For just a short time, these past few days,

I had all of my flowers gathered........into one sweet bouquet.

I excitedly ran to the airport and picked up my daughter, Hannah, who has been away in the Navy,..........but worked very hard to get clearance to join

her two brothers, Zack, the computer wiz, on the left, and Joseph, the physics brain, on the right,who were already waiting for her to join them and the rest of our family at Joseph's high school graduation.

What a happy and busy time!

My cheery bunch enjoyed catching up with each other and we spent the few short days, visiting, remembering, and laughing. Now, Hannah has flown back to Hawaii, Zack is back to his job, and Joseph is about to start his journey in life. I am not sure when I will have them all together again.

Life has taught me to enjoy these moments that come and go as if on wings of an elusive butterfly.

How about you? Are you able to have your family all together at one time a lot..........or does it take some planning to make it all happen?

I would love to hear

My roses are heavy

with rain drops...............yes!.........your prayers came through and we got a good soaking the other night!

Thank you for your prayers!!

My chickens nests are overflowing with eggs. I just love to see all of the colors, don't you? I was delivering my eggs to my customers, and now,......... they come out to me for fresh eggs! Something that I have been wanting to happen, and even though I never asked them to, they were able to find me and tell their friends!

 It is wonderful,to me, to know that people are now connecting my "farm" with fresh eggs!!! 

I have been busy getting my nest ready. Children sprouting their wings and leaving and children flying home to visit!  How about you? Have you been safe from the storms? Are you having visitors? or are you having your young ones leave the nest?

I would love to hear!

The smell of cinnamon and cloves drifted through the house

as an applesauce cake baked for about an hour in the oven today. I lingered in the open doorway as the aroma, drifted by me and out onto the porch, making me smile................ and for an moment.........remember. 

There is just something about an old fashioned applesauce cake baking and filling the home with these favorite aromas, that brings back a flood of memories ..........for me. Scent has always played an important role in my "memory bank". Does it do the same for you?  I can smell the heady fragrance of a cabbage rose and fondly remember certain people who raised them.  

The baking smell of applesauce cake, always makes me think of a well worked and gathered in  kitchen, stocked full of vintage figurines and canisters full of flour and sugar.

with canning jars and other glassware on the surrounding shelves. Upon entering this space, one could smell the spices of the baking that had previously taken place that day.

 I remember a tiny and gentle elderly lady, guiding my brother and I back to such a spot and having us sit down at her table...........where a small flower patterned dish was handed to each of us, with a slice of this wonderful cake sitting on it. It was still warm.............and so delicious.

The years have passed and I have made many of these cakes. It is one of my favorites...........

a comfort food of sorts.

How about you? What scent do you remember and smile upon?

What is your favorite smell from the kitchen? I would love to hear!

Sand dunes are surrounding the grounds

of the farm.........they remind me of the beach that we used to visit when our children were small. However, these dunes are from the cotton field that lies behind the farm. The high winds and severe drought has blown all of the dirt into the grounds here.


Somehow, the prairie flowers still burst forth,


their vibrant blossoms waiving in the wind.



Closer to the house, the flower and rock beds are showing new flowers sprouting in the sun.


I had meant for this to be a rock garden only, which in the winter it is,





but in the spring, the marigold, cosmos and mountain garland, work their way inbetween the rocks and

have found it to be the perfect spot to bloom. Here's hoping that where ever you are, the rain is not flooding, the sky is not storming, the dry brush is not catching on fire and that somewhere, you have found a safe and content spot to be in.

Something To Crow About!

This blog has been temporarily interrupted..............away from chicken talk, away from egg counting, away from duck watching and away from the grounds of the farm.................

I had made it a point to not to write about my family in this blog................

My family is what my whole world is made of and I am very protective about each member and their privacy...................however, this is one thing I just cant keep quiet.................... no matter what...............

My son Joseph, who is a senior and will be graduating from high school in just a couple of weeks, won the gold medal in Physics in the UIL State Competition!
He had been gone pretty much of all of last week..............off to Austin TX, the state capitol, to compete with the other students from around and across Texas. When he called to let us know he had won, I cried!..........sigh...........I always cry at happy events. ..............do you?
I will be back .............later, with chicken and duck photos.............but now I must find a tissue.........{:

Baby's Day Out

The baby chicks are growing , but still too small to leave

the safety of the shed. It will be just a little longer before they can be with the others out in the chicken yard.

However, the ducks have just grown in a short matter of weeks! Today was their first day to enter the pen.................they were just like 5 year old children on their first day of kindergarten............they have only known a light and an inside pen.............dirt is something entirely new to their feet................and I was just like a mother on that first day!
I kept checking on them hour after hour to see if they were ok.
But soon, the realization that they were ducks kicked in and they were making the rounds, checking out the chickens and the grounds of the chicken yard. I think they are going to be happy!

Are clotheslines just a memory for you??

Did you know.............

1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes.
Walk the length of each line with a damp cloth around the line.
2. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order and always hang whites with whites and hang them first.
3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders, always by the tail

A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the fancy sheets
And towels upon the line;
You'd see the company table cloths
With intricate design.

The line announced a baby's birth
To folks who lived inside
As brand new infant clothes were hung
So carefully with pride.

The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed
You'd know how much they'd grown.


It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.

It said, "Gone on vacation now"
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare.

New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy gray,
As neighbors raised their brows,
And looked the other way..

But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess.

I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung out on the line!
by Marilyn K. Walker