Slice O' Heaven

I keep saying that I feel like an eight year old.  I come in most evenings with at least a little dirt on me, and when I came in the house to get cleaned up for a grad party yesterday I looked just like I did when I was a kid.  Pony tail in my hair, mud from head to toe, bug bites, a little red from the sun, scrapes and bruises on my arms and legs.  I have three skeeter bites on my neck today that are HUGE. 

I guess you could say that I am a "throw yourself into it" kind of gal when it comes to the garden.  I mostly forget to put on my gloves, but I do always remember the  sunscreen!  I'm just so happy to have dirt to play in again!

My brother Jerry has an old bat neighbor lady who always has complaints about one thing or another.  Lately it's the fence that borders their property.  I saw it on Friday, and yes, it has a little bit of a lean to it, but SWEET PETE lady.  You should thank God every day for the neighbors you have in that area!  Some people ain't happy unless they have something to gripe about.  So, long story short, that portion of the fence is being replaced (on the actual property line.......boy is she about to get a nasty surprise, and I don't blame my brother one bit).  Several hosta border that fence line, and my brother didn't want to just chuck them, so his irritation has become my gain!  Yesterday (which was slated as a non gardening day) I spent two hours digging in a new hosta garden under the blue jay tree!

Friday after work I went by their place and he and I dug up 15 hosta and a handful of lily of the valley.  I tried to drive home as fast as I could to beat the rain, but I missed out by about five minutes.  The Brown Eyed Man and I got soaked getting the plants out of the car, then he went inside, and I grabbed my rain coat and planted a peony that came from my brother David's mother in law.  He dropped it at Jerry's earlier that day.  It was looking rough, so I didn't want to wait.  Then, since I was soaked to the skin anyway I set the hosta where I wanted them under the blue jay tree.

The veggies (minus the tomato, the cold wet weather is B.A.D.) are looking great, and we will have green onion from the garden in the potato salad I make for this coming holiday weekend!  I have a few herbs planted too, and a couple container flowers.

The big work has been the rock garden that we are digging out on the hillside.  Slow but steady we are gaining ground.  Picking out perennials has been a lot of fun.  Planting bulbs and roots that don't grow, has not.  I have daylillies, bleeding heart, and some tiger lily that are doing absolutely nothing.  Something I planted, called "Blue" (doncha know I can't find the little planter card) are the only thing coming up, and they are just about two inches.

Ugh.  All this talk about gardening has me itching (literally)  to go and put in another set of green onion, and pop out some more of the big weeds in the flower garden.  Well, maybe later.  I have a date with my new reclining lawn chair, an iced tea, and a book!

I have dreams of a strawberry patch, and an herb garden too.  Last night we sat out back in our adirondak chairs, overlooking the valley, talking about the gardens, and life in general.  To me, it's a little slice of heaven, and there's no where else I would rather be. ♥

Oh, and we also solved the "what the heck is digging that hole under my peony" mystery.

Gotta love the trail cam....... damn chipmunk! 

I Wish You Enough (Ashlyn's Graduation)

Ashlyn is graduating today, and we are all so proud!  The years have gone by too fast, and since we obviously can't keep her little forever, I choose to embrace the wonderful woman she is growing into. Looking forward to all of your adventures!

I have been trying for about six months to write this blog, and I think this about covers everything I want to say, so I will use it instead.  Not sure who the author is.

 I wish you enough:

"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.

I wish you enough pain so that the joys in life appear much bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye."


I love you first~ Auntie Jo

Pitter Patter

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!  I don't usually comment on religion, but since this is aimed in my general direction, I believe it's as good a time as any.

http://nypost.com/2014/06/03/pope-warns-married-couples-against-having-pets-over-children/

OK, let me breathe before I rant.................

1.  I was raised Catholic, but because of nonsense like this I am not, and haven't been, a practicing Catholic for (lets see, how long since the divorce......) eight years.

2.  I really liked this guy.  (note the past tense)

3.  I can not tell you how many families I have dealt with over the years, easily over 500.  Some people should not be let within 50 feet of a child, let alone be allowed to have one to mess up.

4.  If a woman realizes that motherhood it isn't the path for them, why should they have a child?  Just to end up resenting the kid and send said child into years of therapy?  How good will she feel in her old age when her child hates her?  Not the best basis for a healthy relationship.

5.  So since I have made the decision NOT to have children of my own, I should just crawl under a rock somewhere?  I guess I might as well end it all before I'm 50, since my later years are going to be filled with woe and loneliness. (What a bunch of crap.)

6.  I was married.  I don't talk about it a lot.  I still deal with baggage from the experience, and I can't imagine how screwed up our kids would be.

Yes, I have pets.  Milkie the cat, and Jacob the dog.  They are not my pseudo children. (That's what Goovers are for.)  I love my Milk, and Jake Barker, just like I loved Misty, and Pepper, and Sam.  I haven't totally given up the notion of Foster Parenting, but honestly, I love my life the way it is.

The words HOW DARE YOU, just keep blasting through while I'm writing, because really.  REALLY?  Let me just run right out and get pregnant, because you said so.  Wait........ how many children do you have?  Oh, yeah......... I forgot.

