This new year..................

I am looking up the road into the new possibilities

of all I can do.................

I hope to start a fruit orchard and to raise berries...........

I have a new kind of pumpkin that I want to try to raise.............

my Zinnia seeds are lying in wait to touch the soft earth............

as well as the cosmos.............

I have decided to raise a vegetable garden this year,

and I have stumbled upon a "new way" of gardening..........that I cannot wait to experiment with,

and I hope that the grounds will someday look like the photo above......

I will let you know about the new gardening idea and take you along the journey in future posts.

With this New Year.................I am not looking back,

instead.........I am keeping my focus straight ahead,

armed with prayer, hope and faith.

How about you?

Are you looking back, weary of how last year was?..........or perhaps with sweet memories of things that occurred?

Or are you looking ahead with worry about what is to become?..........or maybe you are full of excitement and can't wait to step out into the New Year.

I would love to hear.

Happy New Year

dear blogging friends.

Walking in the woods on a snowy evening..........

on Christmas Eve.....making my daughter's Christmas visit wish come true.

We have had such a wonderful time as we all gathered together.

The fields as far as one could see were covered in a blanket of snow on Christmas morning..........such a rare thing for Texas, especially since we have suffered such a sever drought this summer.

It has been such a magical time, with photos being taken, hands held in prayer at the dinner table, memories shared and memories made.

How about you? Did you have a lot of guests at your Christmas table?

Did you have a lot of snow outside your door?

I would love to hear.

Christmas is almost here..........

and I am looking forward to it more than any other Christmas over the past few years..........

for this special Christmas...............

my daughter is coming home...........

traveling a far way to get here..............

taking a break from her busy Navy life.......

making this holiday a time where,

for the first time in many years..........

all of my children along with my husband and I, will all be together to celebrate..........

as a complete family............

just like those Christmas times a long while back.

I am taking a break from blogging.......

to just enjoy...

family.

For all of you who visit here..........

Have yourself a very Merry Christmas!

There are hundreds of mesquite trees

here on the grounds of "Pleasant Prairie".  I know, because I have walked the woods with Sophie, looking over every one of them.......

However, in the back yard, ...............in front of my greenhouse, is a younger mesquite tree that has a wonderful clump of mistletoe growing on it. It is the only one out of all of the trees here on the grounds that has mistletoe. I know it is actually a fungus...........but I love it!

This is how it looked last week when we got the "big snow". This tree also supports one end of my clothesline...............which I love!

DID YOU KNOW?
Kissing under the mistletoe, our favorite sprig of green leaves and white berries, dates back to a 17th century English custom.
At that time, a berry was removed every time a kiss was made, which meant there were no kisses when there were no berries.

How about you??

 Do you have mistletoe hanging in your trees?..................or more important...........

do you have mistletoe hanging where you can get a kiss or two??
I hope so!

Just a thought for the beginning of the week...............

For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock”(Psalm 27:5, NIV)

Snow usually does not last long

in the part of Texas that I am in..................

( our home looks like a winter wonderland..........don't you think?)

however, we managed to get 6 inches in one day................

  Every thing was covered and we are just now seeing the last of the snow melt away.

As  you know, I love old fence posts...........

you can see where the snow blew in from the north on this one.  Today, we have sunny skies,

and it looks like it will stay this way for the weekend and into next week.

How about you?

Are you still under snow, rain, or deep cold??

Or do you have sunny skies?

I would love to hear.

Why did the chicken cross the road??

Shrek: Urrrrrp - What chicken?

George Bush: To face a kinder, gentler thousand points of headlights

Darwin: It was the logical next step after coming down from the trees

Bob Dylan: How many roads must one chicken cross?

Robert Frost: To cross the road less traveled by

Gilligan: The traffic started getting rough; the chicken had to cross. If not for the plumage of its peerless tail the chicken would be lost, the chicken would be lost!

Martin Luther King : It had a dream

James T. Kirk: To boldly go where no chicken has gone before

Sir Isaac Newton: Chickens at rest tend to stay at rest. Chickens in motion tend to cross the road

Mr. Scott: 'Cos ma wee transporter beam was na functioning properly. Ah canna work miracles, Captain!

Mae West: I invited it to come up and see me sometime

George Washington: Actually it crossed the Delaware with me back in 1776

Albert Einstein: Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed
the chicken depends upon your frame of reference

Darth Vader: Because it could not resist the power of the Dark Side

Lord Baden-Powell: To earn a Road Crossing merit badge  

Colonel Sanders: I missed one?

A blanket of thick white snow

blew across the prairie in the wee late hours

and covered the woods in it's crisp, cold, brightness.

That means just one thing to Sophie.......... 

Playtime!

She looks like she is making her own snowman.........or snowdog

We walked all over the grounds this morning........oohing and ahhing............well, I did, Sophie, just sniffed. But all of this snow means one wonderful thing for me and for Texas............

moisture!!!

How about you? Have you already received enough snow that you are already tired of it?

Or are you still out there making snow angels and snowmen?

I would love to hear!

Tex and Tess always sit together in the hen house..............

Just like a set of salt and pepper shakers......................

don't you think??

