Triumph Or Tears...

Sometimes with the seventh graders, it is one or the other.  It was a rough game.  We played a much larger school this time...therefore the football players were MUCH larger too.

We are the little red guys.  I know there is one tiny yellow in the middle but the rest of them were giants.

Hubby said they were taller than him when he stood beside them.  Coaches said they learned their lesson about scheduling a game with a school bigger than us.  We were outta our class and out-sized.

Seventy-One is Andrew playing with an injured leg.  These guys played hard.  No yardage was gained without a battle on both sides.  Four yards, six yards, both sides creeped through their plays.  We lost but the team did good.  They blocked, they tackled, they ran, they held and they fell.

I heard the opposing team's crowd yelling, Hit 71's leg!  The opponents had holding called and were not very good sportsmen.  I will sleep well, our guys played hard and honest...they did good.

I did not look at the score board.  I looked at the team and I was proud.  They gave it their all and played with their hearts.  They remained a team, a working unit and they never gave an inch easily.

Wait until next time, Bombers!

Attitude of Gratitude

I think someone slapped me on the way out this morning...slapped me and made me look closely at the beauty.  This morning, I realized how lucky I really am as a white tail deer stood in the road and looked at me.  Was even luckier when I saw this sunrise in the foggy field.

It was almost a prehistoric scene or the way I imagined one might look.  No signs of civilization, only the fog softy wrapping the land like a baby in mamma's hand pieced quilt.  Many people are unable to view this every morning and it hit me how truly blessed I am.

Then I saw this magnificent Sparrow Hawk, I think, and he waited for me as if he knew I wanted a picture.

The hawk became a little nervous, leaving his tree to light on this fence post...how amazing in that?

This appreciation could have something to do with the latest issue of MaryJanesFarm Magazine.  This issue was based on an attitude of gratitude with many guest writers.  The magazine is amazing.

It really made me think.  We have a home, humble as it may be,  paid for.  We own land, which is something many people may never get to experience. My husband and I have jobs while many do not. We have our health, a little worn, but we are still relatively healthy.  We have two wonderful daughters of which we are very proud and three fantastic grandsons.  We have cattle and horses...our dream came true. We have an extended family that works well together.

I never thought I would say this, but I am glad I was slapped this morning, made me wake up and smell the coffee, so to speak.

Last but not least, I am grateful for all my loyal followers!  I have almost reached two hundred and I am delighted!  Thank you!

Farmer In Training...

Tuesday Morning...

and, again, I am awake early. I can not blame this on the full moon. I blame it on my mind, it wakes and won't stop thinking and sleep goes out the window.  You would expect someone that thinks so much to accomplish a lot...not the case.

There is a taste of fall in the air, and I am not ready.  The summer was too blasted hot to even allow me  to pretend I enjoyed summer. 

I had a gentleman offer me a white, deaf Boxer yesterday for free, full of puppies to come, boxer puppies. He did not mention the deafness but when I asked, knowing this is common in white boxers, he admitted it. You would have been proud of me, knowing my weakness for anything canine, I said no.  It was good, he did not have her with him, I would have caved instantly.

Another missed football game last night...in Yellville.  The game began before I left work. Papa was there for support.   Another win, a big win and yet Andrew is disappointed with no touch downs.  He did have a two point conversion, a forty yard gain in one play, an interception and lots of tackles.  I try to tell him, each person in an integral part of the team, and everything that is done, adds to the success of the whole.  Sometimes, this is a hard concept for adults, much less a fourteen year old.

My followers are growing and that is a delight! Thank you.

The Joy Of A Child...

Washing the rock porch

could be a chore...

not for Zander man...

It was an adventure

and a joy.

Hubby Cooks...

That statement by itself is rather scary.  I have to admit, he is a good cook, makes a mean pot of homemade chili, can fry chicken to a golden delicious brown, and can make gravy that would be the envy of chefs worldwide.

The down side is the man is a slob in the kitchen!!! 

Last night as he was cooking fresh Gelbveih burgers, I came through to see if I could help.  He asks, what's on my foot, lifting it for me to see.  I said, your sock.  No, he said there is something on my sock that is making me slide around.  Upon closer inspection, I peeled a flattened piece of ground meat from the bottom of his sock.

He asked, how did that get there?  WELLLL, Hubby, you are the one cooking ground meat so I guess you dropped some.  Oh, he said, as he pushes aside his debris from last night's chili making.

