Looking back and looking forward

on this year that is quickly fading away. It has been a year of  discoveries, challenges, and

realizations of how I want to do things in the following New Year.

So here is a glimpse back on 2012..........

In January,

 

I discovered a new gardening method called bag gardening, where one can simply cut open bags of fertilized soil and grow their garden without digging into hard ground. I was mildly successful with this, however, I think I like to garden by tilling the earth or using raised beds better.

In February

I got interested in restoring vintage items...........a chair.............and also my grandfather's old trunk that had recently been handed down to me. This turned out to be a new thing that I love to do.

In March

I started getting an abundance of eggs from my chickens, which led to a great year of selling fresh eggs from my home.

 

In April,

the prairie was full of fragrant wildflowers of every shape and color.

I spent many hours walking and taking it all in.

In May,

I decided to put a use to some of the things I collect. I came up with the idea of using my old light globes as plant containers. It turned out to be a wonderful idea!

Of course, as many of you know, nature captures my attention the most.

In June,

there was an abundance of grasshoppers and large crickets. Even though they are very destructive, I find them whimsical and the most agreeable model for photos.

In July,

I was challenged with where to draw a line when it comes to being friendly with wildlife.

A male racoon decided to take up residence in Sophie's large dog house. He seemed friendly , however, he soon tried to take over every thing. I had to capture this creature and once it was in a cage, he was not as friendly as I had thought. Thankfully, he was relocated and never returned.

In August,

I was able to release two birds, Twitter and Tweet , back into the wild.  I had been tending to them for the past few weeks. They grew to be healthy and strong and flew away. It was a bittersweet moment.

In September,

The cotton fields were filled with colorful blooms from the cotton plants.

In October,

the Zinnia gardens that I planted late on purpose, proved to be a wonderful thing to decide to do. I had beautiful blooms all the way up to November.

In November,

as in each year, it was time to get the greenhouse ready. I placed all of the outside plants into the greenhouse shelves, covered the greenhouse in plastic and got the heater installed, ready for the cold winter days and nights ahead.

In December,

the grounds were covered with a light dusting of the first snow for the season. A beautiful and quiet world......when all of this happens.

Looking forward with this new year just around the corner, I am already faced with new challenges and decisions that will need much prayer and thought upon.

Change is good I have been told so many times............but I like things to be as they are, especially when they work out so well.

I am looking forward to this new year with hope, faith, and determination to make it the best year yet.

How about you?

Are you looking forward to a new year of great possiblities?

What are some of your best moments for this past year?

I would love to hear!

 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,

for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away

like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.

The good you do for others is good you do yourself.

Norman Wesley Brooks

U.S. design engineer

1923-200

 

 

 

 

The Texas dirt was blinding as the wind ripped and roared

across the prairie yesterday.

And if you ever wondered what I look like.............well, this is pretty close after yesterday.

My husband's truck broke down a little ways down the road from our home as he was heading to work yesterday morning. He had to leave it behind and go on to work. Yesterday afternoon, the dirt storm was in full swing, when he and I had to go down to drag this truck home.

I do not like to pull vehicles, and I do not like to be pulled in a vehicle. Both are very stressful to me, especially when I am blinded by a dirt storm.

Dirt stung our faces, tumbleweeds came at us like a wild stampede, scaring Sophie, who found a safe retreat inside of the truck. Not only did my hair look like it does in the photo, but my expression was a close match.

There are feathers of different colors of white, red, and speckled black, stuck in the tumbleweed lined woods that blew off of my poor chickens. I think I have enough to make a pillow! But never fear, my hair will be smooth  and I will smile again, with no dirt in my teeth......

 This is life on a west Texas prairie.

How about you?

Are you hanging on to your hair, dress, or hat as you struggle with dirt or snow blowing?

I would love to hear!

I visited an old nursery close to the town where I "grew up"

and was just taken in with the abundance of the poinsettia plants that they had.

Every kind of color was there to choose from

and I found myself lost in a sea of color taking it all in.

I was so surprised to see how much in flowers and plants

they had to offer. The areas were unending. It was almost like walking through a park.

Are your local nurseries overflowing as well?

 

I also checked out the local museum and learned about the mammoth that had been discovered at a local lake where we used to take our young children on camping trips.

How about you?

Any dinosaurs hanging out in your favorite spot?

Sophie has been a good, but somewhat reluctant help in decorating for the holidays.

 

 

She is so tired of me doing this to her every year.

But she soon perked up when she discovered that it included a walk down to the road to decorate the gates.

How about you?

Have you gotten the tinsel, the holly, the lights and the stockings all hung?

I would love to hear!



With the cold weather settling in

I have placed all of my flowers and plants into the warmth and safety of the greenhouse.

The flower beds and gardens have all died down and gone to sleep for the season.

Now is the time that all of the chickens can be let out to roam the grounds freely during the day.

They can go as far as they like to explore and scratch.

I just love to see chickens roaming the grounds!

Yet they seem to stay close to the back yard and the chicken yard ,and always back into the roost by sundown.

I think they are very happy chickens............egg production is back up again.

