Around Here

Around Here... I've been busier than a one armed paper hanger... as Shaun would say.  Due to the fact that I will be sending two of my day care kids to Kindergarten in a month I have taken on another child at the day care and all in all I am at my job 58 to 60 hours a week now.  I am planning a "send-off" indoor summer camp for them all next week that I am so excited about.  Our garden is growing and I seem to find myself in the dirt every night after supper pulling grass and pig weed trying to stay ahead of the game.  I've been working on the Dove Hunt magazine for my Father-in-law again which we normally take to the printer around the tenth of July.  Here's hoping I have it done by then this year.  So naturally speaking I have missed blogging and sharing it all with you the last few weeks.  I haven't taken the time to pick my camera up much but here are a few shots that I have managed to squeeze in. 

I do rest to watch the sunrise on the way to work some mornings.

Sweet Carolina Wren feeding her babies on our porch.

image inspiration

Image Inspiration is a spot where I share shots from blogs and such that I follow that have in some way sparked my imagination and possibly my creativity or at least my interest and day dream-y-ness.

Welcoming Winter post from SophieIsobelAsher.com

 

I love the couch and especially the little stool beside it.  That looks like a recovering job that I could do!  Something about this image painted a picture in my mind of a portion of our basement being finished into a room with possible these accents. Lovely!  The basement wouldn't have the sunlight streaming in though.

 

 

 

Freezing veggies for smoothies!  Abeautifulmess.typepad.com

 

How brilliant!  I love my berry/beet smoothie but sometimes don't have time to make them and my beets go bad in the fridge.  This will totally take care of that and take less time in the morning chopping veggies!  How smart!

 

 

Found on blog.freepeople.com

 

I actually have a tank similar to this one but I usually only sleep in it.  It may just see the light of day this summer!  Love her Berks too.  Mine got down and dirty in the garden this weekend.

 

 

 

And from the same post at blog.freepeople.com

 

I have an old (semi-stinky) leather purse about this size that I almost want to think that it has belt strap slits.  At 41 I could only dream of it looking this good on me but for "hands and shoulder free" it would be well worth a try should I find myself in need.  I for sure have a belt I could use.

recently purchased

 

I am an Amazon dot com shopper.  If there's something I am looking for online Amazon is where I look first.  Especially if I don't have the patience to wait until the weekend and go store to store looking for what I have in mind.  I don't do a lot of shopping otherwise.  I recently cut off several pairs of older blue jeans to avoid shopping for new shorts.  The grocery store and Walmart is about it for me.  And Amazon. 

 

Seresto flea and tick collar for dogs.  My father-in-law swore by it so this year we are trying it.  I will report that after putting it on Kate over a month ago, she has had no problems so far with the collar itself causing problems on her skin like some of the reviews stated.  As far as fleas I haven't seen a one.  I have picked a few ticks off her and they were all dead.  Even the ones on her back legs.  The collar is fairly expensive but not compared to topicals that actually work and the collar covers eight months.  I have got to get the cats one too.

 

A roll of sticky back cork.  This I am excited about because I recently acquired two good sized shadow boxes that are in need of cork on the inside so that I can pin in my oddity collection for the kids to observe... without touching.  I have bones, dead moths, owls pellets, bird nests, wasp nests and I could kick myself for forgetting to go back and get the snake skin that Shaun saw the other day... all to put on display. 

 

Our wedding anniversary was this past weekend and Shaun is always in need of a new pair of his favorite sunglasses.  They are listed as safety glasses and are Harley Davidson brand.  He has always liked the mirrored lenses.  They are everywhere laying around in his shop.  I don't know why he doesn't just throw away the scratched up pairs.  I can see him going around and trying them all on trying to find the good ones. 

 

Granny gave me a bookmark one night at supper and it had a hole punch in the shape of a heart.  I am sure my eyes got larger than life when I saw it thinking how cute it was.  So Amazon had one for about five bucks plus shipping.  I thought it would be nice sometime to use as a warning worm hole for the kids and then sometimes nice to use anywhere!

