Good evening, everyone!!! Yep, it's been another long while since I've blogged, it's hard to wrap your brain around blogging when the world has gone utterly mad, but, little by little, step by step, I'm regaining my calm (which horribly turns into explosions periodically, but I'm trying).
The pic above is from Memorial Weekend when family and friends got together once again to celebrate being together and sharing our lives with one another. I take that week off each year to not only help my sister prepare for this big event (we have it at her place each year), but also by this point in the year I'm just about done with life itself (which tells me it's break time from the world).
See the big chicken in the wagon. Well, that little critter has one goal each Memorial Day Weekend, to find it's way to our parents' house. Of course, there's a group of us that love to make this happen :) Last year after I set him on their front porch and was running back to the Defender, I tripped and almost fell at the same time everyone else on the Defender heard a gunshot. Yep, they thought I had been shot LOL. Ahhhh, good times good times, LOL.
I'm not sure you know how loud a Defender is, but let's just say it is pretty loud. This year we loaded that wagon and chicken up in the bed of that Defender and sped off for the mile or so drive to the parents' house at like midnight (you can't leave a chicken for them to find if they're awake ya know). We pull up in their side yard, really loud, because Defenders are really loud, LOL. We begin to pull the wagon out of the bed, it landed with a horrifying bang. Of course, we all were like, "Shhhhhhh!!!" Of course the tongue of the wagon got stuck in the ground, all the while the back of the wagon was still stuck up in the Defender bed. Ahhhh, you guessed it, we had to fire up that loud ass machine again to move it forward to get the wagon unstuck. Again, "SHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
We then deposited said wagon and chicken on the carport of my parents' home, and promptly took off before we were caught. The next day our father hooked that wagon up to his lawn mower and drove that darn chicken back down to the farm, parking him in the upper field, LOL.
All this from a police officer's mom, aunt, grandparents, and cousins. Oh yeah, you probably don't know since I haven't been blogging for awhile. My oldest son is now a police officer for our area. I can't tell you how proud I am of this young man. In the last year he has gone through some of the toughest days of his life but he kept his eye on the mark, pushed through the Academy, and came out a police officer that is beginning to make his mark on our little piece of the world. Even the officers of our little town that had the opportunity not long ago of working with him for a little while, made sure to come and tell me how impressed they were by him. Proud mom moment for sure :)
I've taken to reworking some of the book covers for the books I've had on Amazon lately. I've really found I enjoy this. Now that I have my back porch area (my place of solitude and cleansing) set up all but the new fan, which hubby is putting up this week, I have begun working on my projects from last year that 2020 sucked the life out of me before I could push forward. I had gotten to the point of, "What's the use???" But that was my mind frame for a great while last year.
We're back to gardening again this year. So if you haven't check us out on Facebook under Crazy Canning Ladies. We're already getting some pretty good sized strawberries out of the strawberry patch, even having our first Strawberry Shortcake for my sister's birthday this year. The potato patch looks amazing, and we did manage to get the garden planted last week, so things are starting to take shape for another year of insanity :) Don't let me fool ya, we love our garden and all that goes with it. It's the best way to ground yourself after life pushes and pulls you every which way.
My children got me a little greenhouse for Mother's Day this year. So, we're growing our herbs in there as well as I'm working on growing a few trees :) We'll see how that goes over the course of the next month or so :)
One thing I definitely have learned is I need to break away more from the outside world once again. I've been forcing myself to live too much out there and not enough quiet time (me time). I need to live in my head more and shut out the rest of the world even more. It is draining my energy being so caught up in the insanity we call a world these days. It's time for me to step back, let things flow in the direction they are going to flow, and just do me. The craziness has hit too close to home for comfort. It has stirred up and shaken our tiny piece of the universe, and I have been feeling it's suffocation.
I asked the Lord and Lady to guide my steps, give me direction, help me to focus where it matters most. The first thing that came to mind was to put my back porch in order so I could remember why I enjoyed this solitude so much. So, that's what I did. I normally have this done earlier on in the spring, but this year I just kept putting it off.
From the moment we move into this house, this area has been my saving grace. It's where I sat and worked from Spring through Fall. I watched my children and grandchildren play outside from this porch. I've enjoyed long talks with family and friends on this porch. We've had 3 meals a day on this porch during the warmer months for years.
I've sat out here from dust to dawn, meditating, reading, writing, just enjoying life. I've seen the sun rise from this porch. I've watched the sun set from this spot. I've heard the birds awaken in the morning and heard the nightingales begin their nightly songs. I watched the lightening light up the sky from here as well as watched the sun spill over my world. I've stood out here and let the strong winds of change blow over me, lifting my face to feel it's empowerment. I've danced with my sisters, children, and nieces and nephews to 'Put the Lime in the Coconut' in this back yard and on this porch.
No wonder this was the first direction I received after asking for guidance. So much of my life has revolved around this back porch :) The true living I've done from this one tiny piece of the world.
Now that the time of life has befallen me, where the children are grown and the grandchildren are growing up faster than I'd like to admit, it's time to make new memories on this back porch. To breathe in all that has been and all that will be. To use this space for healing my soul and giving me a constant I've always been able to count on.
