Heritage of the Land

Last week my grandson James helped me place grave markers on James Dewberry and Jane Graben Dewberry's graves.  They are my grandsons' great, great, great, great grandfather and grandmothers. James is a family name that goes way back.  They worked and took care of the land and now we get our turn in this  thing called time. 

James and his little sister Eden had a fun time learning about where they came from.  It was a rainy day but we got it done and had fun doing it. They have many other ancestors in this resting place. 

Nathan helped me with bush hogging roads and firelanes.  It takes several days to complete but it was good to have him helping me.  He is young and can do much more than I.

Taking care of the land.  Here engineers are laying out a stream crossing in our forest to help keep the water clean for the drinking water.  We hope to complete this project in the near future. I warned the workers to watch for our many rattlers on the property. 

This one got in the way while we were bush hogging.  We skinned it out and plan on adding its skin to our exhibits in the lodge.

Not Seen Very Often

Last week James was catching and observing cicadas.  He was letting this one crawl on him.  

There were several shells on the pine that they were observing.

Wow an eagle in the City Limits of Lineville!  We were traveling to our lodge a week ago when at a crossroads I saw something down one road that looked like an eagle on the ground.  I quickly turned around and turned into the other road when an eagle flew up from the road into a tree.  It was beautiful sitting in the pine tree.  A car came up behind us and it flew down the hollow away from the road.  This eagle was only a short distance from our property and what made it more special was watching a video on youtube just this day of a black bear not far from our property also.  That is how I came up with the title for this post.

You can go to youtube and search "black bear in Talladega National Forest" and see this video.

Trees and Flowers

I have add several pictures of wildflowers and trees to the Blog.  I have other information I am going add soon when time permits.

Animal Rescue to Huckleberries and Summer Food Plots

The other morning while we were eating breakfast we saw something in the pool, it was a young chipmunk.  He was desperate to get out because he swam right up to me for me to get him out.  He stayed on the concrete for a short time then scampered off to his home.

We found a patch of huckleberries the other day after a rain while out.  We picked several for eating.

WHAT KIND OF BERRY WILL EAT ANOTHER BERRY?......... A Dewberry!  

James and Selah enjoyed the berries right out of the hat.  James said these were the best berries he had ever eaten, I agree!

Between rains we were able to get one soybean/browntop field in.  The deer are working on the soybeans but the turkeys will be fat on all the seed that are to come.

A sampling of the deer tracks.

Lots of Rain

It has been a wet and rather cool year so far this summer. We were not able to get corn in this year and only have one field planted in soybeans, browntop, and sunflowers.  We still plan to plant chufas and more summer crops if weather will permit.  Had a welcomed site where we were unloading the tractor the other day before all this rain, it was where young turkeys had been dusting in the road.

Last week I spoke to loggers school and certification.  I spoke on prescribed fire, a landowners view.  It seemed to go over real well.  I was one of three presenters that day. 

4-H and Relic Hunting

I have added several new pictures of "Wildflowers" to the Blog from this spring.

Yesterday, I had the privilege to judge the 4-H wood projects at the District Competition.  It was good to see what these young people had constructed from wood. 

The other day we were riding over the property and my grandson wanted to look for artifacts left behind on the railroad bed from about 100 years ago.  His dad assisted him with the discoveries of old spikes, bolts, and other metal pieces. 

It is so good for my grandson to be able to explore the outdoors.  That is what being a boy is all about.  Before we looked for artifacts we panned for gold in the branch.  We found some small specks but no large nuggets.  Maybe next time!

Warmer Weather after 6" of Rain

The catfish were really hungry this morning after all the rain we had Saturday.  The water was dingy but this did not stop them from finding the food.

These two birds, one male and one female, are called cow birds.  These birds followed the buffalo when they traveled across most of the United States and this caused these birds to develop strange habits. They are the only birds in the U.S. that use the nest of other birds to lay their eggs and allow other birds to raise their young.  These habits were developed because the buffalo was always on the move and they were following them and could not raise their young.  They were photographed in our pasture.