Welcome to the Playroom at 14 Peonystreet!

This blog started in the "playroom". That's what DH calls artwork- playing. Wish I could live in the "playroom" forever.
Showing posts with label dog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dog. Show all posts

Monday, December 2, 2019

Too Good Not to Share: Notes From Beginning of 2019



Dear World:

I am running out of people to write letters to.

Christmas was pretty fun, but after that, it seems like the world exploded.

Lots of things have happened.  I feel a need to make note of them like on Star Trek, "Captain's log, Stardate 41153.7. . . . "
~~~~

“Maker’s Log, early 2019.”  The world is exploding.  Everyone in government has lost my confidence, while they have lost their minds.  They’ve forgotten that government is for the people. 

I finished my second brioche knitting project, a triangular shawl, in a repetitive leaf pattern, using a pale pink color yarn and a deep reddish burgundy color named, “Poison.”  It’s beautiful.  I think I’m glad I finished it, but now there’s a void to fill.

Working on a sock pattern, and a mitten pattern.  Both are messing with me.  I think I’d rather let brioche knitting drive me crazy than a simple sock.  I think I found my next brioche project already.....


~~~~

My littlest companion died on me.  Yes, my Maddy Lou left me, after 11 years.  I conducted my own little funeral for her, playing “In The Sweet By and By” song at her burial.  I wrapped her in my old green sweater, and laid her in the ground at my pet cemetary.  I miss her so much.  I spent a lot of time taking care of her since she was a puppy.

She came from Alabama and was hell on wheels ever since.  She bit everyone, even me.  It ended up that I was the one who would groom her.  She hated anyone touching her feet, her back legs, her hiney, but mostly her face.  Oo la, la.  So what part does that leave?  She didn’t mind me shaving her back, belly or neck. Big deal. Best little watchdog I ever had.   Saying “What is that??” would elicit a growl and alert stance.  Telling her “Watch ‘im!” and she’d go over to whomever I wanted her to watch and she’d stand there and growl. She looked prim when trimmed, but she was a scrappy ball of fire, just like a junk yard dog.  And she’d boss those rottweilers around like nobody’s business.  Pull them around by their cheek flaps.  All twenty two pounds of her.  Loved that girl.

“I am in mourning.”  – Stands With A Fist

~~~
Family emergencies popped up, all at the same time.  Bankers buying back houses, evictions, mental illness, life threatening surgery, pending back surgery.  Not ratting on family.  Secrets and lies.  They are all looking for a way to survive.  Calls in the middle of the night.  Driving somewhere to pick someone up.  Feeding, sheltering, advising.  Surviving.  The funny thing is, if any of them moved in with us, we’d either be like the Kilcher’s in Alaska, but more probably like the Donovan’s in New York.  (Yuc, yuc, guteral laugh.)

   (BTW:  Low income housing is in short supply. If you are in a position to do something about it– DO IT.)

~~~
In the midst of all that, having to listen to someone close say they think they are going to die during their upcoming surgery,  but not having any life threatening conditions.  It sounds like a plea to die, just to get “out”.   Out of the worries and stress of this life.  I do not want this. Then the constant, “You’re not going to get a boyfriend if something happens to me are you?”  “That’s what you’ll do when I’m in the hospital– go out partying, right?  Is that what you’re going to do when I’m dead?”  How in the world do you get it through someone’s head, even after 20 years, that you’re NOT that kind of person???  Even after you’ve practically given up everyone, and everything, just so you could please them, and reassure them that you’re not going anywhere?  Well, the answer is you can’t.  It won’t matter what you do or say, you can not change someone’s inner insecurity, or their mental status.  You may be able to affect them temporarily, but it seems their long-term inner workings won’t change.  These people have to grow out of it themselves, and apparently, some people never do.  So you put up with their whining harassment of you or you don’t.   This is my life now.  But I can adjust to how I react to it, and I am getting better at doing that.
~~~

The neighbor’s cows got loose, and lived it up on grass for a about a week.  Then there was a little 3-horse stampede up the driveway after that.  No real harm done, just some cow piles left for the dogs to (UGH) sniff and lick (EWWWW.)  NO –  I do not encourage that.  For some reason, dogs inherently want to eat other animals’ poo.  They seem to especially like rabbit poo and deer poo.  Think about that the next time you let them lick your face. “Awwww, you cutesy, utesey, baby girrrrrl!  I love ya!”    Smooch, smooch.  Lick.......  It’s better just to give them hugs, okay?  Which mine get on a daily basis.  Also, don’t kiss your chickens on the lips either, EMMkayyy??

