The Inadvertent Farmer

Always take your Camera!

Every time I drive down our road to get the mail and pass this I say to myself.

Ughhh I forgot my camera again...drat!

So when I went for the mail the other day...our mailboxes are down the hill across the creek in case you were wondering.

If you weren't...well hmmm not quite sure what to do about that.

Anyway as I stood by my mailbox, which was full of bills and toy catalogs,  here is what my camera saw...

 
This is an old maple tree with wonderful dark bark and crimson finely toothed leaves.  There was a low hanging fog in the background and this wonderful stark white fence that my elderly neighbor built decades ago, which has white lights along it for Christmas, which I love.  Anyway I went to get the mail and remembered my camera and I love this shot.

So if you learn nothing else here ever...well besides how camel poo is good for cucumbers or how easy it is to roast peppers on the bbq or how the Humane Society can stock your whole farm...besides those very important thing   No you must learn this my dear friends...

Always, always take your camera.

You just never know what you might capture!

 

 

My glamorous life...

Yesterday I admitted that my life was not let us say...typical.

Today I am going to prove that although it may be slightly unusual it is indeed glamorous!

First there is the fancy schmancy car I drive around here.  Meet my 1972 3/4 ton Chevy pickup truck!  I love this truck...seriously I do.  It can haul gravel and manure like nobody's business.  Today she is hauling brush.  Yes I know, you can hardly stand the excitement of it all...

We enter the pasture through our lovely gate...the one that the camel bent the heck out of by leaning over.  Yes thank you Gizmo!

 
 

Baby Boy and I take the bumpy ride to the bottom of the field where the burn pile is...the one that we keep saying we're going to burn.  We started it 10 years ago.  Right now it is just a very slowly decomposing compost pile.

All the while we are dressed in the newest designer farm-wear...Carharts and muck boots!

As I start unloading brush Baby Boy jumps into the truck in a panic and starts yelling and pointing at something.  Does he see a bear?  Maybe a cougar?

What is is wrong baby?

 

Ohhhh I see.

He is not a fan of Gizmo except from a distance. Notice the little girl hiding behind the tree?  Yep even brave Sweet Girl is a little wary when our 1500 pound pet is near...go figure.

 

"Camel get me"

"No sweetie, he is just hoping we have a treat for him"

"Go way Dizmo...no tweat for you."

"You'll be safe up on the top of the truck."

"Dizmo...me bigger en you...HA HA!"

 

 Hey big guy!

Don't big guy me...where are the treats?

I've got some nice tender leaves and shoots over here for you.

BRUSH...you've brought me brush?  What no apples? No yummy oats?  Just old sticks...hrmmfff!

Come on...you'll love it! 

I don't know...it smells kinda funny.

 

Ok fine you big baby...I'll feed it to you.

Of course you will...you are wrapped around my little finger...so to speak.

Notice to those reading...those are the latest gloves straight from Paris, really they are.  All those with any fashion sense at all wear rubberized teal gloves...really!

This isn't too bad I suppose.

 

I told you that you would like it...you need to trust me.

 

Trust is earned...aren't you the one that entices me with grain and then shaves my neck?

 

Ummmm...well...yes that would be me.

 

You see my point then?

 

I suppose I do...

 

Note to readers...again...check out the shadow in the above picture.  Yes that is me feeding a camel with one hand while taking a picture with the other, now that is glamorous!

 

Meanwhile Baby Boys had decided to come down and join me in the bed of the truck.  He is busy picking leaves off and tossing them over the side for Gizmo..

 

That is nice of you to feed the camel sweetie

 

Me nice to Dizmo.

 

Here Dizmo...you wike weaf?  Yummy weaf. 

 

Mama...Dizmo eat wike this.

 

I love it when he makes camel faces!

 

But wait where is Sweet Girl?

 

Oh yeah...

 

 

She's doing her Laura Ingalls impression!