 

And with all the coloring I was doing when my pc was down I seemed to have ran out the green gel pens.  So I got a new pack.  They aren't cheap and I seriously could have probably found them cheaper somewhere else.  But sometimes you just want it right now and you push the button.

neighbors

An exert from my journal dated 5/14/15.

Yesterday I spied two small groundhogs running in the back yard towards the house trailer next door to the day care.  I've known for a year or two that an adult groundhog lives underneath the empty house.  Today, as I finished my reading during naptime while working on my farmer's tan outside, I noticed a stumpy looking figure behind the air conditioning unit next door and knew it was the little scruff.  I got my binoculars out and watched him for a few minutes.  I felt just by observing him that he knew more about me that I did him.  He knows when we are all outside yet inside the playground fence and maybe that I am the adult and the kids are kids.  I wonder if they can tell the difference.  Maybe they have a name for me.  "Oh... no bother... it's just her."  I spy one now in the front yard.  He grabs something from the grass to eat and stands on his bottom to get a better look around as he chews looking for what I don't know.  Even though their home is below an abandoned trailer it is where they were born, as I came to work each day merely feet away... they were babies there.  They know the smells, where the back door is or an escape route to their place and where to get the nearest bite to eat. 

I've seen other animals go underneath the same home where the metal skirting is pulled away on this end.  Several cats, I've noticed, and one time a skunk.  Is the opening a portal to their underground get away system?  The reality is surely a damp dirt world with the smell of cat pee and who knows what else.  But what looks like a run down mobile home to us actually has residents that love it just how it is. 

He is now on the trailer hitch and is braving the daylight.  He hangs out there a few minutes before almost gleefully jumping off into the grass when he feels it's safe.  He rested his head atop the trailer hitch and through the binoculars I watched him rub the side of his face on it like a cat.  He's back on the hitch after his snack and watching me like a hawk.  I think his twitching nose is curious about my garlic pretzel chips.  I wonder how keen his eyesight is.  And now there is two.  These chips must smell good!  While I am watching these two (and they are watching me) I back up my vision and spy another groundhog behind the house.  How big is their family?  Is Grandma cooking supper in the underground kitchen and Grandpa reading "The Under Ground Hog News?" 

Directly, he's had enough and trots back under the house.  The second one I call she.  She seems to be
just as interested in me as I am her.  Maybe she was babysitting or watching the other one.  Maybe she's thinking "what the hell is the chick in the hat looking at?"  Maybe she's looking to see if I leave my bags of pretzels.  Maybe I will. 

I haven't had my computer here for two weeks.  The eye gets keener and curious when it stops to look around.  Truthfully I haven't missed it much. 

weekend shots

I really had no idea how much I would love my sacred space on the porch.

I've been seeing a lot of hens around.  This morning I saw two hens and six babies.  I always worry when the hay is cut because they normally nest in the tall grass of the fields.

First batch of hay has been cut, raked and rolled.  

Despite the heat of the weekend and needing another hair cut Katie Bug is still ready to play.

I love how the dichondra finds it's was through the teeniest holes.

My roses have been going crazy blooming!!



My shoes are off as much as possible.

Bulbous Begonias growing and doing well.

Something about the top being off of my truck makes me feel good.

My Christmas cactus is slightly confused on the time of year but I am not complaining about this beautiful bloom.

 

Lazy porch naps.

a house cleaning

We have lived in our beautiful home for six years now.  all the while I have maintain a clean home on the inside and have tried my best to keep check in cleaning the outside furniture at least twice a year.  Mainly to get pollen off so you can sit on chair without getting your breeches dirty.  The outside of our home has been on Shaun's mind for a little bit know and a couple of weeks ago, and after the two nests of birds who call our porch home had flown the coop, he decided to give it a bath with the pressure washer.  Man!  What a difference it has made.  Our porch looks almost brand new!  So clean and bright.  I didn't truly realize how bad it was.  I guess I was used to it. 

Now, if it ever stops raining for a bit, we plan on sealing the wood.  Maybe then we can just hose it off when it needs it again.

 

Porchy stuff gets pushed to one side during the cleaning.

Miss Kitty could care less either way.