One of the most beautiful creatures........yet the nastiest beast at the same time

came within just a few feet away from me this morning,

allowing me to capture a wonderful wildlife shot.

This coyote came up into the yard......while I was outside working on my vintage shop, which is unusual for coyotes to do.

It is just inches away from the chicken yard. I happened to hear my chickens squawking and saw it.

If you remember, I have lost quite a few of my good laying hens to these predators.

 

Sophie, my dog took off after it,  with me  frantically yelling for her to stop,......... she finally let it run off.

 

 

After all of the excitement was over, in only about 5 minutes, the coyote returned............not at all afraid of my presence. This was my photo opportunity. All of the time I was taking these photos, my son was warning me to get a gun to shoot this creature.

But I would rather shoot this way..........

I could tell from the scrawny look of it that it does not have rabies..........

but that it is a female and has probably a litter of pups to feed and she was desperate to get a chicken dinner.

She is on one side of my chicken pen and I am on the other........a stand off of sorts.

Although she is scary...........to me she is very pretty.

Finally after yelling and waving a shovel at her, she half  heartedly retreated  back to the woods.

I know she will be back and now Sophie and I have to keep a real close eye on the grounds to keep all who live here safe.

How about you?

Have you had a close encounter with the wild side?

I would love to hear!



I can hear the crunch of the dryness

as I walk along  the grounds,

every thing seems still and asleep in the 16 degree weather.

Yet just around the corner, the Italian Jasmine that I  dug up , brought with me from town, and transplanted,  when we moved out here so many years ago, is starting to awaken

and to show off it's cheery yellow blossoms. I look forward to this at every start of the new year.

This is such a hearty and strong plant for my area of Texas. Cuttings can be placed in the ground and in a short time, a hedge of this beautiful flower is growing. It is the one plant that can withstand the hostile heat and high winds from the Texas prairie.  

The common name of this plant is Winter Jasmine

Genus: Jasminum

Species, Hybrids, Cultivars: J. mesnyi- primrose jasmine;

evergreen vine with long, arching branches; lemon yellow flowers,

late January- April

Family: Oleaceae

Blooms: winter

Type: perennial

Did you know

Of the 200 species of jasmines known, only about 15 are grown in gardens?

The white jasmine was introduced to England from India by Vasco da Gama in the sixteenth century.It was particularly cherished for it's scent and was often used in perfumes. The Chinese name for this plant is yeh-hsi-ming, which is probably from the Persian name ysmis, meaning "white flower".

An Italian legend says that the first person to grow jasmine in Italy was the Duke Cosimo de Medici. The Duke was very proud of this plant and jealously forbade even a leaf of it to leave his garden.

 One of his young gardeners disobeyed this order and presented his fiancee with a branch of this beautiful plant. Together they planted this branch and were able to raise many more plants from it. These they sold at a very high price, making a tidy sum to start their lives with. Sine that time, Italian brides have worn a sprig of this jasmine on their wedding day as a token of good luck.

In the Victorian language of flowers, white jasmine means amiability.

Winter jasmine was introduced from China by English botanist Robert Fortune in 1844.

Thank you .......Robert!!

 It is the emblem of grace and elegance.

Do you have a certain kind of jasmine growing in your area?

I would love to hear!

 



I have taken the cold days and my chickens for granted.............

if you remember a few posts back, I was frustrated that the cold weather had made my hens stop laying,

and I had to go to the store and buy eggs................

 

something I have not had to do for so many years because my chickens have always provided me with a wonderful surplus.

I have gotten very spoiled and realized it at the store looking at the prices of eggs.

I have only been looking in the top nests.............forgetting how those hens like to hide their eggs from me..........

while cleaning out the hen house this past week,

I came upon this nest.........full of beautiful eggs............

hidden in the very far corner of the hen house............

Not knowing how old these eggs are, I threw them away..........

with a disapproving look from Norman............

Since then, I have been getting 4 eggs a day and I no longer go to the store to buy any.

We have had such a beautiful and sunny week this past week

Here hoping that your nests are overflowing and that your days are sunny as well !

It's at this time of a new year............I listen to the lists and resolutions

of others..............

while also pondering on what I hope to achieve with the brand new and clean slate I have been given.

And so many times, I often hear from the same ones,  later in the year..........that they did not make their resolution into a reality or that they threw that list away. I have found myself feeling the same way..............

 

But I have come to realize.........that sometimes, we have such big hopes that we try to take on and carry way too much...........

and although we work hard at our goals................we often wear ourselves out because of it all.

We often put too much on our plates.............

So go back and remember what our wise mothers use to always tell us............

Instead of piling our plates full of the wonderful things we want...............

start out small.............putting only a little at a time onto our plate...........

 

Work on organizing one corner a day in that cluttered room...........

then go back the next day and work on another corner...........

try to go one day without eating that  cookie............

then the next day, try not eating that bread............

 

weed only  a section of that garden...........

the weeds in the other part will wait and grow until the next day..........

 

if we find we want to handle more............

go get some more...............

but only in small quantities...........

then give it a rest and go back to it the next day.............

If we would try to remember that............I think we would be less overwhelmed and less exhausted,

and we might get more done..........

don't you agree?

 

Even the good Lord makes our sun go down to gently tell us...

Not so much in one day!  It's time to rest.

So here's hoping that you keep your list..........don't throw it away...........

but just check off the things that you can accomplish bit by bit..............

those big dreams............don't give them  up..............

work a little each day at making them come true!

And I'm sure they will!

 

 



A tired and tattered scarecrow

watches over the barren space of the garden, waiting for the next planting season.

Not even a crow is interested in stopping by to test the scary moves of such a worn out

garden guard.

Underneath the quiet frozen grounds............

daffodil and tulip bulbs wait for the warmth of the sun to awaken them.

The pond fish barely move, in the cold still water.

 

Although all is quiet and still.............I find it is a great time to do outside work that I have had planned for a while. I finally finished making a path that leads to the pond.

I used various broken pieces of old cement and stones........... and mixed it with my own cement stones that I created over the past summer/

 

Since it is a pond path, I incorporated fish that I fashioned out of cement...........

I also pushed seashells into the cement stones I made........these shells  my children and I gathered on our beach vacations so many years ago when they were small.

Now I can remember those sweet times, each day as I walk out to feed the fish.

If you remember, I posted about planting and growing loofah sponge seeds. In the early summer, they looked like large cucumbers. Now they have completely dried.

I rubbed and peeled off the brown skin............

and underneath..........was a loofah sponge!

Inside of the sponge are the seeds. Just tip over and gently shake out and now you have a fresh loofah sponge for your bath..............with seeds to plant for next year!

Have you ever grown these?

Although it is cold, we have sunshine...............

at this time I know that a lot of you are underneath a heavy blanket of snow and extreme cold temperatures from the storm Hercules.

I hope this finds you all safe and warm during this period.

Hope warm sunshine shines it's way to your door soon!