[ponyakr]

went out this morning & it sounded like all the birds in the neighborhood were already awake & singin their song as loud as they could. it was a happy sound. they didn't sound stressed out a bit. & why should they? i read somewhere that God feeds the birds & clothes the flowers in such splender, that no king has ever been able 2 match it! its great 2 live out in the country. i could pick out the sound of several of the birds i heard this morning--dove, barn swallow, mocking bird, giant woodpecker & the neighbors rooster. there were lots of others i can't name. i'm sure an expert bird watcher could have picked out dozens of different birds. anyhow, i feel sorry for those who live in the city & don't get 2 enjoy Gods creation(or what big banged its way 2 earth, if you believe that) every day like we do. i consider it a blessing 2 be able 2 enjoy all that country living has 2 offer & may i never take it for granted! & what does this have 2 do with pontiacs? well, my shop is semi open air & rite in the middle of all that sweet music!

[ponyakr]

found this while pilferin thru some old pics. it would be better if presented at Christmas time, but i may forget it then. this is a shot of our very 1st & last tree--a pine seedling with a ball somebody gave us. TJ really went all out that year! after that, she said it was 2 much trouble, so now, she just puts the cards we get on the mantle til Christmas is over then rakes em all off into the trash can--you gotta luv this gal--she's practicle--a real no-nonsense, down 2 earth, country gal. & she's been that way so long now, she can get by with it. folks will say "well that's just TJ for ya". but, you gota hand it 2 her, she really splerged that 1st year. if you'll notice, she displayed 2 trees that year--counting the 1 in the drawing she'd made, hangin on the wall.

[cuz68]

Did you plant it, And how big is it now? I live in the county less than 10 min to town.

[Greg Reid]

Yeah, I'm out in the woods myself. This time of year, I have a real problem discouraging the birds from building nests on anything that looks suitable to them. I just cleaned one out of the gas bbq grill this morning. Hated to do it 'cause it was just about complete... but I wanted her to find a new spot before she drops dem eggs. I don't have the heart to toss one out then...

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by cuz68

Did you plant it, And how big is it now? I live in the county less than 10 min to town.

are you kidding? TJ took it 2 the dumpster soon as Christmas was over & swore off the live Christmas tree thang forever! actually it was probably just a branch instead of a seedling like i said in the post. she said we probably still have that ball somewhere up in the attic stored away with all the other decorations people have given us thru the years that we have never used. & she added that as of this time she has absolutely no intentions of ever using any of them! you gotta luv this gal.

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Yeah, I'm out in the woods myself. This time of year, I have a real problem discouraging the birds from building nests on anything that looks suitable to them. I just cleaned one out of the gas bbq grill this morning. Hated to do it 'cause it was just about complete... but I wanted her to find a new spot before she drops dem eggs. I don't have the heart to toss one out then...

there's always birds that buid nests in TJ's horse barn every spring. she keeps an eye on em & gives me a progress report when there is some new developement.

[Stuckinda60s]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Yeah, I'm out in the woods myself. This time of year, I have a real problem discouraging the birds from building nests on anything that looks suitable to them. I just cleaned one out of the gas bbq grill this morning. Hated to do it 'cause it was just about complete... but I wanted her to find a new spot before she drops dem eggs. I don't have the heart to toss one out then...

Put a rubber snake where the birds can see it somewhere close to where they're building the nest. They'll find someplace else, in a jiffy. Owls in the vicinity also work.

[ponyakr]

thought i'd let ya'll cruise down the trail along with TJ & her 1hp/4wd wonderhorse. the 1st shot is on what she calls the "catheral trail" because of this tree arch. here's evidence of the thunderstorm that came thru--lightning hit this tree. next is called deep creek trail. the trail crosses here, where the banks are not so steep. the last 1 is down in the deep woods where the light only shines thru when the sun is almost directly overhead like in this shot.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by Stuckinda60s

Put a rubber snake where the birds can see it somewhere close to where they're building the nest. They'll find someplace else, in a jiffy. Owls in the vicinity also work.

These birds are too unpredictable and persistent for me to keep rubber snakes in all the possible locations. I've had them build a nest inside my garage between three cans of primer and paint on top of a cabinet because I left the garage door up. They've frequently built nests in potted houseplants we put out on the front porch in the spring. Like I mentioned, I just cleaned one out of my gas grill yesterday before she could lay eggs in it.
The photo below is a gas weedeater that was leaning against the house near the basement door. That's a nest (with eggs) sitting right on top...lol That's just to name a few places they've targeted.
I'm thinking competition must be tough for prime nesting with the number of birds in the area. They are absolutely frantic this time of year.
By the way, I've had my share or REAL snakes in several of those areas as well.