 

So as our little adventure ends, we pile back into our beloved old truck.  Take the bumpy ride up the hill and through the bent gate.

 

Back to the rest of our glamorous life!

 

Let's see, there's manure to be shoveled, dishes to be done, laundry to be folded, bread to be made...

 

Yep, just call me the Queen of all things sophisticated and edgy!

 

Bye now...all come back, ya hear?

 

(giggle...I always wanted to say that!)

 

 

 

This is my life it is NOT normal

Every person has their own life.

To that person their life seems normal, it fits them...it is comfortable.

There are parts of my life that are not as normal as others...I homeschool, I am a vegan, I have 5 kids 21 year apart, and only one husband through it all!

But these things are normal for me.

But once in a while I will catch glimpses of my life from another perspective, usually through the lens of my camera and I will have to pause and admit that my life is NOT normal at all...

This is not normal for a middle class white girl of Irish descent...

Ever scratched behind a camel's ear? 

Maybe if I was a middle class girl from the middle east...

But Washington State?  I'm thinkin' not...

No my life is not normal at all...its actually kinda weird!

For those of you wondering what in the world I am doing to get these strange shots...come back tomorrow for the whole glamorous affair.

Sorry, I hate it when I'm watching a show and up pops

To be Continued...

But there you have it, my first ever cliff hanger...

A camel cliff hanger to be exact!

 

End of the Line!

End of the line you say.

What line?

I don't see any line!

What are you talking about?

End of the Line.

No I am not quitting...nor have I killed the camel.

Nothing that dramatic.

I have entered a photo contest called 'The end of the line' over at Gardening Gone Wild

And since I'm a gardener and also am a wild and crazy girl it seemed appropriate!

It is wishful thinking that is would be the end of the line for the above weed but alas it has spewed its tiny seeds all over my garden.  I will not admit that it is because I did not stay on top of the weeds this year...nope not gonna fess up to anything!

This one didn't get by me either...

 

Sanctuary Garden away from the Chaos

 

My life is anything but calm...it is managed chaos if I was to be perfectly honest.

Unmanaged chaos if I was to be brutally honest, but I'm not going to be...at least not today.

And that is ok.  I love the energy having a big family brings. But there are times that it is nice to visit a place of peace and beauty...a sanctuary from the craziness!

Luckily for me it is next door at my mom's.

She has such a lovely garden, full of roses and flowers and garden art.

As opposed to mine that is strictly about food.

No hers is meant to feed the spirit...

Even her bugs are lovely!

And she only has the beneficial kind...what's up with that?

 Maybe its her picket fence...everything is prettier surrounded by pickets!

Wonder if I could keep the camel in with a sweet little picket fence?

While mine is the tall type for eating...her kale is eye candy all the way!

Even her leaves fall more artistically than mine!

So while I could not live without the utilitarian purpose of my garden...

It is nice to have somewhere to go that only beauty is on the menu!

Thanks mom!

 

Now back to my regularly scheduled life...

Silent Saturday

Good Saturday to everyone that has happened upon my little blog...

If your are new...it isn't usually so quiet around here.

For those friends of mine that visit often...

Enjoy the peace and quiet!!!

 

 
  

And so as not to disappoint his fans

Gizmo our resident camel...

Yes that is a camel drinking from a water hose...no need to adjust your computer! 

 

If you happen to be a gluten for punishment and/or have a hankering for weird camels here is the link to the rest of this sorted story! 

 

Hope everyone is having a marvelous weekend!

See ya tomorrow for more craziness...

Kim...the inadvertent farmer

Oh, I almost forgot...I'm over at Not Dabbling in Normal today with a post about a child's hand.  Yes a child can learn a lot from playing in the dirt and feeding watermelon to a camel!

 

Roasted Peppers Playing With My Food Again!

Although my pepper plants are still producing a pepper here and a pepper there.  This was that last big harvest of the season.

And before I put them onto the BBQ to roast I just has to play with them just a little...

