders with the end of summer in sight.
And, the rain and clouds we are having right now don’t help the situation. On top of that, our local news channel announced that we are in for a " bitter col winter " . I guess they’ve been reading the farmers almanac too! One thing we have to do this year is buy a generator. The last few winters ( and fall during hurricane season ) have been challenging leaving so many with out power for days and often weeks on end. I don’t wanna be in that crowd this year! I do love the snow though, and days locked inside with my family and lots of good food… But I like to be arm too! I’m wishing YOU a far full of beans and all the snow you can handle! As for this farmgirl…I’m content to keep cutting flowers until the first frost. ( which I feel will come sooner rather than later this year )
Happy Farmin’ sister!
Hugs!!!
Deb ( Beach farmgirl )
Hello from California! I live in a little logging town one hours drive almost exactly west to Sacramento, or east to South Lake Tahoe. Our town looked just like your picture, except that ours was smoke, not fog from the Yosemite fire (although it is quite a distance away). We try to figure our upcoming snowfall by a plethora of falling pine cones, or how fat our cat is getting. This year we have a cute little kitten, and are yet not able to set our winter clock to his girth (he grows bigger daily anyway). However, we do know that we have had our last snow when it "Snows on the Dogwood". That we can set our winter clock to! Have a wonderful winter, but don’t forget to enjoy the fall.
Deborah
Wow. I guess it’s true then. I heard three people in as many days say that if this rainy weather pattern holds we’re going to be in for a rough winter. We got rid of a ton of stuff in our move but kept the sleds. Bring it!
Well here in the Interior of Alaska we watch for the migrating swans leaving for the winter. We live right next to a big game refuge that is the summer home to millions of migratory birds. Some of those being swans. We always know when the first snow will be by the day the swans leave. It is quite an awesome sight to see hundreds of swans all leaving on the same day. You can then start counting the days until the first snow. One, two, and on the third day we get snow. This unscientific method of forecasting always works. They’ll be flying out pretty soon here so we will keep a close watch on the skies for the next few weeks. I love the snow too, you are not alone. Marji