Annabelle

Eight years ago, I brought home the first set of ducklings to the farm.............

with one of these being, Annabelle. Only 2 inches high, soft, pale, yellow fuzz, bright orange tiny feet, a pale pink beak, and louder than all of the rest. As the years went by, she laid many eggs, and tried to sit one out to be a mother..............for ............30 minutes..........then gave up, for a refreshing dip in the pond...............never to return to the egg or to motherhood. Somehow through all of these years, she has managed to escape death from sickness and from predators, unlike her other duck family, and has lived to see many new chicks and ducklings arrive to the barnyard. I have noticed in these past few months, the limping, the slow pace she walks instead of running, and the more settling down to sleep, instead of chasing bugs..............and I knew..............any day now.................. No matter how much I know that death will come, and no matter how much I have seen it happen, it always hurts even worse than the first time around. Death to the creatures that live here is just something I suppose I will never be able to get used to. I found Annabelle, the other morning, very still and peaceful, with the all familiar duck smile still on her beak,..................gone............... to some other happy pond. The barnyard is quiet, with only the crowing of the roosters, and the low chattering of the drakes that was once Annabelle's company. I still look for her, to be floating in her pond when I come home at the end of the day, I think I still her her loud protesting quack at some hen who has invaded her nest................

Maybe............next spring...........new ducklings will arrive and each will touch my heart............as they always do.............but I know there will always be a place in my heart for Annabelle.

I came home today..................

completely exhausted from the hurry pace of prepping, orders that never seemed to end, and the smell of hamburgers and fries still lingering on me. So tired, in fact, that the idea of finding a spot to close my eyes and to shut the rest of the world away, tempted me..................however, that doesn't happen, as there is so much to do when I arrive.................home

The second my feet step upon the porch, I see this, and all of my tiredness seems to melt away, and I am greeted by Salem, who has waited all day for me to return..........................home
I go out to walk the grounds and my tired eyes see a wonderful splash of color. The zinnia are dancing in the wind as if they were singing a welcome" home" song to me. What a pretty sight...............isn't it?

Out in the pumpkin patch...........everything is whispering.........."fall will soon be here"..........I am delighted to see the white Casper pumpkin I have planted. It is supposed to stay white, while having the regular orange pumpkin meat inside.

The decorative gourds are competing for my attention, showing off their spots, stripes and different colors, and making me feel so wonderful that I am "home".

Tonight I made homemade pasta for a meal of spaghetti, meatballs and bread sticks. Even though I cook all day at the diner, I don't bring food home from there. I want "comfort" food, ................food that says "you're home".

How about you? What image comes to your mind when you think of home?

What waits to greet you at the end of the day?

I would love to hear.

What Comes With The Rain

For the past fourteen days......................

the west Texas sky has looked like this.

Rain.................wonderful, long lasting, good soaking ,

rain.

Thank you, Hurricane Alex.

When we get rain............along comes the great things, like cool breezes, thick green grass, and a slow down on outside work....................and..............

large swarms of gigantic ants. These ants are in the middle of moving their colony................this year ............to our house. They took over the whole yard and the concrete patio was completely covered.................


as well as the outside benches..............with thousands of these winged creatures.

Also, beautiful and unique things spring forth. I have seen many mushrooms on the grounds, most of them are large, round white balls. These soft, buttery, yellow mushrooms came up in a pot that once grew decorative kale.

This has also been a time of harvest. I pulled up the remaining onions and have dried and stored them away.

The cabbage has now formed it wonderful "cabbage heads" and the plants are getting very large. I just love this plant!

The beets have all been harvested and have been passed to a friend who just loves fresh beets. She has reported that they taste wonderful! The seeds to these, as well as the cabbage, all came from Hometown Seeds.

The rain has also given my flowers a much needed boost. Everything along the flower beds and porches looks like this.

The rains are almost gone, although we have just gotten another shower. I watch the storm across the prairie and I feel gratitude to have gotten so much of this needed moisture. How about you? Is your area getting rain, heat, or even weird swarms of creatures? I would love to hear!

Time For My Creature Feature

My life, here on the farm ,would not be what it is without my feathered and fur ball critters that I have around me. For me.....................

it's also the wild and crawly creatures that make life so interesting here. Some are pretty creepy and threatening. But if you look past that............see the blue/black sheen, the copper head, the soft yellow legs?..............so colorful.

The spikes and horns on these horned toads look intimidating,..................like ferocious little dragons............... . Their legs, feet, and neck have perfect scales. I have always felt that they have a somewhat "western design" on them. They look like they are prepared for battle,

Yet, these are one of the most docile lizards ever.

