I have closed a door in my life

and am re-opening one as the New Year begins.

As many of you guessed,........................ yes, I have walked away from my grill job. It just got to be too overwhelming and conditions with folks there were just not right for me. I know "in these hard times" this decision might not be the wisest........as some of you wiser readers might be thinking. The door I am re-opening is my embroidery work and to start working more on the book I want to publish with my designs. In between this, I might find another job.........that does not kill me in the process of making $$$$.

Have any of you been there before??
So I am ending this old year and starting the new, with a little worry, a lot of hope, and hard work to make my dream come true.
For all of you, dear friends,
may all good new doors fling open wide,
may doors close on your unhappiness,
and may new paths full of hope and blessings lie in front of you!
Have a wonderful and blessed new year!

The fields lie open and blank

waiting for the crops to be planted,............. new plans to be completed.

That is how I am facing my life with the new year approaching. Looking forward for good things to come...............but also facing a difficult decision that I am thinking about making ............about my working world..............what the result will be in the new year...................I am not sure. All I am sure about, is that I have always believed that if I am not pleased about something............it is up to me to change it. At this time, I do not wish to keep letting things continue as they are.

Also, I am busily stitching away to create the linens I have been wanting to create. I also have open and blank garden spaces waiting for the new pumpkin and flower seeds that I will decide on planting this year. I have made the decision to plant only what I really love to work with this coming spring. That, of course, are pumpkins and flowers. So, I am readily saying goodbye to 2010, and looking forward with hope to 2011.
How about you? Are you looking forward to the new year? Do you have big plans? I would love to hear.

Merry Christmas....

to each and everyone who visit here!

And have yourself a happy new year!

This was the view from their porch

every day...........at least during the time I knew them.

My grandparents lived way out in the west Texas brush........the same way I do now.........and it is because of the visits to their house, all of the walks with my aunts through the woods, all of the memories formed around the white old house, surrounded with mesquite filled ranch land
and cotton fields that stretched as far as the eye can see, that my heart was forever filled with a longing to live the same way.

No matter how many times I see a twisted old mesquite tree, or an endless cotton field, it makes me smile with the memory of my grandparents place. The dry, thorny, prairie that surrounds me at this time of year might be an eye sore to many...............

But to me, because of Frank and Pearl,.............. it is the sweetest place on earth. I wish I had got to know them better,.............and I wish I had gotten answers to questions like........... how hard was it to raise 13 children in the depression?..........and how did they feel about each other when they first met?....................so many questions, I wished I had asked, but being a busy youngster, I only loved to see them.........grandma and grandpa. Right when these things became important for me to know.............they had already long passed away. I have gotten some information from aunts and uncles...........but not like I would have from them.

How about you? What was your grandparents home like? Did you love to visit...........are you living the same way as they once did?

I would love to hear!

I step out onto the quietness of the front porch............

a quietness I have not heard since the beginning of this week.

The holly bush is all dressed in it's holiday attire and seems to speak to me.......saying......

"what is wrong with you? why have you not started decorating yet??"
It's true.............I'm just not in the " Christmas mood" this year.........for many reasons.........and it's not the usual reasons of money being spent or the rush of crowds at the store...............no . One reason,................... the noise that has been clanging and banging around this week, and the debris that, at this time, lays completely around the grounds of the house......................is from the fact that we are getting a new roof on................( a process that we have been getting started since last June, and I have not wanted to blog about.........sigh)

and now it has all started................ in December.............where the weather has been warm and fall like............and the wasps are still swarming over their nests and stinging the roofers. Such a mess..........all around the house............. Although I am away at work a good portion of their work day...................the hard work they are doing, goes on until almost dark.And this work will continue for the entire next week. The cats are freaked out by the strangers who are tearing down the house..............yelling and singing to music from their boom box. I have to go to the edge of the woods after everyone has left and call out for the scared critters........that it is now safe to come home. That is one reason I am just not in the mood, plus being tired from a new job............ when in the past I would be home, baking Christmas goodies and stitching Christmas projects. I also miss the excitement that our young children would bring at the first arrival of the Christmas season. There is just a fun magic to Christmas when there is a small one in the house. All of my chicks are grown...........no big wish list to fill............sigh

However, the roofers left early yesterday...........giving themselves, I am sure, a much needed break, as well as myself,............peace and quiet. Once I opened the shed closet door that keeps every glittered and shiny Christmas object, my mood slowly came back. I have to be careful to not have things I want to keep nice..........away from the house's edge.............

however, the window boxes are under the big eve of the house and debris can't fall on them.

This year, I decided to use our small Christmas tree instead of our usually 12 footer. That large tree just gets harder and harder to decorate, (for myself) every year............and I just want things..........simple this year. Although this tree is smaller, it is still full of cheer and Christmas spirit. Maybe next year, we will haul out the giant tree and do more.

How about you? Does home makeovers upset your peacefulness? I'm sure they do.

Do you go all out at Christmas or are you finding yourself to want to slow down?

I would love to hear!

It's past midnight............

almost 1 in the morning, in fact, and I really should be asleep...................but I don't have to be up at 5 tomorrow morning like I usually am, (a day off from work)................although I will be up at 6 to let all of the chickens and ducks out of their enclosure. One hour to sleep late! It's funny how one whole hour makes me feel like I have gotten a bonus! Do you agree? {: ............speaking of sleep..........

this is a picture of what was once mighty and powerful claws, now the claws of a very old and sleeping ............
Max.................. He spends much of his day and night sleeping..........and wheezing. He is so old and ragged.........like an over loved teddy bear. The whole house is quiet as I sit and type away...........with the sounds of breathing from the cats , Sophie, and the family members who know it's time to get some rest. From outside, I can hear the hoot of an owl who has taken up residence in the woods surrounding our home. I have been bringing egg shells, coffee grounds, tea grounds, and potato and onion peelings from work for my compost "project". My boss was more than happy for me to take them home with me every day. Now I have quite a big pile. I have it in a large container in which I rotate and add to, and then I have an enormous pile on the ground that I am going to till straight into my garden spaces. I shovel the mixture all on top of the spaces and then work it all into the soil with the tiller. I till the ground throughout the winter, (weather permitting), and by spring the ground is rich and ready for planting. I mix the part in the container with soil and other compost medium and use it for potting mix. The bag I bring from the cafe each day has given me enough to work all of my spaces this year. Tomorrow, the weather is supposed to be pleasant, and I plan to work out in garden. I have decided that I am only growing flowers and pumpkins in the next year. It is what I love the most. How about you?
Do you compost? Are you thinking about what you would like to grow next year?
I would love to hear!