I do appreciate his cooking, this is a big relief for me.  I have just one question.  Why, when I cook, I clean up after myself and yet when he cooks, I have to clean up after him????

Yesterday's Moon

still hung in the sky and greeted the morning sun.  I seldom see this but it always amazes me. Maybe it's nothing special but it felt special.  I did not question it but simply enjoyed it.

The same moon last night showed through the Mulberry tree that I used for support.  I have neither the proper camera, tripod or intelligence to take a fantastic moon picture but this night the joy was in the trying, not the end result.

Once again, I have awakened before four AM.  The weather has cooled and so the windows are open, letting the night air in.  I wake with a stuffed nose and try Granny's old trick of Vick's.  I smell it and breathe better but not well enough to return to sleep.  So here I am again, sharing the thoughts ricocheting in my brain in the morning hours.

After a house full of people yesterday that left one by one, I welcomed the quiet. Papa and the boys left for the demolition derby.  As much as I love to see vehicles crash violently into one other, get turned over with cars smoking and people crawling out of said cars, running to safety, I declined the invitation and stayed home.

I welcomed the quiet and spent it reading a wonderful book by Greg Iles, one of my favorite new authors. The house smelled of Pinesol from the day's cleaning and there were no chores that called my name.  I got lost in Pen Cage's adventure and left this world behind,  if only for a little while.

Once again in the early predawn, the roosters begin to greet the day and I think of dumplings and fried chicken and dressing...they don't crow after they become these dishes.

This N That

In this picture, the beauty of the sky is marred with the power lines but if you view it just right, the power lines disappear and the beauty is all you see.  I need to do that more...make the power lines disappear and see only the beauty in every day, concentrate and make the ugly invisible.

I awakened extremely early, much to my dismay, instead of grabbing that extra two hours I could have slept, I am here with you, my friends.  Does that qualify my blogging as an addiction??

In reference to A Special Post , the bush hogging is complete and the field between the family homes is clear and free to walk.  Hubby worked on that yesterday and came armed to solve the dog problem.  Strange thing was, the bad guys fed their dogs all day to keep them in their yard!!  This is good, the starving dogs got food and Hubby did not have to eliminate an animal.

After Melissa's most recent attack, she walks now with hornet spray and it seems to be working!  The dogs would run in and bite her feet or the back of her legs and run before she could retaliate.  She was able to spray two yesterday as they were coming to attack...I guess the crazy family witnessed it and have actively tried to keep their dog pack on their own property.

Thanks for the prayers for a peaceful solution.  Hopefully, this was not just one special day but rather an indication of how it will be from now on...we shall see.

I am looking forward to my day and a half off.  The house is a mess but I am not beating myself up over it.  It will get clean or it will not, either way, life goes on.

It is still dark and I hear the roosters crowing, calling the dawn.  The air is full of fall and I know, sadly, the summer is gone.  In the blink of an eye, we will be wearing mittens and coats and wonder why Autumn didn't stay with us longer.  Such is life, we must savor each second, each day, and each experience, because, in the blink of an eye, that second, that day, that experience is gone.  Fare well, my friends, and enjoy your moments.

Flyin' By The Seat Of My Pants...

Many of you may not know I am somewhat of a science fiction fan...to me, that is sometimes easier to believe than romance!  Not too long ago, I was just surfing and I found an interesting blog.  Alex is a soon to be published author, October 19th to be exact. 

I said all that to say this, he and some friends have hosted a series on writing how to's and how come's and all that.  I discovered they were hosting something September 24th.  To participate, you sign up and write about a character...I thought!  So, my ever quick fingers signed me up before I read ALL the information.

I am supposed to write about writing a good character...I think.  My solution, as I wipe the egg from my face, is just to write about a character.  So here goes nothing...

Born in 1917, my father was half Irish and half English.  He would tell the story of his grandmother's voyage to Ellis Island with light in his eyes.  She was so ornery, he would say, a sailor grabbed one foot and held her over the side of the ship, promising to drop her if she didn't behave.  She was only five, so Dad thinks maybe he came by his orneriness honestly.

Oh, the tales he told!  A different life time shared with first the children and then the grandchildren.  He could weave a tale with such humor and suspense, you would sit waiting for the end and yet hope the tale never ended.