Also I decided enter this first photo in the Abundant Harvest Photo Contest over at Gardening Gone Wild.

 

These little yellow guys are called 'Yum Yum Gold' peppers...and they certainly are that.  So very sweet with hardly any innards to clean out.  A perfect out of hand snack!

Not to mention just plain pretty!

When I was done playing around I put them on the grill...

Since I'm a free and easy kind of girl I let the red and the yellow peppers co-habitat while they roasted...

Are you shocked?

No I am not a prude...call me progressive and open minded.

Just don't ask my teenagers...they would deny that strenuously!

For those of you that have never roasted peppers. The object is to blacken the skins all around making them easier to peel and imparting a sweet smokey flavor to the peppers...truly a marvelous was to do peppers!

Ohhhh the smell coming from that BBQ...I don't think a steak in the world can match it!

 I had to do a grill full of just the little yellow ones...the ones too shy and self conscious about their small size to co-mingle with the big lusty red ones.

I am in no way projecting here...

As each batch was done I threw them in a large bowl...

 

And covered them to let them sweat a little...like a sauna for peppers!

After they had cooled I easily peeled them, took out the innards and seeds and cut them into strips.

I would love to say that I ate none of these and left them all for the freezer and that night's pizza...but I must be honest...I ate some...

Ok...I ate a LOT.

They were just too good and frankly I didn't try very hard to resist!

In the deep dark months of winter when I am out of roasted peppers I will regret my lack of self control but for now I am enjoying these with no guilt...well very little!

Getting them ready for the freezer is as easy as taking the amount I would use on a pizza and putting it onto some waxed paper.

Folding the paper into little packets and...

Putting them into freezer containers...one for red, one for yellow.  That way if I want a yellow pizza I don't have to go searching through all the packets cause all the yellows are altogether already.  Color coding for the freezer.  Yes I am that girl...that highly organized color coded girl.

For those that know me in the 'real' world you can get up now...rolling on the ground laughing is just not dignified!

And I am all about being dignified after all.

Now stop that...seriously...you're making a scene!

Ughhh, some people...

 

The Great Grape Harvest!

Hey Everyone...Look what I've just picked! 

Yep...Grapes!

Mama had great plans for grape juice...

But we had other plans...

We're pretty sure none of these are gonna make it all the way to juice or jelly or even raisins!

 

Nope...the only place these are gonna go is in our mouths!

 

 

Hey mama...we think you might want to plant some more grapes!

 
 
 

Yummmmm! 

Silent Saturday...

Since I have the Friday Funnies it seemed logical to me to have the Silent Saturdays...

Why? You ask... I do not see the logic.

You don't?

Well there is not really any logic per say...

It is just that I have so many darn pictures...

And Saturdays are usually kind of busy around my house...

And I don't get a lot of visitors here on the blog on this day...

And I wouldn't want to waste my precious words when no one is listening...

That would be too much like my real life...

So I am instituting

Silent Saturdays...

Yes a day with a little less talk and a lot more action...action photos...and still photos...and critter photos...and kid photos...and old photos...

Random photos that have no reason to be together than besides I like 'em.

We will see how many Saturdays in a row I can be quiet...

Starting next week

Because, well I have not been too silent today...

According to the men in my life I have actually never really been silent...

Except when I have been under for surgery or something...

But for some reason they don't think that counts...

 

I think that should count...

 

 

Homemade apple cake with homemade applesauce...heaven on a plate!

 

Come back next week and I promise I'll shut up...

Really I will.

 

Hey...I heard that!

Fun With Photo Editing and Manipulating

This photo was taken a few days ago in my mom's garden.  It is pretty typical of the kind of photos you find here.

Editing this was super quick and easy.

But sometimes when the kids are asleep and I am avoiding the sink full of dishes and the laundry pile that is growing at an alarming rate downstairs, I like to play around with photos.

I suppose you would actually call it photo manipulating instead of photo editing...