The brilliant colors of this grasshopper is so striking....................that even though it's probably the one who has been leaving holes on the leaves of my flowers..........I can't bear to end it's life.
Can you see the little leopard print wings and the leaf design that goes up the leg?

This large grasshopper crawled out from the watered leaves and allowed me to look at it's intricate design. If one looks really close................one would be surprised at how much beauty is in the make up of these little creatures. This is what inspires me in my embroidery. Can you see the dots on it's back that run perfectly in line? It's small dotted wings also stand out. I am ready to get my embroidery floss out and to capture this beauty with thread and needle. How about you? What do you think has beautiful design and color in nature? Butterflies or birds perhaps? Any insect lovers out there? I would love to hear!

Waiting For Blooms

The bare, brown, dirt grounds, are starting to fill

with the vibrant green leaves of the pumpkin and decorative gourds.
The leaves are already as large as regular dinner plates. This is one of my favorite times of the spring/summer season.

The flower beds that surround the house are starting to bring forth the flowers that I have recently planted seed in . This rock bed is hosting a large amount of marigold and I look forward to seeing the rust and orange colors of the blooms that will last throughout fall.

The large zinnia flower garden is now planted and I am anticipating the flowers to start sprouting. This year, instead of planting long rows, I decided to plant large "blocks" of flowers with paths in between. I love a flower bed where flower seed has been scattered and where the flowers grow in carefree clusters. This is what I am hoping to achieve this year with the blocks. The paths will also help me in dragging the hose to water, without knocking plants over. In the top of this photo, you will see a large wooden crate. My husband brought this home from work.........well made for shipping heavy machine parts in .............and then thrown away.............it is perfect for where I have planted climbing roses, which are now blooming...........and which I hope will cascade over the edges of this crate later on.

In between the rose bushes, zinnia are already growing and showing off their colorful blooms.

Meanwhile........................

in my stitching basket.................a set of morning glories are waiting to be stitched and to bloom on a set of towels...........you can go over to my embroidery blog to read about my frustration in not having enough time it seems to stitch .................like I used to ...............

at Yesteryear Embroideries http://yesteryearembroideries.blogspot.com

How about you? What is sprouting and blooming in your garden spots or surroundings? I would love to hear!

Transplanted

A few years back, on a beautiful golden first day of fall..................we moved into our country home. Along with all of our belongings, I also brought rosebushes, and other flowering plants that had grown at our home in town.......................

and transplanted them out here in the country grounds. One was this trumpet vine, which at that time was a small twig.................and that is how it has remained for many of the years that it has lived out here. It just didn't seem to want to live the country life. It has stayed so small and not flowering, that I put a tomato cage around it for protection from the mower that runs by.However, I never gave up on it, always taking care of it.......................... this year, it has decided that change is good and it has taken off, growing inch by inch and now shows off it's lovely trumpet bloom.

To me, this vine and my sweet husband are so much alike...................they had the same idea about country living. It took me almost 20 years to convince my husband that country living was the only way to live. He would not listen....................so I made myself happy in the cement square we lived on in town. Making the best out of the small yard that surrounded our house and trying to be happy in my noisy, unsettling surroundings, and never giving up on him. Finally, .........................he started looking at houses out in the country with me.................and then we found......................... here................Pleasant Prairie............as I have named it. Now.........he thinks it is the only way to live!

I planted the trumpet vine at the base of this large iron horse fence that surrounds our home.............

I can just imagine it stretched out all across it in it's crimson orange trumpets.............can't you? (This plant always reminds me of the old botanical books with lovely pictures of plants in them.) Yet, I completely understand my dear husband's hesitation................if I had to leave this place and live in the city...........I don't think I could ever get to liking the idea...................

How about you? Have you been transplanted to something you were not sure about? How did you feel? I would love to hear!

Empty Nests

God speaks to me in the stir of a leaf,

In the glorious song of a bird;

And my pew is a log or a mountain crag-

Wherever His voice is heard.

G.C. Constable

The nests on the grounds are getting empty and almost everywhere I look, there is a little bird clinging to a wall or a branch, trying to learn to fly.............with it's parents close by it's side. Right now, this strikes a cord in my heart..........my last little bird is now officially a senior and it won't be long after next spring that I will have an empty nest and be just like those hoovering bird parents...........encouraging him to fly.............yet so worried when he actually flies away.

How about you? Has your nest gone empty..............or are you anxious as I and all of the bird parents around me about your young one getting his wings? I would love to hear!