I will start with an update on my chicks - growing fast and trying to settle into their "pecking order". Some days I have gathered a half dozen eggs, most days I gather 4 which keeps us full of eggs. My son's duck was beheaded by some creature from the depths of his lake, so I am now incubating 4 duck eggs. Wish me luck!
The garden is beautiful! I had a wonderful salad from the lettuce out of the garden and yesterday I fixed up some beets. Hubby and I do like beets. The green beans are blooming which means beans are not far behind. Same with the tomoatoes and yellow neck squash. Haven't had a problem with insects so far, but I am well aware that they will soon be flocking into my paradise. The broccoli, bell peppers and egg plant look very healthy, now if they produce I will be extremely happy. I wish I had some onions planted as their price has sky rocketed over the last few weeks. Never thought I would see yellow onions reach $4.00 for a 3 pound bag! My asparagus bed is shaping up nicely and I am pleased with all the new shoots. All ten crowns of asparagus survived my ignorance so I am blessed!
My rosa ragosa is spreading and blooming and looking lovely. Roses are at their prine this year and the beautiful pink bloom was a little over 6 inches in diameter and smelled divine! I received two rubber trees for Mother's Day and they are coming right along. I have to do some research on these babies as I know absolutely nothing about them. They have made a lovely addition to my garden, however and seem to fit right in to the landscaping I already had going!
I have encountered a few more little black snakes than usual this year. I don't know if the chickens are luring them into the yard or the lushness of the plants. With all the rain we were blessed with this year, the foliage on shrubs and plants alike are thick and beautiful. The little snakes are driving my chihuahuas crazy and we are experiencing a lot more barking and whining than usual. The two little redneck dogs just can't understand a snake.
I have enjoyed the search for fellow classmates this week. I am trying to locate some hard to finds from our graduating class as hopefully we will have a class reunion this summer. We have lost so many from our class and we really need to get together soon. It has been exciting to find these people and talk to them. Most I have not seen or talked to for 40 years. It is strange to be so close to someone during school and then lose all contact. I look forward to seeing these friends and re-establishing contact.
Haven't done much writing for the past several weeks, but plan to get back to it soon. My quiet time has been short and interruptions frequent, but things will settle down again soon.
I would like to thank those of you who have offered up prayers for my cousin injured in Afghanistan. He is stateside for now, but it looked pretty serious for a few days. It looks like some surgery will be needed before he returns to his unit, but for now he is safe and healing nicely and spending some time with his wife, kids and dad. Keep praying that his recovery will be complete.
The lettuce must be picked (mine isn't on the recall list), so I will leave you for now. Thanks for dropping by and until next time . . .
Happy reading!
Belle
Showing posts with label snake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snake. Show all posts
Friday, May 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
I have been down and out for a couple of days with allergies. How could something so small be the cause of so much pain? It is an ongoing problem, but I am on the mend and ready to get back to it.
The chicks are progressing wonderfully. We had a scare on Sunday when the daughter-in-law found a "huge" chicken snake in the barn. We all went running, but the thing out smarted us all and escaped. I am keeping a close eye out for him as I know he is eating my eggs and will continue to do so until he is dispatched to other terrain. I knew something was amiss when production dropped from 5 eggs a day to 2 eggs a day.
The garden is growing by leaps and bounds. The rain has started everyting to growing including the weeds. Suppose to get more water today, so the weeding will have to hold until tomorrow or Thursday. The ground is too wet to be tromping through the rows.
My oldest grandchildren are coming for a short mid week visit and I will be busy "absorbing" for a few days. Who knows what we will find to get into, but I have a couple of ideas. I need to keep them here for a week at least to finish some sewing I started. They grow so fast they will have outgrown everything before I finish.
Until next time,
Happy reading!
Belle
The chicks are progressing wonderfully. We had a scare on Sunday when the daughter-in-law found a "huge" chicken snake in the barn. We all went running, but the thing out smarted us all and escaped. I am keeping a close eye out for him as I know he is eating my eggs and will continue to do so until he is dispatched to other terrain. I knew something was amiss when production dropped from 5 eggs a day to 2 eggs a day.
The garden is growing by leaps and bounds. The rain has started everyting to growing including the weeds. Suppose to get more water today, so the weeding will have to hold until tomorrow or Thursday. The ground is too wet to be tromping through the rows.
My oldest grandchildren are coming for a short mid week visit and I will be busy "absorbing" for a few days. Who knows what we will find to get into, but I have a couple of ideas. I need to keep them here for a week at least to finish some sewing I started. They grow so fast they will have outgrown everything before I finish.
Until next time,
Happy reading!
Belle
Thursday, July 23, 2009
A Little Piece of A Tittle Tale
Tittle was a little mouse that lived on Belle's Farm. Tittle loved living on a farm, it made him a landowner rather than just a field mouse. Those field mice were always having to scavenge for food. Tittle, well he just stole corn from the chickens or if Mr. Farmer didn't put the feed in the barrels, he filled up straight from the feed sacks. Tittles just loved it when Mr. Farmer was too busy to put the feed away. Tittle could carry off enough to last for a week at least, then he didn't have to fight with Essie the hen for the corn. Essie could be really mean with that beak of hers and it was just too hot to being running from Essie.
