Category: Uncategorized
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Alpena Christmas Parade
Despite the cold the whole town turned out to watch the parade. The town police close down the Main Street and the kids line up for candy and Santa! Mrs Clause is my neighbor, Susie! We survived the cold!!
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The mysterious Root cellar
When you pull up the driveway to Needle Eye Mountain, the first thing you see is this root cellar. Scott loves it! He said his family had one on their Iowa farm and they kept canned vegetables in it. Me? I’m not sure I love it. Actually, I’m not sure I can work up the…
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Hear ye, hear ye: We got wood… Let the shed-do-minium begin!
I’m super excited to report that the materials have arrived and they are framing the shed-do-minimum! (That’s a combo of a shed and a condominium, if you were wondering…) Our plan ever since we bought the property was to build a big metal building that ultimately will be Scott’s dream Man Cave. All his hunting…
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“911. What’s your emergency?” “We need an address…”
We knew we had a lot of taming to do when we bought Needle Eye and the first step was getting an address. Somehow, even though folks have lived here for a long time, there was no physical address. How did these people get their Amazon packages? So how does one get an address? Figuring…
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A fresh start
Now that the old house is gone and we have picked up all the visible trash (there is much more hidden in the trees.. we will probably be finding dump sites the rest of our lives in that mountain), Mater has been towed off and the drive way has been smoothed and rocked we can…
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The Rent House….
While we’re waiting for the “shed-do-minium” to be finished, we are living in a rent house. And while we’re grateful that a town of 392 (now 394) has a long-term rental that accepts three dogs and a cat, there have been times when it might have been better to be sleeping in a tent on…
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Meet Mable
While we are waiting for our “shed-do-minium” to be finished we are staying at a rent house in town. More to come on our rent house experience.. This cutie showed up a few weeks ago in the front yard. She roosts in the tree out front and comes to the front door for treats everyday.…
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Say Hello To Our Big Green Tractor
John Deere tractors have inspired more than one country song. Probably the biggest was Jason Aldean’s 2009 hit “Big Green Tractor.” They are truly iconic, but not one song talks about dang pricey they are. But despite the cost, it sure has come in handy in trying to tame Needle Eye Mountain. Scott is a…
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Brrr… Our first snow on Needle Eye Mountain
We had our first snow fall overnight (11/12/22). Just a few inches but a glimpse at the beauty winter will bring to this place. It just so happened to also be the opening day of deer season as well. Went on a stalk/walk with Scott… me hoping for a different type of “shot” of a…
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Is this Mater?
Remember the movie “Cars?” This cute old pickup was one of the many treasures we have found on Needle Eye Mountain. It’s kinda creepy and sad how much the headlights look like eyes. We thought about trying to salvage this old girl, but, alas she, went to the scrap yard instead. We did save a…
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Alpena population 392.. make that 394!
Nestled in the Ozark Mountains is the quaint little town I now call home, Alpena, Arkansas. There are 2 gas stations, a dollar store, a chainsaw art studio, a Chester’s chicken, a liquor store, 4 antique shops, 5 churches, no stop lights and one diner, Top Rock. Scott says it’s all a person could need….…
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Treasure hunt anyone?
My daughter currently refers to Needle Eye Mountain as “Trash Mountain.” After the machine shed episode, I’m thinking Rat Eye Mountain might be appropriate too. In Kate’s defense, we do have a lot of clean up to do. Not only were the previous owners hoarders, but it appears that every other owner (and their families)…
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Exploring the barn
I just love this old barn. It could use a little TLC and roof patches, but I plan to keep it mostly as it is. The inside is in good condition and is full of old barn boards. The support pillars are made from old tree trunks. It had a huge barrel of hay and…
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Exploring the Rat Shed….I mean Machine Shed
As I’ve mentioned, our property has a number of old out buildings. We think they are at least 100 years old. In addition to the barn (see earlier post), there was this building that we’re calling the machine shed. Time and nature, however, had turned it into a fantastic habitat for rats and wasps. This…
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What does rat poop, a treadmill, and a snake skin have in common? Our house!
The house had been abandoned for several years before we bought it. And when we did our first tour all I could say was: Burn it down. First order of business was to knock down the original house, but I want you guys to see what was in it before we demolished it. What the…
Taming Needle Eye Mountain 