My Poor Garden

As you will shortly see, the following pictures will show how badly my gardening experience is going up here.  I'm not even counting the fact that my dad is pulling the biggest, ripest, most successful crop of tomatoes he's had in history!  I've hardly just put mine in the ground.  But it doesn't matter.

The wind, the dog, the cat, the wind...they are all my enemies when it comes to my garden.



I have planted a few Lantana plants and so far two out of three are hanging on.

Hardly hanging in there.

Here's my hope.  I'm hoping it has a will to live.

 Here's an example one of my enemies.  The wind...it blows much.  It blows hard.  It blows nonstop!  As a matter of fact, I can hear it slamming against my window right now as I am writing.  It blows stinging sand at your feet and grit in your mouth. 

It kills my pepper plants.

 It kills my tomato plants.

 My one tomato plant that may have a chance.  That is if I can keep the dang Cat from thinking the garden is a litter box.  Hence the pine cones.  A woman told me it helps to keep the cats out.  I also sprinkled Tabasco sauce all over the garden which seemed to help but when I water or it rains, it goes away.  Sigh!

 This is one of my tomato plants that did not survive the wind.  I planted a few in different places just in case they didn't like where they were.  This one was in a container.  First one to die.

Morning glory I think.  I had a ton of it come up last year except I didn't know what it was so I kept pulling it up thinking it was a weed (which I guess it could technically be considered that because apparently NOTHING kills it).  So it's either Morning glory or a weed.  It's pretty much the only thing I can grow so I hate to pull it up.

 This is one of my bigger problems.  This was actually one of the pepper plants that was withstanding the wind.  Maybe it's because it has so many holes, the wind blows through the leaves instead of whipping them around.

Aha!  This may be one of my biggest problems!  GRASSHOPPERS!!!!  Last year they stripped everything.  Even our bushes.  And they just continue to get bigger and eat more.

 And then there's this matter.  Dang Cat!!!  Doesn't matter how many times I swat him with my flip flop he has no respect for my boundaries!!!

Or this guys boundaries!!!!

As you can see, our grass has no problem growing.  Much to the boy's dismay!!  Heehee!

Lotza Meatza and Incredibly Sweet Moments

So along with the crazy, busy-ness of the end of the school year crud going on...I have volunteered to cook 60 lbs of brisket this weekend for the upcoming Band Banquet.  I actually didn't volunteer to cook 60 lbs.  I thought it would be like 20 to 40 lbs.  That is all I have to say about that! 

I celebrated Mother's Day with all four of my babies and my sweet husband.  It was nearly perfect.  I missed my own mother terribly.  It was compounded by the fact that my siblings and grandmother got  together to celebrate the incredible job (if I do say so myself) that my mother (and father) did and to appreciate the fact that we (and she) survived four teenagers (which I can say I appreciate more so now that I currently HAVE four teenagers) without me. 

I am homesick now more than I've ever been.

I'm very excited about my daughter coming home from college for the summer.  She will be here while she goes next semester also.  My heart sings!   I get her a little longer...

I just fussed at my son (who has Dyslexia) to "put the book away and finish it tomorrow--I'm not kidding Mister"!!!  He argued that he was not at a stopping point and had only 10 pages to go and can we please get the second book because he is going to be done with this one?  I fussed a little more at him and told him to finish it tomorrow---LAST WARNING!...but did so with a secret smile on my face.  I am so proud of him my heart can hardly contain it!

My youngest son begs me to take steroids (jokingly--sorta) because he hates that he is so skinny and small.  I repeatedly tell him in no time he will be taller and bigger than all of his brothers and father.  Secretly, I relish the fact that he is still my little boy for a little while longer.

So I'm off to sleep so I can dream about marinating slabs of beef while my open window allows a cool, soft breeze to fill my room with the smell of outside.  The crickets are softly sing me to sleep... 

And I love living in the country.