Here is the same hydrangea as above that I have put through a couple of filters and color saturation taken down...

Now before I go any farther let me state I am not even remotely and expert on any of this...

I have photoshop...I have heard nothing but wonderful things about it...

I have never used mine.

Yes I have yet to learn to use it and it has been residing on my computer for almost 2 years, sigh.

I still use an old Microsoft program that you can't even buy anymore, 'Picture It'

I will learn Photoshop one of these days...when the laundry is done, the kids are bigger, the garden is weedless, and the camel quits breaking the fence!

On this I made it black and white, softened the edges, brightened, upped the contrast and then sharpened just the little fuzzies.

 

On this one I selected the pumpkins using a little tool that grabs the edge pixels as you work your way around them.  Then I inverted so the background was chosen and made it black and white.

I love these little pumpkins they are just too cute...I'm going to plant many more next year!

 

A Dahlia up close and put through 6 filters until it looks like a painting!

 

When I was looking at the original photo I was trying to imagine what I could do with it that would be fun and different.  I thought having one of hubby's bees look like they were pollinating an old painting would be unique.

So I carefully selected the bee to make sure I got all his little parts.  Then I inverted the selection just like the pumpkins.  Next I put the flowers through a bunch of filter till I liked it and and voila...a bee on a painting!

 

Even my kids aren't safe from being manipulated...well their photos anyway!

You saw this photo last week in my homeschool post.

This I did similar to the bee and the pumpkins but when I was all done I overlaid a grunge border I had...I must say I LOVE this one.

I think I will redo this one to clean up the edges of Sweet Girl and her doll then have it printed and framed.  I have the perfect spot in her room to hang it!

 

And one last photo...

 Kiss Me....I'm Irish!

How to kill a camel without the neighbors knowing

Alright yes he is a minor neighborhood celebrity and the adoring public might notice if the big guy went missing.  He also does brings joy to small children in the Christmas parade every year.   And yes he even helps my teenage sons pick up girls but...

He is eating my ROSES! 

He's reaching over the fence seemingly ignoring the 2000 volts from the new fence zapper I just purchased and is eating my roses.  Not only are my roses in peril but he is violating the sanctity of the garden by snatching my tomatoes. He seems to prefer heirloom tomatoes mind you, the late to ripen harder to grow kind.  My just now ripening Brandywines seem to be his favorite!  So I'm left with no other choice but to kill him or put razor wire around the garden.

That is what I need...the garden looking like a prison exercise yard!

Before I went out and smacked him up alongside of his big hairy head I snapped these pics for evidence in case I'm prosecuted...

"But your honor he was eating my Brandywines, that certainly makes it justifiable homicide!" 

Reaching over the fence to eat my climbing roses growing around the chicken yard...

Good thing camels are vegetarians or the chickens big would be in trouble!

 

 I am the master of my domain...

I can bend small fences with a single push...

I laugh at high voltage...

I drive my human insane without even trying...

Yep, it is good to be me!

 

Photos from the Farm...and the Lake Monster!

Had enough?

I hope not 'cause I've got a ton of photos...

I had a hard time choosing just enough for three days...

I have enough for at least three years worth of post with just photos!

Although I suppose these posts weren't just photos.

I put in a little commentary...just enough to keep me sane!

So without further ado...or further words...

Remember the pictures are links to the original stories behind each one!

Had enough yet???

 

I have to show you one more...the photo that gets more hits than any other when people search Google for picture.

Think its of my cute kids? Nope.

The ornery camel? Not him either.

Not even the well tended ,cough, garden...Doesn't exist actually.

No,

It's this...

My very own personal,

Lake monster...

Who would have thought???

 

More of my favorite kid and critter photographs...

Welcome back to the strangely quiet funny farm...

Where the blog host doesn't speak...

But the photos do!

 

Well she doesn't speak as much as usual...I can't go without speaking at all!

That would be just torturous!

