It's been awhile.....but I've got some Spring pretties to show for it.

Well it's been a looong time since my last post.  And there has been alot that has happened in my absence.  One thing that has happened which I never thought would be an issue...is my faith in Mother Nature has been really tested lately.  She hasn't exactly been very kind.  In the last week my hometown has gone through some severe devastation all at the hands of our Mother.  May 20th my hometown of Moore, Ok was hit by yet another F5 tornado that ravaged many homes, businesses and lives.  We lost 24 wonderful people including 7 young children.  My hometown still isn't the same and probably won't look or feel normal for quite sometime.  Then on May 31st while still reeling from the Monday storm, my home state was again hit by another F5 tornado just west of the the one that hit Moore.  The same evening we experience life threatening flooding that pretty much put most of our metro areas at a stand still.  We lost 20 more Oklahomans on this day. 

So needless to say, my faith in Mother Nature and all her wonder has been dwindling.

But then this happened....... Two days after the second storm, I woke up and went outside.  The sky was void of all clouds, the trees were swaying in the wind, and a beautiful breeze was blowing over head.  Birds were singing and squirrels were enjoying a nice frolic on the fence line.  It was almost like nothing from the previous week had even happened.  Like Mother Nature was providing an offering for all the havoc she had caused. 

Then I went to my gardens to see if I had anything that had managed to survive all of the wind, hail, and rain......

          and this is what I found.......

Beautiful colors and sustained life!!!  While there was some minor tidying that needed to be done.  It's as if all the flowers were speaking a language I understood.  Peace and beauty can still thrive to exist amongst all of the turmoil.   Then I thought back to something I once read......



The voice that beautifies the land!
The voice above,
The voice of thunder,
Within the dark cloud
Again and again it sounds,
The voice that beautifies the land.

---Excerpt from the Navajo poem...Twelfth song of the Thunder.



So in turn, after a walk through my gardens and listening to nature speak....My faith in Mother Nature and all her mysterious wonder has been restored.


#OklahomaProudOklahomaStrong

First Christmas Gift..... gift to self.

While I know this season is all about giving to someone else, I did a big no-no and yes I self indulged and got a gift for myself.   It's terrible, I know but I couldn't resist.  For many years I have been eyeballing moccasin footwear, while secretly hoping some day I would have a pair of my own.  I am very frugal, and find it hard to buy things for myself unless forced to.  So for years I have talked myself out of expensive purchases like this. 
Last summer I went to Santa Fe on my annual trip and these boots were everywhere, just screaming out at me...buy me, buy me.....and yet again I resisted. 
However, this week I could resist no more.  When I thought about all the outfits that had to have these boot as a finishing touch, I decided it was time to splurge and finally get something for myself....and here they are.  My very own Minnetoka Moccasin boots.  I looooove them, in fact I'm a bit obsessed with them. They are so comfy I could wear them everyday.  And I don't regret one dime of the money spent to obtain them.
And I do promise now, that every future gift I purchase during this holiday season will be for giving....to someone else, not me ;)

I <3 you boots!!!

Wild World of Rescues....

My little animal kingdom....

Anyone who knows me, knows my of intense love of animals.  Big, little, furry, or feathered I love them all.  And if there is an animal in trouble, I go in to instant action mode in order to save or protect them.  I am joking called the dog whisperer because of all of the strays that I pick up and try to return to their homes.
Since I work outdoors, I am lucky enough to share my job site with all types of creatures.  For the most part we got along great, and very rarely have any problesms. Unfortunately I do come across a few that need help. And lucky for them my crew and I are there to do what we can to make their lives better.



 We came across these two little birds at separate times.  Each one had encountered an incident that had hindered them from flying.  So we swooped in made them both boxes off of the floor away from harm or kitties and nurtured them until they were able to soar off again.  Both ended up happy and healthy.

 

This little nugget came all the way to us from Florida.  We receive loads of tropical plants from a farm in Florida, when we were unloading them one day out of the corner of my eye I saw something move.  And to my surprise it was this little anole lizard. She was only about an inch long and I was worried if we didn't save her she would get run over by machinery or customers.  So we captured her and I took her home.  I made her a little home with all kinds of things for her to play with.  Her name was Loki and I had her just over a year.  On a lovely Spring day I decided it was time that she get a true lizards kingdom and I released her into the wild of my garden.  I miss her, but on a few special occasions I still run across her to this day....she has grown to a size of about 3 inches, so I think her new home is treating her well.

 

 

 

 These little fur balls are two of my very favorite rescues.  "G" the black kitty has lived in my nursery for 6 years.  She was born in it and when all the rest of her cat family left she stayed and has been with us ever since.  "Monster" the grey kitty was found in the nursery a week after the "Oklahoma Blizzard" two winters ago.  He was with us for just over a year, but unfortunately because of his male cat ways he was out roaming and met an untimely end after a run-in with a car.  I still am not quite over it, I miss him so very much, but at least I know that his last year was spent with people that loved him.   Customers that discover these two always ask...Do you feed them?  Are they OK?  Our response is that they are spoiled rotten.  We built them a warm little cat box, and they are fed twice a day.  They are very fat and happy.

Ever since Monsters departure, G has really come around to us humans.  While she used to keep her distance from us, she know allows us to get within a foot or two from her.  She has sniffed my fingertips twice during feedings and she plays with a toy we made her.  This is a picture of her in her new bed.  This is her afternoon sleep spot, and as you can see I wasn't real cool with her sleeping on a hard piece of plywood, so we placed this bed in the racking and I think she just might like it.

 

 

 

Lastly these are my two most very favorite rescues.  My pups Gracie and Sophie.  I adopted them both from local shelters here in Oklahoma, and they have been the loves of my life ever since. 