Looking out the window, I can see the wild doves

have settled in for a feast. They have become abundant lately...........I suppose seeking refuge from all of the recent gunshot and hunting activities that go on throughout the neighboring landscape. The feed and water is also a big draw.

The woods lie in quiet stillness, with only the sound of wind rustling the dry prairie grass..........

along with the prowling sounds of Salem ..........

and Boo, who have

joined Sophie and I on our morning excursion. The trees are losing their leaves and the hues of green are fading to yellow and brown..............

however, the Lantana always shows off it's bright berry seeds this time of year....

and some of the most unusual colors can be found on the most common of weeds and sage brush.

The eggs in my pocket are still running over. The young hens that came here in early spring are laying .........and I was able to keep my customers stocked in eggs for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Did you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving?

I would love to hear!

Thanksgivng is here............

a time when we all have a chance to gather together in happiness and thankfulness

 for all that we know and love

and for all that we have.........even if it is not so much. .................

It's funny.................some of the "richest' folks I know ...............

are those who live a simple and common life............

and don't measure their thankfulness by their purse strings.........

and then  some of the folks I know who do  have a bounty of plenty.............

are always stretching out their hands..........

giving to others in need..............

thankful for the opportunity to do so.

I guess, you might could say,.........

Thanksgiving is in heart.......

where it matters the most.

Have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving to you all!

By the way.............

there is a really good cobbler recipe on my cooking blog for

Thanksgiving, just hop over to

My Country Kitchen

My Grandfather's trunk

still had the smell of mothballs lingering inside when I opened it up...................

I went down to my mother's for a visit and to bring this piece of cherished childhood memory back home with me. I feel so blessed! Not just of because of the piece.............but because of the memory I have of the tall, gentle, old blue eyed man that once owned it and would let me sometime peek into his personal life of the things he stored in it..............with that whiff of mothballs always greeting me.

It is in rough shape,...........being stored in an outside building...........the dirt and the weather has treated it poorly........but the detail and the character is still there.......

I am in the process of cleaning, stripping and repainting the outside. It has some damage on the bottom, but my sweetie, husband says that he can fix it for me...........what would I do without him??

I don't mind the black paint, however, I want to change the blue................I am thinking of either just sanding it off and leaving the silver...........or painting it a lighter color..............but I have not a clue as to which color will look good. Any suggestions???

The inside  is what I cannot wait to start working with. I already am in search of wall paper heavily laden with roses and vines .............or wildflowers...........which I really like the best. I want to fix some kind of ribbon on the inside lid to slide in photographs and special pieces of paper.

There are a couple of dates that are handwritten  inside.............I have no idea what their meaning is, however, I am cutting them out to preserve.

When I am finished with it, I am storing my hand embroidered linens, items that I am hand stitching for my children to have for their families someday,  and crocheted pieces inside. Boo is ready for me to place a quilt on top for her to claim as a resting place............

I will store this somewhere in my home so that I can enjoy looking at it................

remembering a man who wore light khaki pants, sitting in his rocking chair, while playing solitaire and smoking a pipe. He never minded my interrupting his game to listen to my girlish chatter and would sometimes sing an old song to me.

 That is the memory I hold dear.

How about you?

Do you have your grandfather's old trunk?

If so, is it decorated and stuffed full of your special items?

I would love to hear!

The cooler weather

has started making the mesquite tree leaves to change color and to start dropping.

It wont be long that the woods will be only a mangle of twisted and thorny trunks.

It is also the time that I start focusing on clearing out some of the brush..........hopefully the rattlesnakes will be more sluggish this time of year..............

although we are dry and brown.............bright red cactus pods

catch my eye in the over growth

and bright red berried are abundant throughout the woods.................we might have a deer or two to come visit.

How about you?

What is still in color around you? Are you under snow?

I would love to hear.

When you feel that you have reached the end

and you cannot go one step further,

when life seems to be drained of all purpose;.....................

what a wonderful opportunity

to start all over again,

to turn over a new page.

*Eileen Caddy*

I know of a place.............

where the tall prairie grass is pink..................

as well as some of the weeds...............

where bouquets of wildflowers are still blooming........

even though it is November.

I know of a place.............where the road curves

 to where there are woods where children used to roam and play............

in those woods, there is an old weathered mesquite tree,

where a family of woodpeckers make their home...........

every year.

In that same tree, this young pilot, tried out his wings..........

and then left the nest..............

I know of a place where a badger goes to sleep.......after he has had his early morning drink,

I know of a place............that if you look straight up at night with a flashlight.......

you will see a great horned owl looking back down............

I know of a place where the most whimsical creatures gather.................

and all of these.............

 memories gather and stay in the depths of my heart................

always to be remembered.

It's funny...........most folks think of heaven as being a place where we all float on white fluffy clouds in a bright blue sky.............

but I just know............

my heaven will be.........

 where a coyote calls out and serenades under a moonlit sky...........

where the wind tosses the prairie grass like waves on an ocean............

where at every glance there will be some creature staring back with the same amazement that I am staring at it with.........

this is the heaven I like to envision.

How about you?

What places do you know the secrets of ?

What do you imagine your heaven to be?

I would love to hear.