The City Mouse in the Country

      I know, wrong state but read on!           Sue and I like to play things by ear.  When we travel just to get away it's often by throwing a dart at the map or picking a direction.   These little jaunts often lead to adventures, such as exploring near by Oil City for example.  However these short jaunts into the unknown only recharge our batteries.  Neither Sue or myself has had a proper vacation in some time.        So given the opportunity to visit friends in the Great state of Tennessee, we took full advantage of it, and flew by the seat of our pants southward with no plan in mind.     Our pants were ripped and torn however and our bums were left flapping in the wind by the end of the trip.        My buddy Tim is an old friend form High School.  We grew apart over time but started to reconnect over the last few years.  He owns eight (8) acres of land outside of Shelbyville, TN.   He owns several horses, a goat, chickens, has a fish pond,etc.     I wanted to pick his brain

        I have to be honest, I wasn't sure if or when I would get back to this blog.   It is easy to make excuses but honestly, I've not done much of anything to improve the "homestead" in over a week or two; and that honestly bothers me. An old Caboose in Stoneboro     I do tend to be a lazy man and I just feel that I should be doing more to help prepare this home for the coming winter, but so far the temperatures have not dropped below the mid 40's and the last  two days have been a pretty consistent rain, which makes doing anything outside unpleasant at best and down right near impossible at worst.      What this has allowed the lovely Sue and I to do however is spend a little time traveling, exploring and finally getting our new pellet stove installed.  Well Sue grew up in this particular part of Western Pennsylvania, I did not.  We decided to go sight seeing, take in the wonders of Autumn and just relax for a bit.       Now generally speaking I would get all

Over the past month we have moved from one part of our lives and into another part.  Nearly everything is where it should be, the work on the house is scheduled and Sue is starting to concentrate on getting her business back up and running.  Our lives are getting back to "Normal" or what ever constitutes that right now.   We are falling into a routine. I like my job with NYL and the fact that they were willing to let me keep it, even though I moved over 1000 miles away from my home office.   Our new house was slowly coming together and growing on me, although I still had some reservations. For example, while the local volunteer fire department was only about five miles away, the nearest hospital was further than that and had a reputation for barely being able to deliver puppies much less any serious issues that either of us my have.   Going to the store was going to be less and less a weekly or biweekly trip like it was before and more of a monthly one time option simply

      Years ago I remember reading that Title line from a poem.  I've long forgotten the poem, the poets name and even the book I read it in.        However that first line has always stuck with me.        It is quiet here in Western Pennsylvania, I can hear the two dozen or so different species of birds sing in the trees that surround my home.  They swoop in sometimes, chickadee's and mourning doves, to eat at my feeders.     I've not seen a robin yet, and I do miss the family of Cardinals that used to come home every year and build a nest not far from my home in Tampa.   The young ones first flight was often to our feeder, where they would feast on black oily sunflower seeds and knock the little grains to the grass below.  Where rabbits and squirrels would gather to feast.       Here a lone chipmunk bides his time and avoids the feral cats that would gobble him whole.  I watch as he nervously stuffs his cheeks before disappearing into the underbrush.         It is quie