For those of you who raise chickens.............

do you let them out to roam the grounds during the day?

or do you find them very destructive..........as they can be..........

and let them stay penned?

I would love to hear!



The first dusting of snow for the season

came to us in the early morning hours, mixed in with the high winds blowing across the prairie.

It looks like someone took a gigantic sifter and sifted powdered sugar over my wooded garden.

When I wake to mornings such as this, it can only mean one thing............

before the chickens get let out and fed............

before the coffee maker gets filled...........

before any important stitching get done............

I grab my camera and Sophie and I head out for a long winter's walk.

She was so busy running here and there and sniffing out every visitor, that I did not catch too many good shots of her.

Gertrude stands alert and strong.............although her sweater has snow over the shoulders,

guarding the garden.............which now needs to be completely cleared.

We did not get enough to measure................

not even a shovel full..............

but if you were a little bird.........with small matchstick legs.............

it might be pretty deep!

I am actually surprised we got snow.............and this early..............

how about you?

Are you already under a deep blanket of snow?

Perhaps you have already made a snowman or two?

I would love to heat!

 



There are green tomatoes hanging on the blooming vines out on the patio

 

the weather is sunny and the temperature is in the 70's.................

 

yet, there are jingle bells hanging on my back door.........

 

and in just another day or so........a tree will be in my window.......

wearing brightly colored ornaments..........just like an old lady that

wears too many beads and earrings at one time.

 

Holly and bells will be scattered throughout the house.................

Why??

Because it's Christmas time.

 

 

This morning I walked up to a store entrance and heard the sound of a Salvation Army band,

playing slightly out of time and out of tune...............

but it was the prettiest music I have heard..............

Why??

Because it's Christmas time!

And as I made my way through the brightly colored poinsettia plants,

I could hear the happy sound of jingle bells , dinging in constant movement from a lady who was walking behind me. She was dressed in ordinary jeans, a dull colored flannel shirt,  and I could not see where any of the bells were hanging...........but every where she went............

her bells announced.....

it's Christmas time!

Maybe at this time of year............you don't believe in a jolly, plump, man

in a red fanciful suit...........that never seems to be out dated...........

and maybe at this time of year.......you don't believe in a wondrous, holy night,

so many years ago..............

perhaps you might find yourself with plenty at this time of year................

perhaps you might find yourself with less than plenty..............

But I believe that somewhere in all of us...........there is a memory............

of a Christmas.......long ago...........where we let ourselves believe in the magic........

and in the Spirit of the season...........

and we found ourselves singing those Christmas songs that played over and over............

where peppermint tasted so much better in a shape of a cane............

and the sound of jingle bells made us smile..............

maybe there were a lot of Christmas's like that for you..............

or maybe there was only one..........

and you just cant seem to find another like it..........

 

 

If there is any thing to believe in.............believe in the memories that are to be made this Christmas.

Look for a smile from someone you don't know, who smiles at you

just because it's Christmas time.

Listen for that lady, jingling along.........I know there are more than just she out there.........

smile, when you hear her.........

just because it's Christmas time.......

No matter how much or how little.........

make the best memories you can this year............

just because it's Christmas time

How about you??
What is your favorite Christmas memory

past or present?

I would love to hear!



I've been published!

A few weeks ago, I was notified that an article I wrote was accepted for publishing by one of my favorite magazines!!

 

MaryJanes Farm!

MaryJanes Farm magazine, Self Rising issue Vol 12 number 1

The Dec/Jan issue

in the Keeping In Touch section........page 24

Even though the article is titled "Self Rising"

it is not at all about flour or bread.

I will let you discover what it's all about when you read it in the magazine!

How about you?

Do you like MaryJanes Farm magazine?..............

or what is your favorite?

I would love to hear!



The woods are turning to brown and gold colors..........

due to the cool weather and now is the time that I like to go out into the woods and work on creating different gardens along the pathways.

 

The areas between the paths are full of natural plants and shrubs that grow in the landscape.........these, I want to remain and to keep growing.............

but the area is also full of high weeds and thorny cactus. So with Sophie at my side, I picked out my garden space and went to work with a shovel and a rake.

(Before)

I loved this section of 3 mesquite trees standing together, enveloped by small fir brush that the deer like to eat. The photo above is how it looked before I started working on it............

(After)

And here it is after I got rid of the over growth.

(Before)

Here is the ground full of cactus and spiky weeds..........

(After)

and here it is all cleared.

Now here is a perfect garden space ready..........like a blank canvas.............along the pathway.

I am placing containers to plant daffodils and other bulbs.................

I plan to also place a bird feeder and a few bird houses................

as well as a few decorative rocks. 

There is no water source close, I will have to carry it in buckets, so I need to plant things that do not need constant watering.  Hopefully by the end of spring, it will be a lovely garden to look at while walking in the woods.

There is so much more to do. I have many more spaces and pathways to clear. I plan to work one space..............one week at a time.  I wonder what I can accomplish within a years time?................

How about you?

Do you have special places that you are wanting to make into a garden space?

What would you plant or place there?

I would love to hear!