Homesteading Part-2

Part-2 Homesteading

The Animals

To read part one the beginning of our homestead journey click here: 

Self Sufficient Homestead

Besides living out in the woods when my husband and I homesteaded, some of our favorite memories were of the animals. 

I have a little yorkie and on the homestead we called him the "Lizard King".  We called him that because that is how he spent 85% of his time, chasing the lizards or waiting for them to come out from their hiding places so he could chase them. I have to tell you, I am not really sure what was funnier, my yorkie chasing the lizards around or my husband chasing the lizards that ran up the trees.  While I watched my husband do that was funnier than hell!!

One early morning while my husband and I were sitting outside drinking our morning coffee, we looked over and seen an amazing sight. This huge mama opossum was walking across our yard with her little babies riding on her back.  Another morning while we were sitting outside, we watched this coyote running through a section of our woods,  like a flash of lightening trying to get to its home before it became full daylight.

We use to put piles of seeds out for the chipmunks that hung out in our yard. It was so funny watching them pack their cheeks, than run to their home, empty the seeds and come back for more.

We use to have a lot of hummingbirds.  They sat on the tree limbs and watched for when the coast was clear, than dash down get some sweetness from their feeders then zip off back to the tree limbs.  These little hummingbirds were so competitive with the feeders.  One of them got hurt and fell to the ground.  My husband gently picked him up and we tried to nurse it back to health, but it ended up dying.  It was so sad, because we watched the life force drain from this beautiful little creature.  All I could do was cry when my husband buried it.  That was the first time in my life I ever held a hummingbird.

At night there were these huge opossums that kept getting into our compost pile.  Oh, my goodness, everything we tried to do to keep them away never worked.  So my husband stacked a pile of small stones on the deck and when the opossums came back, he would throw rocks off in the distance to scare them away.  Oh, it only worked a couple of times, because they kept coming back and nothing was to going to stop them.

A beautiful site we seen one morning was when this beautiful doe was walking down our driveway with her little fawn.  Honest to goodness it melted my heart seeing something that beautiful.

We use to have this deck walk-way that lead from the house to a little shower room. One night while walking across this deck, my husband turned around and yelled for me to stop!! There was a little copperhead snake peeking up through the spaces between the wood on the deck.  Needless to say, I felt my heart leap up to my throat.  Eeekkk, it still gives me the hibbie-jibbies just writing about it.  A few days later, my husband walks up behind me holding that snake so I could see what it looked like up close! That was nothing new with him~my mother-in-law warned me that when he was a small child, he use to bring all kinds of little critters home in his pocket!!!

I believe one of the most beautiful memories we have about animals on our homestead was, one night while we were lying in bed, we looked out our window and watched this deer that was right under our window. Of course not having any electricity the only sounds you really heard were Natures sounds at her best!  We just laid there very quietly, enjoying watching this beautiful creature. Thank goodness it was a full moon night!

It got to the point on the homestead that seeing wildlife became an everyday thing.  But neither one of us ever got tired of seeing or hearing the wildlife especially at night.  We have heard bears in the near distant, my husband adopted a opossum and named him "Gimp".  It was this opossum that began to show up every NIGHT! We knew it was the same opossum because it walked with a limp and it showed up almost at the same time every night.

I believe the quiet and seeing the wildlife are two of the things I miss most from our homestead.  The only sounds you heard were Natures' sounds, and all you could see at night was what the moon light allowed you to see.  We did have flash-lights but we tried tried to save the batteries. Besides, there is something very magical about the night-time when you live back in the woods.

WarWoman Dell

I have always said, if there were ever a picture that could describe my soul it would be this one.  WarWoman Dell is located in the Northeast section of Georgia in a wonderful town called Clayton.  The drive to Clayton reminds me of of the mountains in Colorado, they just seem to be right in front you, calling to you to keep moving forward.

Clayton is located in Rabun County and you will see a little of everything there, mountains, waterfalls, springs, forest, lakes and so much more.  Rabun County is nestled in the southern tip of the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains.  It is a convenient drive from the major metro areas of Atlanta, Georgia, Asheville-North Carolina, Greenville-South Carolina and Chattanooga-Tennessee. 

History of WarWoman

WarWoman was a beloved Cherokee dignitary who voiced the decision of the Council on war and peace. Legend states that each spring this woman visited the Dell to preside over rituals.  

America's first natural born botanist, William Bartram, explored the area in the 1770's.  He documented the plants, climate, geology and culture of the people of this period and paved the way for future development.  A railroad bed was constructed here which would have connected the south and mid-western markets in Cincinnati.  Work stopped suddenly at the beginning of the Civil War and no rails were ever laid.  Unmanageable logging in the late 1800's and early 1900's degraded the forest.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCCs) went to work restoring the land by planting trees and controlling erosion.  Enrollees in Company 457  built the original picnic shelters, fish holding tanks, latrine and stonework drains in WarWoman dell. 

I was introduced to WarWoman Dell after attending a  Woman's Ceremony that was held in that general area, many moons ago. The second my feet touched the ground at WarWoman I was in love.  This is a place that no matter where I moved, it always stayed in my heart and has always been considered my sacred sanctuary. 

In 2008 when I visited there shortly after returning to Georgia, my heart sank.  The trails were no longer taken care of.  There were many trees down, the energy was extremely low and somehow it had lost a huge part of its spiritual energy.  Sometimes, I often go there and just sit by these huge hemlock trees often referring to them as my elders.  Those trees have heard many of my stories, my sorrows and stories of my spiritual path.  One of the most favorite times I had at WarWoman was when I was walking a trail and as I looked down to the ground I found a Hawk feather.  Many people that I have gone there with; always tells me the same thing, they say: "Oak, watching you here (WarWoman) is like seeing you walk right out of Nature as if you were a part of it."  To be truthful, often I felt like I was a part of WarWoman.

Many times, I would go there and walk this small trail away from  everything and sit by this tiny waterfall and just play my drum.  I always felt spirit activities there often wondering why I was always drawn to a certain place where there was a spirit of a young girl.  She would always stay at a distance from me but she was always near me.  The stories are endless when it comes to WarWoman Dell.  If you ever visit North Georgia, put WarWoman on your list of places to visit.  I hope you will love it as much as I do.