Everyone have a lovely night!!!
Blessings to all!!!
The pic above is from Memorial Weekend when family and friends got together once again to celebrate being together and sharing our lives with one another. I take that week off each year to not only help my sister prepare for this big event (we have it at her place each year), but also by this point in the year I'm just about done with life itself (which tells me it's break time from the world).
See the big chicken in the wagon. Well, that little critter has one goal each Memorial Day Weekend, to find it's way to our parents' house. Of course, there's a group of us that love to make this happen :) Last year after I set him on their front porch and was running back to the Defender, I tripped and almost fell at the same time everyone else on the Defender heard a gunshot. Yep, they thought I had been shot LOL. Ahhhh, good times good times, LOL.
I'm not sure you know how loud a Defender is, but let's just say it is pretty loud. This year we loaded that wagon and chicken up in the bed of that Defender and sped off for the mile or so drive to the parents' house at like midnight (you can't leave a chicken for them to find if they're awake ya know). We pull up in their side yard, really loud, because Defenders are really loud, LOL. We begin to pull the wagon out of the bed, it landed with a horrifying bang. Of course, we all were like, "Shhhhhhh!!!" Of course the tongue of the wagon got stuck in the ground, all the while the back of the wagon was still stuck up in the Defender bed. Ahhhh, you guessed it, we had to fire up that loud ass machine again to move it forward to get the wagon unstuck. Again, "SHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
We then deposited said wagon and chicken on the carport of my parents' home, and promptly took off before we were caught. The next day our father hooked that wagon up to his lawn mower and drove that darn chicken back down to the farm, parking him in the upper field, LOL.
All this from a police officer's mom, aunt, grandparents, and cousins. Oh yeah, you probably don't know since I haven't been blogging for awhile. My oldest son is now a police officer for our area. I can't tell you how proud I am of this young man. In the last year he has gone through some of the toughest days of his life but he kept his eye on the mark, pushed through the Academy, and came out a police officer that is beginning to make his mark on our little piece of the world. Even the officers of our little town that had the opportunity not long ago of working with him for a little while, made sure to come and tell me how impressed they were by him. Proud mom moment for sure :)
I've taken to reworking some of the book covers for the books I've had on Amazon lately. I've really found I enjoy this. Now that I have my back porch area (my place of solitude and cleansing) set up all but the new fan, which hubby is putting up this week, I have begun working on my projects from last year that 2020 sucked the life out of me before I could push forward. I had gotten to the point of, "What's the use???" But that was my mind frame for a great while last year.
We're back to gardening again this year. So if you haven't check us out on Facebook under Crazy Canning Ladies. We're already getting some pretty good sized strawberries out of the strawberry patch, even having our first Strawberry Shortcake for my sister's birthday this year. The potato patch looks amazing, and we did manage to get the garden planted last week, so things are starting to take shape for another year of insanity :) Don't let me fool ya, we love our garden and all that goes with it. It's the best way to ground yourself after life pushes and pulls you every which way.
My children got me a little greenhouse for Mother's Day this year. So, we're growing our herbs in there as well as I'm working on growing a few trees :) We'll see how that goes over the course of the next month or so :)
One thing I definitely have learned is I need to break away more from the outside world once again. I've been forcing myself to live too much out there and not enough quiet time (me time). I need to live in my head more and shut out the rest of the world even more. It is draining my energy being so caught up in the insanity we call a world these days. It's time for me to step back, let things flow in the direction they are going to flow, and just do me. The craziness has hit too close to home for comfort. It has stirred up and shaken our tiny piece of the universe, and I have been feeling it's suffocation.
I asked the Lord and Lady to guide my steps, give me direction, help me to focus where it matters most. The first thing that came to mind was to put my back porch in order so I could remember why I enjoyed this solitude so much. So, that's what I did. I normally have this done earlier on in the spring, but this year I just kept putting it off.
From the moment we move into this house, this area has been my saving grace. It's where I sat and worked from Spring through Fall. I watched my children and grandchildren play outside from this porch. I've enjoyed long talks with family and friends on this porch. We've had 3 meals a day on this porch during the warmer months for years.
I've sat out here from dust to dawn, meditating, reading, writing, just enjoying life. I've seen the sun rise from this porch. I've watched the sun set from this spot. I've heard the birds awaken in the morning and heard the nightingales begin their nightly songs. I watched the lightening light up the sky from here as well as watched the sun spill over my world. I've stood out here and let the strong winds of change blow over me, lifting my face to feel it's empowerment. I've danced with my sisters, children, and nieces and nephews to 'Put the Lime in the Coconut' in this back yard and on this porch.
No wonder this was the first direction I received after asking for guidance. So much of my life has revolved around this back porch :) The true living I've done from this one tiny piece of the world.
Now that the time of life has befallen me, where the children are grown and the grandchildren are growing up faster than I'd like to admit, it's time to make new memories on this back porch. To breathe in all that has been and all that will be. To use this space for healing my soul and giving me a constant I've always been able to count on.
Everyone have a lovely night!!!
Blessings to all!!!