Soul Mate

plans and dreams

shot down

with the scatter gun

of life

are nothing

YOU, 

the soul of  me,

always

give

more

Poets United:  Poetry Pantry

Raising The Dragon

The Dryad/Tree/Dragon rested where we left her after my great discovery and rescue.  I was beginning to think she looked more like Alien than the dragon I first saw.  She had to be moved

to enable her to take flight from this perfect stump Hubby found.

Turning her carefully we hold our breath. Placing her in the right spot was important.  Andrew and Hubby knew and were very gentle with the placement.

For now she rests ready to take flight waiting for me to give her wings.

Even with my extra pieces piled on top when I wet the stump beneath she became more real.

It will be a challenge helping her escape.

My Life

Hubby checks his game cam under an acorn laden oak tree.

We get to witness wonders that we might never see.  This eight point White Tail buck is marking the tree and his territory by rising on his hind legs and spreading his scent in the over hanging limbs.

Here I have captured another male making points by recovering a tree stump that I think is vital to my existence. It had to be a tractor operation.

With me being recently and continually sick this wise male has quietly tried to help around the house. Quietly because he knows I will drag off the couch and protest.  He knows it's bad when I'm not doing laundry and dishes!  Other facets of my "womanly" duties may suffer but dishes and laundry is like breathing...if you're not doing it, you're pretty close to death.  You know, don't you?

I could not fault the stove deep with bacon grease nor the unwashed skillets because there were dishes washed and meals cooked WITH OUT me!  I was served meals lovingly in my sick room if I ate at all and was checked on quite often to see if I was still breathing.

He didn't know I watched as he struggled to fold a towel!  I was proud.  Maybe, just maybe he could survive without me if he had to do so.  His towels may fall off the shelf and the knives may be in the wrong drawer but he gets an A+ for effort.

 I am beginning to think all those years ago when hormones told me HE was the right life mate for me that maybe my brain was in on the decision too.  I know my heart was.

Thank you, honey.  I think you're a keeper.

Old Man

"Old man take a look at my life I'm a lot like you 

I need someone to love me the whole day through 

Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true."
Neil Young

Today my old man is sixty-four

which reminds me of another song (Beatles)...

I still feed him and still need him when he's sixty-four

We  have endured floods together

and worked through many nights.

He's always given me a hand

and I'll always have his back.

I look forward to many happy years with him.

You'll always be my nemesis, my lover, my husband and my friend.

Happy Birthday!

Paybacks

I've mentioned Hubby and I have a joking, relaxed, loving relationship and often avoid boredom by pulling practical jokes on each other.

I will quote him from many times in the past, "Paybacks are hell".

The other day we were driving around on the Gator while I TRIED to take pictures at break neck speeds  We were checking a pond to see if it was holding water.  Not much.  Then Hubby drove right off the steep bank with no warning, straight down.  I didn't even have time for a dirty word.  I was gripping a secure spot with both hands.  Then he noticed my bare foot as we drove OUT OF THE POND. He said, "Didn't think those little toes could hold on like that. You have little white monkey toes." Then I found those words...and he laughed and laughed and mentioned he loved me a time or two.

We've had memory glitches lately (too bad we can't have our memory upgraded like computers). Hubby was panicking because he couldn't remember if he poured gas or diesel into the tractor.  Both are red jugs. The diesel has a D on it but Hubby couldn't remember which jug he had used!

After the problem was resolved I made sure it wouldn't happen again...

He won again!  Didn't bother him a bit, said he needed that and would be proud to fill it up at the station.  Some one please help me outwit this rat!

Random 5 Friday...A Day Late

A Rural Journal

One:  Spring is taking a toe hold on the farm.  Today it is sleeting and snowing.

Two:  Andrew and Hubby are in Nashville.  Andrew and his band are playing for the "powers that be" to see if they have what it takes. They are having a great time.

Three: The farm dogs are quite happy with the change in weather as are we all.

Four:  Daughter is still not walking from her car wreck but improves every day.  This has been a long haul for all...since November.  I imagine we are all equally ready for things to return to "normal".

Five:  My creativity seems to have atrophied but it will return. This week I have read "Shoot The Moon" and "77 Shadow Street", both very good and very different.

Hubby Has A New Toy

and a new hobby.  We live on a dead end road and have a lot of strange traffic. When stopped they "confess" they are lost.  We hear all kinds of excuses like didn't see the signs, or doesn't Joe, John, or Sally live here?  Our no trespassing and private property signs seem to have no affect. The huge Dead End sign posted by the county is ignored.

In the past we have had trouble with thieves and trespassers.  I believe this may be changing.