What We've Been Up To

So you may have heard we've had a few weather problems lately.  Weather problems would depend on where you live and what kind of weather you're getting.  Our weather problems where we live include no rain since the middle of November.  None...zilch...nada.  The other half of the state is getting slammed with storms, hail and tornadoes.  Go figure.

We are also dealing with wild fires as the winds have been  violently blowing.  In fact, I had a thought today, "I remember when I thought 20 mph winds were high!" If you've been in wind where gusts are over 65 mph, 20 mph winds are a breeze...hehe...sorry...couldn't resist!

It's hard to try to capture the awesome power of the wind through a picture.  It just doesn't show the violence.  In this picture you can sort of see the leaves blowing.  And by the way, check out my dog.  He loves the wind.  He's so brave.

 Here's my porch with metal chairs.  It leads to the garage.  But wait...something is amiss...

 Can you just imagine for a second how hard the dang wind must blow to blow a metal chair up against the house on the porch into the garage!!!!  The day after, we went around and picked up all the nails from the shingles torn from the roof.  We picked up the metal roof vent that was ripped off the church next door to us and gently laid it at their door.  May I mention also that there is a thick layer of dirt on everything in my house?

Earlier you saw my sweet dog Buzz, bravely fighting the harsh wind. Well, here is our mighty hunter Rex. We got him and his sister a while back and shortly after having Trixie fixed, she disappeared. (sad pause)
Well, Rex has stuck around and not abandoned us mainly because we hadn't had him fixed yet...that is until last weekend...

He still is not speaking to us.  "Rex?  Rexie?  We love ya pal!  We are so proud of the dead mouse you killed in the shed and we are all depending on you to keep the spiders and bugs and other creepy crawlies out of the house".  Sigh. He won't even look at us without glaring!   At least he  has decided for the time being he will not abandon us despite "de-manning" him. 

 This is Roxy, our new addition.  She was kinda, sorta given/loaned to us for an undetermined amount of time.  I have to admit this girl has stolen my heart.  It's been reported in the past that I am deathly afraid of horses.  And while I am still getting to know her and trying to gain a little self confidence I am totally taken with her.  I love her!  I actually get on Roxy and ride her...by myself.

Of course you remember Buttercup.  She's just a baby so we asked around and found  a really great horse trainer who not only is training Buttercup but us as well.  She's coming along well in her training and is allowing people to ride her. He has taken her to his place so he can work with her as much as possible and last night we drove out there to see how she's doing and she was giving a baby girl a ride!  I'd say she's almost ready. 

 Here's Brandon riding Roxy, who is already broke and we are using her to become more comfortable with riding.  She's been a real trooper. 

 Did I mention I love her? But alas, I can not lie.  There is a person right in front of her that she is following dutifully.  But he did drop the lead rope after a few times around the pen and the next time I rode her I didn't need no stinkin' guide!  But I made sure someone was close just in case I (she) started freaking out (bucking, jumping, running, trotting, shaking, etc....) 

 Something else we've discovered...roping!  Here they are practicing and working it out with the rope. 

Now nothing around this house is safe! Please note I didn't take pictures of the boys roping each other around the ankles.

Oh Brandon

Today my oldest boy turned 16.  A few things I've learned about 16 year old boys:

• they can't wait to drive
• they get their days and nights confused
• they eat their weight at least 3 times a day
• they can sleep 20 hours a day if allowed
• they obsess about driving
• they are very, very strong

Well my 16 year old is no different.  He's actually who I learned most of this info from.  I guess this info could be used to describe 15 year olds better since he's only been 16 less than 24 hours.

Allow me to tell you a little about my Brandon.

 When he was a baby he was born with a head full of thick hair unlike his sister who was bald until the age of two.  When he was older, he would play for hours at a time lining up his metal Hot Wheel cars--or "Go-Go's" as he called them--in long lines around the house.  He was a good baby who threw up all the time.  And I don't mean a little spit up.  I'm talking projectile vomiting across the room.  It was heaven I tell ya.

 He used to grind his teeth at night and probably still does. He was also a cuddle bug and was always willing to give ya some lovin'. 

