” And of course you can’t become if you only say what you would have done so I missed a million miles of fun.” Len-steal my sunshine

What is going on with this weather?…it’s crazy times people.

A couple weeks ago our heater went out, or something weird happened with the programming…who the heck knows. We changed the battery and set it up and then all it pumped out was cold air. We tried reprogramming again…and again…cold air. So, we kept it off and used our fireplace instead, which heats the house up really well.

Anyway, it was back to cozy fires, warm fuzzy blankets and sweaters…oh…and fuzzy socks, hot cocoa, all that and more. I love the Winter cold, as well as the rest of the family. We even got some snow flurries a week ago…then BOOM….it’s hot, like HOT. Well sort of….not Phoenix hot of course, which we are used to and have PTSD from, but still for March and this part of the country, with trees everywhere and beautiful wooded creeks and lakes…it’s warm ya all.

We figured since the heater was out and we still need to find someone to come fix that, we are waiting to research someone we can trust, well, we figured that maybe the air conditioning part that makes things cold was out as well. Then we turned it on and that part was A Okay. So now we have cold air to cool things down a bit. It gets stuffy here when the temps hit 90. Our brick house can get a bit uncomfortable. I’m still in shock that this is happening in March.

It’s just weird okay, but all the locals say this is normal in this area. Snow one day and shorts and sunburns two days later. Well okay then…I guess I’ll just have to get used to that.

I’m still trying to help my husband out at the old house when I can. Right now I’m in charge of the shop clean up, one corner at a time. In the photo down below, you used to not be able to walk into this room as it was filled with all kinds of trash, two bikes, vintage furniture, and all kinds of old bottles.

The trees all over this town are starting to bloom, first tiny flowers and then green leaves will slowly start to pop out. It’s pretty striking seeing the transformation of all this.

One of those trees is a Dogwood tree. It has now officially bloomed and it’s so beautiful. Just in time for Easter like the legend of this beautiful tree teaches.

We visited an Amish store. I bought tiny sunflower seed candies that look like mini M&M’s that they use on cookies. Like miniature M&M’s, you know. They also had these hand made tea towels that looked like little baby dresses.

Our craft class this month was a full house, lots of kids showed up for this one. The project this month was little plaster turtles to paint. We had confetti to add to the tops for some extra color. It’s just a fun class for kids to get out and socialize and interact with one another, making things with their hands and getting them off those screens, even if only for a little while.

This month’s craft kits were packaged in plastic Easter eggs, over 50 were handed out. Inside each egg were paper flowers, pretty papers to decoupage with, a tiny plaster butterfly, lady bug or flower to paint and extra scrap paper to create the art piece. It’s amazing what you can fit into those little plastic eggs.

We have been back to the little lake for our walks. Things are slowly starting to pop up after their long Winter’s rest. I love seeing the colors come out. Every day we took a walk, there was always something new to see.

We have also been taking walks at the creek too, which is a little creek miles away from the lake. There are trails, creeks, waterfalls, and thick wooded areas all over this state to explore. The creek trail is a very popular one. It’s busy with people exercising so we tend to go there more now. Lots of people around and dogs walking with them, it’s nice out there too. Walking is the best exercise and it is so easy to do, plus you meet nice people out walking and get to pet friendly dogs.

One morning I was out picking up trash around the creek after a wind storm blew in all kinds of bags and I heard some leaves rustling near my feet where I was standing. I paid no mind to it thinking it was the wind and then it moved again and that’s when I stepped back a little out of the way and all of a sudden in the area I was reaching to pick up some trash with my grabber stick a snake slithered out and went through all the dried leaves.

I only caught some of the back end of the snake and it’s tail. It was so thick so I knew it was a big one. I jumped back as it slithered down into some hole and said to my husband….

“That was a snake…what the heck?…what kind of a snake was that?, no rattle on it’s end, but it was big, like huge” I stretched my arms out really wide trying to show with my hands the horror I saw with my eyes, probably over exaggerating it all. I will be the first to admit that I am guilty of doing that from time to time when it comes to the creepy crawlies.

My husband stepped over me to investigate the hole I was pointing to. The hole was in a rock ledge of some sort. There were leaves covering it up. I pushed him back….

” Are you crazy!!…I’m not kidding! It was a big brown snake. Who knows what these Ozark snakes are all about…I need to go back home and look up what I just saw, what if it was poisonous?”

My husband and I both looked back down the ledge at the same time now, and I did a little shiver and started to back away.

” Well…what did it look like?” My husband said still standing over the ledge looking down.

“It was brown, it had a thick tail and a thick body, a big ol fat one” I answered back then started walking away farther.

When I went home I looked that sucker up and guess what? Yep…you’re right…a big old cottonmouth. So, I will make sure I am extra careful now on when around those creek beds. Thankfully cottonmouths pretty munch like to be left alone and slither away from drama. Most snakes don’t like to bother people…so don’t go chasing them with a stick, just walk away, stay away.

On another walk I picked up a stick with some weird looking orange thing on it and started thinking about science fiction movies with creatures from outer space. The Ozarks are full of all kinds of stuff. I took a photo of this strange jelly like thing to share the photos with my son later. Just a fun thing I have done with my children since they were little…the “What is this?” game.

Prayers this month go out for a missing native woman once again. This is so heartbreaking…why is this so hard to resolve. Passion Schurz, a mother of two who is from the the Salt River Pima/Maricopa Indian community in Arizona went missing March 19th. Advocates are treating this as another MMIP case. It is hard for me to find information on this newest case, and the video I was trying to share here can not be shared. I believe this is so much bigger than anyone thinks. So please, continue to pray that the perpetrators responsible for this are exposed and this stops.

So, there you go…that was our month of March. I hope you all had a good month, and you are all out enjoying this Spring weather. Remember, as always…never be afraid to stand up for truth, and stay away from the bullies, never let them steal your sunshine. Stay safe out there you guys, God bless and protect you all.

Copyright Our Little Red House 2026