We got this!

I've missed blogging.

  

I mean I've seriously missed it.

  

It was deeply satisfying to me, and it was "my" thing for so many years.

Some folks can do all sorts of lovely talented things.....  

they can knit or crochet up a storm... 

they cook wonderful things to eat... 

 they paint beautiful paintings...

 they putter in their gardens... 

 they can sew fantastic quilts 

Or they even make adorable tutu's for their piggies or chickens.

Me?

I always loved being able to put my thoughts down in writing.

And, on the plus side, it's somewhat more  "socially acceptable" to blog  random thoughts, 

 Rather than to be caught muttering to oneself.

In the wrong circumstance, that can be not only deeply embarrassing, but it does get one some funny looks, as well.

But if you're a blogger and you're caught muttering to yourself, you can just brightly say:

"Oh, I am  sooo sorry!   I was just trying to work out what I planned on writing about.  You know... on my BLOG.  I really didn't mean to be talking out loud".

And off they go, hopefully semi-convinced that you're you're simply an undiscovered aspiring writer...

And not just some complete nutter.

So, my dear friend Connie and I have now made a pact, that we will encourage one another to write, and that we'll both be more diligent about posting.

I'll do my best,  Connie.

Please head over and check her out at:

http://overgoodground.blogspot.com/

Do YOU blog, or do you have favorite blogs that you follow?

Please leave the names or links in the comments.

We can all use some encouragement, girlfriend.

 

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

The Girls are back in production mode!

For several months now, my chickens have been less than forthcoming, when it comes to 

"gOOgle production". 

(That's egg production, for you non chicken-obsessed folks.)

Between  them molting, and then the cold, cold weather, no one has seen the need to actually earn their keep around here.

We went months with no one laying, and quite frankly, I was getting sick and tired of cooking them a lovely warm breakfast...

 day after day ...   

and then getting nothing in return.

I was actually at the point to where I was printing out, and compiling tasty chicken recipes, and I even considered contacting Colonel Sanders for his secret recipe.

I was  just planning on just getting some new, more prolific, girls in the spring.

Oh, in the last few weeks, we have gotten an odd egg here or there, but never enough for breakfast for the two of us, and never with any regularity. 

So,  tonight.... as I was doing the washing up after dinner, I happened to look down at the chicken yard, because I heard them making a horrible cackling ruckus.... and I noticed that the door to the coop had blown closed.

Great.

They're probably all stuck outside their coop in this cold sleet and snow with no shelter, and they're probably half  frozen to death.

 I'm hearing their death throes - I'm sure of it.

I'm hearing them singing their final "swan song", so to speak.

.

 I sigh mightily... and tell myself that I had better go down and check on what kind of damage has been done.

So I bundle up in my heaviest jacket, my sturdy chook-poop-proof shoes, a scarf wound 'round and 'round  my nose and neck, and my thickest, warmest, and loveliest woolly red gloves.

Because I  really, really, don't want to feel their cold, stiff, lifeless little bodies with my un-gloved hands,  and they do deserve to be carried to their final resting place, with lovely woolly red gloves.

BUT... what a surprise!

They've redeemed themselves!

In spades!

We're down to 10 girls now,

(we had 11, until my sweet little Brehenda Lee went to that great "chicken coop in the sky" week before last)

 and out of the 10 girls we have left, we actually got 7 eggs today!

SEVEN!

You've heard of "lucky ducks"?

My girls have no idea, how close they actually were, to becoming  Colonel Sanders style chickens.

Now I'm thinking that we might have a lovely Spinach and Swiss cheese Quiche for dinner tomorrow night.

I'll cancel the call to Colonel Sanders...

Signs of Spring

  I see signs of spring!

Yes, the signs of spring are out there, even though we're currently being threatened with temperatures in the mid to high teens, as well as the possibility of snow, in just the next few days.

To that, I say ...

Fiddlesticks!

 

I guess that the burgeoning beauty  that I came across, in today's rambling around our property, will have to keep my heart and mind focused on the good times yet to come.  

If I can convince my old, cold, aching joints and body to take heed, anyway.

