Goodbye August ....

... can't say I'll miss ya much!

It seems so inconceivable that just a few short months ago I was complaining about the cold and wet.  I was soooo tired of being COLD and WET .. looking forward to WARMER weather ..

Just like every year, it is now August and we are tired of heat indexes up in the triple digits and we need rain.  It is sooo thick with humidity and heat that every breath becomes a struggle .. being outside is just miserable.

Those few not-so-hot-and-humid days we had last week really has me longing for cooler days.  All the animals were feeling it .. being frisky .. showing visible signs of relief in their activity level and food intake.  I know they, too, will be relieved to be done with this heat.

There were fall garden plants at the feed store yesterday.  I looked at our garden area (still producing okra like crazy) and imagined how we will arrange the fall plants and recognize our need to do a better job of protecting them. 

School has started, September is here, cooler weather and the holidays are around the corner.  I'm eyeballing my fall decorations .. when is too early to put them out??  Mine start making an appearance and the first sign of cooler weather.

Ah ..... cooler weather.

So, GOODBYE AUGUST.  See ya next year!

I'm just going to say it ..

I never wanted to live in the woods.  Especially not the PINEY woods.  You can't GROW anything or GRAZE anything under the shade of pine trees.  My horse still lives about 40 miles away.  You can't see the sun rise ..  or set.   The ground is uneven, and there is so much to trip on.  Hoses get snagged on every tree, stump, youpon.  All those trees are REALLY generous about "sharing" their leaves and branches....  all over the yard and everywhere, creating great places for scorpions and snakes to hide.  They are great places for spiders to make their webs in between .. at just the perfect height to catch you across the face.  Trees make great hiding places for all those chicken-eating predators.  Nope.  I never wanted to live in the woods.

Having said that ... I'm discovering a certain beauty in the woods.

Leaving 50 ft or so of heavy woods at the front of your property is a GREAT buffer for all the nosey neighbors that are just itchin' to know what you're doing up that windy little driveway.  Although I love watching the sun rise, it is nice to have a couple more hours in the morning to enjoy the front porch, before the sun starts beating down in the front yard.  Shade is a good thing in 90+ degree weather.

Birds LOVE the woods.  We have hummingbirds, tufted tit-mouse, carolina wrens, carolina chickadees, cardinals, blue jays, various kinds of woodpeckers, several varieties of hawks, and lots of buzzards.  I love listening to and watching the birds in the mornings and evenings.

Deer love the woods.  We frequently see deer passing through.  (Ask me again if this is a positive when they discover the little piece of land me managed to grow a garden on.)

When a storm is brewing, there is something kinda magical about the noise the trees make when their branches are banging and brushing up against each other.  (Of course, the whole while, they are "sharing" their leaves and little branches all over the place!)

I have discovered that it takes less sun to grow some things in a garden.  We did manage to plot out a patch of garden on the south side of the house that gets full sun for several hours during the day.  We have eaten okra and cucumbers out of that garden already.

I know in time the ground will become more level, as we remove all the little stumps, vines, and youpon.  I know in time we'll have an area in the back that will be somewhat pine tree free and able to grow a little grass.  I know in time that I'll be able to step out the back door and see the prettiest horse in the world staring back at me.

I know there is beauty in all of God's creation .. and the beauty of this piece of woods is where I call home.

Off to College ...

.. No, not ME ...  my daughter.  And, well, not really "OFF" to college .. she is living at home and driving to community college.  But, she IS taking 14 credit hours, so it IS a full credit load! 

I'm so proud of her.

Of course, the real shocker came a few weeks ago when we discovered that we are OUT-of DISTRICT for the community college in our own community **rolls eyes** ..  And then, of course, there were BOOKS .. eeeeeeek!

At any rate, I'm excited for her and can't wait to hear all about her day!

I love you Shannon!

Many thanks to Tiffany!

Thank you, Tiffany for helping to inspire me to start a blog..  and more importantly for helping design it for me!  You rock, Sista!!

So now we begin ................