Tuesday, June 05, 2012

An evening walk...

 I went for an evening walk the other night and grabbed my camera.  I couldn't help taking a picture of this toadstool for my bloggy friend, Pom Pom, who adores toadstools.  This is the real deal -- 'shrooms growing strong on a pile of cow manure.  Some might not think it's a pretty sight, but I do.  I like mushrooms and toadstools.

 I walked myself a mile and a half, down the trail to the old shearing pens where we work our sheep.  The sheep and lambs aren't here today.  They're out to pasture now, grazing to their hearts content,  and the yearling ewes are having their babies all on their own.

 I walked through the alley where we load sheep into the trailer and I hopped over this white, rusty gate to get to the barn.  I had heard that there was something special growing inside, and I had to see it for myself.

 See how broken down this old place is?  The tin is off the roof and so are the boards.  It's still standing despite the wild winds we always have and despite the heavy snows.  When I look up at the holes in the roof of this barn, I imagine them as holes in the floor of heaven.  There was a song by that name.  Do you know it?  I think of those holes as places where God sends his mercy down and where our prayers rise up to Him.

 Back to the thing growing in the shearing pens barn -- this tree!  From what I can gather, I think it's an apple tree.  The bark and leaves look like an apple tree, and it makes sense that there would be one growing in here.  Hubby says he threw many an apple core through the roof when he was a boy, and I'm sure the old shearers had their share of apple cores left behind.  It's a perfect growing place for a tree too.  Lots of protection from deer, from wind, and from hail (unless it came through the top).  It has the perfect amount of sun -- not too much scorching prairie sun, and not too little.  I hope it grows through the roof and puts on apples some day.
 I found these letters on the wall in blue paint -- G R with a curlycue underneath.  I wonder who that wrote it?  I can't think of anyone in the family with those initials.  Maybe a shearer or a friend who came to help dock lambs.

 And here's a tool that was left to rust on the beam.  It's a sheep piller.  You put a tiny pill (likely de-worming medicine) in the tip and put it down the throat of the sheep.  I brought it home.  I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but something will tickle my fancy, I'm sure.

This is the stockade on the south side of the pens.  I just liked the look of it against the blue and white sky.  I realize it's not officially summer yet, but are you taking summer evening walks?   What do you see when you are out for a walk?

13 comments:

  1. We had *two* lovely and warm days last week, and I was so happy to take walks with Littlest Grandson. I didn't take my camera, but he and I did a lot of investigating this and that along the way. Maybe I'll write a blog post about it. :-)

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  2. What I see is more urban than what you see. What wonderful thoughts play through your mind as you traverse your little piece of history! Just beautiful.

    Blessings, Debbie

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  3. I can just imagine you poking around at the sheep station (I like calling it that because of the Australian books I've read!)
    Oh, that toadstool is amazing! It would make a good hat for the little people!
    I was tired when I took my walk last night. I listened to Lark Rise to Candleford while I walked. It was very windy!
    I am quite uplifted by the the apple tree. I like the idea of many apple cores taking root! Sometimes I eat two apples a day.
    This is my very last day of school and I can't quit singing, "School's out for summer!" I like the Muppet rendition!

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  4. We have talked about having to start an evening walk ritual around this old house. We just got back from Chicago and we did walk about the skyscrapers a lot. I enjoyed all there was to see on your walk...
    Like the thoughts about God sending his mercy down and our prayers rising to him...

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  5. Oh so lovely and I imagine oh so quiet except for nature sounds. I too love the idea of the mercy of God pouring down thorugh theat window into heaven. I would love to join you on your walk!

    Joyce

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  6. Won't it be something if you get some apples from your tree one day? Wonderful that it decided to grow there. :) xx

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  7. Thanks for this beautiful post, Jody! I love that last pic -- the contrasts are stunning. I have an old pair of sheep sheering scissor thingies. I didn't know what they were, when I found then in an old garage of a house we owned. I thought they were for clipping flowers :) I'm sure you'll find some cool use for those pillers. Enjoy your walks! We're taking bike rides these days.

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  8. Such peaceful sights there on the ranch. I really like that last picture a lot. We moved our evening walks to early morning just this week because about three days ago it got hot. Summer was inevitable, but I was sure enjoying the spring weather.

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  9. I love old outbuildings. They have soul and I wish the walls could talk. Can you imagine the stories they would tell? Beautiful post.

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  10. Thanks for the peek into your life. My walk would include kids riding bikes and gardenias blooming like crazy and filling the air with their sweetness. Loving being back in the States!

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  11. Wow Jody -- that tree is amazing. Is it anywhere close to bearing fruit? Or do apple trees have to have other apple trees nearby to have fruit on them?

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  12. Thank you Jody for taking me on such a wonderful walk. It will be such fun to harvest some fruit from the secret apple tree.
    I so enjoy evening walks along the canals here in England, but will wait a while for the weather to dry and warm up again;)
    Ann x

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  13. Hi J! All those photos are fascinating and so pretty. Reminds me of that old western song about the 'lone praireeee . . '. Speaking of lonesome, do you get lonesome? We're kinda rural but in a community of a 1000 or so, and only 50 minutes to Dallas (blech - hot, traffic, hot, hordes of people, miles of concrete, hot ;) if we absolutely have to have city things.

    G

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