Day Trip

Cathy's got a wild hair and wants to go to Crossville today.  Mentioned it last nite but I wasn't too excited.  I really hate that drive.  Don't know why but it just seems to take forever.  Anywho  it's a rainy, dismal day so why not.  We'll see if she still wants to go and try to turn it into something interesting, like shopping at Lowes Heh Heh!!

New Arrowhead finds

Actually they are called projectile points or points.

 

The first one was probably a knife or thrusting point based on its size.  Unfortunately the hafting end or base is missing so I can't identify it.  Both edges are still very sharp.  The second point poses the same difficulty in identifying because of the broken base.  I haven't given up completely yet since there is a program that allows you to scan in the original point then draw in the shape that would fit or closely match the original.  If you look closely at the top cutting edge of the 2nd point you will notice that it is not as curved as the lower cutting edge.  That's because the person who made it reshaped it probably after it was damaged somehow.  The actual knapping or edging matches on both cutting sides of the point.  

 

 

I believe that I had posted this point not long ago and have been doing some research.  I'm gonna identify it as a Bakers Creek type projectile point.  That will date it Late Archaic to Woodland period or 4000 - 1300 years Before Present (BP).   This point has been worked so thin that if you hold it up to the light you can see light through the edges, which is also one of the keys to its identification.  The first two artifacts were found in a new hunting area for me.  I had a local young man rough cut some wood for me so I could finish putting the roof on my outlying shed.  When I went down to his saw mill, I was standing next to the saw table and looked down and found a crushed point.  I picked it up and showed him and he commented that he came across them all the time down there but he didn't actually go looking for them.  So, I asked his permission to hunt for artifacts on his property and he agreed.  These were the first that I found on his property.  Of course, I agreed to split any fortune that I might find.  All jokes aside, some of these projectile points can bring some tall money.  Not long ago one sold for over $30,000.  But - I don't hold my breath.  I just like the challenge of finding and identifying them.  Neat hobby.

AWOL Cats

Well - we're going into the 3rd day that our adult male and two kittens wandered off.  We haven't seen them since.  It's probable that the male went down to the corner to see what's shaken' with the girls in the neighborhood and the kittens got lost in the shuffle.  Who knows.  I do know that when they all showed up here they were undernourished.  So - Don't know where they're eating these days.  All we can do is hope.  But - all is not lost.  We still have "Skeeter" hanging around.  He's joined our porch cats inside the screened area so he's safe from outside predators. 

  

He's attached himself to our own little black and white that we call Bandit and he fits his name.  These two are always rolling around and licking each other.  I guess Skeeter has adjusted to his new surroundings and is adapting well.  We still hold out hope for the other 3 returning safely...

Unusual Cat Behavior

Yesterday I watched as the adult male cat, we call Tigger, walked away with two of the three kittens.  They jumped down off the back deck, headed over toward our old shed and went inside.  I assumed they were looking for a cooler location.  However, they left a little black and white male, we call Skeeter, behind.  That was early afternoon.  Around 5 or 6 PM I heard small caliber rifle shots from just down the mountain but didn't think much about it cause our neighbors target practice and hunt often.  Anyway later in the evening, when it was feeding time, they still hadn't returned which is very unusual cause they seldom miss mealtime.  Went ahead and fed Skeeter, who didn't seem to be very hungry.  Cathy and I discussed bringing the lone kitten into the house for the night just to be safe but finally decided that we would leave him out on the deck just in case the others returned.  Checked again this morning and they still aren't back.  Now I am getting a little concerned and plan to go on a walk about to see if I can find the missing brood.  In the meantime we're bringing Skeeter in the house for safekeeping.  More later.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Well it ain't Monday but it sure is dismal, as it was on Monday.  It's been raining off and on for the past week.  I really need to mow the yard - it's sooo wet you can hear the grass growing.  Went out this morning at 0700 and took this pic of our surroundings and I feel like I'm in England, waiting for the werewolf to jump out of a bush. Oh - sorry they only come out at night on full moon. 

Ah well - I'll get over it.  Since we couldn't do much else, yesterday Cath and I headed up into Kentucky to Monticello to look at a slide-in truck camper.  Turned out it was too big for my truck but we did find a couple of vegetable farms up there and got some real good deals.  They raise all their own vegetables right on the farm so you know what your getting is local.  I didn't put in a garden this year cause I got tired of putting in all the work and loosing all the crop to bugs and weather.  But we have a kinda love/hate relationship with our uphill neighbor.  He loves to have us plant in his garden and we hate planting there cause we have to go up there to work it.  Not really - they're super neighbors and we did plant some cucumbers and squash up there.  Anyway - his garden is taking some big hits this summer - blight on the tomatoes, Japanese beetles eating everything (specially the beans), deer eating the sweet potato plants (never saw this before) and now that the corn is up and about ready - the raccoons will be coming in full force.  Like Joe says, they gotta eat to.  Well -- we bought about 1/2 bushel of tomatoes for $8.  The locals call them "canning tomatoes" cause they're ugly - kind of lumpy and all and most city folk won't buy them cause they ain't purdy.

We thought they were really good tomatoes and talk about big.  Two of them would about make a pound.  Since the neighbor's aren't doing so well, we're gonna talk with them today and see if they want some of these cause we're going back up to Ky today and get some more veggies.  They got it all eggplant, squash, green beans, cucumbers, corn, a wide variety of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers etc etc.  Guess that's enough blabber'n for today.  Later....

Nursing Male Cat

Ya gotta see this!!  Remember - this is a male cat that brought 3 kittens to our back porch.

 Yup - there's two kittens trying to nurse on this male cat.  Cathy calls him mommadaddy cat.  His nipples are blood red on the tips, kinda like a hickie I guess.  He just rolls over when they start nudging him like they want to nurse.  What a cat.  Never seen anything like this before.  Almost afraid to get him neutered for fear it'll change his demeanor.

Dale Hollow Lake outing

Well - as promised.  I took Cathy out for a day of relaxation and lunch at Mike's Landing in Sulfur Creek Marina. There are about 17 marinas on Dale Hollow and we've found that Mike's has some of the best food at the best prices.

We took a short jaunt over to our usual spot, which is about a 10 minute boat ride.  It's a small inlet that is somewhat protected from all the other traffic, skiers, tubers etc.  Anywho  Cathy read for a bit then took a nap while I read and puttered around.  About 4:15PM we headed out for Sulfur Creek.

Sulfur Creek Marina is about a 25 min ride into Kentucky waters.  It's a medium sized marina with lots of boat parking but the visitor docks are a little rundown.  They're still sturdy enough but the surface is really rough and splintery. Still - well worth the trip.

We had our usual Mike's Landing Burger with iced tea and homemade potato chips.  It was just enough without feeling stuffed for only $6.97 each.  Then we hit the trail again.  Get a load of this boat that was parked in the marina.  It was sooooo long that he had to back it in cause the bow would have blocked the walkway.  Actually he probably backed it in to protect aft end and cabin. It was really close on the sides to.  Either he's really good a maneuvering or he had lots of help.  I wouldn't even attempt it.

And this was the fitting end of a typical Dale Hollow Day.  Catchy Huh!  Hope ya'll enjoyed it as much as we did.....