Lens In The Grass

Well hello!

 

This beautiful black snake came a visiting last night!

The dude wasn’t in a hurry, nor did it seem bothered by the horse or us humans. Keep slowly slithering towards the house and eventually went under the front deck and guessing under the house.

Here’s a short video of its approach, click the link - “Visiting Black Beauty’

As temping as it was to pick the dude up, I fought the urge and left it alone. I’m guessing it was on the clock working and hoping it sticks around the house to help in keeping the rodent population in check.

Also, just learned, thanks Google Machine, that all nonvenomous black snakes in Tennessee are protected by state law making it illegal to kill, capture or harass them…who knew!

A Blast From The Past

Who remembers Herman’s Sporting Goods?!

Herman’s Sporting Goods was a sporting goods retailer in the United States founded in 1916. Unfortunately, it filed for bankruptcy in 1993 and closed completely in 1996.

Here’s a fishing lure I came across today, that I bought back in the day from Herman’s -

I have fond memories of Herman’s. I visited it often and spent quite a bit of time there. It holds a special place in my heart ❤️ and reminds me of a time and place that still brings a smile to my face, a tear to my eyes and tugs at my heart.

Get A Room

Insect fornication -

A couple of Milkweed Beetles (trying to) enjoy a romantic outing!

A Half Dozen Please

Found myself a hidden farm stand on the other side of Greeneville called “Richer Farms” -

A quaint little place on Rt351, set back from the road about 100 yards. They had all fresh and locally grown veggies - tomatoes 🍅, cucumbers 🥒 , beans 🫘, squash and my bestest CORN 🌽; their own, first pick of the season sweet corn! Their prices were super reasonable too, for example a dozen ear of corn was only $5.00!

Today, it was being run by the honor system with all their offering on the front porch. Make your selections and deposit the money in the mailbox or you could also pay using Venmo -

The corn selection today did not look like their FB picture from this past weekend. Guessing it went fast but I was able to snag a half dozen that still looked pretty good -

Of course I ate all six, DUH -

I may have even left some for the chicks to enjoy. Truth be told, eating corn with a missing front tooth is a bit challenging. I have to do twice the passes in each row but for local grown sweet corn it’s well worth it (as I unbuckle my belt)!

One Of A Kind

A Beautiful Calm Night

Last nights sky, around 9ish, with the moon in view.

To Set The Record Straight

It’s sad really, that this needs to be explained, alas.

Silly me, thinking people were brighter than the commenter in the above pic…

A Handsome Terrapene! - *Update*

I saw a Facebook posting the other day regarding box turtles that read -

"Found a box turtle in your yard? Don't move it. They live 50+ years inside an area the size of a football field and know every log and stump in it.  Relocate one "somewhere safer" and it spends the rest of its life trying to walk home.  Most don't make it."!

Well, that hit hard, so I decided Nolan needed to be returned back to the area I caught him - Rt107 in Jonesborough. So earlier this past week, that’s what I did -

I don't recall the exact spot we found him but did my best to try and get him in the general vicinity, hoping his walk home wouldn't be too far off.

Just beyond the trees in the picture below was a small pond about 100 yards off the highway. So, I walked him down there, lectured him about the dangers of trying to cross the road and thanked him for spending a week with me -

I'm sure he'll be just fine.

Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day dad, miss you -

Memories -

 “so, what do you want for Father’s Day?”

Airbnb Under The Eaves

Did a bit of scouting today. No, not Boy Scouting or Posse Scouting. Rather, potential accessible Nolichucky fishing spots scouting.

While checking out the one spot pictured below, under Rt107 in Greeneville, I noticed a slew of bird activity around and under the bridge.

Upon closer inspection I could see what looked like oodles of some type of bird nests, all neatly lined up under one of the bridge sides - 

Here’s a closer look -

Turns out these are mud nests and they are made by Cliff Swallows!

It was awesome to watch them coming and going and circling above and below the bridge, all the while never bumping into to one another.

Seems they’re excellent insect eaters - lots of mosquitoes, flies and gnats. Perhaps, an ideal spot to fish near, assuming they are in fact dining on most of the mosquitoes in that area, which I will assume then that there’s that many less to bother me!

See What I “Spotted”!

You need to look closely, as it’s the only pic I was able to take -

This little’n was running smack dab down the center of Bailey Bridge Road (Rt.353) in Chuckey yesterday afternoon, I kid you not!

I came around a bend in the road and was shocked to see this youngster running towards me! I was caught off guard but stopped and reached for my phone but seems this spooked it and off into the woods it went. Fortunately, there wasn’t any other vehicles coming in either direction.

Adorable baby fawn, still spotted. Guessing it was scared and looking for its mother.

Time To Get After It

It’s gonna be a beautiful day, rise and shine!

