I live on Swinging Bridge Road.  It is a great place to walk.  It’s flat and there is very little traffic.

Walking from my driveway, I turn right following the direction of the North Fork’s water flow. As I look to my left, here’s what I see:

As I near the edge of our property line and look right, I see my husband’s shop called The Luckie Dog Woodshop. It’s a nice little shop. We have a sign in front of the shop that reads “custom tables.” In 10+ years we have never had anyone call about having a custom table made. Did I mention there was very little traffic? I’m not sure what we were thinking when we put this sign up.  LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!

This is a photo of one of the window boxes in the front of the woodshop.

I stop in the woodshop since my brother-in-law Gerald is inside.   Hi Gerald!  He is standing in front of the hope chest he has made for a neighbor’s little girl who is turning 13.  It is made from a sassafras tree from right up the road that a neighbor gave my husband.

I leave and walk a bit further down Swinging Bridge Road.  Looks like this:

Told you it was a nice flat walk.

In this photograph, I’m approaching my neighbor’s barn he is building.  As best I can tell, it’s being recycled from another building.   Works for me.

I like this little crossroads where the dirt road (Anderson Drive) meets Swinging Bridge Road.  There are usually goats here, but they are elsewhere today.  The goats get out a lot!   It’s one of the charming things about Swinging Bridge Road.  We have to weave in and out of the goats when passing this area.  No one really minds.

Walking a bit further, I see a….boat!   It’s parked in the pasture.  Looks like someone just drove it up on the hill and got out.    Who knows?  We might have a flood and need this boat.  This river does flood.  I’ve seen goats standing on the boat.

The boat is no concern to me.  Whatever floats your boat.  

Walking a little bit further, it gets shady. Reminds me of walking through a salad bowl.

While these pictures make the walk look peaceful, it’s not.  There is a hum of insects and lots of wild bird sounds.  There are cows mooing in the distance and goats bleating.   Sometimes, but not today, I hear snorting sounds– probably a buck as we have lots of deer. Once in a while, I imagine it to be a mama bear and her cubs.  I break out and run if no one is looking. 

One day I hope to take a picture of one of the area’s eagles.  They are there.  Others have photographed them but not me.   The river is supporting a large bird population which speaks to the health of the river.

I’m nearing Lisa’s house. .Here’s her backyard:

Nice, isn’t it?  She has a great back porch to enjoy this view.  I’ll take you there sometime.

This is Lisa’s barnyard.  She has two rescue horses, two fainting goats, and she DID have 29 chickens including heritage breeds UNTIL a raccoon killed 13 this week.    Once she gets this straightened out and her hens are busy laying their pretty green and blue eggs, we’ll visit her.

Walking a bit further, I see Margie’s chicken enclosure.  It’s built of recycled materials.

Just like some people live in nicer houses than other people, so it goes with chickens.  Her very cool chicken coop reflects her creativity and how she values her chickens.   Margie’s chickens are living in what used to be her organic garden. It’s her revenge for the bugs that plagued this garden and ate all of the stuff she meant to sell at the Farmer’s Market.   Chickens love bugs.  They are so yummy clucked the hen as she wiped bug juice off her chin.

Oh…look who is here!   It’s my sister and sister-in-law. Hi Nancy and Jackie!

Next time I’ll walk up river and take you along.