I've Gone Country A blog about a city girl learning a whole new world

Everything is blooming!  That is great and not so great….

I mentioned several days ago that I was excited about being able to plant my flowers.  The weather has been absolutely beautiful!  So , I proceeded to plant and plant and plant.

Now this little guy and I have a lot in common.

I sound just like him.  I have laryngitis.  I have squeaked and squealed and croaked for the past 3 days.

Today, while visiting with one of my friends, I told her…in my frog voice…about this sign I had seen.

I like to talk….but I have also been learning through the years that there really are times when we need to hush.

This week I have had to be a little more quiet, I didn’t have much of a choice.

I need to exercise this more.  Not just when— I CAN’T TALK.

I  remember listening to a radio show years ago.  The speaker said,  about the time you figure out your children’s personality and how to relate to them, they are grown, and it is time to hush.  Your job is done, and now it is time for them to learn things on their own, unless they ask you.

Wow, that hurts.  I try to do that.  But I am not very successful.  I mean goodness, I have learned so many things, I want to spare them the heartache of making a bad decision.  Sounds logical to me.

I remember when we were first married and I was adapting to married life.  I would get so mad sometimes and I would spout off ….I know hard to imagine little ole me doing that….but I would.  I would just tell God all about it.  I would tell him that Billy was wrong…or he needed to apologize or whatever the case was.  I remember in the stillness of my heart…it was like God was telling me….”You need to pray it…not say it”.

OUCH!  So, I tried to put that into practice. I found that sometimes Billy would come back and apologize.  I also found that sometimes God would show me without a doubt that I was wrong.  Often, I had to apologize.  That was and is hard.

My father in law used to tell his children.  Put your mind in motion before you put your mouth in gear.

I suppose if we truly thought about things before we said them…we might not say as much.  I know that is true for me.

Billy and I took a road trip yesterday.  We went to visit my Mother in laws sister, Millie.  She is sick and so we  drove to see her with my in-laws. I saw many similar mannerisms.  But I also saw a quality they both share, they are soft spoken and kind.  They are truly interested in others and are not consumed with themselves.

Probably because I couldn’t interrupt with all my talking, I got to hear stories I had never heard before.  Stories of days gone by.  Precious memories of loved ones in a different time in history.

I saw this at the farm the other day.  It was so peaceful and calm I just had to take a picture….

Then immediately some little something, made this ripple.

I thought, our words are like this….they often start with something small and they just keep on going.

If they are good and encouraging words they can spread out and do good.  If they are bad or mean words, they also spread out causing harm.

I know I sure enjoy seeing a ripple of good come from my words  rather than a ripple of bad.  Saying something that make people smile and encourages rather than making someone mad or discouraging them.

Now, just because I am writing about this does not mean I have mastered this.  Matter of fact, I am the one who gleans more from my “blog thinking”  than anyone else.

I get tickled watching God work like that.  Kind of like when I said I wanted to spare my kids the heartache of making bad decisions.  God has given me the things I need to know in His word.  Now it is up to me to put them into practice.  That is the hard part.

I have really enjoyed this blog.  One reason I started it was so that I could use up my words!   But I try to think about what I say before I just put words out there in “blogville”.   I believe God is teaching me the very things I shared today.  Sometimes I am a very SLOW learner.

I find that I often reflect on things my mom said…funny how the older I got…the wiser she became.

I also am still learning from my mother in law.  She is slow to anger and she puts into practice this verse—-Proverbs 15:1   A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger.

In this day of technology I sometimes am amazed at all the words we all use while texting, tweeting, using facebook, and yes, blogging.

I remember telling my kids when they were old enough to drive, with freedom, comes great responsibility.

I hope I will remember my own words as I blog.

Proverbs 15: 2  The wise person makes learning a joy; fools spout only foolishness.

3 The LORD is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.

 4 Gentle words bring life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

 5 Only a fool despises a parent’s discipline; whoever learns from correction is wise.

Billy had a birthday this week.

We cooked on the grill and just enjoyed some family time.  It was nice.

This picture was taken back in ’03 as you can see…but this is the typical Billy on the weekends.  He loves the woods.

He also loves to work.  And when it gets tooooo hot in the summer….He just keeps on going.

In the winter he bundles up….usually with a sense of humor….and heads out the door.

He loves Nascar,

He loves amusement rides.

He loves Ellie…..

He loves his kids and grandkids….

He loves his parents….and me!

And of course he loves his brothers and sister and cousins and Aunts and Uncles.  However, getting a picture with everyone would be pretty much impossible.

Billy likes to work hard and he likes to play hard.

There is another side of Billy too.