Note, most of the pictures are links if you want to see the stories behind them!

 

Sorry...this is neither a critter or a kid,

I just like it...

 

Here is a kid,

 

And another one...

 

Actually that is a bewildered kid and his goofy father...

Here is a critter,

 

World...meet Fluffy the Pygmy goat.

Found wandering the streets of my in-laws neighborhood and brought home in hubby's Subaru.  I do believe I've told you all this story...

Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!

 

Here...just one more for kicks,

 

Ohhhh this one brings tears to my eyes...That smile...Those cheeks

He is now TWO!

It almost makes my womb long for another...

 

Almost!

Purely Pictures of the Farm

Since my family...and yours I'm sure will be busy and/or gone this weekend I am going to shut my big mouth and just share some of my favorite photos.

"She's not going to talk?"

I hear you say...

Yep I'm gonna shut up and just let the photos speak to you...

as opposed to me speaking to you.

Really I am!

If you want to know the story behind each picture click on it and follow the link!

 

  

Look how long I was able to be quiet...

You should be impressed...

You have NO idea how hard that was!

 

Come back tomorrow for a few more photos that make my heart go pitter pat!

You can also find me here today over at Not Dabbling In Normal with a whole batch of different pictures!

Taking pictures from another perspective

Yesterday it was the kids, straight on with me standing up, or part 1.

Note...you can click on any of the pics for a larger version

Today it is just photos of part of the kids, the very bottom part to be exact, part 2. These were taken with me squatting as low as I could go without actually laying in the puddle and getting drenched!

You see I have this thing for...

Bare feet...little kid's bare feet to be exact.

So I wanted a series of shots of the kids' feet.

Left foot, Right foot

Feet, Feet, Feet...How many, many feet we meet. Dr Seuss

 

I like the above photo because one of Sweet Girl's feet is still and in focus, the other is showing so much motion it is blurred, very fun!

 

Love this, up on her toes, ankles straining, with a long reflection.

 

Fat baby feet with little sausage toes...just about my favorite thing in the whole world!

 

Especially when they are obviously having so much fun!!!

 

This shot is from a little further back...I like the bit of dress that shows at the top, again conveying more motion.

 

Its raining its pouring the baby is snoring...and splashing, and laughing, and stomping...

 

This is one of my favorite photos...I love all the action, that both kids are in the shot, and of course all the splashing water! 

 

Here is the finally shot for today, I couldn't resist playing with it just a little...

 

Less color...looking a little dream like.

 

Simply black and white...one of my faves.  I love how black and white makes things look so different, so cool, so hip!

Lastly...

Put through a couple of filters on the computer...just for fun!

If I could encourage you to try one new thing next time you get out your camera it would be to shoot from a completely different perspective...you'll be surprised and pleased with what you get!  This is especially true with kids, get down low.  Shoot from their level, enter their world...your pictures will be delightful, I promise!

Summer Rain Dance part 1

As promised here is part one of the summer rain dance...

I have been trying to take photos from different angles and positions.  These photos are taken from the typical parent angle, standing and straight on.  Tommorrow I will show a very different perspective.  Even though they are straight on they are fun just because of the subject matter.  I really don't think kids have a 'bad side' when it come to photos!

Sweet Girl all girly and twirly!

I love to try to capture water in motion.

I cropped this so the reflection was the same size as the kid...cropping can be so much fun!

I didn't even notice the reflections until I put these on my computer...if I had I may have taken the pics differently.  I need to pay more attention to all the frame, not just the person in the frame.

Even though Sweet Girl is blurry I like this shot because it conveys so much joy and motion.

This shot conveys what a goof she is!!!

 

So what is the baby up to you ask?

Well instead of a rain dance...

He is doing the 'Rain Stomp'

After all, two year old boys don't dance...they stomp!

 

Come back tomorrow for a whole different view of the same scene!

See ya then,

Have a good one!

 

Tomato Napper...

Before I begin today's little tale...

