Adventures On a Rural Homestead

100 Days of Yoga

I've been practicing daily morning Yoga With Adriene for over a year now. I started keeping track on my calendar of the consecutive days that I did yoga, and today was day #100! This yoga practice has been so healing for me. I've also been pleasantly surprised by how much strength I've gained, as well as flexibility, my word of the year. 

Sometimes Alex will ask to do bedtime yoga or meditation with me, which I really love. Yoga is wonderful for my anxiety, physical health and for my soul. I am so glad I make time for this beneficial practice. 

Hike #20~ More Appalachian Trail

The kids and I headed back to Shenandoah National Park today to hike more on the Appalachian Trail. We entered from the southern Rockfish Gap entrance in Waynesboro, only 40 minutes from our house. The first part of the trail winds along a clear mountain stream, where the boys were excited to spot a salamander and a frog.

The trail is hilly, but not as rocky as some trails around here, it was a perfect walk. 

We hiked 2.5 miles out to Sawmill Run Overlook. The AT crosses Skyline Drive there to the overlook. We soaked in the view, and had a snack and some water before heading back the way we came. 

We saw some more backpackers, which of course made Alex ask when we're going to backpack and camp overnight out there! My favorite part of the trail was the stream, and the pine needle tunnels. I love the smell of the dry pine needles cushioning the trail! 

We saw where the AT continues up to the next section, and are glad that we hiked another section of the trail! 

Hike #19~ Appalachian Trail to Ivy Creek

The boys and I took my parents up to Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park to hike on Tuesday. It was a beautiful warm day, perfect for being out together. We parked at the Ivy Creek Overlook and hiked on the Appalachian Trail about 1.7 miles to the creek. 

We saw two couples that are thru hiking the Appalachian Trail. The boys and I have batted around the idea of thru hiking for a while now, and are still in the dreaming and researching stage. Alex loved the trail, and was so inspired that he chattered the whole hike about how he wants to be thru hiking right now! 

The view from an overlook about 0.7 miles into the hike was beautiful, and the cool breeze felt lovely! We were so hot, I felt way overdressed in long pants. 

The trail went through a magnificent tunnel of Mountain Laurel, that will be spectacular when blooming in June. Then we came to the beautiful Ivy Creek. We had a wonderful time resting and watching the boys play on the huge boulders. I soaked up the healing sound of the mountain stream, one of my very favorite things in the whole world is the sound of a clear stream.

I could have spent all day at the creek, but we were so hungry! The boys had packed snacks in their packs, and we had plenty of water. We hiked back to the overlook and set up our chairs in some shade to enjoy our picnic lunch. I felt so content to sit on the top of the mountain with my family after such a wonderful hike! After lunch Alex, Mom and I hiked some more of the Appalachian Trail heading north. It is such a nice section of trail there, not too rocky or steep, with lovely views now while the leaves are still off the trees. We walked a total of 4.5 miles. When we got home I got out the AT maps that I have, and we saw that there are 550 miles of the AT in Virginia, and 107 miles of the AT in the Shenandoah National Park. We live between the Elkton and Waynesboro entrances of the parks, so it's an ideal spot to get some miles on the AT. Alex of course wants to hike all 107 miles in one go, so we've been researching backpacking. I think we'll build up slowly, and first do a hike and overnight together. The possibilities are endless, we sure are thankful to live so close to so many wonderful trails! 

 

 

Easter and Hike #18

We had a lovely Easter yesterday, enjoying the warm sunshine and good food. We hid eggs for the boys in the backyard filled with coins, fossils and rocks. They said it was the best egg hunt ever!

While I cooked in the morning the boys worked on digging their small pond in the backyard and explored at our pond in the pasture. After a delicious ham lunch the boys asked if we could go hike at Augusta Springs Wetlands. They got new good binoculars in their Easter baskets, and wanted to try them. 

Eli took a little notebook along to record the wildlife we saw: geese, mallard ducks, painted turtle, newts, minnows and larger fish. While the boys and Nick explored around the wetlands I headed into the woods to hike the uplands trail loop. Much of the trail was beautiful moss, and there were many magnificent old growth trees. 

Eli spotted Blood Root blooming, one of my favorite spring wildflowers! We call Eli our Eagle Eyes, because his ability to spot things is so marvelous. 

This is such a beautiful place to visit, we're all enjoying finding new places near us this year! We had a wonderful Easter, I'm glad the weather was so nice so we could spend the day outside. 

Hike #17~ First Solo Hike

I did my first solo hike in the National Forest yesterday, and once I conquered the fear of getting out there it was so lovely! There is no cell service in the forest, so that made it seem even scarier for me to hike alone. But I was prepared with all my essentials and things like pepper spray on my wrist, whistle, knife etc. I read lots of articles with good advice for women hiking alone, and decided to start somewhere familiar. I hiked the North River Gorge Trail that we know and love, and then hiked on the Wild Oak trail up to Lookout Mountain. This trail has everything~ forest, river, rocks and a beautiful view! 

It was only 22 degrees when I left home, and there was ice along the trail! 

