Outside our windows today...

I was walking through the kitchen earlier, and Carey was standing at the kitchen sink, staring transfixed out the window.



Wild turkeys! I went and grabbed the camera. The photos aren't great as they were taken through the windows so as not to frighten them away, but beauty like this deserves to be documented and shared.



This is only about half or less of the flock that wandered slowly by. Carey said that numbers of them kept flying down out of the oak trees where they probably roosted last night.

We see them periodically, but this is a larger group than normal. I'm glad they came while we were still here to enjoy them.

The big announcement...

Remember my beautiful porch that I waited decades for? The one that seems like it just got finished? I'm leaving it behind.

We are moving.

It's not something that we actively sought. We never put our land or home on the market. Someone came to us, and wanted to buy it. And after thinking about it and weighing the pros and cons, the checks and balances, the daily wonders and the daily grind, we decided that it is a good time and a good change.

We'll be trading in our 100 acres for 4 acres...our house where most of our to-do list is done, to one filled with new projects...and to an area where the grandbabies are only about a mile away instead of an hour away.

Things have really been rolling rapidly. It's been a week since we came to an agreement on selling our home, and a few days since we found a great new one. We should be closing the sale on our property in the next week, and the purchase of the new property a few days after that. We are truly blessed that the buyer of our property is allowing us time to make the move without pressure to be out immediately. Still, we are not wanting to take advantage of his kind nature, so we will be very, very busy. Today I am starting the big packing event.

And because I know that some of you may have heard things recently that make you worry or wonder...Carey has not been at work this week...he's safe and sound at home, running hither and yon trying to get everything done yesterday. As if the house news isn't change enough, we are also waiting to hear about a new job that he interviewed for last week. (I know that sounds strange on the heels of the move news, but we are in an unusual category of people who can move without giving a lot of thought as to work location.)

Please keep us in your prayers.

ps: the new house has no front porch!

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

I am not superstitious.

Well, okay, I knock on wood now and then (usually my poor noggin). I spit when a black cat crosses my path. I try never to break a mirror.

But I don't believe that any of these things is going to effect any given situation. It's more of a habit.

And I am a creature of habit. I like my days to have a certain sameness. I find comfort in routine.

But we are up to some big-time changes around here. And I am feeling more than a little anxiety over it all. Not a bad sort of anxiety, but a sense of unease, nonetheless.

And I can't really talk about any of it! Because, you know, I might jinx it.

So cross your fingers for us, okay? :)

No deep thoughts here...

I tend to write about what is occupying my mind at the moment. This week all I'm thinking about is something that I don't feel comfortable writing about here. So I haven't even wanted to write.

But this too shall pass.

I'm trying to focus on the real blessings in this (I mean seriously...we have been incredibly blessed) and learning the lessons we are meant to learn...and trying to steer others toward looking for the blessings and lessons too, without being preachy.

So I've been escaping my thoughts by playing games and reading and working and playing more games. I've made some really, really good tortilla soup...my best effort ever. Anyone else out there enjoying the truly perfect avocados that are in the markets this year? YUM!

My office health challenge is ongoing. I'm behind, but I have always believed that the tortoise was the true genius in his race with the hare. And since it's not solely about weight, but overall health, I'm feeling really good about things. I know with a certainty that I am healthier each day. Are you ready for this? ...no more Cokes from Sonic! Of course, I still go to Sonic (gotta have my magic ice!), but I'm choosing unsweetened iced tea.

I have the week off from work next week. I have some plans to get some work done around the house. And I'm hoping I can get some kiddos here for a sleepover before school starts. It might be tough, since all but Chloe have sports practices to work around. Poor little Chloe missed the age cutoff for soccer by one day.

Enough rambling.

I need...

(It's a pun. Get it?)

...to make a to-do list. It's the only way I really get things done.

...to get on the treadmill.

...to take out the trash.

...to pay the bills, and go to the grocery store, and vacuum the floors.

...to read my library book that has already been rechecked once.

...to knit something...anything.

...to have a 27,000,000 fling boogie.

...to refill prescriptions.

...to rearrange furniture in the family room.

...to pick up the blank check registers from the bank (that I requested and forgot to pick up last week).

...to dry and fold the towels.

...to change the bed.

...to get that jacket to the dry cleaner.

...to change the blade in my razor.

...to make a menu for the next week or so...preferably before I go to the grocery store.

...to get a couple of packages in the mail.

