Thursday, December 9, 2010

A Walk Thru Nature and History

The week of Thanksgiving I took a walk around a portion of the property.  I haven't been able to post these pictures due to family being in town and not having the time to spend on the computer.  Then I was out of town visiting family, but now I'm back home and blogging again.

Randy and I went out on foot in the afternoon.  I like to sightsee and take pictures as I go.  We were looking for signs of trespassers, as deer shotgun season was soon starting.  We've put up "No Trespassing/No Hunting/Private Property" signs all over the property, but that doesn't stop people from putting their deer stands on our property or hunting on foot.  The poaching issue is another blog post - we actually did catch a poacher on another day!  But this post is dedicated to the sights of nature and history that I saw that day on my walk.


It is so very quiet and peaceful in the woods.  All you can hear are the birds. 


There is a small abandoned house on our property that is vacant.  It's in pretty bad shape.  It has no power or water run to it.  It is aptly named The Little White House.  It was used by farmers a long, long time ago.  The Little White House is complete with it's own outhouse, which hasn't been used in many years.  Surprisingly, recently Randy spoke to a man who's grandfather used to live in the Little White House. 

The Little White House

Outhouse for The Little White House


We found many deer skulls during this walk.  We usually find bones, including skulls or single dropped deer antlers on our walks.  We've been collecting the antlers.  We saw a few deer on this walk, too.  They aren't really that scared of us; they usually run a few yards away to a safe place and then watch as we go on our way.  But sometimes the deer scream when they see us and run away.  Randy tells me that although it sounds like a scream, it's a type of snort.  But I personally think they scream when we startle them, just like I'd scream if some stranger came up on me suddenly when I was sleeping.  I've heard many does scream and think they are so sweet.  I've never heard a buck scream, though.  Boys just don't scream, they snort and run away.

Doe skull
 I was fascinated by the vines which wrapped around trees, turning the tree trunks into pretty designs.  There's a lot of vines in this area: grapevines, poison ivy, you name it, and they all grow like weeds.

Vines wrapped around trees
We found a historic hay cutter/mower abandoned out in the woods.  We had never seen it before, despite all the times we walked in this area of the woods.  It was exciting to find!  Horses were used to pull it to cut hay, while a man sat on the seat and steered.  It doesn't look too comfortable!  We also have a historic hay rake on the property, now we have it's matching hay mower.

Historic Hay Cutter

This concludes this walking tour.
Come back again for another walk and more history!

12 comments:

Chai Chai said...

Wow, an old house and antique farm equipment - very nice. I would hate to have illegal hunters on our property here.

Farm Girl said...

I am always so amazed at what is on your property. It is almost like a time capsule.There is the grave yard and now a old abandoned house complete with a outhouse. I am glad that you are there taking care of it. I think it must be a place filled with dreams. I really like your new back ground and I like your banner across the top. It looks good.

Toni aka irishlas said...

Thoroughly enjoyed the tour! Thanks for the walk in the woods.

Leigh said...

Lynn, what a great tour. You have a fantastic piece of property, lucky you! I love our 5 acres, but it's too close to the small town we live near. Not exactly urban, but not quite country either.

Mr. H. said...

It would be interesting to know the history of that little white house and to go back in time and see the hay cutter in use..how neat. You live in a beautiful place.

CaliforniaGrammy said...

Lovely walk through your woods. And such cool discoveries. Thanks for sharing a bit of local history with us. I think I've read how many acres you have but right now I can't remember. The old White House I'm sure has lots of stories tucked inside.

John Going Gently said...

the walk reminds me a little of THE BLAIR WITCH!
YIKES!!!!

Terry said...

Those twisted vines are really neat. And of course I love the horse drawn farm equipment.
I'm sorry you have hunters. :(

Country Girl said...

Very nice and peaceful. I could use a walk like that right now.

Razzberry Corner said...

Chai Chai - We are always finding antique farm equipment out in the woods. I would like to really clean it all up and put it on display somewhere. Maybe one day when I have more time!

Farm Girl - I agree many dreams lived out here on this farm and property. It's worth saving, but sometimes I get frustrated from all the work involved on maintaining such property! I wish I had more time to work on it.

Thank for the compliment on the blog theme update. I get bored with the blog look sometimes and want to make it fresh.

Toni - Anytime!!!

Leigh - I know what you mean. We used to have 12 acres, and I felt the same way about it. We were excited to get the 250 acres. When we enter our drive it's like stepping into another world. As we drive up towards the house the guineas always run and greet us, the roosters crow announcing our arrival, it's just beautiful.

Mr H. - I love history. I imagine all the people who used to live here, the little white house and the other brown house (which I didn't mention in this post) being used. The land was all farmed back then. Now most of it is trees. I've researched the family that lived here - it's part of MD history!

CAGrammy - I bet the Little White House does have it's own tales. I think my little house also has such a past. People were born and died right here in this house. They were buried in the cemetary outside. Probably kids dreamed of growing up and moving out, women had babies, men came in to this house and rested after a long day of work. We have a little bit over 250 acres. In the past it was alot more that was owned by the family who lived here, but it was divided up in large sections.

John Gray - Lol, you make me laugh! wasn't the Blair Witch project the movie where these kids carried a camera and ran thru the woods? I remember Randy threw up at the theater because of all the movement of the camera! We left early because he refused to go back into the theater and watch the rest of the movie! That movie was filmed in MD. If I disappear one day you can blame it on the Razzberry Witch! They will have to make a documentary film and run around on our property!!! Thanks for the laughs, JG!

Terry - Today is Sat, a BIG hunter day! Right now there's a buck and his doe in our backyard. I'm sure Randy will be patrolling the property on ATV today to catch poachers. It gives him something to do - he loves being outside, even thought it's 30 degrees out there now!

Barb - Not me! It's WAYYYYY too cold for me right now. I could use a week in the Caribbean right now. maybe 2 weeks. I miss Puerto Rico sometimes!

~Lynn

AJ-OAKS said...

Very, very cool!!! There is so much history on your place. Am sooo looking forward to seeing and hearing more about it. Your place fascinates me.

Robin said...

Wow I can't believe people put up hunting blinds on your property. Maybe they have been hunting there for a long time and feel a sense of entitlement or something? Crazy. What is the white house like? Have you ever been inside it? In September we went through an old ghost town in Montana and it was so cool. It was like walking into a bit of past and imagining all the people who lived there was awesome. Rotten scrapes of wallpaper and newspaper lined the walls and were falling off the ceilings, light coming through the walls from the outside, tiny rotting falling apart rooms, the decaying detail work, etc. I loved it!