End rant:

However, I do have one more thing to say.  My real concern (besides the Catholic church dragging everyone  women back into the 1950's) is the poor devout Catholic woman who CAN NOT have kids.  What the heck kind of message is this sending her???  Shame is something the Catholic hierarchy understands quite well.  So this should make sense.  Shame on you!  Shame on you for trying to make women feel less.

Real end of rant.  :)   I love hearing the pitter patter of paws in the morning, and I look forward to a lifetime of it.  ♥

P.S.  I'm not past the kid window, but if it happens, it will be because WE decided, not because a man who doesn't have children thinks it's a good idea.

Deer Slayer

We had a little excitement on Miller Creek the other evening.  The folks were just settling in to watch "Smokey and the Bandit" when, of course, Jacob Barker had to go outside.  He has impeccable timing.  So the movie was paused, and the dog was let out. 

Usually when Jake wants in he gives out a "woof".  Just one, unless I'm not fast enough for his liking.  I wasn't back on the couch two minutes before I heard woof.  I went to the door, but he was laying in the yard looking toward the field, not interested in coming in.  I said "no barking", and went back to the movie.

"Woof.............. woof........................................woof."   I went and looked out the window.  Nothing there, and he didn't want in, so I told him to zip it and went back to the movie.  Maybe another minute passed and he was barking like crazy.

I went outside, but still didn't see anything amiss.  This time, he came over to be let into the house, so in we went.  Maybe another two minutes went by before he went absolutely bonkers.  This time he and The Brown Eyed Man went out to investigate just what the heck was going on.

I took the opportunity to catch up on some WWFriends on my phone, but didn't get far before I heard "JAKE GET BACK" being shouted from somewhere in the yard.  Now, I have mentioned before that when things I love are threatened I tend to react first and think later.  Although my mind was racing,  I knew The Man went out unarmed, and I knew I needed some sort of weapon to defend my boys.

So I jumped up (in my jammies) from the couch, ran to the door, grabbed the ball peen hammer that was sitting in the tote I keep near the door for any tools that make their way into the house, and shot out onto the porch.  Dead silence.  No man, no dog, no noise.   What the hell??!!

I walked out into the yard, calling out "Are you o.k.?", and was met with a "Yeah." from the general direction of the garage.  Then Jake came running around the garage.  I expected he might smell of skunk, but he didn't.  I gave him a few pats, and then The Man came around the garage.  He saw me standing there with the hammer that is almost to heavy to hold, and laughed his head off.  Fine way to treat your defender........

So here's what happened.  Jacob must have had his eye on two deer that were way back in the field in front of the house.  When he and The Man walked closer the deer ran , and Jake took off like a shot after them.  Apparently he was fifty yards out in seconds.  When The Brown Eyed Man yelled "Jake get back here!" the dog screeched to a halt, turned around and came right back, because that's how good he is.

So I ran out in my jammies to defend against some deer, because that's how I roll.  It makes me think of this hillbilly woman I saw on t.v. once.  She was wearing a moo-moo and went running after some folk because, "You upset my goat, and my man!"  I thought it was hilarious, because she put the goat first.  (But I get it.........)

Gardening Anyone?

Whew!  I am exhausted.  I love to garden, but getting new gardens set up takes a LOT of work!  My plan was just to put in two 4x6 veggie gardens, but I have also dug out an iris bed near the house and am starting a flower garden in the back, on the side of our very steep hill.  There's a section of it that gets overgrown because you can't get in there with a riding mower, so we are going to make it a "formal" garden.  There will be some old rail ties holding it all in on one side and the bottom, but the rest will just be part of the natural hill.

How many of you think at some point I am going to do a terrific slide/roll down said hill while I am trying to dig out this thing?  Well, it almost happened today because I did not have appropriate footwear on.  Old crocs are great if your feet are hot, but they have no grab.  Note to self, keep the tennis shoes on. 

The only thing I planted today are the Spicata bulbs.  There were twenty five, so it was quite a job.  Hopefully the dang squirrels weren't watching.  I would also like to know what the devil happened to my lil spade?  That would have come in handy........  Guess it will go on my shopping list.  That, and more dirt.  The dirt is so sandy and nice by the house.  Of course where I tried to dig out the veggie gardens and the flower bed is fabulous old Superior clay. 

Getting Started

Saturday morning we headed to town for breakfast, lumber, and a couple different kind of bulbs.  The flower garden is going to be mostly perennial.  I smashed my thumb before we even got home with the lumber, The Brown Eyed Man said, "That's a project well begun."

Laying Out Pieces

I played puzzle for awhile, trying to get a feel for how I want the two gardens to go.  They will pretty much be how they are right here, just a bit closer together.  That leaves lots of room for expansion. Somewhere during this part of the project The Man got a big sliver in his thumb.  He said, "That's a project half done."

The Claw

I borrowed the "garden claw" from my brother Jerry, because it's the easiest way I know to rip sod out of the ground.  I started working on that, while The Brown Eyed Man began cutting and putting together the frames. 

Shadow Selfie

When The Man was finished with the frames he took over the sod removal job, and I started filling in spots in the back where sod was needed.  Then we both piled sod in the garden cart to be used in the big mud hole in front.  We still have one more to build, so we should have enough sod to fill that bugger up!  The garden cart has a new wheel, and it rides a little differently than I'm used to.  When I dumped a pile of sod it popped up and caught me in the leg.  I said.......... well, I'm not going to print what I said. :)  Sore and battle scarred, it was a good day!

One Done!