There. That ought to keep me busy for awhile.

Sleep interrupted...

For some reason, I keep waking up in the wee hours lately.

Now I realize that some of you would choose to just get up and start your day at this time, but having just turned in a few hours before, that's really not an option I can go for.

I hesitate to turn on any lights, as that just seems to extend the time I'm awake...so no reading, no tv. But this morning, I thought maybe if I acknowledged and documented the moment, that it would free my mind to relax and sink back into sweet slumber.

So I walked through the house in the dark, retrieved my camera, and snapped this pic. I wasn't even sure it would turn out. I was pleasantly surprised.

It freed my mind to marvel over the fact that I know my camera well enough now to adjust the settings from memory...basically I can do it with my eyes closed...well almost. Then I ruminated on the quality of the darkness. As a country-life newbie, I missed the reassuring glow of street lights and traffic, but I've grown to love the ambient inkiness of unadulterated country dark.

I think I was back asleep by 4:30.

Life...

...is just a colander of cherries. For today anyway.

July 4th...

Happy Independence Day to all of my fellow U.S. friends. Thoughts and prayers are with all those, past and present, who have sacrificed to keep us safe and free.

We made a quick trip to my mother-in-law's over the past couple of days. I had hoped to bring home enough figs from her tree to preserve, but we came home with very few. Good visit nonetheless. Uneventful car trip, with Carey at the wheel and me with my library book. Almost immediately after our arrival, the skies opened up. There was lots of flooding in the area, but we were dry and happy. And I curled up with my knitting while we visited.

Another safe trip back, and it's lovely to be home again in my own comfy bed.

bits & bobs (and bugs)...

I admit it. I have a bit of an insect fixation in the summertime. But we have so MANY of them!

See if you can see the katydid. This is a young one...still green.


These are noisy creatures! And they are everywhere! When the choir starts singing, it can be really annoying.

Here's one that's toward the end of its life cycle...turning reddish.

Zoom in and check out that smile! Yikes.

Okay, that's the end of the bugs for today. Let's talk about books.

At the moment, I'm reading The Time Traveler's Wife. I am enjoying it, but I don't have any problem setting it down. I feel so indifferent toward reading lately. I feel like I'm reading out of habit rather than enjoyment. Such an unsettling feeling. It used to seem like I was always reading a book that I really loved. Is that my memory playing tricks on me? Is that part of getting older? Is it that I've read so much, it's harder to keep me entertained and keep me looking for that next jewel? Or are there just so many other distractions...tv, computer, work?

Oooh, that reminds me. I heard this week that the BBC was making a mini-series of Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth. I'm so excited. I've read it four times since it was first published, and loved it every time. We don't get the channel that I think it's supposed to be broadcast on, so I'm hoping I can get it on dvd.

Well, I am exhausted, so I'd better call it a night. It's been a rough day. I started it out by turning my ankle and falling flat on my face...foot hurts, back hurts, wrist hurts. Nothing is swollen, and everything is still in working condition, but I'm worn out from the effort of getting through the day in pain. I'm on my own at work tomorrow, so I need to recoup pronto.

Hmmm...a drawer surprise for Grandma...

Notice anything odd here?



Yes, it is a messy drawer. But that's nothing new around here.

Come on...right there in the center. Here...I'll zoom in for you.



Aaaaccckkkk!!!

Here's the creepy part...this is the THIRD scorpion I have killed in the house today! (And for any newcomers who haven't read my rants about these pests in the past...by killed, I mean captured and cryogenically stored until the next time we burn trash. Yes, I do have a jar of frozen scorpions in my freezer. Hey, it's a humane way to rid myself of them...they just fall asleep...and I don't have to clean up the squooshed bodies.) This makes about the sixth one I've found in the house in the past week. But this is the first time I have ever found one in a drawer! Thank goodness it wasn't in Chloe's or Caitlyn's drawer when they were here last weekend.

Scorpions don't come in because your house is messy or dirty. (I know this because my daughter has had them in her house too...bless my little clean freak and her whole OCD family.) It's like spiders...they come in to hunt either food or water.

I've gotten a lot calmer about such things since becoming a country girl. I still don't like them. But I don't usually lose my cool...or my target. Bwaahaahaa...

(Oh, and I apologize for the poor photo quality...I didn't dare slow down to adjust camera settings.)

Little surprises...

In yesterday's post I referred to Chloe finding gloves in her drawer. I thought I'd explain.

