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.

It's November................

and Isabella is broody...............

Maybe I should put a calendar inside of the coop so that she will know

that chicks usually don't hatch in winter..............

or do they??