When I got back to the parking lot there were 19 cars, but I didn't see a single person on the trail! I had the overlook all to myself. I sat on the big rocks and soaked up the view and tranquility. 

On my walk back I stopped to listen to the river as I walked across the wooden bridge. And I got to see a huge pileated woodpecker flying low through the woods! I loved my hours alone in the woods, and plan to hike here more often! It's so nice to have such a great spot only 17 minutes from home!

Chicken Update

We've lost a couple laying hens recently, one Black Australorp who seemed to have an impacted croup died last month. This week Gerry, one of our sweet auntie hens died. She had a swollen belly and hadn't been eating. We put her in a separate space, Nick drained the abscess from her belly and got her to eat a bit, but she couldn't recover. We know this is the reality as some of our favorite hens start to get older, but it is still sad. The hens are laying well, we got 30 eggs one day this week, our new high record! We've been eating lots of delicious egg meals, and like to have hard-boiled eggs for snacks. 

We added to our chicken population this week, our 25 Freedom Ranger meat chickens came. We are so glad they arrived before the cold snap, and they all seem healthy! 

Hike #16~ Confederate Breastworks

My parents came over this morning and we started our adventure at the Confederate Breastworks at the top of Shenandoah Mountain. We soaked in the amazing view, and hiked the interpretive trail to read the letters a Civil War soldier encamped there wrote home to his wife. His letters depict the tough conditions~ like days of sleet so they couldn't have a fire to get warm, and then marching 12 miles towards Staunton in mud up to their knees. 

We hiked a bit on the Shenandoah Mountain Trail, I'm eager to get back up and hike more of that lovely trail soon. Then we headed to Braley Pond for our picnic lunch and explore time. 

The beaver dam didn't seem to be active, but we did see lots of newts and minnows.

We had just finished eating lunch when Eli spotted what we thought was a Bald Eagle, then we realized it was a beautiful Osprey! Alex saw it swoop across the pond and then we all got to watch it eat a fish through binoculars. It sat in the very top of a dead tree the whole time we explored, it was so wonderful to see. 

The wind howled and we were freezing cold while we ate lunch, but the warm sunshine and walk around the pond felt good. 

I realized as we walked this morning that this time in the woods is so good and healing for me, and it's also a good opportunity to practice flexibility in mind and body. There are several trails that I want to hike from the pond. The far side of the pond is a great spot for the kids to explore, and maybe next time my mom and I will do some hiking while Dad and the kids adventure! I am so thankful for this time with my people in the woods, every step and every breath is restorative and good for my soul. 

 

Seed Starting

I realized that my goal for this years vegetable garden seems odd, to have less! Last year I had about 30 bell pepper plants, which is about 15 too many! I also planted about 20 jalapeno pepper plants. For weeks we were giving peppers away to everyone we knew. This year I hope to plant just what we need. For the last few years I've started our tomato seeds using the winter sowing method in large spinach containers. Last year I started about 130 tomato plants, and gave away many in my local homesteading group. This year I got individual containers, so it's easier to control the amount I plant. 

This weekend I started basil, parsley, dill and flats of marigolds and zinnias in my two little greenhouses. They worked well last year, I hope this is a successful gardening season! 

National Camp at Home Day

Saturday was National Camp at Home Day, but our weather looked iffy for Saturday night into Sunday. So Friday afternoon the boys set up our tents. We had a lovely afternoon outside soaking up the warm sunshine. Alex could set up our mammoth 8-person tent mostly by himself, while I organized our bedding and Nick got dinner. 

After dinner the boys played soccer, I was the cheering audience. I love to see their soccer skills improve, as well as their good sportsmanship. 

We had a lovely evening in the tent, playing games and listening to the spring peepers. Then about the time that we started to go to sleep we realized that the neighbors had separated their mama cows and calves, and the mamas were bellowing in distress. The cows are up the big hill across the road from us, and it sounded like non-stop ship foghorns. Alex and I headed inside around 10, he couldn't sleep because of the cow noise and I was freezing cold. Nick and Eli came in around 2 a.m., the cows were still bellowing! But we did hear something so neat in the night, we heard a fox vixen's mating screams. Hearing that and the spring peepers was really wonderful.

Even though we didn't make it the whole night in our tent, we still had a great camp out together. Hopefully next time it will be quieter and warmer! 

 

Hike #15~ Blue Ridge Tunnel

The boys and I had dentist appointments in Waynesboro this morning. It takes us about 40 minutes to get there, so we usually do something fun in the area after our appointments. None of us had cavities today, so we celebrated by going for a hike! We drove over the foggy mountain to the east entrance of the Blue Ridge Tunnel. The tunnel is a historic railroad tunnel build in the 1850s, and recently opened as a hiking trail. The eastern trail head is 1/2 mile from the parking lot, and the tunnel is 1 mile long. We were prepared with flashlights and warm clothes, it was cold and pitch black! 

The water along the edge was like a mini creek, and the boys even found crayfish and a huge salamander! 

It was a very fun adventure, that required great bravery on my part. I do not like driving over the mountain in fog, and the silent blackness of the tunnel was a bit creepy. But it was worth it, the boys loved the neat experience!