[ponyakr]

just heard an old country song today on a local country station which plays nothin but the old country, some call it real country--you know--when the country band still had a steel guitar & a fiddle--not this new stuff where all the dudes have an electric guitar & try 2 look & act like heavy metal rockers. i been listenin 2 country for a long time & i can tell ya fur shore that new stuff AIN'T country! anyhow i think the name of this song was "daddy let me drive". he described the truck as an old short bed ford, with 3 on the tree. said his daddy would let him drive & would encourage him by sayin somethin like " thats allrite son, your doin just fine. so that took me imediately back 2 my grammar school days when my daddy would let me drive all our trucks, tractors & cars. & although my 1st pickup was a stude, we did have a short bed ford in the '50's & both trucks had a 3 on the tree. & my dad was always there 2 help & encourage me & tell me what i was doin wrong & how 2 correct it. i reckin young folks take a lot of things for granted. i just thought all the kids were learnin how 2 drive. obviously that wasn't true. so as i look back on my life, i can see how special my dad was & can now more appreciate all the things he did for me. he wasn't perfect & neither am i, but i know he loved me & always did everything he could 2 help me along through life. & i now realize that many people did not have a "cool" dad like mine. some were mistreated by there dad or had dads that didn't really care much about them. & of course some never even knew who their dad was. so, i'll have 2 say that i feel truely blessed 2 have had a dad who loved me, took time 2 show me & help me learn things, & promise 2 always be there 2 help if i ever needed him. i believe that some day i'll see him again & i can tell him then how much i appreciated what he meant 2 me while he was on this earth.

[ponyakr]

sometimes ya half 2 cross a hiway or 2 before ya can get 2 the next trail. we got a lota wild hogs in our neck of the woods. when ya cross the ark state line, then they're called razorbacks. there's always several homade hog traps similar 2 this 1 along TJ's deep woods horse trails. looks like they used some public property 2 help construct this trap. she ran across 1 that had captured 7 young-uns. sometimes in the spring & winter we get lots of rain. here's a shot of rainwater runnin down both ruts of a horse trail road. she usually needs her 4wd for several days after a big rain. then back at the old ponderosa, pokey can relax while i knock the weeds down on our little clearing. this little kioti is hi tech & very efficient compared 2 that 1st long-nosed case i drove into the side of our house back in the '50's. its lots of fun--sorta like a big boy toy.

[ponyakr]

TJ just ran across these pics & i just had 2 share. do ya'll remember the series that used 2 be in the readers digest entitiled "my most unforgetable character"? well, for me & TJ this is definately 1 of ours. this is the little guy that i mentioned earlier in my story who told us he had killed a possum with a stick the nite before & had him in the fridge if we wanted it. now you have 2 understand, this is also the same guy who had sold my dad a horse, which he said was a real good plow horse. turned out she had probably never even been sucessfully hitched up 2 a plow--although she did make a good trail horse for TJ. anyhow mr. B was known for spinnin some tall yarns. most folks didn't believe a word he said. but after the possum incident, we started payin a little closer attention 2 what he said--tryin 2 seperate truth from fiction. his little house in the picture was not much more than a snuffy smith shack. it was only 200 yards or so from a little crossroads store, which he went 2 every day. he'd sit on a bench there & harass the folks as they came in. he wasn't mean spirited at all. he was just havin fun. some folks just didn't know how 2 take him. he bought all his groceries there & if nobody offered him a ride, he would walk back home, carryin his little sack. this little store was on my milk route, & i always left some real butter there for mr. B. he told us it lubricated his intestines 2 aid digestion. i don't remember now just exactly why we went the 1st time, but when we went 2 visit him the sign in the 1st pic is what we saw. its out by the front gate which was always locked. its supposed 2 say somethin like "holler before interin please". he had obviously hand painted the sign himself, but i can't remember now what it was painted on. TJ said it looks like it might have been the fender off an old tractor. anyhow we hollered & we could here a rather hi pitched answer "hey". then he'd slowly shuffle along towards the gate, which he had 2 unlock with a key. you could sorta hear him muttering 2 himself as he did all this. some folks were scared of him--others just thought he was crazy. at 1st, we didn't know quite what 2 make of him. but, after he invited us in & we had talked 2 him for a while, we discovered a very interesting & quite comical character. he'd tell us a joke of some kind in his hi pitched voice, then say "he, he, he,(as he slapped the knees of his overalls, which he always wore) i have my fun". 1 thing i remember that he told us was about this campmeeting that he use 2 go 2 every summer at a little country church. he told us how he would entertain the young ladies outside the church by climbing up a big tree in the church yard & doing a flip out of it. i didn't really believe that tale until the possum incident. now i believe he mite have been tellin the truth about some of the monkeyshines he pulled. he told us he was 101 years old. a few years later, when he died, his obit said he was 97. either way he lived 2 a ripe old age. as you can see in the pic, we bought him a birthday cake & sat with him & had us a little party--of course, he was the entertainment, & he did a great job. TJ later wrote an article about our experiences with him, which was published in our local newspaper. he was a real "hoot" 2 be around & is definately unforgetable!