My sisters' children are all older than my children, so by the time mine came along, my mother had a lot of grandmother experience. One of the really sweet ideas she had when my kids were little was to keep little surprises in two small dresser drawers...they each knew which drawer belonged to them. These would be little freebie things...stickers she got in the mail...small old toys of mine that she would find around the house...a key chain from a car dealership. The kids absolutely loved knowing that there would be a surprise waiting for them at Grandma's, and would always head immediately to their drawers when we arrived.

It was a tradition I wanted to continue. From the time I became a grandmother, I've been looking for a piece of furniture that had the right drawers for this purpose. Everything we owned at the time had big drawers, or single drawers, or high drawers. Then one day when I was browsing Craigslist two or three years ago, I found this...



Four drawers on each side! The three boys have drawers on one side, and the two girls have drawers on the other (Carey and I get to use the ones that don't belong to a child). It sits low to the floor for even the littlest searchers. And it's in the main room of the house, so I see it every day and remember to have something in everybody's drawers before each visit. They all know which drawer belongs to whom and not to check out anyone else's drawers but their own.

Five drawers are a lot to keep filled, so the surprises aren't always freebies, but they are very inexpensive. Sometimes I grab a child's meal instead of an adult's for my lunch, and I put the toy in one of the drawers. I always make a stroll through Target's bargain area or Dollar Tree for little things they might like. I've put in pencils, word-search puzzles made especially for them on a free website, gum, foreign currency left from a vacation, plastic bracelet giveaway items, miniature coloring books, a small toy that I knit, chalk, empty makeup containers, and the like...oh, and gloves.

The kiddoes love their drawers as much as my kids did. They can't get out of the car and into the house fast enough. I'm lucky to get a hug before they hurry past. :)

Egg-ceedingly beautiful...

Look at these gorgeous fresh eggs!

I don't keep chickens. I keep something better.

I keep friends who keep chickens!

Thank you Paul and Virginia. :) (I'd keep you even without the eggs!)

Cactus flowers...

I don't mean to whine, but I have had better days.

You know those days when you get up with the best intentions of finishing your to-do list, and then inexplicably your day takes a tumble, and it is just all downhill from there? Yeah.

Then on my way back up the hill (figuratively as well as literally), I saw the first cactus flower blooming. Now 99% of the year, I really dislike cactus. But come Spring, they are such a gorgeous reminder that beauty can be found among the thorns.

And that was just the reminder I needed that really, I have had worse days. :)

Another springtime 'tale'...

Lovely days. The windows are open. That won't last too much longer before we have to turn on the air conditioning, but I'm holding out as long as possible. The humidity is rising along with the temperature.

This is the prettiest Spring we've had for several years. Of course wildflowers aren't the only things that are coming back out after their winter's sleep.

Saturday, as we were leaving the house to meet our friends for dinner, I headed out to the car before Carey. One of the dogs rushed up to greet me, and then immediately got distracted by something around the corner of the house. I instantly heard the tell 'tale' sound of a rattle snake. Luckily said dog was not much interested in playing with it, and I called Carey outside. He is my snake handler. :) When we were newlyweds, he moved me to the rattlesnake capital of Texas, where he would catch and sell them, and occasionally made hat bands and belts from the hides. He doesn't fool with that anymore, thank heavens. But he hasn't lost his touch, and he made quick work of Saturday's interloper. We weren't even late for our date.

Jared deals with water moccasins at his place, since his cabin sits at the edge of the big tank (pond). Last year his dog was bitten by one, and felt pretty bad for a couple of days. But dogs usually recover pretty fast...at least ours always have.

So with these lovely neighbors slithering about, I gladly stay inside as much as possible with my crafts and computer.

Nesting...

This little birdie told me to clean up my nest!

Today I filled two giant black garbage bags, and a box, along with a plastic grocery bag or two with...well, I'm not sure what...just trash I guess.

Then I filled a huge old suitcase (don't worry, not the cute vintage kind) with clothing donations, and another couple of boxes of just cluttery stuff.

I took the trash to my office dumpster (this is the main reason I love my job...access to a huge dumpster...not really, but it is a great perk!) Then I drove down the block a bit and dropped off the donations at Goodwill.

Ahhh...progress.

And yet...looking around...the house looks exactly the same!

Today's high points...

Do you smell something?