He has a deep love for people he doesn’t even know.

He loves to go on Mission trips all over the world,

helping however he can while sharing the love of Jesus Christ.

I think I kinda know why he likes to be outside.

Because all that love starts here….as he takes his daily walks with God.

Happy Birthday Billy!

If you have never been to the Grand Canyon I encourage you to do so.  It is an amazing place.

We saw it several years ago, it was a quick trip, but it made a lasting impression.  I often think about how majestic it is.

I had seen it in pictures and movies.  I always thought it would be neat to see….but little did I realize just how amazing it would be.  There is absolutely no way you can capture all the detail and beauty in any picture.

I couldn’t really imagine the depth of the canyon, and I can’t describe it well enough either, you have to see it with your own eyes.

I remember when we first arrived we walked to the rim and peered over.  I thought I was going to be sick.  It is sooooo deep I almost lost my breath.

It is so vast it is almost frightening…but amazing at the same time.

You have to take a second look.  It’s like a magnet.  Soon you feel more comfortable around it and even start to explore what it has to offer.

We were only able to visit one rim.  We were there for about two days, going to all the look out points.

Some places had rails for your protection….

Other places didn’t….

We were able to see the mules that go into the canyon.

we watched as they took supplies and people down into the canyon to spend the night.

I was amazed at how sure footed they were.

We ventured down into the canyon a little, they had signs before you would start to remind you that it would be all up hill on the way back.  They wanted you to be sure to calculate that it would take longer to come back up.  They didn’t want you to get stuck halfway when the sun would set.

You would think that after a while you would have seen enough.

But every point had a different view.

We found it so interesting.  We could just stand there and stare in utter amazement. Seeing something different every time.

We were intrigued with the way the canyon would change as the sun moved throughout the day.

About the time you thought you saw the bottom, it wasn’t really.  There is no telling how deep this water was.

I read that the canyon is a chasm 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide. It attains a depth of over a mile.  That is hard for me to comprehend.

It reminds me of Gods love, it is deep, like that canyon, so is His forgiveness, I will never be able to grasp the depth of it.

Life is fun, it’s exciting, and it is grand.

When I looked into that vast chasm.  I couldn’t help but thank God for such a beautiful world He made for us to live in.

Just like describing the canyon, you could be told all day about God and His love, but there is no way to grasp it.  You must experience it for yourself and even then it is so vast it will take your breath.

I stand in awe of Gods mighty power and I am humbled that He cares about every detail of my life and yours.

We had several days of pretty weather.  The kind of days where you just can’t stand to be inside all day.  I have been working in the yard.  Funny, because you really can’t tell I have done much at all.  I pulled weeds and freshened up some of the flower beds.  But I also had to take some pictures…maybe that is why you can’t tell I got much accomplished.  I did enjoy all the things the warmer weather brings though.

When I went to visit my friend the other day at the assisted living facility I saw that the residents had made bird feeders out of bagels, peanut butter and birdseed.  

I’m sure this made the birds very happy.

And I thought this row of trees were stunning with all the brilliant white blooms.

And you know the weather is getting nice when tractors start sharing the roads with you. He waved when he passed by.  I love that about the country….everyone waves.

I walked by this tree and had to get up close. Notice how the blooms are bursting with detail!  Just beautiful!

Everything in the woods is still very brown….until you find a little patch of wild phlox.

Dotted throughout the woods are patches of color on some of the trees.  I am not sure what type it is.  It has this beautiful pink flower on it this time of year.

I have a neighbor that can point to almost any wild plant in the woods and tell you the name of it.  I find that amazing.

When I see plants like this that grow wild, I wonder when we started pulling up wild flowers,and started buying flowers to replace them.

Sure enough, this is a weed, you probably have them in your own yard…but notice how pretty they are up close.

I think this is the first flower every child gives their Mother, the typical dandelion.   And because of that it really deserves a higher status than a weed.

The birds are ready for Spring

and so are the turtles.

Miss Ellie has been enjoying the sunny days as she sniffed out the hiding spots of some little creatures.

We were all trying to savor the pretty days, pack them with all we could because they don’t last long this time of year.

Then the rain came….it came down hard and fast.  Of course things cooled down too.  Billy has a rain gauge and loves to measure the rainfall.

Doesn’t he look official.  The rainfall was 1.67 inches.  Now if you ask him in three or four days from now how much it rained…he will be able to tell you.  He loves it that much.  I told him he should have been a weatherman.  He loves to look at the radar when the rain is headed our way.

Today it was a soggy mess, but the sky was pretty and clear.

Of course the other day I did what most people do, I pulled those flowery weeds and bought some flowers.  I hope tomorrow I will be able to plant them.