[ponyakr]

its mothers day & i've allready got 2 wish my mom a happy mothers day. i fixed her a little breakfast & she's eating now. the role is reversed now but we're still in the same house. mom was a great country cook. i can still remember those homade cathead biscuits she used 2 make for us every morning. she'd also have bacon, pork sausage, eggs, & our choice of ribbon cane syrup or maybe some homade pear preserves she'd put up the fall before. then she'd rush around & get herself, me & my sister off 2 school where she'd teach all day then come home & start cookin again. she cooked a great pone of cornbread & we'd have some veggies that she'd put up out of our garden the summer before--turnip greens, purple hull peas, yellow squash, butterbeans, sweet taters, etc. & since dad was in the milk business, we always had plenty of milk 2 drink at every meal. i think now of how much most ladies would complain today if they had 2 do a fraction of the work my mom did--but i never once heard my mom complain about how much she had 2 do. it was her role in life & she gladly accepted & met the challenge. & then on sunday, instead of having a day of rest like many do, she had her normal cookin duties plus she had 2 get us ready for church & make sure she was prepared 2 teach her sunday school class. well, i could go on & on & on & on--but you get the picture--she was an overachiever--did her share & then some, without complaint. she lived thru the roarin '20's, the great depression of the '30,s, ww2 in the '40's, got 2 kids thru grammar school in the '50's, got 2 kids graduated from hi school & into college & made it thru the first part of the viet nam war in the '60's. then in the '70's she made it thru my wild oat sewing years & my early racing years, not 2 mention havin 2 worry wheather or not i'd get back home in 1 piece when i rode out on 1 of my many motorcycles. then in the '80's, she had grandkids 2 help raise & in the ninties & on into the 21st century there have been great grandkids 2 help with & worry about. & during this entire time, she had 2 help with the bookwork for our milk business. hey, it makes me tired just tryin 2 hit the hilites of what she did. but i think you get the picture. she grew up in poverty, workin in the fields along side her siblings. then she worked hard at getting an education so she could do a little better than her mom did--which she accomplished. but she was never able 2 stop workin, except for the garndening in the spring & summer she just didn't have 2 work in the fields any more. so now her labors are over. but she can still live in the house she's called home for over 60 years now & we can wait on her instead of vice-versa. but she still worries about all of us just like always--i reckin thats just what great moms do! thanks for everthing mom & happy mothers day! ps: she'll be 95 in august--just think of all the things she's seen in her lifetime & all the changes, both good & bad thru the years.

[Engine-Ear]

That reads like clean living, if you asked me. Thanks for sharing today's memories, ponyakr. Happy mother's day to your mom from me. Be well.

[ponyakr]

TJ got her degree in commercial art & was workin in an ad design studio long before graduation. as students, they were told 2 keep records of their work 2 use in case they ever needed them for a job interview or just 2 give prospective clients ideas 2 help in the design of something for themselves. she was lookin thru 1 of her albums of old art work & found these that she thought mite be of interest 2 some. of course, with the popularity of the duck dynasty tv show, her most famous creation is the duck commander logo & decal which she said she thought was 1st used on the early duck calls in the mid 1970's, maybe around '75. by the way, her brother sees the boys on a regular basis, as they live in the same town & they catch charter flights out of the co where he instructs & does some of the charter flying. the car with the "good grief" tires & "lunatic" cams decal was for a brochure, printed for the JK on the license plate, who was the minister at our wedding. TJ's neighbor from childhood started our local car club. so he ask TJ 2 design a logo for them. here's what she came up with in 1996 & they still use it today. by the way, this man was a die hard ford man. if you go 2 the cemetary where he's buried you won't have any trouble spotting his tombstone--its got the unmistakable figure of an early mustang on it! that imediately made me want a BIG pontiac arrowhead on mine--when that time comes(if it does--i may fly instead of die--the Bible promises that many will!) nowdays this guys son & grandson are carrying on the ford tradition--they buy, restore, show & sell early mustangs.