Let's see...I got up early (for me) so I could go to town to have my blood tested...stopped by work to check in...stopped by the grocery store for milk and laundry detergent (actually still doing pretty well just living out of the pantry and freezer)...ran into a friend in the store...ahhhh Sonic...knitted...ran the dishwasher...made a new recipe for dinner (not so hot)...experimented with adding blog pages (see under the blog title photo?) more on those to come...pondering...pondering...guess that's about it.

(Oh, and the photo today has nothing to do with the post. It's just one from last week that struck my fancy.)

What is this stuff?...

"What is this stuff?" I ask in a huff,
as I look through the insular glass.



I step outside and eyes go wide
at the giant white flakes falling fast.



From heavy skies the white stuff flies
landing on brush, lane, and grass.



It rested on trees...


and SUVs..
waiting for more to amass.



But this is the south, and shut my mouth
if the weather does not quickly pass.



So this photo of barn, and my rhyming yarn
will lay proof, since it surely won't last.

In memory of my old purse...

February 2004 - February 2010

I'm not a purse person. Or maybe I'm just a really particular purse person. I start with one that suits my organizational style and is sturdy. One that is not a fad, and that will look decent for as long as possible. And then I carry it until I just can't take any more abuse from my purse-snob friends or until it falls apart...usually those are fairly simultaneous.

I do not change purses with the season, or the occassion. I like to have a place for everything and everything in its place (in my purse at least). And I've never figured out how to neatly store multiple purses in limited closet space.

I don't actually think my dear old purse that I've been carrying for the last six years looks too bad. But alas, when I say it was hanging on by a thread, here's the proof:



So before it completely gave out, I decided to retire it. Actually I've been looking for its successor for quite some time.

And today I found it.



I love its three interior compartments (large enough to tuck a magazine or book into), the simplicity of the style, and the long rolled handles. It was incredibly inexpensive at $20. Obviously faux leather at that price, but I didn't find a leather one that suited me.

So does everyone in the world but me own multiple purses and switch them out?

Once a mom, always a mom...

My baby girl is sick...my 32-year-old baby girl. I hate that she is feeling so bad with fever and coughing, coughing, coughing. But I love that she still needs her mom when she doesn't feel good. I took them a meal, and went to the pharmacy for her, and I soaked in the love from both the adults and the little ones. I hope that the antibiotic kicks in quickly.

It reminded me of a couple of years ago when my phone rang, and a little-boy voice said, "Grandma, Mama's sick and needs you to come over." I panicked thinking that she was unconscious or something for him to call, so I asked him if she was able to talk on the phone. He says yes, and takes the phone to her, and I pretty rapidly figure out that she's sick, but not THAT sick. She hadn't even known he called. We had a good laugh when we figure out that he took her literally when she was lying on the couch and moaned, "Oh, I don't feel good. I need my Mama."

Home~~I cleaned all the trash out of my car

Health~~I asked a lot of questions at my follow-up dr appt

Finances~~checked online to verify a payment had been credited

This and that...

This was our stock tank (pond) last spring or so. The scrubby trees in the foreground are at the rim, so you can see how low the water level was at that point...just that little bit on the very righthand side of the photo. It finally went completely dry in the summer.

Here it is today:


This is not a great photo...my apologies. But the tank is almost full again! I am so thankful for the rain that we have had. And if you look close, you can see our winter visitors...wild ducks! I can never get close enough to get a good photo without spooking them into taking flight. I couldn't catch a photo of that, but it is a thing of great beauty.

Today being Ash Wednesday, I've been working through my first day of my spiritual focus for Lent. I've decided to give up slothfulness for the next six weeks. Okay, I hope that I'm not truly slothful, but I definitely 'procrastinate' when I should be taking action. So I've decided to devote at least some energy each day to three things: my health, my home, and my finances (above and beyond the norm). These may be very small actions or large...depends on the day...but they will be done with intention and with gratitude for the grace I've received. And so you may notice a little list of three things at the end of posts, (or they may be the only thing I post sometimes). You will find today's below.

New subject. I've absolutely loved all the photos of bunting that people have been crafting recently. I've wanted to decorate and celebrate something with bunting, but again, it is one of those things I have procrastinated on. Today I found out that a co-worker got a promotion. She wasn't there today, so I left a little surprise on her desk for her to find in the morning...

Well, that's about it. I've kept you long enough.

Health~~I put my pedometer back on today
Home~~I eliminated ten items from my closet
Finances~~I brought my check register current