Tittle didn't know why people didn't like mice. He was a perfectly good little mouse and he liked to think of himself as a one mouse cleanup crew. Tittle was really good at cleaning all the crumbs and droppings off a floor and it didn't take him anytime to do it.
He really wished Mrs. Farmer wouldn't chase him with that broom. Silly woman didn't she know he could slip right through that broom straw. You could tell the new Mrs. Farmer hadn't lived on a farm before. She really had no idea how to catch a mouse. Now the Mrs. Farmer that use to live on the farm was nothing to play with. She was always chasing Tittle with a wet mop and he learned to steer clear of the house when she lived there. No mouse could escape wet mop strings.
Anyway, Tittle wanted to get some of that feed stored so her could head to the creek. He thought he might have a bath today. As hot as it was it would cool him off and he was sure it would surprise his Mom. Taking a bath without being told to was always a great way to surprise Mom. Tittles was scurrying back and forth filling his corner with corn. One more trip ought to do it and he would be off to the cool water.
Tittles stopped. Dead still, he listened. Yep, there it was. He was through for the day. Slowly, slowly, he back away and then ran as fast as he could. A huge, mean old king snake was now guarding the feed sack. Where had he come from? Tittles had to warn Mom. He didn't want her caught. Everybody knew that mice were a king snakes favorite meal. "Mom, Mom" Tittle called.
"What in the world are you yelling about?" Mom answered.
"Oh, Mom, there is a king snake in the feed room of the barn" Tittle cried.
"Well, we will just have to stay out of the barn for a few days and let him see there is nothing there for him to eat and he will be own his way" Mom replied.
"But where will we go?" asked Tittle.
"To the field of course. That is where we came from" Mom said.
Tittle felt sad. He hadn't lived in the field before. He had always made fun of the field mice. They didn't have a nice barn to live in and had to look for food and ate all those weird berries and things. They slept under logs and in trees and oh, how he wished he hadn't been so mean to them. Now he had to go live with them. Oh, what was Tittle going to do?
Click on the title above for the whole story - Happy reading! Belle
Tittle didn't know why people didn't like mice. He was a perfectly good little mouse and he liked to think of himself as a one mouse cleanup crew. Tittle was really good at cleaning all the crumbs and droppings off a floor and it didn't take him anytime to do it.
He really wished Mrs. Farmer wouldn't chase him with that broom. Silly woman didn't she know he could slip right through that broom straw. You could tell the new Mrs. Farmer hadn't lived on a farm before. She really had no idea how to catch a mouse. Now the Mrs. Farmer that use to live on the farm was nothing to play with. She was always chasing Tittle with a wet mop and he learned to steer clear of the house when she lived there. No mouse could escape wet mop strings.
Anyway, Tittle wanted to get some of that feed stored so her could head to the creek. He thought he might have a bath today. As hot as it was it would cool him off and he was sure it would surprise his Mom. Taking a bath without being told to was always a great way to surprise Mom. Tittles was scurrying back and forth filling his corner with corn. One more trip ought to do it and he would be off to the cool water.
Tittles stopped. Dead still, he listened. Yep, there it was. He was through for the day. Slowly, slowly, he back away and then ran as fast as he could. A huge, mean old king snake was now guarding the feed sack. Where had he come from? Tittles had to warn Mom. He didn't want her caught. Everybody knew that mice were a king snakes favorite meal. "Mom, Mom" Tittle called.
"What in the world are you yelling about?" Mom answered.
"Oh, Mom, there is a king snake in the feed room of the barn" Tittle cried.
"Well, we will just have to stay out of the barn for a few days and let him see there is nothing there for him to eat and he will be own his way" Mom replied.
"But where will we go?" asked Tittle.
"To the field of course. That is where we came from" Mom said.
Tittle felt sad. He hadn't lived in the field before. He had always made fun of the field mice. They didn't have a nice barn to live in and had to look for food and ate all those weird berries and things. They slept under logs and in trees and oh, how he wished he hadn't been so mean to them. Now he had to go live with them. Oh, what was Tittle going to do?
Click on the title above for the whole story - Happy reading! Belle
Monday, June 29, 2009
Another Tale - My Nanny
Lugenia was special, but I guess we all think our Nannies are special. My sister and I were too old to go to day care or nursery as it was known back then, so Mom hired Lugenia to stay with us during the day, keep the house up, and fix Dad and the farm help some lunch. Lugenia wasn't the first, but she was the best (so Lizzy, you were pretty good too). Lugenia loved her babies - that would be me and my sister. She kept a close eye on us, but that meant she could see us from any one of the windows in the house. She didn't hover, but she always made sure we were not into mischief or doing something we could get hurt at.
We lived in the country and back in the 50s that meant 12 miles from town and the nearest neighbor was a half a mile away. No traffic on our one lane dirt road and that meant extra protection for us girls. We could play in the road all day and not see a car go by. The ditches were full of nice white sand and we would get on our bicycles and ride until we couldn't ride any more then stop and play in the sand. When we were rested, we would get back on the bicycles for more riding. I probably had the strongest legs of any girl around. Anyway, back to Lugenia.
