Good things and not-so-good

The garden is in and now we're working on the painting the inside of the house. This place hasn't seen any TLC since we bought it. It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do to spruce it up a bit. Hey, we got electricity and hot running water so I'm not complaining.

We're even taken time out to check out some of the local trails here. Jenn and I saddled up the bikes and went out perusing on a day off. The creeks are up here from all the rain and we counted sixteen creek crossings on the 8 mile trip we took. Nothing like taking the wind out of your sales after finally getting up to cruising speed but you sure didn't have to worry about getting to hot. Those clear, cold, mountain creeks are just the thing to put the chill in Jill.

The other thing that makes Jill Chill is the sight of snakes and yes, we've got them. I was weed wacking the lawn the other day and came up on a copperhead. That'll scare the bejesus out of you. The closet weaver tells me that they are a lot smaller than bears or moose so what IS the problem? Maybe it's because bears and moose don't inject poison and you can see them coming.

I need to acquire snake strategy like always wear boots and carry a shovel to decapitate those suckers as soon as I see them. At first I thought well you must identify them as there are good snakes and not-so-good snakes. After talking to the neighbor who can tell snake stories that'll make your hair stand on end I figure the only good snake is a dead one. She says serpents are the form of the devil and when she douses them with gasoline and sets them on fire there just going back to where they come from. I don't think my kin (or hers for that matter) come from the snake charming clan.

Getting ready to head to Branson next week with all my goods in tow. It'll be good to see some of my southern buddies once again. Grenetta Bray is one of my special buds that I've met on the basket trail. This woman has more southern euphemisms that you can shake a stick at and being around her is just one big hoot. She and her basket friends are the inspiration for a new antler class: BYO. Grenetta told me, look Jill you make lovely baskets but we want to know how to drill our own antlers. So therefore, the BYO - Antler class where I teach students how to talk to the antler and drill it too. Class is in Garfield, AR on June 27th.