::Drop-Off Dogs ::

In February...we lost our favorite mutt, Gracie in a freak accident.

She was a favorite...

born here, the pup of a VERY PREGNANT stray that had been dropped off; we found homes for all of them including the mom. We had Gracie for about 8 years. 

T.H. and I have been talking...and agreed that we won't be getting anymore dogs after Trouble is gone...

Since February...our boxer "Trouble" has been lonely. She is top dog now...and fully lives up to her name. We got Trouble when my daughter adopted her right after graduating high school.  ALSO about 8 years ago. She was a POUND PUPPY--- the Pound waived the adoption fee and they paid for  SPAYING Trouble too... because she was dropped off  pregnant at the pound;My daughter adopted her and took the pups until they weaned and returned them to the pound for adoption --with the terms mentioned previously. 

After a few years of living away, my daughter brought her back here while she lived next door -- we ended up keeping her after they moved into their new house. Because well, she's 10 years old now...and this is her home. 

But she gets lonely. 

THAT ALL CHANGED MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND! 

Meet "Buster"

Another drop-off  dog. 

We woke up Saturday and didn't notice him until after noon sometime. 

He has a problem with his back leg. Not sure if it's sprained or what ...it's not swollen, he doesn't cry or wince like he has pain. Probably needs an X-ray. 

I really don't have the money for a vet visit right now.  

We did get his puppy shots from the feed store and gave those to him. 

As soon as the county has their Once-A-Month clinic...I can get him his $8 rabies shot...

Now we're saving up for Neutering... ssshhh! 

Don't tell BUSTER. 

He took to us right away... 

Trouble doesn't seem to mind him being around either. He helps her to get a little bit of exercise in the yard. However, She gets a little testy around the food bowl; but he'll learn his place. 

Yes... we're keeping him. 

Look at that face! 

He doesn't know his name yet... but, he will "get it" and bring "It" back... with a tennis ball or a stick!
That was only after a couple of sessions with him.

FYI: we checked the little 'mom and pop' gas station for any postings for a missing dog in the area. 

But, I'm pretty sure he's a drop-off dog.  That is what people do out here... they find a yard with toys in it...and drop the dog off in the dark of night; In hopes that some little child will find the pup and not be able to resist keeping it.  I can't help but wonder if BUSTER'S leg was injured in the drop off... our TOSS OUT.  

I told T.H. ... I'd be afraid to see what happens if we had a sign out front that said : 

Oma's and Honey's No Kill Shelter

We'd have more dogs than you could shake a stick at! 

*** I don't mean for this to be a PSA... 

but people please Spay and Neuter your pets.

It's raining Cats and Dogs out there! 

MHC & A Favorite Thing

Draw near unto the LORD and He will draw near unto you. ~ James 4:8

:: The Broccoli Bed--Bolting ::

I wanted to show you the small patch of broccoli that I grew this year.
In previous years, I've grown broccoli...but started in the winter months, late winter and grew the broccoli during the spring and was finished by the time the heat set in here in Texas.

This photo the broccoli are leaning a bit...I took this after a rain storm and the wind...tilted my broccoli! I fairly certain I should plant a little deeper next time. 

This year however, I didn't get my broccoli in the ground until the Spring; and while we had a nice cool, rainy spring... we did have some warm days and the broccoli began bolt.

If you're unfamiliar with what bolting is, plain and simple--- it begins flowering and using the energy  it has to make seeds for the next generation of plants.

All broccoli is, when you buy it in the produce stands are flower heads without the blooms.  Now, typically when I'm growing broccoli I leave it alone after the the first few cuttings and the plant makes off shoots of broccoli. I'm able to cut those and eat them.

This year, due to the heat, I just didn't get that many heads of broccoli.

 This is what the broccoli looked like after it began flowering... It just continued to grow out and become a little bit leggy.

Never fear. I learned this year that while you're out in your garden harvest veggies for a salad;  go ahead and pinch off a few of these flowers and throw them in the salad too! Or... just pinch them off and eat them!

They taste just like broccoli!

Once the flowers are gone...the plant puts off seed pods 

 Not sure what this little orange and black bug is...but I'm pretty sure he is the one that made all the holes in the leaves... munching away on my broccoli. I didn't even know I got a picture of it... actually, that is my knee in the background...Bree, my junior gardener, must have taken this one. 
You just never know with that girl!!! :) 

I'm getting ready to harvest these broccoli seeds. I'll be saving them for the fall! 