 As he got older, he developed his own personality.  He took his job as big brother very seriously and still does.  He feels it is his duty as a big brother to torture his little brother's endlessly in any way, form, and fashion.  This in turn drives his mother crazy as her youngest children constantly tattle and battle the older brother's constant teasing.

 The down side to his teasing is he thinks nothing of directing this teasing towards his beloved mother!  Endlessly!  Again...Heaven!  Seriously, he is so tender-hearted.  He is quick to take notice when someone is upset and tries to make them feel better and he is the first to apologize if he hurts someones feelings (well...except his brother's).

 He rubbs my shoulders almost daily (without being asked) and practically does anything we tell him to do.  He takes on a lot of responsibility and hardly complains about anything.  He's a darn hard worker and applies himself to whatever he takes on--even picking up horse poo--which he hates almost more than anything!

 He is very laid back, calm, soft spoken, and relaxed.  He's very comfortable around people and is confident in who he is.  He's not afraid to try new things and is usually pretty good at whatever he tries.  He loves to play the drums, computer games and ride the 4 wheeler.

His new challenge is learning to work with horses.  He has the privilege of working with a very gifted horse trainer who has taken Brandon under his wing. As usual, Brandon has applied himself wholly and doing very well.  For his birthday, he asked for a pair of boots. And an ipod. And a truck. So we bought him the boots. And moments after we got home...this is what walked out of his room:

Honestly, I hardly recognized him!  So can I just say I'm sorry right now?  I'm sorry to all the mother's who will nurse their daughter's broken hearts in the next coming years.  I'm so sorry. 

 

I'm so proud and honored to be his momma.

Happy Birthday Baby.

Wind Anyone?

So up here round these parts there seems to be alot of wind.  Alot.  I mean....ALOT.  Which would be great if you were say...a wind farmer. Or invested in wind technology.  But I'm not a wind farmer.  And as far as I know, we haven't invested in wind...yet.

But we did get the boys a trampoline for Christmas.  It's their third one to date and when our kids ask us for fun things like four wheelers and trampolines and BB Guns...we say YES!!  YES!!!  Cuz that's the kind of parents we are!  Fun lovin', dare devlin', breathe-through-the-pain kind of parents. Well, not me.  I'm the nail biter, freakazoid mom in the back ground yelling "Be careful!!" and "Wear your helmet!" and "Don't shoot your eye out!!!  as well as the dreaded, "The last thing I want to do on a Friday night is spend the evening in the ER" phrase as they jump, speed, wrestle, and shoot!

 So the wind...she blows.  She blows hard. So hard in fact, that when we shared our Christmas buy with locals, we were warned about securing the trampoline and heard various stories.  Stories like, "We bent re-bar around those bars and our trampoline still ended up upside down in a tree". 

 So instead of re-bar, my husband decided to use dog stakes.  They actually screw into the ground.

 They screw deep.  He then attached a chain to the top bar.

One on each side of the trampoline.  Seems to be doing the trick.  Not once have we walked out and found our beloved trampoline in  the tree.

 Chains are strong and steady. Wind proof so it seems.  25 to 40 mile per hour winds.

 Roof shingles apparently are not. We've had some winds with almost 45 to 50 mph gusts.  Roof shingles do not like winds that high.

 Neither do clothes lines. After a hard winter with cold winds they got a little saggy.  Saggy lines just won't do.  Saggy clothes lines have no room here.  Saggy clothes lines remind me too much...oh never mind!

 So after much nagging encouragement from me, my husband and boys came up with a brilliant idea to keep all most types of sagging lines from sneaking up on us. Saggy lines just can't handle the load...hahahahaaa. 

 He used a clamp thingy and attached it to the line so now when she starts to get a little...saggy, alls I have to do is start cranking.  Sigh...don't we wish it were just that easy? 

 Ta-da!!  Tight, straight lines once again!

And yes...I do wish it were that easy!!!  Ahem!!!