Here is a photo I have entered in the contest going on over at Gardening Gone Wild.  We were challenged to try to take a photo of our garden from a different perspective...a low one... about ankle height to be exact! Hmmm exactly the place where my two youngest ankles biters are known to reside.

  The oh so very talented David Perry is judging the contest this month.

This photo was taken when I had set my camera on the edge of one of my raised beds.  I thought I had it focused on the lovely dish of tomatoes that I had just picked.  But as fate would have it I found it to be focused on the wooden side of the raised bed.  I must say I really loved how this 'accidental' photo turned out.  I even caught the hand of the sneaky ankle biting tomato napper in the background!

 

Now on with our little tale of crime and intrigue!

It begins when the inadvertent farmer is enjoying a sweet summer morning picking tomatoes from her jungle that is called her garden...

She is quickly filling her bucket with large juicy tomatoes, red ones perfectly round, purple ruffles ones, blocky ones with green shoulders, and tomatoes in the shape of plums.  They are all destined for sandwiches, sauces, and salads...

She is also filling a bowl with a rainbow of teeny tiny grape, currant, and cherry tomatoes.  You know the pop in your mouth, can't get enough, the I can't stop from eating them ones.  Her bowl fairly overflowed with goodness...

But wait...

The tiniest, most vulnerable tomatoes are mysteriously disappearing...

 The sugary sweet yellows are vanishing...

The farmer looks around alarmed...

Then suddenly she hears a muffled giggle...

Could it be???

 

Yes that infamous blond tomato napper had infiltrated the sanctity of her garden...

And was boldly,

With no sign of remorse,

Gobbling up her tomatoes as fast as he could shove them in his plump little mouth...

 

DROP THE TOMATO!!!

The response???

Snort, laugh...giggle, replies he with tomato juice dripping from his lips and down his chin...

The farmer gets no respect...

neither do her tomatoes!

 

In The Misty Morning...

I try to get up before the kids and have a few moments of peace before...

Diapers, breakfast, dishes, laundry...etc., etc, the usual chaos and madness!

 

This particular day I was rewarded by an early morning mist suspended over the pasture.

Its inhabitants cloaked in the lightest dew.

 

 

The animals were all starting to come to life after their deep summer's night sleep.

The world was perfectly still...just for a moment.

 

 

A perfect drop of time

Thank you God, you are indeed wondrous.

Little Green Lady Jewel

 

Cosmos are just so lovely on their own, but when you add a tiny jewel of a bee you get something just enchanting!

This is a Virescent Green Metallic Bee...a little lady bee to be exact.

 

 

She lives in meadows and gardens drinking nectar.  She brings nectar and pollen back to her larva in the underground nest....

 

 

One bee usually guards the entrance to the nest by placing its head level with the soil surface acting as a plug...now doesn't that sound like a fun job to have???

I love bees...but I'm also glad I'm not one!

 

There is your entomology lesson for the day...

Now go out and see what kind of treasures you can find in your yard and garden!

Garden Beauty Just For Beauty's Sake...

Yes there are peas, lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes growing in my garden.

As wonderful, delicious, not to mention nutritious these are...

Sometimes a garden needs something special...

Something that is not necessarily practical,

But something beautiful planted just for beauty's sake...

 

You can't eat it...

But is sure is lovely!

 

 

 

 

 

  

My Sweet Girl uses these daisies to decide when it is time to quit for the evening...

 

 

"Look mama...the daisy is closing.  It must be time to go in!"

 

Flowers aren't the only impractical thing I grow in the garden...

 

There can also be found little farm kids in both the blond and the brunette variety...

Yes impractical but...

Sure a lot of fun!

 

Weed...Who Says???

I do not have a manicured lawn...

I barely have what would be considered a lawn.

It is actually pasture grass that we just happen to keep mown down right around the house.

So when I see one of these little beauties I don't freak out, no I just smile at its cheery yellow color and go and get my camera.

