Catching Up

Canna replanted.

Edge of smoke house cleared. 

Lilies like their new home.

Timber!  The light pole goes down,

repurposed for a fence anchor post.

Dirt cellar cleared of leaves and debris.

Work continues at the shop.

A solar lamp catches me out after dark.

Some Things You Can't Capture...

with a point and shoot

Several feet over my head these young fledglings 

prepare to leave the nest.

I tried and tried

to capture their flight

I guess I will have to leave this

to the professionals.

They fussed at me the entire time.

I'll never be a Spielberg.

Just Wondering...

Who wears Mussolini's and Hitler's hats now
A leader who gives empty promises
Dangles carrots none will taste
We lose our collective voice
And backslide a hundred years
Even more
Until we are a kingdom
Of serfs
One above all
It is not God.

Tree Trimming and Other Death Defying Acts...

We have been trying to catch up before the summer heat kills us. You who have acreage or a farm know you never get caught up but you have to keep trying.

The Mulberry tree had some dead limbs that needed trimming. Solution...the ever handy bucket on the Kubota.  I have used this method for roof repair but running a chainsaw is something I really don't like to do especially fifteen feet off the ground while trying to hang onto a tree.

At first we have an operator that controlled the bucket while shouting instructions about being careful and even yelling, No, Pa-Pa now and then.

Then we have two monkeys in a tree and no one on the tractor. Gray hair getting thicker for me!

Oh, Good Lord!

Why don't they just get down?

Fire bug that I am here is my reward. While the monkeys were in the tree I clipped briers, bird poop plants and a general clearing of messes in one small spot.  Under this fire lies the lightning struck tree, trimmed briers, bushes and what ever I could find.  

I worked till almost dark while one by one the helpers left me to clear the mess.  I don't understand when the machine work is done the men seem to disappear leaving clean up for me.  I think there may be some short coming in my training method.

The clearing looks good and we shall move on to another spot.  One twig, one trim, on foot at a time.  That is what we must keep in mind or we would be completely overwhelmed with the tasks needing completion.

Bonnie, Bathtub and A Hillbilly/Redneck Fix...

As you know from a previous posts I'm having a little trouble with Bonnie and my water lilies.  First she was bringing pots of lilies to her stash in the yard.  When reprimanded she brought empty pots where lilies had been. Bonnie is a lover of water, any time, any where.

I think I'm smarter than a dog so I set out trying to prove just that. Bonnie acted uninterested in the entire process.  I know at one point she found an almost empty water garden and had a funny look on her face like, "Gee, where did my water go?"

My solution was remove the lilies since I like having pet friendly gardens.  Here is where my warped problem solving brain took me.

This was not an easy task but it was enjoyable.  An old bathtub now holds my lilies.  The water over flows and recirculates.  After cleaning the pond, making more friendly pet access, and moving lots of rocks I have the solution...until Bonnie shows up to see what I'm doing. As the pond fills she finds a drink...that's right!  In the new Lily Reserve.

She likes the tub too!

I'm proud of my hard work and the fact I used something we had.  Recycling to the Nth degree.  

New pond is filling.

Bonnie decides it sits well with no lily interference. 

Just relaxing after all my hard work.

With a shake of approval

Bonnie exits up her steps.

Gardener happy.

Bonnie happy.

Time For A Change...

Blogdom is so amazing.  I've met some of the most wonderful and talented people.  I've been blessed. I also noticed I have reached almost five hundred followers.  Amazing!  Thank you every one.

I know blogging comes easily for many. I had to crawl before I learned to walk. For me blogging is about getting past the embarrassment of showing a me many do not see.  I am overcoming that.  I find you as a whole laugh with me not at me.  I've found a network of friends that support me and can never be replaced. I have shown my true face to the world.  The most amazing thing is YOU'RE STILL READING!  Thank you.

Time has come again for me to do some changing.

My friend Sandra  being the kind generous person she is has made some new headers for me. Madsnapper's headers and photographs are always so awesome.  Sandra is an unbelievably amazingly talented photographer and a very interesting writer.  Like many of us she thinks she has no talent.  She is also a PhotoShop computer guru. Stop by and see what I mean.  I don't think I would tell her Gail sent you, she may run!

 I need help! I can't choose.

 Will the winner be the first

or the second?
Or stick with what I have.
I have placed a voting button in the side bar.
Help!

Some Days...

you just get a fly in your tea.

My Horoscope

In China I am a horse 

Ostentatious and impatient.  

Here I am a Scorpio 

Ready to sting

If I feel threatened

Beware!

What face will I show

The attraction is there

The danger is high

The rewards many

Will you risk it?

What's That Sound?

No sounds did the spider make sitting.  The fly never knew he was there.  Until capture the fly didn't even care.  I imagined the weakened voice calling out to his brethren, "Help me!" as the Wolf Spider remained one with the chair.

Magpie Tales Sweet Summer

Sweet Summer, 1912, John William Waterhouse 

Modesty reared his ugly head
When he first saw the maiden there
Then he paused to drink the beauty
Of the maiden pale and fair

As she nursed the summer day
He became entranced
And began to sketch her
Without another glance

Alone she thought shaded
By the rose and cooled by mist
Alone she pondered life's romance
But screamed when she was kissed

Modesty had taken the dare
While he painted unseen
The image forever frozen
Shattered when she screamed

For Magpie Tales

A Combined Challenge Dancing With Fate

Picture compliments of The Nice Cage Blog "writing from the underbelly of comfort."  Izy Gruye is a newly discovered blogger by me that has great talent.  Imaginary Garden With Read Toads is featuring Play It Again.  This is an opportunity to meet several challenges they have had in the past.  I chose this photo from Izy's blog and have added the Sunday Whirl's Wordle to challenge myself more.

Dancing With Fate

I gave a penny to a Tarot reader

To make sense of the dark plague

That was my life

She said, "Dancing and praying

Is all you have left

I see a gun.  Beware!"

So I danced in the cemetery

During the Blood Moon

To seduce my fate

I danced not alone

But 

With a dreadful creature

A kiss was my price

The camera lay where I fell

I forgot to levitate!

Fire Flies

Fire flies
Light the night
Blinking signals
Left and right

Sparking memories
Of captured lights
Sitting jarred
Through out the night

A childhood reminder
They light my dark
Come morning
Releasing the sparks

Another night
Another game
I caught them again
Were they the same?

As a child
I never thought
Capturing the lights
Would have a cost

How Do I Keep A Water Garden?

I just keep trying.

The Reluctant Weed Eater

Never a shortage of work At The Farm

A happy-faced Weed Eater operator

trying for sympathy 

but doing his job well.

Thanks for the help, Andrew.

Those football muscles are good for something else.

Darkness for Poets United...

In the darkness death crawled
A slithering snake unseen
But duty called
Light appeared
Making Lil our heroine and queen.

For Poets United

The Worm Pit

began its life as a cold frame.  Through out this past year captured worms were carefully transferred to The Fish Bait Motel.  The guys decided to check my work and see if I could grow worms.

I didn't object because I could get a free turning of the soil.

Yes, that is a night crawler!

Plenty of fish bait here.

The guys didn't admit I did it right

but they are going fishing soon.

Even Lizzy was enjoying the worm action too.

Can You See It?

I thought I was seeing things.

I thought the tree bark was moving!

My handy dandy camera was just a pocket away

Nature's solutions to survival is amazing.