Yes, it is the little things that are so wonderful living in the country.

I wish I had the nerve to try angel food cakes again to use my eggs....I made one once and it fell totally....never tried again. We are getting way too many eggs for us right now too. Do you have a special recipe you could share?

This is what is so great about this forum. As written in the posts above your lives are and have been so very different than the life I have had. I love hearing about the very simple pleasures of life here in the Ozarks. About four years ago I retired from the navy after 23 years. So for the most part I moved every three years and most always lived in large cities or overseas. Now after a year of living in the country on a one acre wooded lot I don't get snaky every time I hear a rustle in the woods while I'm out gardening. Squirrels use to drive me crazy running about on the fallen leaves. And when a branch fell out of a treeÂoh boyÂ..But still when it's quite and dark at night I have a hard time being comfortable sitting by myself on our enclosed back porch....so may sounds out in those woods. I have never been in a house longer than five years ...even as a kid. I find your stories of living on a farm fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

Pam
Lake of the Ozarks

Pam, I love the early morning and night sounds best of all.
We have been hearing a strange bird call for a few years in the woods across the road from us....finally identified it as the pileated woodpecker. I knew we had them because I have taken some pictures of them in the front yard. They are the neatest birds.

Then,,,,there is the barking of the coyotes.....love that sound. We sleep with the bedroom window just cracked a bit and can hear the owls and coyotes and all other night critters.

Never heard that panther call that some folks down in Wright County say they have heard....and that is OK by me!

Ceresone - You sound content.
We've had some wonderful weather lately and I much prefer fall to spring. I love to see new things coming up in the spring but most days are too windy. I like the stillness that we have in the fall.
Gld - I've never seen a pileated woodpecker but want to. I know we have them around here, just not very common. Maybe I'm too close to town.
My life would be boring compared to yours Pam. I've never been out of the country at all and have always lived in the same area with family and friends close-by. I bet I'm more scared of big city traffic than you are of rustling leaves. lol I guess a person can get used to either if you're around it enough.

Pam, I traveled alot as a child/adult and lived in many big cities. When I would visit my grandmother whom lived in the country, she would sleep with her windows open at night, and I would be scared all night. In the city, you never left your windows open. It would be nice to open my windows now, but all I would hear would be loud trucks, lawn mowers and barking dogs.

We spent three days camping in the national forest this summer and at every little noise I would jump. Even my city brave dogs stayed under the cars.

Have you ever walked in the woods at night? To me owls are the scariest animals.

Glenda, sorry, not a secret recipe--LOL--just Betty Crocker cookbook. But, they did turn out soo good. I had to borrow daughters Kitchen Aid, that I bought her 2 years ago.
Two years ago in the fall, we saw a wonderful sight, a Pileated Woodpecker, flying south (real low, thru the timber) then another, then another--in all, there were 12 of them! We figured they were migrating? I knew where two nests were, so I guess it was a good hatch.
I've seen Bobcats, up close, heard Panthers-but the scariest sound is a Screech Owl-And they'll follow you thru the woods at night.
I grew up on a farm, not far from here, my brother was 5 years older so I guess you could say I was a child "of the woods" I'd leave home about daylight, and get home long after dark, usually horseback.Many times, I've been lost, and had to depend on the horse to get home!
Can you imagine today's children having so much freedom?
Much more than you wanted to know--LOL
(should I tell you about the time I rode a horse to school, and sent him home?-or taking him into the schoolhouse, and the teacher sitting astride, teaching a class? Naw, I wont tell you.)

Christie come on up to my neck of the woods....We have a pair that have nested in one of our old trees on the property. They are big and beautiful and such a sight to watch flying around from tree to tree. Every now and then they will get on my birdfeeder. Love the sound of them as I'm putzing out in my gardens. I'm just thankful they are not doing the woody wood pecker number on the side of the house.

Pam

ceresone, I love those stories of your childhood! Share as many as you like. I think you were very lucky to have had that kind of childhood. That is why we moved out to the country in 1976.....to raise the children. They used to take the horses and ride around the "block" and would be gone for a couple of hours or more. I wouldn't let the grandkids do that now!

I checked and don't have the Betty Crocker just B H & G's. May do an online search.

It's not too late to start writing down those childhood stories I guess. The older we get, the more interesting it sounds. I don't have any grandkids yet but I think it would be neat to write a few books for them someday and take them to a copy place to have them bound. Ceresone - Any kid would love a story about a horse in a schoolhouse.