Sneaky Snake?

After my husband spent an hour trying to drag a piece of tree to the truck that weighed 3 times more than he did, he looked down and saw a snake.

Our very first snake!

Unfortunately, it seemed that we had just run over it, as it didn't move.

He picked it up and set it in the truck bed for a closer look.

Here's a closer look at its head.

 

Not bad for a Blackberry, huh?

The snake looked just fine to us.  Of course, a truck is pretty heavy, but we're hoping it was just playing dead.

We put it back on the ground.

A little snake research showed that some snakes like to play dead. 

Hopefully it won't be there when we visit the next time, though that may not tell us much.

Happy Thoughts

20 years ago today, my husband asked me to marry him.

I'm so glad I said yes!

The Picnic Table

Every time we visit our woods, there is no place to sit.  So we decided to stop at a local hardware store and pick up a picnic table we had admired.

We'd like to buy a picnic table.

Oh you really don't want it.

Yes, we do.  How much is it?

It's too much.

Well how much is that?

$275.

And so my husband made one.

First he made it at our house.  But the darn thing weighed about 250 pounds, so we disassembled it, put it in the truck and reassembled it when we got to The Farm.

Now I know what you are thinking, but yes, he remembered to number all of the pieces, so it went together really fast.

Happy Distractions

I need to distract myself today, so I thought I would put up a picture of something that makes me smile.

It took my husband and I about 2 months to pick out and about 4 hours to put up this cattle fence in September.

Please ignore the fact that if we had cows, they could walk right around the fence.

Orchids

In retirement, my Dad, who lives in Roanoke, Virginia, has become an orchid fanatic.  He has about 150 orchids, up from 100 just a few years ago.

And those are the ones he admits to.

Years ago he and my Mom had a sun room built because they wanted a sunny 'extra room'.  Mom and I know it was just so he would have a place to put his orchids in the winter.  As we speak, he is working on creating a computer-controlled mister that will allow him (!) to go on trips without worrying about the orchids.

He has been trying to convert me for years, giving me his extras after repotting, taking me to orchid shows, asking me how my orchids are doing.

I always told him to only give me ones he could stand to let go, as I have a black thumb.  I probably have about 20 now. 

My husband wishes he had the thousands of dollars back I have spent on plants that haven't made it.  He even told me once to please just write a check to the garden center and not come home with any plants, as it would save him the effort of planting and then digging up a dead plant.

Well of course the free plants are doing just fine. 

Over Thanksgiving my Dad and I were trying to determine if there were orchids that could withstand the temperatures at our Tree Farm in Northern Florida.

This morning, I came upon a link to Native Florida Orchids.  Apparently there are quite a few.