I found a way to do this, I'm hoping to give it a try. 

You just place a paper sack over the seed pods tie it off with a string or rubber band, once dried you just cut it loose and give it a shake...the seeds fall right into the bag! 

easy peasy! 

Linking here: 

deborah jeans dandelion house

Sunny Simple Life

My Simple Country Living

Draw near unto the LORD and He will draw near unto you. ~ James 4:8

 

:: Frugal Fodder-21- Party for Pennies -or- CARS Themed Birthday Party ::

This is a post from last week--- doing some draft and photo clean up! :)

We started out the week  with a birthday party for Easton...

His birthday isn't for another couple of weeks...but the timing was perfect for Momma since she had 3 weeks out of Nursing School.

He's going to be 3...he doesn't care what day we have it on...just as long as 'CARS' ARE INVOLVED!!! 

 As always my daughter usually makes the decorations to save money and puts together a cute party for pennies!

 Dollar Tree table plastic table cloths and yellow electrical tape  makes a cute table and a nice place to drop gifts.
The signs were everywhere... this was definitely a CARS themed party!!!

"E" for Easton! 

 The little crochet rug was something she made for his older brother  a couple of years ago for his birthday... made a nice center piece on the coffee table.  The kids loved it!


She got her mileage out of the DUCT TAPE ROLL, TOO...

Even the bottled water--got a make over with some checked duct tape.... and fit right in with the theme.

 The winners circle... the cupcakes she made and for toppers...again DUCT TAPE CHECKERED FLAGS  and a cheap set of left over invitations with the Character Cut out... for cupcake pokes!

We had thought there would be a bounce house...but opted out.  The weather had been bit cool...but in the end, the pool was ready for swimmers. So instead of bouncing we enjoyed some time splashing around instead!

We had a blast!

I'm just curious. I know there are those...that would just rather not have a party at home.  We either had a small party and gathering when my kids were little or we celebrated with birthday dinners (especially once the kids were older)

• Do people mostly do birthday parties for kids...AT HOME ? Or Do people prefer the Pizza Party places and Recreational Facilities ...or McD's for parties still? 

• If you have a party at home is it...as an option for saving money? ...OR Just personal preference? 

What are your thoughts on Home parties for kids  vs.  Event Room type parties (and all the stimulation a child can stand)? 

The grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. ~Philippians 4:23 

:Glimpse of My Week::

Friday a week ago... I had a dentist appointment. 

I hate dentists. 

No. 

I. don't. hate. dentists.    ... they're people too! 

I hate going to see the dentist. 

I'm terrified.  

 AFTER I HAD A LITTLE OF THE GAS... I had the extraction.

Was handed 2 prescriptions... a bag of wonderful little pick me ups...

1 can of chicken noodle soup

1 snack pack of pudding

1 snack pack of apple sauce 

1 tea bag-- gauze and 2 individual packs of ibuprofen

 (to take before I get the prescriptions filled...just in case) 

Over all... it was OK.   :/

Then I began having a reaction to one of the prescriptions. 

Shortness of breath. 

Severe Dizziness. 

BUT I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS A REACTION! 

That started my week. 

That was just the start. 

I'm terrified of dentist. 

I also don't like storms. 

I'm terrified. 

Tuesday in the aftermath of the storms that ravaged  Moore, OK, on Monday... 

It was time to clean out and prep the storm cellar. That involved 'tight confined space', humidity, dirt and dust... Shortness of breath and Severe Dizziness. 

At this point I don't know I'm having an allergic reaction to meds... I just think I'm sick or something. ...Perhaps its the storm cellar. 

LOL!  I know...crazy! 

Must find matches...and fresh candles...  oh! and the dirt dobbers have clogged up the fresh air vents on the cellar. 

That had to cleaned out and new screen put in place to keep them out! 

Must have fresh air! 

Left all that for T.H. to do... I'm Dizzy and short of breath... must go sit down. 

 Moving on... The chickens are cooped up. 

Their pen is a tight confined space...humidity, dirt and dust...much the same. 

They don't like it anymore than I do.... but something is trying to eat them all 

One by One.  

