Valentine’s Day, Blackberry Homestead Style

February 15, 2025

On February 14 (Friday), I woke up to flood warnings in Florence, AL from the National Weather Service. The Tennessee River was (and still is) at flood stage.

I mentioned I wanted to go to the Rockpile Recreation Park along the Tennessee River to see the water pouring over the Wilson Dam. Bruce was interested in going as well. While they allow dogs at the Rockpile, Nox is just too old to walk that much. It was chilly, so we decided to leave her at home after walking her.

I drove to the Rockpile Recreation Park and parked the truck near the boat ramp. We started walking towards the dam.

Can you spot the Canada Goose?

We saw several great blue herons.

The sides of the cliff had icicles sparkling on the vines.

On the way to the falls, we saw a bald eagle fly overhead. I wasn’t able to get a picture of it.

We rounded the curve of the path and the rushing water of the falls came into view.

We watched the birds for a while.

I also took some more pictures of the water pouring out the dam gates.

We walked back to the truck and I drove the eight miles home.

Once we arrived home, Nox was ready to get a massage from the people bed. After getting Nox set up for her massage, I had a cup of hot tea and Bruce had hot cocoa.

In the afternoon, Bruce decided it was chainsawing time. I walked around the backyard and back pasture with him to determine which trees might need to be cut down. There was only one tree that wasn’t entangled with poison ivy that needed to be cut down.

Cutting the smaller tree down revealed the big tree it was growing next to was also hollow. The trunk of the smaller tree hid the hole in the trunk of the larger tree.

On the way back to the house, I noticed daffodils sprouting and some even have flower buds! That happened very fast!

The orange flags mean poison ivy lives here. You can see a grape vine growing on the fence.

Around 4:30 PM, I started dinner. Here’s the Valentine’s Day menu.

It was a lovely meal and Bruce appreciated getting to eat lamb. It is a special treat for him.

Bruce and I really enjoyed the pink and white (pineberries) strawberries with honey infused with vanilla bean we had for dessert. We both enjoy trying new flavors and the strawberries had a different flavor. They were sweet, milder with a pineapple flavor mixed in with the strawberry flavor.

It was a very lovely day!