November 10 2014

the outdoor birds are singing... there are green leaves on the trees... it is snowing and the wind is blowing... I can hear it's roar through the trees... 25 degrees (F) right now... high of 19 (F) for tomorrow... ( - 4 C and - 7 C respectively) ... it would seem like the start of our winter weather is here... green leaves on the trees seems so strange though...

really glad to have firewood... and thankful the animal houses all have straw in them... always more stuff to do out here... but thankful for what I got done... gonna eat some breakfast and head outside... want to bring more firewood inside and stack some cement chunks... part of them are just scattered around the truck where I threw them off last night...

mmmmmm.... coffee is calling my name...

later taters...

gratitudes: winter coat... hot coffee... straw in the animal houses...

Mary E. Robbins
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asparagus and pickup trucks

Good Morning Peeps… saw a little toad in the grass yesterday...

Busy day yesterday… mowed for a couple more hours… still more to do… want to have the grass cut down around the perimeter of the yards … and along the sides of the drives in… before it dries out… hot vehicle muffler and dry grass is not a good combination…

Got into the truck to move it so I could mow where it was parked…. Wanted to turn it around and take the rolls of snow fence off the back of it as well… and voila… no spark… oh yea! Checked the battery (yes I am getting a little better at this) it seems it has a full charge… no juice to the truck though… the horn would not even honk… yes you guessed it… I headed to my friend’s house in the jeep to ask him some questions… he is coming over to look at it this morning… I think it is the battery cable… at least I hope that is all it is… mechanical adventures on the high plains… argh…

Stopped at the mail box on the way home… and looked at the asparagus field… the mail box is by the field… and what did I see… yes asparagus… no I did not have a bucket… but I did have a plastic bag… walked the field and picked the asparagus… got 9.2 lbs… yes I was spent by the time I got done… so was that plastic bag…

Apple trees… rosa rugosa … blackberries… and Yukon gold potato seed stock showed up yesterday… they were in the jeep when I opened the door… yes I told the mail carrier that was ok to do that… three guesses where I will be most of the day… yup… you got it… garden…

Gotta rocket… friend is showing up at 9 to look at truck… and it is around a quarter to 8 now… and I seriously need a soak… this body is screaming… ouch… would have gotten in the tub last night… but frankly was none too sure I could get out of it… fell asleep in the chair with my feet up on the corner of the buffet trying to watch survivor… with Mow Mow Tat on the back of the chair above my head… note the trying to watch… so did not happen… thinking I needed to sleep more than I needed to watch tv… aw well… I’ll watch it later… my tv comes through the internet anyway… so I’ll just go to the website and give it another go… sometime…

Spoke to Kaizen drums… Jamal said my drum should be here soon… I am so looking forward to getting to know it’s tones…

Breakfast done… yams… eggs… bacon… coffee… honey … nibs…

Gratitudes: the truck did not quit on the road… apple trees showed up… the first harvest of asparagus I’ve been able to actually pick…

You know it was so … is so … cool that I was actually able to pick that asparagus… yes I mean physically and mentally able to do it… so totally cool…. This is the first season in many that I have been able to do that… kicked my butt… but I got it done… here is hoping for some more rains… no hail no tornadoes please… anyway… more rain to make more grow… will have asparagus frozen for the winter… yay!

Later taters…

Mary E. Robbins
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gardens... happiness... thunderstorms

Good Morning Peeps…

Moving kinda slow this morning… worked without the compression pants on yesterday…. They do make a difference… legs got their swell on by last night… I am trying to condition my body to be able to go without those pants… not sure whether I can make this happen or not… but I am going to give it a go… today though… I am wearing them… pain in my legs reduced quite a bit when I put them on…

Chilly morning… funny how dampness in the air makes it seem so much colder… was good for the tomatoes I set out yesterday though… got nearly a quarter inch of rain… the nastiness went around me… no hail or tornadoes here… quite a bit of hail around this area though…

Picked up some more plants for the garden yesterday… some bell peppers… some hot peppers… cabbage… kale… celery… decided to use wooden snow fence as trellis for the tomatoes, raspberries, cucumbers and such… will help to baffle the winds as well.

My friend fixed the DR brush mower for me yesterday… and I mowed a good bit of the central yard… and cut some paths through the upper yard. The grass growth is over knee high in this hollow now… seems a shame to be cutting it rather than grazing it off… maybe next year. Been thinking about a couple of goats or so… haven’t made my mind up yet and not getting in a hurry about it…. Wouldn’t mind making a bit of butter and cheese either for that matter… could raise a calf on one as well… aw well one thing at a time… more than I can handle this season… I’ll just keep working along and sort it out as I go…

Be easier physically to handle more with less fat hanging on my body… and I am working along those lines… building more muscle endurance too… and have the pain and aches to prove it too… but that is just the way it goes… still feels better than sitting around not able to move.