The first thing you would notice about Dad would be his eyes, blue as the sky and so full of life, they twinkled.  He was small in stature but his presence was larger than life.  Maybe five eight, I have seen him back a six foot plus man into a corner with just his words...not angry words, but strong and truthful words.

Dad was a self-educated man and was always learning.  His heroes were Rachael Carson, Will Rogers and Edgar Caycee.  He was a veteran of World War II and he served proudly.  He never spoke of war except  the funny stories.  The other, he said, was not suitable to tell or to hear.

My father taught me what a person's word is worth, what it means to work hard for your dreams, and how to laugh and what love truly means.  I would be his daughter all over again if I had the chance.

So I have written about a character in my life not how to write a character.  I hope you were entertained.
Sorry, Alex, I will read more closely next time.

Checking On Cattle...

The only white faced Gelbvieh we own.

This is an easy keeping breed and very gentle.

Great mothers,

great milkers, if we chose to milk,

fine marbled meat that melts in your mouth.

My husband's pride and joy.

Gelbvieh!

My Sisters' Flowers

No words needed.

Special Post...

A family buys a dream spot along lake front property and builds the home of their dreams.  Things are peaceful and every thing goes as a dream should go.

A grandchild is born and this family takes a house next door to the inlaws to be able to share their life and their love more easily.

 A quiet peaceful place in the country on a lake, surrounded by beauty, the famlies thrive and enjoy life.

Then all hell breaks loose.  The new neighbors have fourteen dogs, a mule, two pigs, a crazy daughter, a bedridden mother, a worthless father and a sad, young boy that should never be in this house at all.

The dogs chase the grandchild as he travels from his house to Grandma's.  The dogs attack the good family's dogs.  The dogs go after the daughter.  The dogs are always tearing up things to find food.

The good family tries to work with the other family by being a good neighbor.  They buy clothes for the boy, they allow the child to play with the grandson.  They bring the child toys and the adults demand more.  The children can no longer play together because the bad adults encourage their own child to steal and lie.

Their large pet pig, over four hundred pounds, roams the neighborhood destroying people's property.  The pig dies from a gun shot and the bad father demands the county has to bury the pig.  The mule goes on other people's property and the family calls the police to say their mule has been stolen by the good guys. 

No one can walk on the public road because the starving dogs are after you.  The animals are all hungry and skinny and not taken care of.  All the dogs stay in the house until the neighbors try to walk from one house to the other...then they let them all out.

There are no leash laws in the country. 

This problem is real.  The health department and child services and the police are all involved. 

This is my oldest daughter's home(not the one with all the dogs and the house full of idiots) and her in-laws house.  Jake nor Melissa can walk down to the in-laws without trouble from the people or the dogs. Melissa carries a BB gun to run the dogs off and the police told her to use a bigger gun. How can you defend yourself against a pack of fourteen starving dogs??

Hubby is bushhogging a path off the road so our daughter and grandchild, hopefully, can travel in peace from one house to the other.  The police have said, if the pack of dogs comes onto the property, do whatever it takes to protect themselves.

How can this happen??  What is the solution?  Why can't the authorities remove the child and the starving dogs from this home?  If the wife is bedridden under unhealthy conditions, why does the state not remove her and place her is a long term care facility???

Why does my daughter and grandson have to live in fear in their own front yard???  Why are the in-laws not allowed peace in their own dream home by the lake???

It is a sad state when the bad guys can run a neighborhood.

Poor Dejected Lil

After the snake hunt, Lil got a stick...surprise!

She happily carried it to me.

and waited patiently for the throw.

Alas, Mom was not cooperating.

So the team decided to hunt again.

No luck there.

 

So poor Lil decided to move the horses.

Stick withdrawal is a sad thing to witness.

Snake Hunt On Sunday Walk

My early morning walk began almost too late because the temperatures were already rising.  Maggie took advantage by cooling off in one of the spring branches we were exploring.

I was looking for flowers and just good  shots.  I love the spring branches that run into the creek because there is always something interesting, reflections, objects, anything makes for a good photo if you get it right.

Imagine my surprise when trying to capture the small water skaters on camera....

Snakeville under water!

The dogs went into action!

They searched high and low.

No luck, the snake was smarter than us.

I imagined he slithered under one of these rock ledges.

Hubby said he would wait til things settled

and solve our little snake problem.

The Borders did not want to give up,

but I finally convinced them to continue our walk.

We cooled again

and continued our walk.

We still saw beauty even with our snake eyes on.

Funky Fungi Fhotos