~~~

I finished one mitten in all this time, this early 2019.  It looks pretty cute.  It’s for a little waif, who said her hands were cold....This one charges me $2.00 a dozen for some of the best eggs on the planet.  She’s the youngest farmer I ever met.  And she loves me.
~~~


Some people within the Catholic church are really having “Come to Jesus” confrontations, aren’t they?  Seems like the church organization is going through a purge.  Jesus said He would do that.  It needs it.  I still like reciting the Rosary– it has become very comforting to me.  I also like the hymns we sing, and the basic needs the beliefs fill in my soul.  The Holy Family.  If I had revered this idea earlier in my life, I think sometimes I wouldn’t have made the mistakes I made, and hurt the people I hurt.  I asked a knowledgeable priest one time why the crucifix as our supreme symbol.  He said, “It’s to remind us of what Jesus did for us.”  It is not for any sadistic reasons, as some people want to think.  And as for Mary, the mother of Jesus.  She had to be a very holy person for God to choose her as Jesus mother.

I know so many of you don’t like the Catholic religion.  I myself, was raised in a Swedish Lutheran church.  The Lutheran church, was founded on Martin Luther’s Protestant reformation of the Catholic church.  My dear mother made sure she let us know her feelings about Catholicism.  (Not good.)  It’s funny though, how all of us married Catholics....


~~~

Apparently, my body is very good at making kidney stones.  I don’t have a clue how to stop this from happening.  The doctors say drink lemonade, not iced tea.  That still doesn’t stop it.  Just another thing I have to live with. 

~~~
Seems like everyone I know is troubled lately.  I really hope and pray things get better this year instead of worse.  In the meantime, I will continue to MAKE as much as I possibly can, as this fulfils a need in my soul to create beautiful, useful things.  I am still looking for my protégé to carry on what I have started in this life.  I am NOT dying. Yet.  I’d just like to hand over some of the knowledge and skills I have to someone younger, while I still have the ambition to do it.
~~~

I wish I could go live in Scotland somewhere for about a year.  Sometimes I feel I need a different perspective on life.  But as a consolation, due to the terrain and the weather here on this mountain, I can pretend I am in Scotland or England when I feel like it.   There may also be some sheep in my future!!  My own little, dumb little critters, who need worming and heels trimmed all the time.  But it would be worth it.  I’ll let you know....

“What do you want most in life?”   “World Peace,” the pageant contestant said.

XXOO, BB

Monday, June 19, 2017

Ordinary Days

 I missed posting this on Flag Day, so here it is.
I mostly like the ordinary days of the year, no holidays.
So much less stress and emotion.
 This is why I wear boots.  This is a small corn snake.  It's nonpoisonous.  They do kill rodents.  This is a baby one.  I still don't like snakes.  EWwwwww.
 A mini Flower Garden in a bucket!
 The "escapee".  When I got home one day last week, she was no where to be found.  I looked high and low and even looked with the car in the neighborhood.  After dark, I decided to go back to her kennel, and found her underneath these boards on her deck.  She got under it but couldn't manage to get back out!   I was so happy to see her, and she me.  We made friends again.
 Showing you this deer right outside my pantry window, because she has a belly.  You can't always tell when a female deer is pregnant, because they are so slim, but this is what they look like.  She's next to the cages where my blueberry bushes are.  This area is inundated with deer, and they are not afraid to get in your yard and eat what ya got!
 Here's a mockingbird, chiding me.  I must be close to it's nest.
 Look at this pretty chartreuse green!  The bird nest is probably somewhere in this shrub.
 Peek- a- boo!
 Tangerine Gerbera Daisy
Blooming cactus
 Yes, that's a mole.  Mama Kitty left him on the porch for me.  yay...ewwww.
 A walk in the woods
 The perfect sunset after a rain.  Am I sure I'm not in the great American West somewhere?
This is but a dream, maybe.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Gifts

For as much grief as any loss left me with, eventually, there were gifts that consoled and comforted my broken heart.  This time, it was Spanky, who loves to go for rides.  And we had many “rides”- 700 mile trip one way - to get us home.

I can’t talk about this without making a point here, about grief.  I have had many losses in life, both human, and pets, and things.  The grief for any of these losses is no more nor less valid and acknowledgable.
 I experienced my first human loss at age 9.  It was my uncle, whom died of cancer. He was a very kind man, a hard worker, a farmer.  I cried after the funeral, while we were all outside the church, expecting my siblings to make fun of me, like every time I cried before.  But they didn’t.  So I learned crying is allowed, without ridicule.
 I’ve had some major losses since then too, just like everyone in the world.   Just want you to know that it (loss) is survivable.  It does tend to get harder the older I get.  I’m not so sure I’ll be able to convince myself that it’s survivable as I get even older.  I have occasional thoughts of how I hate being left behind, and wondering when it will be my turn to go.


But lets go back to the gifts.   The Lord gives me gifts all the time.  He reminds me every day.  I don’t know why I get sad.  When I do, though, I try to focus on the gifts.
I have a new dog.  He and I are bonding, and he is filling a hole left by Stinky.  He comes when I whistle, and we walk together, in a safe place, with no cars and no people.
 He’s a card sometimes, and makes me laugh.