I'm not sure what Hubby calls his new game but he does enjoy it.  In his tv room he has full view of approaching vehicles and of course our dog alarms go off .  He watches nightly, obsessively, for someone to cross the cattle guard. He even naps during the day so he'll be ready for guard duty come dark.

First he tried a spotlight and that seemed to help some.  When you are in strange territory and a bright light out of nowhere hits your vehicle it kinda makes you think twice.

His new toy is a lazer sight for a gun.  He attached it to his varmint gun but hasn't used it for that yet, however, he has used the sight on trespassers.  He laughs manically at their reactions.  Just imagine this...you have driven down a dirt road for over a quarter, you're not sure where you are or if you do know, you are up to no good.  A bright green dot suddenly appears on the driver of the vehicle.  The only way someone would not know what this was would be to have totally lived with their head in the sand.

Some have been brave enough to continue, several have backed up and driven at break neck speeds in reverse to lose the "dot".  Our traffic has slowed immensely.  Word must be getting around!

And Hubby keeps on playing.

Valentine Sunshine And Fudge...

Best ever Valentine's Day.   Thought I would rub in the fact we have sunshine share our wonderful morning.  It is 67 degrees as I write this.  The temps will begin to drop this afternoon as the storm gets closer.

Today we were able to explore forgetting all those neck deep in snow while sending wonderful spring thoughts to those in the heart of this horrible storm.

Sunshine, rocks, trees and dogs were all part of our adventure as the soup and casserole cooked itself at home.

Visiting places I haven't seen in a long time on the back side of the farm.  

Guess what I found?

Amazing beautiful rocks

steep hills I refused to ride up

I walked while Hubby drove.

Blue skies promised us spring was close.

The exploring ended as we returned to the valley with a feather, a bone and a bucket of beautiful rocks.  I had not burned lunch which we enjoyed.  Marcy brought us homemade fudge for our valentine.

The wind is picking up as the front is heading our way.  Off to top off the water gardens and enjoy the beautiful weather before we get iced in.

Happy Valentine's Day!  Stay safe and happy.

It's Not Every Day You Turn Sixty...

Just November 19th for me.  Yep, the big six o.  Hubby woke up and said, If you go to Walmart with me, I'll buy you lunch for your birthday.  How can I turn down a romantic invitation like that?

It's early so Walmart should be okay.  We head to the Walmart in Mountain Home. There are two or three closer but none of those towns have Salvation Army.  That was my first birthday stop.  I bought a wallet and a beautiful three tier basket for fruit and didn't even burn a ten-spot.

Next stop Walmart.  Wasn't so lucky there but hubby's paying so I bought two new skillets and a cutting board.  I don't get out much.

Visited with my nephew, Jason, and saw an old friend I haven't seen in years. My guess is if you stay at Walmart long enough you might see every one you know.

Bonnie needs a new collar, I hear.  Okay, what kind?  A big one.  Okay.  I search through the collars and find the x-large.  I hear, Bonnie likes blue.  Okay, how do you know Bonnie likes blue?  I just do. She won't wear another color.  She likes blue.  Okay, so my newly turned-sixty body is squatted digging through all the blooming collars looking for a blue one.  I'm not balanced very well.  Hubby has the cart to lean on so he's steady to give directions.  I, on the other hand, am having trouble finding a BIG BLUE collar and breathing and keeping my balance.  Each one I show him has to be adjusted to Bonnie's size so he knows it will fit.  Decision made.  Blue collar in the cart.

This was the next part of  my present...another job.

Hubby says he is replacing outlets

but I know who'll be doing it.

And you thought Mel's Diner was just on tv!

Had a great birthday lunch with Hubby and nephew, Toni.

I can't go to Mountain Home without checking out the gun shops, that's right, I dream of gun shops. I wait in the truck while Hubby finds some shells "we need". Notice the big rock out front?

You know I had to get a closer look!

My best birthday surprise is when he turns toward the town of Norfork, Arkansas and The Terrapin Trading Company!!!  Hubby asked if I had my rocks with me.  Yes.  He parks here and walks to the gun shop next door while I'm allowed to go wild. 

The owner knows my name!!!  The dog doesn't bark, she knows me.  Maybe Hubby should not have "allowed" me free rein in here, my favorite store.  I pulled out my little sack of carefully chosen stones and we talk design.  That's right.  The owners make silver jewelry.  I gave him some of my extra stones and he gave me a "pocket rock" of labradorite.  

I've already received the call.  My pieces are ready!

Not a bad birthday for a gray haired over weight sixty year old lady that doesn't bend as well as I used to...now I must get to these outlets. They won't install themselves.

The Way To My Heart...

Rumor has it that male penguins win their females by presenting a stone or pebble or rock.  Does that make Hubby and me penguins or bird brains?