Our new peach trees are beginning to bud out, and so are the many blueberry bushes that we planted 

"top-side" last year... and I just hope they can survive this latest "snow threat".  

And my daffodils that are naturalized all over the hillsides?  I went out to check the biggest area of them today - the hillside just off the lower driveway, and the area closest to the house  - and just look at what I found!

 

I guess my husband decided that the old, crumbling, full of nails plywood and particle board from replacing the garage roof last year.  would work as a real good  "weed deterrent".

  

This area is usually just jam-packed with decades and decades worth of naturalized daffodils  -  and  all sorts of varieties. too...

 So, I can see that I'm going to have to get out there very shortly, and get that nasty eyesore of a "weed deterrent" removed as soon as possible!

    

I just can't understand his reasoning... can you?

"Weeds are unsightly, dear - so let's just throw down a bunch of nasty old disintegrating  rusty nail filled plywood on that hillside, so we won't have to see the weeds anymore , and we'll ruin the view, in one fell swoop!"

And I also guess that this means that I don't get out of the house or off the property. often enough, either.

Now this is only 20 or so feet from the road that runs past our house, and I'm just now seeing it?

Lawd have mercy on me...

 and I sincerely apologize to any and all of the neighbors who have driven past, wondering "what the heck are those new folks doing??"

I did manage to get some other photos taken of  one of the peach trees and the blueberry bushes starting to bloom, 

(the ones closest to the house anyway , because we planted a bunch of trees last summer and  fall) 

I'm not sure if  it was because it's so danged cold out there,  or maybe because I was so frazzled by seeing that "messy eyesore"...

 but my hands were shaking, as I was trying to focus the camera, and they're probably blurry, or out of focus.

Let's go see,  shall we?

AHA!  They did turn out!

This is one of the 2 peach trees that we planted up top here, last year..

Just look at that tiny little peach tree leaf, trying it's best, to unfurl!

It makes me feel joyful!

And this.... this is one of the 4 or 5 blueberry bushes that we've planted in the front yard...  

   

And look here!....I still have some Daffodils!

  

It may still be bitterly cold out there, but things are starting to wake up all around us...

And they give me hope of warmer days to come!

 “The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size.”
  ~ Gertrude S. Wister ~

It's time for winter to be over...

 

It's time for the winter of my discontent, to be over...

And no... I'm not just talking "actual" winter, although this cold and dreary, record setting rainfall winter we're dealing with in an all too true actual physical sense here in North Georgia, can leave any old time it wants.

Right now,  I'm talking metaphorical winter.

My "Blogging" winter. 

I've had enough of this hunkering down, pulling my head in, and waiting for signs of spring that probably won't happen unless I force it to happen.

It's high time to take the proverbial bull by the horns, 

and to start dealing with getting back to something that has always meant a lot to me. 

I miss writing.

Excuses, excuses... 

yeah, I've got 'em.

I don't have time.

I have all these animals to deal with.

And that's not even  talking about the never-ending physical and emotional dramas of living with a husband with type 2 diabetes.

(A man who simply thinks he can eat anything he danged well pleases - because "it's only a few bites".

 So every day 

- every stinkin' day -  

is nothing more than a 

win-some-lose-some, balancing act.

And I'm not even going to mention face book right now.

Although somehow, and against my better judgement,

  I have allowed it to become my "go to" place on most days.

Mostly because it's quick and easy.

But easy, isn't always best - and I know in my heart, that I need something more than mindless 

and quick and easy interaction.

Somehow, for reasons that don't  really stand up to actual reasoning...

 my life has become focused solely,  regrettably, and only, on animals and a husband and face book. 

And somewhere along the way, I've lost track of "me".

I've stopped doing the things that bring "me" joy.

Spring is in the air, and come heck or high water...

It's time for me to bloom again.

I want to BLOG again!

I need to hold myself accountable for bringing the joy of writing back into my life...

And... if you know me - personally or just on face book - it would be helpful to me,  if those friends who know me, would hold me accountable too.

I'm married... so I'm quite used to the nagging, believe you me!

.

Poke me. 

Prod me.

Whisper in my ear.

  

I don't care what you feel like doing, but  I sure could use some encouragement.

I need to bloom again.