Here’s a peek 🫣 at what you miss when you sleep in. Not only do you miss the sunrise but also some skittish early morning grazers like these three, click the link to see -

Three In A Row

Have a blessed day 🙏

Beware Where You Step!

Well, lookie there!

Thankfully, I found them BEFORE they found anyone because it could have been painful and dangerous!

Do y’all know what this quarter sized hole in the ground is, hmmm 🤔 -

Click the link to watch a short video for the answer -

Can You Beelieve It!

Bees 🐝 but not just any ole bees, nasty yellow jackets! Highly defensive and mean, and just feet away from our front stairs where we come and go, and near where Ms. Trixie goes to do her business 

Suffice to say, they won’t be stinging anyone. We took care of the pending problem and let’s just say, we attacked before them!

Here Chick, Chick, Chick 🐣

As Ray Kinsella famously said in the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, “if you build it, they will come”…

So, we tested this theory and built this 2’x6’ cage -

And lo and behold, it worked!!

(10) Black Sex Link pullets and (1) Lavender Orpington cockerel, all 5-weeks old, magically appeared -

Fingers crossed 🤞 this is in fact a cockerel.

We’ll know soon enough -

And we’re off…

Sunday Blues

Yup, it just passed over us, wetting everything and actually still raining -

It was a bit ominous, as you could see it coming -

Headed towards JC, so much for croquet…

A Handsome Terrapene!

Meet “Nolan”, short for Nolachuckey -

We rescued him attempting to cross Rt. 107 in Jonesborough!

He has a bit of damage to the top of his shell but otherwise, he looks to be in great shape and is a handsome dude -

Gave him a bath, then let him soak for a bit in clean water to get himself a drink.

He’s getting bolder and staying out of his shell -

My favorite type of turtle 🐢 hands down!

Ms. Trixie met and befriended Nolan -

Fun Fact - Did you know that the box turtle was officially designated as the Tennessee state reptile in 1995!

A Couple Dozen Please

 We found the perfect roadside, on your honor, fresh egg stand this morning on Rt. 107 in Jonesborough -

Only $2.50 per dozen!

When was the last time you could buy eggs that price, um never -

They are on the smaller size, certainly not large eggs, but that’s fine being these are farm fresh!

A Hole In The Wall It Is!

We’re learning that many places of business are closed on Sundays and or close early in these East Tennessee parts. Places like mom and pop stores and restaurants, co-ops and feed stores and most Mennonite establishments.

Well, after breaking our backs cutting, hauling and burning limbs and brush last Sunday afternoon, we opted for a bit of lunch during our break time. Alas, all the local little eateries we closed…except for the Hole In the Wall Diner in Chuckey -

This hidden gem is open till 2:00PM on Sundays and only 11 miles away, so off we went! 

As you might expect, since being one of the few places open on Sunday, the place was busy.

With only one waitress and one cook things were a tad slow. However, that wasn’t an issue as we were in no hurry. We were definitely outsiders and may have gotten a few stares or two. Several parties looked to have come from church, we on the other hand NOT so much and filthy dirty too.

Think I’m a liking these cowboy commandments -

Our smash burgers eventually arrived and they ended up being well worth the wait! The prices were super reasonable and the waitress was super nice.

We’ll definitely be keeping this place on our go-to option list and plan to stop in one of these days for breakfast, as their menu looked delicious.

Find The Critter

Can you find the critter in the below pic?!

Apologies, as the pic is a bit blurry -

I saw oodles of praying mantis egg sacks when we were clearing brush, so I’m pleased to see this little and encouraged to this there are many more out there -

This dude was crawling on the inside of the sliding screen door. It was not very cooperative when I tried to gently catch it so I could move it to a safer place, very speedy!

A Deluge I Tell Ya!

We got a bit of rain yesterday afternoon, geesh -

The skies opened and it poured! Kinda came out of nowhere too.

However, as you can see, the water is draining off Pritchard and running down our easement in a torrent! 

There used to be a trench that ran parallel along the right side of the easement but it’s long gone. We’ll be mulling this issue over and giving some serious thought to having a new trench dug to manage and control all this water, when it come and to minimize the erosion.

Excuse Us!

Insect fornication -

There’s just no privacy these days, geesh!

A Little Privacy Please

I spied this deer 🦌 peering into the house last evening, right through the sliding glass door! Geesh, how bout minding your own business dear (see what I did here 🤣)…

I was too slow on the camera draw. She ran off as I was trying to get closer to the window, you know to take that perfect pic, alas.

However, my brother was sitting in the living room and in a perfect spot with a perfect view . He was super quick on the camera draw and snapped this rather coolio pic.

Redneck Relics For Sure

Do you youngsters know what theses are -

I finally stopped into the Redneck Relics antiques store the other day, which is just down 11E.

An interesting place to say the least. Not very organized, rather quite messy but a fun place to get lost in.