My personal weatherman seems to think I will be able to.  I do hope he is right!!!!!!

Yesterday I went and visited with my friend at an assisted living facility.  It was the BEST visit so far.  Funny how I go to visit and cheer her up….yet I walk away with a huge smile on my face.

While I was visiting, one of the other ladies came past me, headed to the piano.  She whispered to me….I going to play Sentimental Journey…I’m gonna set my heart at ease.  She smiled as she set down and began to play.

I was fortunate enough to be sitting right beside her.  I watched as she tickled those ivories.  She played with no hesitation.  Then she began to sing.  She didn’t sing all the words…she did play all the song though. You could see that she really enjoyed playing.  She smiled and her eyes twinkled the whole time she played.

The nurses said she plays that song every afternoon after she eats.  I thought that was priceless.

There is another lady I met the last time I went.  Her name is Martha.  I took Layla my granddaughter on Valentines Day.  She handed out balloons to the residents, which meant that day we saw everyone.  That is when we met Mrs. Martha.  Mrs. Martha’s daughter was here from California and greeted Layla at the door, her eyes brightened.  She said I am so glad you brought this little one….this will be the best thing for my Mom.  She used to teach children music and she loves them so much.  I told her daughter that I would check in on her Mother when I came to visit my friend.

I had not planned to take Layla….it was just one of those days when things fell into place and she went with me.  I am soooo glad.  Some times you don’t know why things happen the way they do, but they are for a reason.

Mrs. Martha was sitting in a chair, yesterday after lunch.  I asked her if she played the piano,I was pretty sure she did.  She got up, walked right to the piano and started playing Amazing Grace.  Then she began to sing….of course by now….I was a teary mess.

She played and sang several verses.   She also played very well.  The amazing thing to me is…they all have memory problems, that is why they are there.  But they could still enjoy and let others enjoy their music.

On top of that, several said they liked my granddaughter and thought she had a pretty dress on that day (which she did).  I was surprised that 3 weeks later, they remembered her visit.  I am so glad she brought a smile to their faces.

I can’t tell you how much I was blessed.  I was the one who had been ministered to.

So I left there like I said earlier, with a huge smile on my face.

When I arrived home we went to my brother- in-laws house for dinner.  It was his birthday.  He has a little dachshund that is his pride and joy.  Her name is Trixie.  She goes everywhere with him.  Since that is the case she gets to go over to my father and mother- in-laws house a good bit.

Trixie adores them, and they adore Trixie.

Last night they gave us one of their duets.  This is a regular song they perform for us at most every get together.

It seemed there was music all around me yesterday.

It was all very different, but it all made me smile.  It was all PRICELESS!

Make a Joyful Noise……

My Mother worked in a Cotton Mill when she was young.  The machines were loud and she said you could not hear well.

So if someone needed you they would WOOO….and one could hear that above the noise of the machines.

When we were growing up my mother would use that call.  If we were upstairs and she was downstairs she would wooo and we would know to come and see what she wanted.

If we were outside riding our bikes or playing at a neighbors house…she would just wooo….and we would come.

About two years before we moved to our land we put in a little goldfish pond.  A sweet lady at church gave me some of her goldfish.  I also bought some little ones straight out of the Wal-Mart fish tanks.  They grew and began to multiply.  I got so excited.  I would go to the pond every day and check on them.

When I began feeding them I did what came natural….I called them with the Wooo.  They learned that when I would call….they would get fed.

It didn’t take long for them to respond real well to that method.

Funny how some things carry over from one generation to another, without even thinking about it.  All of moms kids…use the wooo with their own kids.  Now I see our kids using it with their kids.

My grandchildren were young when we started the goldfish pond, and they love to watch as we fed the fish.

We feed them until the weather gets cold and then we don’t feed them again until the weather warms.  The following Spring our youngest granddaughter wanted to feed the fish.   She reached her little 2 year old hand into the fish food, raised her arm and threw the food into the pond with a great big WOOO.

It took me by surprise.  I had no idea she would remember that, it had been about 5 months since she had feed them with me.

I couldn’t help but get a kick out of it.  Mother would have been so proud!

The other day it had been warm for a couple of days in a row, the fish were up at the surface enjoying the sun.  Layla, now 4, and her father (Garrett) had come over and she asked if she could feed the fish.

So we did.  There again, she remembered.

In this video, it is the first feeding of the season….It takes a feeding or two before the fish respond fully.  Here only a few came, but they are the ones who benefited from answering the call….they got the food!

