A Host of Hostas

Four Horses Through Four Seasons

The answer is I have four horses.

Marcy Has A New Camera...

Distracted By Shiny Objects

Visit A Tidings Of Magpies, she combines words and art in such charming combinations, it is impossible not to enjoy.

Her recent post, Beautiful Dreamer, pointing out that small things are the important things, caused my sick mind to jump to a WalMart story.  The cause for that was the question, "Do you remember where you parked your car?"

I put off my Walmart trips until I am out of every thing.  I am not a shopper and I always delay until I must go.  This was one of those times.  My husband tries any excuse he can to avoid these trips with me.  I think he may be a little embarrassed by the amount I buy.  He doesn't know that the more I buy, the longer it will be until my next required trip.  There is a method to my madness.

I can pack a buggy, or shopping cart for those who don't speak Southern, so closely and so precisely, the checkers can never get it into one buggy after it is checked.  If they would just let me pack it...back to my story.

I am pushing two buggies out the door, now one is hard enough, but two?!  I reach the sidewalk and am standing there wondering where in the hell I parked my car.  I am NOT pushing two buggies up and down rows looking for my car.  I have tried all the tricks, checking the number on the row I park, I forget it by the time I come out.  I line my car up with a letter in the big WALMART on the side of the building, you would think I would remember a letter, right?  Not me. I think I am going to decorate a commode plunger in bright colors with a flag and stick it to my roof next time I park my car.

Anyway, as I am standing there with my two bulging, running over buggies of stuff, a kind Walmart gentleman steps up to inquire if he may help me. I said, No thank you, I am trying to remember where I parked my car.

He smiles and slowly says, "Miss, do you remember what color it is?"

Do I really look THAT crazy????

I Promised A Tale...

of my weekend work but it's Monday and I think I've  forgotten.  I know I started with a walk, my camera died.  I piled some fallen limbs in the pasture.  I listened to the highland crew rumbling vehicles and cringed at the raping of the land.  I placed rocks in washed places and picked up flint chips. 

Eight AM on a Sunday, here comes another truck and they park at the gate where the horses have gathered.  I head that way to see if there's a problem.  No problem, waiting on equipment.  I asked,  coming
through the pasture? Yep.  Do you guys know how much it rained?  Nope.  The piece has tracks, no problem.  Well, I mentioned the last time they crossed that pasture when they were told to go another way, how they bogged down two vehicles and almost got the dozer stuck too (remember the pictures).  I was not heard.

Track equipment is wonderful for one thing...it does travel where wheels will not, but it also tears the land apart!  This is disturbing land that has probably never been tracked that deep.  Sometimes they even leave track piles on the county road that a car cannot cross.  Hush, Gail, you were gonna tell them about all the work you accomplished, remember, no griping allowed.

I headed to the creek to breathe deep and enjoy the quiet of my early Sunday morning, uh, not this week, that was another time BEFORE the crew.

The water cress is blooming so most of it is very hot to eat now but still good in a salad.  Conditions have been wonderful for it to grow and I add removing the water cress from the spring branches to my growing list of things to do.

I have been letting my horses out to graze in the yard and the spring valley since the grass is so wonderful.  They have been naughty.  They rolled in the freshly planted, things coming up already garden.  Charme walked over apple trees in the orchard and broke limbs off young trees just to scratch her belly.  Okay, guys, your freedom shall be limited now.

Opened the alternate pasture, remembered two sections were cut out of the web wire to get a tractor through to haul out logs for posts (a month ago).  Okay, here's your job, go get two cattle panels carry them to this section and Southern engineer the hole in the fence.  I get the Polaris and carefully balance a twelve foot panel across the bed and drive over all the lumps left by machinery, barely fit through the gate and finally get within forty feet of the fence...and the panel falls off.  I carry it the rest of the way, piece of cake, brace and tie it to a metal post and head out for the other panel.

The horses are grazing in their new section peacefully until I head back in with the second panel.  You could see the idea hit Charme, I swear there was a light bulb above her head.  She starts trotting to the hole in the fence.  I am hollering whoa, don't you dare, come back here, all this while I am reaching backwards with one arm where I won't lose this panel and bouncing toward the hole in the fence. Charme finally listened but I got that hateful look that she sometimes gives me when things don't go her way.

I am almost to the fence and same spot, the panel slides, I remember to let go as my shoulder is wrenched from its socket and also remember to stop the ranger.  So I am doing good here.  Carry this panel too, hook it into the other panel and it lacks six inches before it reaches the next post!  Go back to the ranger looking for wire, anything to fill that hole, found some wire, nothing to cut it.  I am not making twenty five trips back to the shop to get this done.  I am making do, Southern engineering all the way.  I found a hachet and a hammer and proceed to cut the wire.  It works and I weave my magic with the wire and the panels.

Whew, I am finished, no one has escaped and it is just noon!

Dark Clouds Are Gone

The SUPER CELL threatened many states this weekend.  We were blessed more than others.  Hubby, as emergency manager had to help lead all humans at the rodeo to shelter, the animals were on their own.

Beautiful skies returned yesterday.

...and if you close your eyes part way, this could be a tree, with some imagination applied.  They are still traversing the farm with big equipment and a parade of vehicles.  All I can say is, they better do what they promised when this is finished.

This flower had many people puzzled.

Now it is completely open, It is easy to identify.

There have also been a few questions about how many horses I have.  First, I thought I would count the most important first....my grandsons.  This is Andrew and Jake.

This is Zander.

I have three grandsons.

Stay tuned for a horse count

and a tall tale of our hard-working weekend.

The Evolution Of A Canvas

I found something to do during the storms.

A blank canvas is rather daunting to look at so,

I added a bit of color

just to see where the color led me.

Then I smeared some more color

and some more.

I am waiting for the paint to tell me what to do.

The paint is forming pitifully

The sci-fi in me takes over.

...and for now the paint is resting.

For The Love Of Flowers

Mom Has Treats!

                                      Hard to get a good picture when the horses are in your pocket.

There But For The Grace Of God, Go I

The view of our valley on a clear day

Last night wasn't pretty and we got lucky or blessed, which ever way you call it. We had a several state wide
storm cell that was producing damage and torandoes across many states.  The same is predicted today.

There are many sources to read on the net.  The news I am getting so far is one killed, many injured in Clinton, Arkansas.  Super cells are never funny, they can drop a tornado in a second and retrieve it as quickly or it can stay on the ground for miles(as it did in our area two years ago).  Several places in Arkansas and Missouri had tornadoes and it was not liimited to those states.  These super cells affected five states last night and maybe more.

This was the big weekend for Pioneer Day.  Last night was a rodeo.  Hubby, our county's emergency management cooridinator, cancelled the rodeo, opened shelters in the courthouse and the school for the people to use.  I hope they were grateful.

We did not get the torandoes, Thank God, but we had a constant lightening show and a loud rumble that was continuous.  It was quite impressive.  I went to bed.

Since this covered many states and the news is still breaking, I do not know if you all are safe.  I would love to know how every one fared during this super cell storm.

The green of the valley belies the danger that was present last night.  This is the view from my front porch.