 

 

 

 

There are other rescues I have come across but if I listed them all this post would be 5 pages long, so I decided just to list a few of my favorites.  I wish everyone could take time out of their day to love or help animals in need.  Not only do these little creatures appreciate it, they will spend their lifetimes loving you for the favor.

Mmmmm!!!

It's been awhile...

I will admit, It's been awhile since my last post.  With the change of the seasons and the holidays my plate has been very full lately.  However, I have managed to complete a few new projects that I recently vowed to try. 

The first thing I was determined to learn was a new stitch that I could try with my knitting projects.  I am definitely a "rookie" in the world of knitting.  Until recently the only thing I could knit was scarves with one stitch, the "knit".   But that has now changed!!  I just finished a scarf using two stitches; the
"knit/purl" stitch.  And I even managed to give the scarf a bit of a pattern.  While I am still in the infancy stage of this creative world, I am slowly learning to put new techniques into practice.  I determined to teach myself a few more stitches and the next thing I would like to master is possibly creating something other than a scarf....a hat maybe??

Today I made my very first pork tenderloin from a recipe I found on Pinterest.  I am not exactly known for my cooking abilities.  And I was a little intimidated to give this a go.  But I decided to step up and whether worked out or not, I could at least say that I put forth the effort to try.  I kept a close eye on it the entire time it was in the crock pot, basically just waiting for something to go wrong. When the time expired and it was officially done, I took my first bite.  And guess what!!??  Not only was it edible, it was delicious!!  I am going to admit that I did a little happy dance and almost wept tears of joy when I discovered I had prepared my loin to perfection. What can I say, it doesn't take a whole lot to get me excited. 

Like I said above, I found this recipe on Pinterest.  It is a Brown Sugar and Balsamic glazed tenderloin.  You can find the instructions here:  http://www.candcmarriagefactory.com/2011/01/brown-sugar-and-balsamic-glazed-pork.html

The Evolution of My Veggie Garden

 

This last Spring, I decided to move my veggie garden.  In the past few years it took up a small area up against the north side of my house, and I never really got much out of it.  I believed that it simply did not get enough sun to work its magic.  So, I got this great idea.  I was going to turn a tree ring I had built the previous year into a full blown vegetable garden that would have as much sun as it could get.  This is how it all got started.......

 

 

 This tree was my inspiration....at one time this was all that was here.

 

 

Then that little tree ring turned into this....now mind you this was no easy transformation.  I dug up all of the sod by hand with my trusty little shovel and had to place each border stone with special care. And if you look closely you can see the tree still standing just as it was.

 

 

Then came the plants.....

 

 

 

With all the sun they were getting, they grew very quickly.....towards the end of the season this entire garden was completely full. I had to walk on the outside perimeter to collect the goods as there was absolutely no space in the middle left to navigate around it.

 

 

I harvested many special treats all season long.....squash, tomatoes, onions, and every type of pepper one can imagine.

 

 

I also had a window sill herb garden that combined with the outdoor garden made for some amazing meals.

 

 

This was just one example of the benefits I was able to reap from my harvests....a juicy grilled chicken breast garnished with cilantro, and grilled summer squash with peppers and onions as a side dish.

 

 

And this is the last harvest for the season, and boy was it a good one.  We supposedly have our first possible freeze coming on Saturday, so the garden will be closed for the winter.  I thought about planting a winter crop but opted out to do a little soil work instead.  However, because the crops I planted this year consumed every inch of the garden I built, I already have plans in place to expand it next spring....so while the temperatures fall my brain will be dreaming up and new and improved version of this garden for next year.

 

End of the Season Project

I've been rushing around out in the yard lately trying to get things "Winter Ready".   And I finally managed to get the yards and gardens cleaned up and tidy before the first freeze.  It took some work but for the most part they are ready to go.  And in the process I also managed to finish a project I started a few weeks ago.  My backyard reading/reflecting bench is officially done!!  After hauling all of the blocks one by one by hand I'm whooped but I think it turned out to be really cute.  It will be a great place to read my latest book and spend time star gazing. I'm very proud of it and with a little more landscaping it will be just perfect!!

 This is the finished product.  I have a very cute floral cushion and pillow to place on it, but a thunderstorm was on the way, so I had them in storage.  I also added some solar lights so it would glow at night time.  I can't wait to put it to good use.

During my clean-up I came across this little nugget. Along with the solar lights for the bench, I also placed a couple in the veggie garden I built earlier this year.  I had literally just placed them in the garden when I turned around to find my sweet Gracie like this.  While this is not at all how I intended them to be used, I couldn't help finding it adorable.  I mean how can you get mad at something like that?

 



Adventures in Knitting

Okay so, a little while ago I took up knitting.  I love knitted goods so much that I thought it would be really cool to learn how to make my own.  This being said......it is not the easiest task that I have ever taken on. 

I have officially mastered the "knit stitch" and have become pretty efficient in making scarves.  But because I only know the one stitch they all tend to look the same.  It's time for some diversity.  So with the help of YouTube I am venturing into learning the "Purl" in combination with the "Knit" and I must say my fingers are not exactly cooperating. However I do see some progress, and I think with a little more practice my scarves will eventually have a little extra pizazz to them. 

  My latest creation.....just finished this one yesterday. I love it!!

I am so partial to this one, I decided to model it, haha

 This scarf I made for my nephews 3rd birthday last November....so cute and so tiny.

 

 



This is a scarf I made for my Mother last Christmas....the colors in the yarn were beautiful.....and apparently someone else thought so too, because on one of  my mothers shopping trips someone decided to swipe it from her. 

But as cute as all of these are.....notice the simularites in the stitch?

 

 

 

 

Here's my attempt at something new......baby steps.