Angel Kiss

Once upon a time there a sweet, little boy that was born with a little spot on his right cheek.  The spot on his little cheek was where an angel kissed him when he was sent from Heaven.  The angels would miss him so much when he came to be with his mommy, they couldn't resist a little kiss good bye.

 As the boy got older, his mommy reminded him about his Angel Kiss when he asked.  It didn't seem to bother him too much until he noticed that at school, the other kids would ask him about his angel kiss.

 He was still a sweet boy.  He loved sports and family.  He liked to make friends and spend alot of time outside playing with them.  But he noticed as he got older that the Angel Kiss was getting darker.  And he began to feel different from other kids.  And he started to feel embarrassed to be around other people because they would stare or look away quickly.

His mommy would feel sad because she knew he was special but she did not want her boy to feel bad and feel different.  So she started watching the way he was treated and started talking to the boy about removing the Angel Kiss if he wanted. The boy's mommy saw that he was shy around others.  He was very quite and tried to hide his Angel Kiss behind long hair and hats and he would duck his head.

 He said he wanted to remove it and they went to a very nice doctor who said it probably was a good idea to remove it because when he got much older and became a man, there was a good chance the Angel Kiss could become dangerous.  

 

So after a morning in surgery, the boy's Angel Kiss was removed.  The mommy was a little sad as she remembered when the boy was a baby and she would kiss the Angel Kiss. 

But now the boy is happy.  He is more outgoing, he talks more, and he is joking more.  He feels more confident and in just a short week, he has healed so quickly and clean.  It looks wonderful and when his mommy looks at him, after seeing him for 14 years with his Angel Kiss, she tries to remember what is different because he looks slightly like the baby with the Angel Kiss.  And the mommy is sad for only a moment until she sees how happy the boy is and how handsome the boy is.  And she knows that even thought the Angel Kiss is no longer showing on his face, he still is a special boy with an Angel Kiss on his heart that will never be removed.

The End

This Bucking Horse

 Now that the weather is getting warmer, we are starting to get Buttercup trained.  This is also known as breaking a horse.  She's only 2 yrs so we start by putting a blanket on her and after a while she behaves so well we try a saddle on her.  She doesn't even react to the saddle on her back and after a chunk of time goes by smoothly, we try to a kiddo.  The lightest of us right now is my Trey.

 Little do we know, we have fast forwarded about a month's time in getting a horse ready to ride.  Little did we know...

 So here is Trey riding Buttercup.  She's doing so well!  Nice and gentle.

 They are both doing such a good job.

 Dad is leading and so far so good. 

 Buttercup gets loving and rewards from Dennis for doing such a great job. 

 She did such a great job, we try a little more.  What's the harm?  She's doing great...

 Yay Ryan!!  The wind is starting to pick up a little here.  And so far, everything is going so well.  Usually it takes about 2 or 3 months I guess to get to this point.  Our smart horse is doing so good, she managed all of this in about 4 hours!

 Hi Ryan!!!  Doing great buddy!  So good in fact that we decided to take her out of the corral and into the fenced line. Looking back, that may have not been the best plan...

 The wind blew Dennis' hat off and she missed her footing.  Next thing we knew...Ryan was bucked off!  He's fine thankfully!  And after I assured myself he was fine, I remember to snap some photos.  Cuz that's what I do!

 She bucked, and she bucked, and she ran, and her saddle twisted.  That spooked her even more and she kept stumbling on her saddle. 

 She finally cornered herself in the corral and Dennis calmed her enough to slip her saddle off.

 Poor thing.  She sure had a scare.  And we did too!  Dennis got her settled and calmed a little.  We loved on her and learned a thing or two.

 Bucking horses are not fun.  Bucking horses are scary and powerful and unpredictable.  Don't worry though.  We got her hooves fixed and called in a professional.  Buttercup is being trained and we are also.  As the trainer teaches her, he teaches us as well.  All turned out okay thankfully!

Then a few of us (who shall remain un-named) may have gone inside and changed their pants.