This physical work is good for me… it is beating the daylights out of me but is good for me too… as I was out digging in the dirt stirring in some compost/manure for the tomatoes … I realized something… that heaviness was gone out of my mind and chest… while I was out there digging… I realized that for the first time that I could remember since David died… I actually had a bit of happiness… I was actually happy… not manic… not panic… not grief… not triggered… just a ray of sunshine… that is what it felt like to me… like warm sunshine in my chest… about makes me cry to write about it… how silly is that…

Truthfully I had forgotten how it felt… did not really realize what it was for a bit… so even though I physically feel like I’ve been through a meat grinder… I am heading back out to the garden… and digging some more… oh… there’s a few more leaves on the plum trees… seems so funny calling them trees when at this point they are just little sticks… saw a bit of growth in the strawberry patch as well… not seeing anything with the raspberries or mulberries yet… onions are coming up though…

Heard the rooster pheasant calling this morning… and the wild birds are singing a chorus in the trees… thinking I’ll put my stock yard boots on… and head out… see how the young ducks and geese fared through last night’s rain and thunder… I watched that storm roll on by to the north of me… very dark clouds and lots and lots of lightening… clouds were rolling about themselves… twisting…

Looks like the sun is coming out… time to go dig…

Later taters…

forgot my gratitudes... a bit of happiness... no hail in my yard... hot coffee..

Mary E. Robbins
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Snowy days in May photos from may 8th and may 11th

Hello Peeps...
Snowy days in May... It snowed on the 8th… and now again today…

Took care of the baby ducks and geese... moved them to a bigger area yesterday... yes they are still inside… they are really growing but not big enough yet to survive the cats… knocked snow off some grass and pulled it for them... gave them fresh water and feed as well… I love to stand back and listen to them... and watch them pick at the grass...

It has been snowing all day... cold... wet snow... will be good moisture for the pasture and asparagus though... feels more like april than may... want to pick up some tomatoes this coming week and set them out under walls of water...

Was supposed to be trimming goat hooves today at a friend’s place… but with this mud and wet we decided to wait…

Gathered up some more of the ripped up plastic off the greenhouse... sure going to be nice to have that done...

Gunsmoke is playing in the background… season 3 … not doing much outside today… gonna fold that laundry I’ve been ignoring and do some mending…

Just finished lunch… sausage and okra… and some tangy tangerine…

Kinda wondering just how wet this season is going to be… 

Mary E. Robbins
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my yard may 8th 2014

may 8th 2014

may 8th 2014

may 8th 2014

May 11th 2014

May 11th 2014

May 11th 2014

 

Fear is a Choice...

Good morning Peeps…

Gratitudes:
Still walking
Another day
The sun is shining

Today I am moving rather slow… I am usually home on Wednesdays and Thursdays… however this week is a different story… and frankly exhaustion is past setting in… it is here full force. Ok… take a breath and make it happen… one moment one step at a time…

There is a lot of… fear… anger… judgment… condemnation… in the place that I have been… may this be replaced with peace… calm… joy… and the appreciation of life…

None of us has control over what is to come… yes we have choice… but it seems that said choice is more along the lines of deciding how to play the cards we are dealt… rather than which cards are dealt… so to speak. Frankly there is no point in living in fear…no matter what is to come… fear is a choice… and in so choosing you are choosing to forfeit your joy in this life… effectively imprisoning yourself in a bar-less prison of your own making.

Just a few thoughts… there are more… but there are also bills that need to be posted… and only so much time this morning… I had planned on posting them in the evenings… actually the last several evenings I’ve been trying to post them … but falling asleep in the chair before having a chance too… soooooo… here goes..

The house hairballs have done their business… and are back inside… Pete and Blue (cockatiels) were just singing… greeting the morning sun… breakfast is done… sautéed zucchini, 1 slice pepper bacon, one egg… no I did not eat any fruit this morning… oh yeah and coffee… seriously is there any doubt…if there is coffee to be had… I am so drinking it… lol…

Will re-bank the fire before I go… right now it is glowing embers… such a beautiful living color… deep oranges … yellows and blues… I have loved watching it dance and glow among the embers ever since I was a small child sitting on the floor in our home watching the embers fall through the grate into the ash pan… red hot glowing … with fire dancing about…

Can you tell… I really do not want to post those bills… ok Mary… quit messing about and get it done… there is my self scold for the morning… seriously though… must get it done…

May you walk in peace…

Mary E. Robbins
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fog and firewood

There is a fine fog this morning… the temps have dropped low enough for a thin layer of ice to form on the welded wire panels that surround my yards…

Today I need to get firewood in the house… or it’s going to be a cold night in here with no heat… empty out ashes… want to get straw into the kitty kennel… I would like to have all the critter houses strawed today… but I know that is too much. .. so one step at a time…

Actually I have a whole list of to-dos for today… I used to beat myself up over not being able to get it all done and feel like an absolute failure… which accomplished absolutely nothing other than making myself miserable… perhaps I’ve gained a bit of wisdom… my attitude now is… I’ll do what I can do… that’s all there is… do a bit… rest a bit… do a bit … rest a bit… actually I end up getting more done that way than trying to tackle it all at once and beating myself up over imagined failures…

On an up note… I am breathing easier today… and not as exhausted.

Ok… here goes… first up… ashes out… firewood in… 

Mary E. Robbins
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