I'll just get the eggs and do their feed... I'll come back when I'm feeling better to do some clean up. 

Thursday... tooth is feeling much better. (well...the hole where the tooth once was) Is feeling much better. Wonder why my chest is so tight?... having a tough time breathing... and I keep getting dizzy. 

What is up with that...??? This is so annoying!!! 

Note to self... read warning label that came with meds. 

Yeah... I'll do that.  Should probably check my glucose too. 

In the mean time. 

Sit outside...get fresh air. 

Watch while dear daughter and hubby paint the boys' play gym. 

Ah! ...John Deere green ...and yellow! 

I love it! 

THE BOYS LOVE IT... 

EVERYBODY LOVES IT. 

Friday:  spent the day alone with this little girl. 

T.H. was gone to work with her dad... doing some clean up on a job. 

Those binoculars are as big as her head... :) 

She is playing  "I spy..." and I am taking her picture...

We're having fun! 

Walking around the yard... taking pictures, getting fresh air... not walking too fast...still kind of dizzy.

Oh yeah... I forgot to take my anti-biotic... 

Done! 

Whoa! ... I'm feeling pretty dizzy! 

I think I'll sit down and read that insert....

FINALLY, 1 WEEK LATER!!! 

Yes... by now all of you would have figured out... Hey...I bet you'r allergic to the antibiotic the dentist gave you! 

Me?! Naw!?

I'm not allergic!!! 

I quit taking them on Friday...I had 3 1/2 days left... but oh my goodness! That was the worst thing ever!!! 

 I'm finally starting to feel better. 

Today we went to the back of the property and found this.... 

two huge trees down, from A storm we got on Wednesday. 

Straight line winds did this! 

The sad part is... I think it blew over my china berry tree in there too. 

I've been waiting on that tree to bloom so I can watch for it and then harvest berries in the later summer months!  I want to try and make soap with the soap berries! 

This picture is behind me as I'm taking a picture of the down trees... You can't really see it...but the grove of trees in the upper portion of this photo...are young china berry trees...supposed to be Western Soap berry Trees!! We'll see. 

That! my friends.... was just part of my crazy week! 

...and probably way more than you ever wanted to know, too! 

If you stuck it out this long...and finished. 

Truly... You're a jewel. 

And I Appreciate 'cha! 

The grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. ~ Philippians 4:23

:: Birds of Prey ...OR CHICKEN EATERS! ::

Something has taken to eating chickens...
We've lost 4 in the last 2 1/2 weeks.

• 3 pullets 
• 1 grown hen (Gracie)  my cute and fluffy little Barred Rock. :(  

• This is Gracie chicken on the left in this photo... 

I am not happy about that folks!  

So... they are COOPED FOR NOW... I don't like it. I'd like my chickens to be able to free range... they are happy when they are strutting around the yard, having a fill crickets and grasshoppers, worms and other creepy crawlies...that they love to munch on and fill their gullets! 

This guy has been blamed for lots of things in the past...one of them being my dirty dishes... yes, I know ...LAME, but true!



While I can't be certain it's him...or her; because now I've heard them in the trees near my neighbors pond, obviously a nest.

 I've figured, apparently Red Tail Hawks are good parents for these reasons :

• They nest near local groceries
• They nest near a good water source (my neighbors pond)
• They live obscurely...making it safe for their children.
• They eat well...ehem! 

This is another bird that has been spotted a lot recently around the neighborhood and country side.
It is a Caracara ...it is said that this bird eats carrion and prey.  They are known to travel with Turkey Vultures...in fact I've seen a couple in my yard a year or two ago  after T.H. had to kill a huge snapping turtle. The Vultures came to clean it up...like they're supposed to do and a couple of these guys came along for the feast.



They also eat small animals, like rats, field mice, rabbits, and small nesting birds. (...pullets, perhaps?)

We've had a couple of these guys on our property before also... they cleaned up the RAT problem we had about 5 years ago... HUGE RATS out in the fields... the worst I'd ever seen... Gone now.
On occasion I still hear the Horned Owl off in a tree somewhere, but I don't see them much.



Am I upset by any of this?  Yes, upset that the order of things around our little homestead is being intruded upon. But at the same time... these birds have to eat too.  I didn't get chickens so that I can supply feed for the local wildlife. But it is what it is...and that is a little bit frustrating.