Whether it's a stone, a pebble or a rock big enough to tip the tractor Hubby knows what makes me weak in the knees. When I receive a gift like this I remember why I married this simply complicated man.

This is one he could not bring to me but he can take me to see them.  There's just something wonderful about knowing he thinks of me every time he sees a rock.  We have lots of rocks, so I'm thought of often and that makes me very happy.

Beating The Weather

There are always last minute things you think you need to do before a cold front arrives.  Storing water hoses, wrapping faucets, winterizing items you KNOW you're not using until spring...the list goes on forever.

Monday when it was summer, we worked in short sleeves and high seventy degrees.  A south wind attacked the valley the entire day.

The water gardens were deleafed and topped off.  The Koi in this and the perch in my other garden will survive the freezing temperatures just fine.  I place a board or small post in the ponds to keep an air hole for the ammonia to escape.  It also makes it easier to crack the ice without harming the fish. I'm sure there are more leafs today. I will make my rounds with a net and remove as many as I can. The leafs containing tannin will make the water brown and my Koi do not thrive in that.

The boat has been tarped and winterized.  It's in the pasture because the barn will be filled with other working machines and the boat shed has been reassigned as the truck garage for winter.

All hands on board for a full clean up.  Of course with pecan trees in the yard clean up is an ongoing event.  

The chickens and all the animals have fresh deep hay beds.  Tools are in their respective spots, mowers winterized, and anti-freeze added to vehicles. 

The crew headed to our main spring.  This is the source of our home water.  Conveniently it is pumped to the houses.  We no longer have to carry water like we once did many years ago.  The spring needs its last "cleaning" for the winter.

Here Andrew is post hole digging the sand out of the rock "barrel".  Placing the sand in the tractor bucket is far easier than carrying it away in a bucket the way we have done it.  Through time the sand builds up but the pump is submersed yet suspended above the bottom.  We lower the level of the sand so we don't have to do this on a cold day. 

The pipe from the barrel to the pump is insulated and covered for winter after all the grass is cut, the water cress removed and the spring is given a general stir up to move clippings etc on down the creek.

When the family first moved here they capped a wooden barrel over the spring source and water would fill up the barrel and fall into the creek.  Dad remembered helping his dad build the rock surround when he was very young.  One year when I was cleaning the spring I found old barrel staves in the very bottom, a piece of history in my hands.

The right equipment makes the job far easier than it was.  Andrew is practicing being a worker by leaning on the handles.  The spring is clear and fresh in a short time. The pump is turned on and like magic water is in every faucet again.

In the past a spring cleaning day was an event attended by all members of the family.  Mom cooked while we all got down and dirty in the spring branch, pulling cress, cutting grass, moving the sand on down the stream while capturing crawdads for fishing in the evening. Yep, an all day event for six to twelve people is now a four hour job for three.  I ran the camera and did some straw bossing, so make that two.

Sometimes I Go Out

in the real world but not often.  This day we had errands to run.  We needed hydraulic fluid for the tractor (liquid gold) filters and oil for the tractor and the gator too.

Hubby has to keep his toys running well

and sparkly clean.

He dislikes pictures and tried to run me off with the water hose.

It didn't work.

Nephew Toni, Hubby and I decided it was a good day to visit Fred's Fish House.  We had enough for another meal.

I had frog legs and fish.

Saved the frog bones.

Toni said his mom and I were only people he knew

 that saved bones from their food.

I've some wonderfully creative ideas for my frog legs.

Fishing Rocky Bayou

Our favorite place to go when the girls were young was Rocky Bayou that joins White River on the Stone county side.  If you were to back track this creek it would pass in front of kinfolks' houses from the ancient past.  We would wade through the section where I learned to "grabble" fish, where I caught crawdads for bait.  Blue Hole, where we swam and even where Hubby's kinfolk lived (and oh, the stories I have!)  Mother used to warn me and my daughters to be careful who we dated, they might be kin to us.

Back on track to the adventure of the week...Rocky Bayou is a gravel creek  When the river is up you can motor in easily. Other times there is a small channel of only a few inches depth that you must fly over...Hubby can do that.

The waves ripple from our landing.

 This is a honey hole for bass.

The fishing begins while I take pictures

 thinking I am in heaven.

The bass are biting!

These wonderful rock ledges shelter many fish

but not from Toni and Hubby.

Yep, that's my Dr Pepper.

Toni shed his shoes early.

I kept mine on but I was connected 

through the water and the rocks...paradise!

We jumped ship leaving Hubby behind catching fish.

Toni and Andrew headed to the place they used to swim.

Low but still beautiful.

Hanging ferns grew on limestone cliffs.

See all the rocks?

I found just a few to bring home.

Every one needs a day like this now and then.

The fish were released

and we motored toward home.