I learned a lot from my mother including listening and being obedient when she called. Sometimes it meant I had to stop playing and come in the house.  Sometimes it meant she had something good waiting for me, or we were going to go somewhere fun!

I knew my mother….meaning I really knew her.  I knew she had a reason to call me and I trusted her, which made my love for her grow all the more.

I know Mom would be glad we still use the Wooo.  That it has been handed down from generation to generation.  But I think most importantly, she would want the lesson of listening to the voice of Christ, heeding HIS Words passed from one generation to the other.

She taught me to trust Christ and to listen to his call.  Often though, I am like those fish at the first feeding,  I just don’t listen.  If I read HIS Word, preferably daily, then I feel fed and nourished.  I seem to then find an excitement when I hear His call and I can’t wait to see what HE has to say.

I get to really know HIM, and my love for HIM grows.

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.  Teach them to your children and to their children after them.      Deuteronomy 4:9

Our friends that have the chickens have some other farm animals too.

They have these…pardon the fuzziness…I really didn’t want to get tooooo close.

They are really big….

I heard five of them run across the pasture last year…you’ve heard the expression…sounds like a herd of elephants…..well…it did.

I was amazed at how fast they can run, being so big I didn’t expect it.  You can see all four legs come off the ground.  Now that is making some tracks….

The meat of a buffalo is very good, I was pleasantly surprised, I am not a real adventurous eater.

They have some horses. You can hardly see the one in the middle at the tree line….amazing how an animal that big can actually look camouflaged like that.

This one decided to come up and pose for me.

And this one just wanted to eat….and I was near the food!

It’s very peaceful there….and picturesque.  Of course I like the look of barns…..

and tractors….the smell of the grass and well you get a little of the other with it…just enough to smell like a farm.

Often you can hear the birds chirp, the horses ..Neeeeigh…the buffalo snort, chickens cackle, ducks quack and the neighbors rooster crow every now and then.

It is nice.

Sometimes it can be nice to just not hear a bunch of noise.

Here is some video.  The most noise you hear on this day…. is my camera focusing.

Sometimes when I am out like that, I think about what it must have been like for Adam..when it was just him and the animals.

Hmmmmm…..I wonder.

I don’t know if I am just relating to the chickens this week or what.  When I was younger I remember that if you were up early…people would say….”you got up with the chickens”.

Well 4:00 a. m.  rolled around this morning, as I looked at my watch, I thought ohhh…nooo… this is way too early.  I think 6:00 or 6:30 is a good time to rise.

By 4:30 I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep, so I might as well get up.

It is a great time of day.  There is no noise …anywhere…inside or out.  But I fixed that by pushing the coffee pot button.  Funny how something like a coffee pot can sound so loud at that time of the morning.  I enjoyed my coffee and read my morning Bible reading.  Billy got up…..”WHAT in the world are YOU doing up”?…I said I know….crazy huh?

We turned on the television to get the weather for today.  It is supposed to be one of those unstable days.  Around here a tornado can form very easy this time of year.  They had been forecasting today to be one of those days where you should be ready to take shelter.

I decided I had better go on and check the chickens, why not, I certainly was already up.

First stop on the way out was to check  in on our own pasture.  Everyone was up and moving.

I headed to our friends pasture.

When I arrived at the chicken coop…I only had 1 egg.  I was most disappointed.  As I gathered it, I felt that it was very warm….obviously someone had just laid it.  I wished that I could have seen that.

I know I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I figured it out,  I was earlier today…and I just might get a chance to witness one.

Of course this would be the one day that I did not take my camera.

Remember I told you that one chicken tends to lay one in the feeder.  Well I looked there when I gathered the first egg this morning….it was empty. Bummer.

So, I decided to wait  patiently outside the pen, surely they just hadn’t done their job this morning yet.  This thought occured to me…maybe those chickens don’t get up all that early either.  It’s possible they like to get up about 6:00 too.

I took this picture the other day…I hoped I had a picture I could show that had this particular hen in it. And I did!  She has the smallest comb and the reddest head and neck.   The Hen in the very back, next to the fence, is the one who lays her egg in the feed bin.  I watched her fly up to the top, then she just went right in the thing…I was shocked.  Oh my, I REALLY wished I had the camera.  She stayed in there for about 20 minutes….she would ease her little head up….then ease it down….then up it would come ….and down it would go…

I should have known whoever it was that was laying that egg in such an unusual place, would be the one with such a great personality!  She was a real cutie!

Meanwhile, another one of those strawberry blonde girls got busy and had one.

She had this one…I had to take the egg pics when I got home and rounded up the camera. This egg has a slight Pink /brown color …I don’t know how to describe it.

And the speckled dark Hen in that same picture had this egg.