[ponyakr]

pokey has a loyal following of feathered friends. at least 2 of the small ones are by his side(or rather, around his mouth) just about every day. sometimes they are so close it looks like he could chomp down on 1 if he wanted 2. the larger white birds, i thank, are called cattle egrets, tho that may not be their proper name. we call em cow birds. they tend 2 congregate wherever there are cows. many times you can see em actually sittin on a cows back & pickin off the flys & other insects that may lite on the cow. they also love 2 follow tractors & hay baling equipment around & pounce on the crickets & grasshoppers they stir up. crows also like 2 hang around cows & tractors. they are frequent visitors 2 our horse lot, they love 2 peck around thru the horse pill piles 2 see what tasty treats they can dig up, but they are a lot more cautious than some birds, so its hard 2 get close up pics of them. as i was mowing with the tractor a couple of days ago, i had 3 cow birds & 1 crow follerin me around, harvesting the tasty morsels.

[ponyakr]

she found this 1 in the newspaper office where she worked. it had managed 2 get in thru the attic somehow. they had squirrels get in occasionally 2. you think this little feller is smiling for the camera or wanting 2 bite somebody?

[ponyakr]

I recently got a real nice PM from a member who shall remain anonymous. He said that he had enjoyed following my story, but also had some good suggestions. The main thing was the abbreviations, especially the number 2, instead of the word to. He said that it sounded like teenagers texting each other. Everyone who has followed my story, knows, by now, that i'm a country boy who was raised on a farm. If you had a conversation with me, you would never hear me say the word "think". Instead, i would use the word "thank". Well, you get the idea. If you want to hear how i talk, just tune in to "Duck Dynasty" and listen to "Uncle Si". That reminds me. If you don't already have a copy, go to Wal-Mart or Amazon or somewhere and buy a copy of the "Duck Dynasty" book entitled "Happy Happy Happy" TJ is reading it now and says she gives it two redneck "Thumbs Up"! Now concerning the abbreviations, when i first started using the computer, some three years or so back, i started seeing all the abbreviations like TMI, FYI, LOL, IMO, FWIW, etc. I didn't have a clue what any of these meant. I had to ask TJ. So i thought you were supposed to abbreviate. I also noticed that there is no capitalization in any website address. So, i suppose thats where i got the idea to use mostly lower case letters. Also, i had a severe round of arthritis a few years back. My typing is reduced to no more than two finger "hunt and peck", with the index fingers. It's a slow process and abbreviations just seem to speed the process along.
However, i have now been shocked into reality! I now realize that i am not sharing my story for my benefit, but for the enjoyment of others. So, anything i can do to make it more enjoyable or easier to read will make it better for all who read it.
So first, please accept my sincere apology for anything & everything i've said & the way i've said it, that may have been distasteful to anyone. If i could go back and make corrections, i would begin tonight. But i was told that i have only about an hour to edit or make corrections to a post. After that, it's history.
So, what i CAN do is promise to try and correct all these things, in order to make my posts more presentable and easier to read and understand.
Again i say "THANKS" to all those who have given me encouragement and kind words since i have been a member here.
PS: I may have to get TJ to proofread my posts and correct my errors. I've been talking this way for so long, it's hard to remember what i learned in my high school english classes.

[Greg Reid]

Don, the abbreviations and the 'thank' instead of 'think' don't bother me....If I have any criticism at all...and this is not just for you....any post that's more than 15 or 20 lines long needs a paragraph break in the text. It's hard to keep up with what line you're on and you wind up reading the same line over or holding a straightedge up against the screen.. Yours are not too bad as you at least are a good speller and you use punctuation and that helps.
But since your posts are kind of long, I'd just say skip a line and start a new paragraph every 10 or 12 lines and it's much easier to read.
Post # 412 and #413 above are a good examples of what I'm talking about. Just makes it a bit easier to read with some spaces every so often.
Keep it up though...I do enjoy reading your stories and looking at the old pics.

[ponyakr]

I ask TJ last night how to indent & start new paragraphs. She said just hit the "enter" button, then the spacer button a couple of times and that should do it. So, i did that and sure enough it worked. But when i clicked on the post sign, it posted, but removed all the new paragraphs that were showing in what i originally typed. In other words, it just undid the changes i had made & bunched all the sentences back up together, just as if thats the way i typed them. So obviously, I don't know how to start a new paragraph with a computer keyboard. Believe it or not, i typed the most correct words per minute in my high school typing class. I beat all the girls. But that was on an old manual typewriter. You could just hit the return bar and skip all the lines you wanted to. So, obviously, the old computer dummy needs a little more typing info here. You got any? I just looked at #418. It started a new paragraph at some of the places I intended, but even then, didn't have the indentions that i added at the beginning of the next paragraph. HELP!!!