There is a lot to be said for not having a manicured lawn!

 

What could be lovelier than a Lilac?

 

What could be lovelier than lilacs in full spectacular bloom?  I cannot think of anything that just drips of spring's essence more that lilacs...

So what could be better than the intoxicating sight of lilacs?

 

How about a whole hedge of them with some garden ornamentation?

 

 

Or maybe lilacs with the hills behind them?

 

 

A lake in view... couldn't be any better could it?

 

No, nothing is better than the sight of lilacs in the spring...

Except...

 

Getting close enough to bury your nose in a handful...

Inhaling deeply...

and...

Heaven!

Now seriously nothing is better than that!!!

For the love of Camillias!

 

Ohhh how I love the blooms of a camellia bush.

First they remind me of a rose...then a water lilly, either way they are stunning!

It isn't only the flowers but the bush is beautiful with shiny dark leaves that are evergreen....yep year 'round beauty.

The bushes that these grow on are over 10 feet tall...

They are luscious!

 

 

 

And oh they come in white too!!!

These are blooming outside my dining room window...

Makes it hard to concentrate on my food!

 

Gotta love 'em!

 

 

The Problem With Wide Open Spaces...

We live on 10 acres of land...the land is a perfect square...it slopes south.

Our house in in the exact middle of this square.  All sides of the house are surrounded by fields.

There are some great advantages to our property...

There are some disadvantages too.

Seeing how this is Monday and I usually don't really love Mondays alot, (especially Mondays that start with doctors appointments for the kids in which they both get their shots...) I am going to cover one of my pet peeves about this place...

It is that everywhere you look is a wide open space.

There are no intimate little spots in which to sit, no rose covered arbor under which to read a book, no private corner surrounded by ivy covered brick walls besides which to sip tea...

Just wide open space...everywhere!

That is why I don't plant sweet little flowers like these...

Flowers like these would be engulfed by the openness of our place...

You would hardly notice them!

 

 

No I need big gawdy flowers like sunflowers and hollyhocks, dahlias, and giant alliums!

I need to do something about this...

I want a sweet little place in which to drink some lemonade, read a gardening magazine or just have some peace and quiet...somewhere private...somewhere hidden...somewhere secret!

I am going to have to think on this a bit, maybe draw up some plans...

hatch a scheme...

stear a course...

Somehow I am going to have to tame just a little of the wide open space to make it a little less wide and a lot less open.

Then I'm going to plant some flowers that are so sweet and so tiny that every time I sit next to them I am going to wonder how anything could be so impossible cute!

 

Yes this is what I'm going to do...I think somehow I am going to build myself a secret hideaway...a secret garden!

As soon as I know when and how I will let you in on the project.

For now I would love to hear from any of you that have such a place...

What makes your private places in your gardens special?

What are my 'must haves'?

What are my 'must not haves'?

 

Thanks...now I'm off to weed in my wide open space!

 

On a Jet Plane...

Baby Boy loves airplanes, he loves jets and helicopters and all flying machines...

 

Often during the day I will find him with his head back searching the sky in hope of a glimpse of a  plane or at least an ultralight or something.

 

This evening he was in luck!

 

As the sun set not one but two jets streaked across the sky...

 

Leaving behind their vapor trail like a row of lace in the sky!

 

Baby Boy was thrilled beyond words!

 

 

He kept saying

Plane, plane, man, fly, go!

 

 

We watched together till they were out of sight over the southern hills.

 

 

Yet he still kept on looking...signing 'more, more'

until I thought he was going to tip over backwards!

 

 

That's it...

Baby Boy and I must find a time to leave on a jet plane...

We don't know when we'll be back again!

 

Kiss me and smile for me...

Tell me that you'll wait for me

Hold me like you'll never let me go...

 

Now that you thoroughly have that John Denver song stuck in your heads I will bid you adu...for I'm off to plant out my tomatoes!

 

Oh Babe I hate to go...