I wondered who was laying those little light colored eggs…..now I know.

When Miss Priss decided to get out of the feed bin….I anxiously looked and yep, she had done it.

This is her egg.  It is much more golden brown than the other two.  The first egg I found this morning looked just like this one.

And while all that was taking place….I was trying my best to keep an eye on Plain Jane the duck.  I noticed she had not had her egg yet.

But of course in the midst of all the egg-citement I missed her laying hers…but there it was….all pretty and white.

I am exhausted….I don’t think it has anything to do with getting up early.  I think it has everything to do with the fact that I labored with those little hens this morning.

Next time you sit down to a plate of eggs.  Just remember that while you may have worked hard in the kitchen…there was another girl (hen) that worked hard to get it to you.

Maybe seeing an egg appear like that…isn’t that interesting to you.  I know we all have certain things that crank our tractor, but WOW….that is just a little miracle.

Pretty much an egg a day….amazing.  That little creature is so small itself, to have that happen everyday…..just amazing.

Here they are all cleaned up…including the white duck egg.  BY the way my little pamphlet said that bakers liked to use duck eggs.  They make your recipes light…WHO KNEW?!?

I combined them with some that we gathered earlier this week.  See all those colors.

Just Beautiful!

I went and checked on our friends Hens.  They are neat.

I took a short video.  At first I thought about putting some music to it….but then I thought the soft little noise they make was soothing.

I decided to just let you hear them….hear nature all around them.  Including the way the ducks chime in with there quacking….maybe they were talking to each other.

They were probably saying…hey, who’s this new “chick” with the camera?

Anyway, they aren’t doing anything special, they are just hanging out.

My friend told me that there is one of her hens that tends to lay an egg in the feeder.

Sure enough….there was one waiting for me…..

The girls are pretty.  But they are hard to get a good picture of….they move with those little jerky motions all the time.

That really messes with an automatic focus camera…ha.  I was able to get a few good shots.

It was kinda funny…I said.. hey…you girls are going to have to be still…I need a good pic here…this one turned and looked straight at me like…well…here you go…but hurry up!  And I did.

According to my little chicken book….this comb is what is called a single comb, a Plymouth Rock.

I like the color of this one. If she was a human I would say she is a strawberry blonde….that is the cosmetologist still coming out in me.

Yesterday I retrieved 4 eggs.

I just love all the variations of size and color.

In the video you can see that they also have two ducks that live next door to the chickens.  They were really cute too.

Pretty colors……

Then there is what we tend to think of as plain jane ….however, she is still very attractive…. she is just going for the “natural look”.

I really enjoyed checking on the Hens…and I am about to head that way to do it all over again.  I am kind of excited to see how many eggs there might be today!

I guess you can guess what Billy ate for lunch yesterday…..

Yep, egg salad sandwiches!

Billy and I went to the beach for a week for our Anniversary.  I am always sad to leave the beach and excited to get home….crazy huh!?  I love both places.

We got home after dark so I didn’t get to check on everyone up close and personal until today.

When I peeked out the window this morning I couldn’t believe how beautiful the plum trees were…that is the light pink flowering tree to the left.

And look at the Willow tree in the background.  The leaves were just starting to show their bud on the branches when we left.

Violet and Jethro were fine.  Look at how much his little horns have grown!

Jed, Jethro, Violet and Pearl…..just enjoying the pasture.

I was actually surprised to see Lee(on the left) and Chuck( on the right) grazing together.  Lee wasn’t right under her mother today.   Lee is noticeably bigger than Chuck.

Chuck is about 3 weeks older than Lee.  If you remember he was a twin and his mother is a small cow…so he may stay on the small side.

Everyone seemed fine.

I didn’t break the news to them….somehow I think they already know…but it is supposed to rain this afternoon…a lot.

However, that is what makes really nice green pasture land for them this spring.

Hang on girls…..Spring is around the corner.

Oh, and guess what?

Our friends are on vacation and asked if we would get their eggs for them!

Last night we went straight there as soon as we got into town.  We gathered 11 eggs!

So, I will get to have a practice run this week with the whole chicken and egg thing.

We stopped by tractor supply on our way home from the beach and they are almost ready for Chick day.  They had the little displays all set up.  I pulled some pamphlets and I read them out loud to Billy on the way home.

You know you are getting old when you turn the radio off and read chicken information….Oh well, we learned a lot.

Did you know you can freeze eggs….?!?!?!?!

That’s all for now…I gotta go check that coop before it rains….I guess if there aren’t any…I will have to go back…in the RAIN…hmmm…might want to really think long and hard about this chicken thing.