 I've not actually seen a chicken abduction in progress... So I can't say who , in fact,  is the guilty bird; I'm having to only let the chickens out mid- morning and making sure they coop by dusk (which they usually do). It's the pullets that won't coop. I've had to enclose them ALL going on DAY 3 now...so that when they do finally get let out in a week or so, they'll know to go inside as a whole flock!

Safety first citizens!



Sunny Simple Life



 The grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. ~ Philippians 4:23 




The first image is mine...taken in my yard. You may go directly to the source by clicking on the last two images... thanks! 

:: My Thoughts on Mother's Day and How I Spent It ::

Mother's Day-- I spent the day with The Honey (T.H.)

I didn't see my children...(well I saw both my boys for a few minutes) but that's about it.
I'm TOTALLY  OK with that.

Here are my thoughts on Mother's Day. 

It's over rated. I'm not that much into holidays or events where the emphasis is mainly obligatory, or dictated by a calendar.  I'm confident in my mothering skills. I have only a few regrets, when I reflect upon, how I raised my children. The biggest being ...not teaching 'The Fear of the LORD' to them more soundly.  When I do reflect and I begin to dwell on parenting mistakes... I'm reminded that God's Grace abounds much more than my sin (and my ignorance) in that area.  

Please don't mis understand. I LOVE BEING A MOTHER AND...I do not think Motherhood is over rated. Parenting children, whether they are your biological children or not OR perhaps someone else had them; and you had a part in raising them, for whatever reason, is both a big responsibility and an honor. 

I just think a day set aside for that...is silly.  If honor is due them... don't wait for a calendar or Commercial Sales Event to show it. 

With all that being said... TH and I planned to be busy on Mother's Day...and we had ourselves a little fun. Without our kids. :)



We took a train ride. We're not train enthusiasists... but we thought it would be fun; and it was!

I took lots of pictures and I even fiddled with the timer and snapped a few pictures of TH and Myself, so the ones of us are from weird angles (like the one below)

This one another lady took for us...we exchanged cameras with her and took pictures of her family too. Sometimes all you need to do is ask. 

Before the train departed. 

Engine 316 

Car #70 (it was open air car...the weather was exceptional) 

The ride was about 1-1/2 hours long. 

We passed a train coming from Rusk,TX 

I had walked to the front of our car to the platform (seen above where the stairs are) in just the knick of time and got the photos below of us passing Engine #300

Once in Rusk we had about another 1-1/2 for lunch and walking around the State Park. 

You could take a lunch--but we bought one instead. 

The picnic tables looked out over the lake. 

The bottom right photo shows a little house across the lake-- on the State Park property. 

I could totally live there. 

This Cyprus tree was near our picnic table...the Cyprus Knees were poking out of the water. 

So cool. 

This is after lunch...when I started playing around with the timer on my snap and shoot. I found a window ledge and snapped a couple of photos in between the buildings.  

The Historical Marker---telling about the Short Rail Line built by the prisoners and supervised by the state prison system, in the 1880's. 

The Engineer and Myself! 

I video taped him telling some bystanders all about Steam Engines and how they work.

AND THEN...  I accidentally deleted it. Ooops! 

That train Engine is HUGE! 

Our seats were wooden... I carried a bag with two cushions for us. I think we're the only one that did. You could only have one bag each. 

While we sat on our cushions, I had my small bag in the big bag...more room for our feet. 

Coming back I snapped a better photo of the TURNTABLE... in Maydelle, TX.  The only town we actually traveled through closely. 

~"Famous" 1890's Turntable ~ 

It's for turning an Engine around to head back the other direction. 

I didn't see this one in action...

but it does still work. 

This train travels through a Texas State Forest and Wild Life Reserve and the train actually travels over The Neches River...it was flowing nicely that day. 

The Pine trees were so TALL... so close like you could reach out and touch them! 

you're not supposed to stick you hands out the window...but I leaned out anyway. 

I took this  photo heading back...this time CAR #70 WAS THE CABOOSE. 

I love seeing the Engine up there chugging around the bend. 

Back at the station... 

we pulled up right next to the water tower...with all the bells and lights. 

I had a great time. 

Totally enjoyed it. 

The grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. ~ Philippians 4:23 

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The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. ~ Ecclesiastes 12:13