Lugenia lived in that half mile house - she was our nearest neighbor. Lugenia didn't like storms. Every time a dark cloud came up, after she unplugged anything that was plugged in, we would sit on the sofa on each side of her, the Bible on her lap and her arms around us and she would pray. After the cloud passed she would shoo us back outside to play in the mud puddles. She would fix us bacon, eggs, grits and toast for breakfast. We could only have on slice of toast because it filled us up and we wouldn't eat the rest of the "good" stuff.
Lugenia next spanked us, though we sure deserved it. My sister and I could fight like cats and dogs over nothing. She would always get us separated and tell us Jesus didn't like meanness. I probably learned more about the Bible from Lugenia than all my days in Sunday school. She made everything in the Good Book apply to whatever we were doing.
The family was coming home from Church one night during Revival Week and Dad saw a huge king snake in the road. He stopped the car, jumped out and caught that big old snake right in front of Lugenia's house. Dad loved to keep king snakes at the barn to catch mice and rats. He started to get back in the car and Mom started yelling and carrying on something fierce. Dad sat in the driver's seat and Mom went our the passenger door. She refused to ride that half mile with a snake in the car. After talking Mom back in the car, he pulled in Lugenia's driveway getting out and heading to her front door. Well, Lugenia must have been watching all the commotion because when Dad knocked on the door, Lugenia cracked the door holding a butcher knife in her hand. She told my Dad she didn't want to hurt anybody, but if he came in her house with that snake she would kill him.
Dad thought this was real funny, but he believed Lugenia and came on back to the car. He let the snake go back in the road. The next morning Lugenia apologized to Dad and Dad apologized to Lugenia and everything was back to normal. I think Dad thought both Mom and Lugenia were a bit crazy.
As granddaddy brought us vegetables from the garden, Lugenia showed me how to can, freeze and also to make jelly. She never put me in harms way, but always made sure I was close enough to see what she was doing and told me every step of the process and why it was done.
On the weekends, Lugenia's daughter and grandchildren came from town and took her back with them. She did her grocery shopping then and went to church with them on Sunday. She would tell us all about her grandchildren when she came on Monday.
As she got older and her daughter didn't think she could live alone, she moved to town. She is gone now, but I'll never forget Lugenia. I am sure I carry part of her with me to this day.
We lived in the country and back in the 50s that meant 12 miles from town and the nearest neighbor was a half a mile away. No traffic on our one lane dirt road and that meant extra protection for us girls. We could play in the road all day and not see a car go by. The ditches were full of nice white sand and we would get on our bicycles and ride until we couldn't ride any more then stop and play in the sand. When we were rested, we would get back on the bicycles for more riding. I probably had the strongest legs of any girl around. Anyway, back to Lugenia.
Lugenia lived in that half mile house - she was our nearest neighbor. Lugenia didn't like storms. Every time a dark cloud came up, after she unplugged anything that was plugged in, we would sit on the sofa on each side of her, the Bible on her lap and her arms around us and she would pray. After the cloud passed she would shoo us back outside to play in the mud puddles. She would fix us bacon, eggs, grits and toast for breakfast. We could only have on slice of toast because it filled us up and we wouldn't eat the rest of the "good" stuff.
Lugenia next spanked us, though we sure deserved it. My sister and I could fight like cats and dogs over nothing. She would always get us separated and tell us Jesus didn't like meanness. I probably learned more about the Bible from Lugenia than all my days in Sunday school. She made everything in the Good Book apply to whatever we were doing.
The family was coming home from Church one night during Revival Week and Dad saw a huge king snake in the road. He stopped the car, jumped out and caught that big old snake right in front of Lugenia's house. Dad loved to keep king snakes at the barn to catch mice and rats. He started to get back in the car and Mom started yelling and carrying on something fierce. Dad sat in the driver's seat and Mom went our the passenger door. She refused to ride that half mile with a snake in the car. After talking Mom back in the car, he pulled in Lugenia's driveway getting out and heading to her front door. Well, Lugenia must have been watching all the commotion because when Dad knocked on the door, Lugenia cracked the door holding a butcher knife in her hand. She told my Dad she didn't want to hurt anybody, but if he came in her house with that snake she would kill him.
Dad thought this was real funny, but he believed Lugenia and came on back to the car. He let the snake go back in the road. The next morning Lugenia apologized to Dad and Dad apologized to Lugenia and everything was back to normal. I think Dad thought both Mom and Lugenia were a bit crazy.
As granddaddy brought us vegetables from the garden, Lugenia showed me how to can, freeze and also to make jelly. She never put me in harms way, but always made sure I was close enough to see what she was doing and told me every step of the process and why it was done.
On the weekends, Lugenia's daughter and grandchildren came from town and took her back with them. She did her grocery shopping then and went to church with them on Sunday. She would tell us all about her grandchildren when she came on Monday.
As she got older and her daughter didn't think she could live alone, she moved to town. She is gone now, but I'll never forget Lugenia. I am sure I carry part of her with me to this day.
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