A Time of Harvest and Thanksgiving

The end of October is upon us and the holidays are right around the corner. Today brought the beginnings of cool crisp air and leaves crunching under my feet as I walked around the orchard. This has to be one of my favorite times of the year. I thought today with the high winds that pecans would be falling but I'm afraid the drought will bring a very small harvest this year. The last couple evenings I've been able to pick up only handfuls of pecans...gee, maybe I'll have enough for a pie for Thanksgiving.



Now these have my name written on each one of them. I have two Celestial fig trees that are thriving and one Brown Turkey that isn't doing as well as the others. The Celestial trees are loaded with figs. Hopefully, I can get to them before the birds. I'll have to try the 'ol snake in the tree trick...for those of you who don't know, you hang a rubber snake in the tree to deter the birds from coming and getting the figs.



Even the animals are making preparations for the upcoming cold weather. Flocks of geese can be heard overhead as they're making their way south. The horses have their first winter fuzz coming on and, with grass getting sparce, they seem to have a fond attachment to the barn these days looking for handouts of hay and grain and apple treats.















Prissy is back with us so it's nice to have her home. One project we have at the top of the list is getting the stalls completed in the barn. Winter is going to be here before we know it.
Tomorrow I get the house plans back from the draftsman. It's pretty exciting to be able to see my sketch on quilting graph paper come alive to be genuine house plans with an elevation. I can't wait. I'm staying very busy with work, planning and working on the house, sewing and getting ready for some kind of harvest. I am so very blessed. I thank God for every new day that I wake up to, the beauty that I walk out to every day, the sound of the geese above me, that crunch of the leaves under my feet and the feel of the horses winter coat through my fingers. So for everyone out there reading this, take a few minutes, sit back and think of all your blessings...it could be kids in the next room screaming that they don't want to go to bed or a husband who leaves the toilet paper holder with no toilet paper. Yes, you're blessed. Take them out of your life and you will miss it. Did you make it home safely tonight? Are you sitting at home with your loved ones? If you're reading this, you are blessed. You have your sight. My cup runs over and if you think about it, I'm sure yours does too. God's Blessings to all and
Happy Trails...

That's a Lot of Dirt!

I was trying to get a good shot of all this dirt. You can't imagine how much dirt this is til you stand next to it. This is the same spot where I was standing to take the before and after shots of the house site when taking out the trees. We had 25 loads of dirt brought in for the house pad. That's a lot of dirt!

In this picture, you can barely see my truck behind all the dirt. I bet when Buddy gets in tonight, he's going to be chompin' at the bit to get into all that dirt.





Happy Trails...

Annual Weekend

Today is my day for catching up on all my blogging. It seems to take me forever to do this blogging and getting my pictures in my layout but I'll keep on trying. I can't leave out my annual weekend of watching Theresa's kids while she and Ken go on their annual anniversary trip. Each year one of them chooses how to celebrate their anniversary without the other's knowledge until the day of or unless one let's it slip out. It's really neat to see where they are in their lives at the time. I can remember keeping Ashlyn when she was only 5 months old and then last year when Theresa was pregnant with Kenley. Yes, that was a "not too far away from home" trip. And then this year when I had not only Ashlyn and Kenley but Julia, their foreign exchange student from Germany. She was a dear and a lifesaver. Now I know why Theresa has everyone on such a strict schedule...my goodness, one has to be here, go pick up another, put this one down for a nap, pick up this one, feed this one, pick up the other one and then feed them all and finally, put them to bed.. aahhh... It was great but I have to admit, Nana was exhausted after four days. This is why God makes mothers and then makes grandmas.

Julia's new haircut. She came to the States with long hair and she keeps getting it cut shorter and shorter to a now fashionable swing.

Oh, look! They all have a fashionable swing haircut!

And my little angel baby being entertained by her big sister.

My dear, sweet Ashlyn. She was a big help too! Thank you Ashlyn for your big bundle of energy running up and down the stairs for me. This was one of her quiet times...they were few.

How can one Nana be so blessed! Unless you're a grandma, it's hard to describe the delight from a soft breath against your neck or the back of a babies head cupped in your hand during the night. What a wonderful feeling when a three year old asks you "what's that?" when pointing but being ever so careful not to touch the "chicken skin" on your throat. Oh, yes, there's joy in getting older and being a grandma. Thank you Theresa and Ken for letting me have those memories as you two have yours. Happy Anniversary and

Happy Trails...

All In The Family

Luke and Kim brought Riley over to watch his PawPaw bulldoze trees to make ready the house site. Riley immediately climbed up on the dozer with PawPaw...of course PawPaw had to let him move levers and knobs and whatever else is up there on a bulldozer. He was having a blast. Then it grew into his Daddy wanting to play with the big boy toys.

Then Luke wanted Kim to join in...this has just got to be a man thing about getting up on a bulldozer but Kim was a sport about it.

Oh, yes, this is more Kim's style. She surely would rather climb up on a horse than a bulldozer...

I know one little boy that had a good day and went home very, very tired.
Happy Trails...

Work on the Road and House Site

What progress! Wow, so many of the "t0-do's" checked off our list the past several days. The dozer moved in and Buddy did what he does so well...create a work of art. His maneuvering the dozer is like watching an artist with a paintbrush. It's amazing.





All the dirt piles brought in last spring to fill in low spots have been spread out.

The rock was hauled in for the road.

After measuring and moving stakes several times, we finally decided on the exact location for our house. This is the before picture.

Then it came time to take out trees to accomodate for the house and carport. This was emotionally hard for Buddy to do. He does this every day but he still hates taking out trees.

Of course, Riley Joe had to help his PawPaw run the dozer and get the blade just where he wanted it. I'll post more pictures later of Riley helping out.
This is the picture after the trees have been taken out.

Ta-Da!!! Done! Now we're ready for more dirt for the house pad. He just loves playing in the dirt with the big toys.

Happy Trails...