Are Your Ready for Winter?

We're not- but we're getting really close!

I tried to get as much seed and plants growing as possible that would grow through cool weather and winter. I have hopes of fresh veggies in the snow!

And so do my chicks!

Yes this is dried corn on the banister for some of these critters in my yard and you'll notice the raised beds are covered and house some very lovely carrots, onions, and lettuces. One has spinach and leeks coming up.

The wood is part of the 'unfinished project' for winter. The hay is for our newest 'babies'. 

Anyone wanna guess what we've drug home now?

(The couple who saw us last night- you can't guess- cuz you already know- so shhhhhh!)

"Shadows" (our appliances have names for those of you who may have forgot) houses lots of frozen veggies and even some fruits from our gardens; some were gleaned from other places.

I forgot to take a pic of my honey for winter. I did some 'bartering' for local honey and have set aside some for 'medicinal purposes only' since germies are sure to be on the way.

I also need to order some elderberries for our best medicine for colds.

I will likely be using the last of our berries this week...whether from germs or the cold, some aren't feeling so good today....but that syrup is a fantastic cure-all!

Mason jars are tucked everywhere I have extra space. They are filled with everything from relish to pickles to green beans to apple pie filling- oh and in front here are beets!

Ah and my beloved wheat!

I was able to get a couple of bags of grains for winter several weeks ago.

Some of you know what a treasure that is for me!

God is good!

We've also settled into cuddling on the couch at night and reading this great book!

2 Chr 32:27-29 And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;  Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks. Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.

 Who else is prepped for winter? How so?

The Birds and Critters of Old City Lake + more

Sometimes, even if it's rainy, you just want to be outside.

After church, we took the long way home yesterday and indulged in some of the local beauty.

We also played a little game of "Wonder Where This Road Goes" on the way home.

Old City Lake and it's beautiful birds lured us first.

Meet Mr. Black Vulture. 

Quite a wingspan on this beastie!

On to the quackers:

I'm thinking he's a domestic duck.

Kyler said; "Look Mom! They're drowning themselves!"  :)

Not only are there birds- but big turtles! See them?

Mallards!

This was my favorite. He was a beautiful charcoal grey. Anyone know what he is?

Beautiful!

See the chipmunk? A rare thing to catch more than a glimpse of here.

Hints of fall colors!

Look at his little feet paddling!

For some it's bubble baths... for me.....it's a place like this! 

My girl.

The falls were a little slow but beautiful!

We stumbled on this place too. I guess you would call it a sand quarry? Doesn't it look cool?!?!

There was a No Trespassing sign so we didn't go any further. The dangers are obvious, but boy did it look super cool!

When we got home, it started raining...so....we ran in the rain!
...and we all lived happily ever after :)

Deu 11:13-14  And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,  That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

"Boiling Springs" in Jackson County!

Here's a neat little place we found out here in our own county several weeks ago.

I hear the locals call it Boiling Springs since it is spring fed and really looks to be 'boiling' up from the middle of the pool of water. And boy is it cold!

This seems to be fed from the bubbling spring and several other places coming right from the mountain.

Like here! This seems to run out from the mountain.

It really looks like it's boiling!

There are mudding trails back through this area too. Some with very deep ruts! But it's so beautiful and densely green back in here you kinda wish it was all foot paths.

The water coming down from the spring is a beautiful green and feeds into the river that becomes Roaring River in Gainesboro.

This sandy, rocky area separates the spring feeding into the river from this creek/river which appears to come from the creek that we frequent, Blackburn, which runs off Cummins Mill Falls and all of this water feeds into Roaring River.

While we were there, several other people came and went. I imagine this is a very popular place in the heat of summer.

And on our way out, what should we see? A pack of wild turkeys and...

...a turkey vulture in a tree!

Psa 150:6  Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Attention Locals: Nature Fest Starts Tomorrow!

Here is a link to their website with a full list of courses that will be available this year.

I hope to see you there!

p.s.

Recognize the crews in those boats?

Link to More Pictures of Jackson County Tornadoes

The Tennessean has posted several devastating pictures of what happened in our area as well. One lady and her 3 year old son were in their car, which was picked up and flipped several times. Neither were injured, praise God! We see familiar faces.

There's more here too on the Cookeville Times.
More familiar faces in here too.

Click here to see a video of the actual tornado. It is on the right, click full screen.
This is what we saw first swirling in front of our home before rushing downstairs.
I still can't believe after seeing what it did that there's no damage where we first saw it swirling.

More Tornado Damage In Jackson County Tennessee

Dodson Branch, Jackson County, Tennessee

This hillside looked as if a giant hand had reached down and brushed down the trees. Chain saws can be heard for miles around and fires are everywhere, burning brush.

This picture upsets me more than anything else that I saw. Do you see the shiny object on the side of the house? You're looking at the mirror on their dresser. The tornado took out their wall. Frightening..... I was thankful to see the electric company out here on this road though- there's a chance of snow tonight. Those poor guys.

Trees lined both sides of this road but they're all down or just gone now.

The house on the hill is buried in trees and I'm not sure how much damage it sustained. The electric company wouldn't let us any further.

One is almost gutted while the other is off of it's foundation.       And btw, you can see our home from here. So scary.

The steel beams in the roof are twisted and bent. Amazing strength!

There were several people combing this yard, no doubt looking for their belongings. The back and side sustained lots of damage as did their porch.

Homes like this one are a miracle. Nearly every tree in the yard is snapped or uprooted, many on top of the homes, yet, the home stands.

Finally!- a close up of the boys that keep flying over. We luv our troops! The boys were all tickled to see them right here.

2 shots of this home and still I couldn't capture the truth....

This house seems pretty much unharmed but all the trees immediately behind it were combed over.

It looks like they cleaned this one up a bit, probably for the insurance company, but it appears it had trees on it and may have been rolled.

All 3 of these structures have damage to the roofs and every window is blown out of the home on the left.

This area looks stranger than I could capture. It is a little ravine of sorts and has high hills on either side, yet the trees have been combed down in this little valley and 2 days ago, this road was impassable. Oh, and- those houses down there are completely unharmed.

I'm not sure how this home has anything standing. Every window is out, the roof is gone, and it looks like the back wall is out. This also is the home in the other pictures that used to be surrounded by a canopy of trees. It is unrecognizable.

My heart breaks for these folks in our community and there's much more that we still could not get to.  Several of them had people donate RVs for them to stay in on their own property. 

Homeland Security and other organizations are still set up with water, food, paper products and more.

The electric company is working very hard on lines to get electricity back into these areas as well.

I truly couldn't capture the reality of it with pictures. Knowing what these areas looked like before, makes it more shocking too. There are still areas that we could not get to. (The police are trying to keep traffic at a minimum.)

It was all quite shocking and humbling.

The one thing I learned is- you can't always hear them coming. It wasn't raining and it wasn't hailing- it was all of the sudden, just there. My 16 year old said it was roaring some but I never heard it. 

We always think "there's time" but if this had hit full force on our home when we saw it- there was NO time.

2 Cor 6:2  (For he saith...behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

 James 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

More pics here.