Monday, September 7, 2015

It's a Good Thing We Don't Know What's Going to Happen Tomorrow.....

My Best Friend, Stinky
~~~
I'm finally resurfacing.  It's been a rough 10 months.
I slept through the winter, which in the south, is pretty short, but it amounted
 to four months of being sick.
~~~
Sooooo.....the old man, in his infinite wisdom, says we need to move back to where we have family, in case something happens to one of us, it'll be easier to handle things with some help.  So, where family is, is located further north, but still under the Mason/Dixon,
 where the snow....
...and the buffalo roam.
So we left the "fairy tale farm",
with the dream house....
We had to leave the dusty road behind, as it was making us sick too.
Goodbye, dusty roads!
~~~
So, like Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), who wrote, "I had a farm in Africa....",
I can write,  "I had a farm in Tennessee....."  and then proceed to tell you all kinds of stories.  Of which I shall, I shall.
~~~
But first I must tell you of someone we had to leave behind, not of our own will.
It was Stinky.
He died unexpectedly, and suddenly, of a twisted stomach.  If you don't know the signs, and get to the vet immediately, your pet will die.  And he died.  In my car.  On the way to the vets office.
O, how I cried.  I so wanted him to be on our new farm.
I loved him so.
So the first story is about him.
He came to us as a puppy, via the airlines!
He was a little under the weather, but we brought him up to wellness.
I can not find our bringing home puppy photos.
 He loved water....
 and snow.
 He was the smartest dog I ever had.  
He knew when I was sick, before I knew it.
He wouldn't let me walk one day, he made me so mad.
He sat right in front of me and wouldn't let me go.
So I went back to the house and gave up.  
Two days later, I was in the ER.
He would walk himself around the yard, when I couldn't walk with him.
I always felt safe when I was with him.
My heart broke when he died.  
I felt so helpless. 
I will always miss him.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Small Miracles...........This Week On the Farm

Oh, Look at those little bunnies!
Ain't they cute!?
More about these later......
This was the corn on May 27.....
This is the corn today, June 20.  It's about 6 feet tall and 
it's tasseling.....
Each one of these hairy "blooms" is an ear of corn...
Look how pretty!
And this.....
I think they're showing off!
It's dry this week, so we're getting plenty of road dust on the garden.
The blueberries are growing like gangbusters this year.  Bird netting was necessary. 
Mostly it's been mockingbirds so far that want them.
We've still had plenty for two pies and about 4 gallons frozen. Mmmmmmm......
We'll be picking green beans soon, and....
...making pickles!
Here's a garden tip for ya:  Black plastic (held down) will kill anything underneath it.
I'm using this method, along with tilling, to keep the crab grass under control, which is extremely a pain in the neck to remove by hand.  I'm saving this space for pumpkins, which won't be planted til July.
So far, so good!  Corn in the back, green beans, then tomatoes and then peppers.  Watermelons and cucumbers to the left (by the plastic) and blueberry bushes to the right.  Love this garden!
Had a visitor over the cornfield.  There's a patch in the middle of the field that the corn didn't grow, due to too much rain.  I think they are looking for something else.....
We've had some small miracles lately.  This saucer magnolia is blooming for the second time this year, after a torrential rain.
And this white crepe myrtle is LOADED with blooms this year.
Last summer it never bloomed and looked like it was going to die.
This pecan tree sprouted from a "dead" pecan tree.  It was nothing but a black stick.  It got fertilized, and it sprouted near the bottom, and it's going crazy now.  The next picture shows another pecan tree, and how big it would be if it had not "died".
Pecan tree, large. 
Okay-- a really cool "miracle":  baby bunnies.
This photo only shows one, but there were two live baby bunnies borned in the garden.  Two didn't live.  Their nest was disturbed by some unknown source, but found when weeding.  The two live ones were obviously under stress, breathing hard and weak.  It was also very hot outside, so...
I had to help "save" them.  Fed them some water and milk with a dropper.  They don't have their eyes open yet.  They were really stressed, but they perked up and looked much better after a few minutes.
Just so you know, these are wild cottontail bunnies.  If they look like this, they are 5-7 days old.  If a human touches them, the mother will still take care of them.  But the best thing to do is leave them alone.
This was a rare opportunity for me to hold something this small and alive in my hand, so small, so light, so soft, and alive!
After their "refreshing", they were placed in a safer nest location, yes, back in the garden, only a foot away from the original nest, and the mama came and moved them somewhere else!  Whew!  That's good!
I wonder if I'll recognize them when they're older?
Time for a hug!  Don't be scar'd! This is Stinky.  He's just as affectionate as a cat, rubbing on you for a hug and petting!
He loves water!
Awwww...! Only a face a mother dog could love...!
Sneak peek of new apron design in progress.
Lilac Hill pattern by Jan Patek,  all needleturn on the applique.   Fun- love doing needleturn.
I'll leave you with this- the corn,
reaching to heaven.
Happy Summer!


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