Time out Thursdays

The farm has quite a collection of bird houses.

And great views whichever direction you look.

Wordless Wednesday? Oh come on!

OK, by now you know that I am rather loquacious on Wednesdays, I did try to cut down the amount of words I was using but........it never worked. Maybe they were having a 2 for 1 sale. So I am shrugging my shoulders and sharing more photos with you. After all, you don't have to read the words if you don't want to. Or I could just call it "Wordy Wednesdays". Anyways here are some shots of the morning we left. The dogs are Blue, and Charlie. There is a always a tinge of regret in the morning air when we leave. I am not good at goodbyes. The moments that I spend walking around getting a few last shots in, are some of the most memorable. Sentiments caught, and stored in a camera. The way the sun sparkles through the grass as it rises over the hill. The cats running around in the dew. The horses munching the hay that Gar gives them before we leave. The goodbyes that hang in the air, as we take the long driveway down to the road. Leaving is hard, coming back, is simply wonderful.

Like a Kid in a Candy Store

I have been away, visiting family up in Armstrong. And I have almost 1500 photos to prove it. Think shots of cats, and dogs, mountains, and horses, flowers, and fence posts. But coming back to the Fraser Valley was like being a kid in a candy store. Up in Armstong the sun is beautiful, and the wind is cool. They still have some patches of snow scattered in the shady spots. Running about a week behind us, and we are a good month behind schedule, spring is finally arriving there after a very long and deep snow winter. When I left the cherry trees were just teasing us with little dabs of color, and coming back they are in full bloom. Lush, green leaves fill the sky, and spring blooms crowd out the bare earth. After I got back, I grabbed the camera and hobbled out today on a walk, stopping every few feet, not to rest, but to shoot another subject. It was like having every type of your favorite candy sitting in front of you, where do you start? Maybe with the white petals of the star magnolia, or the big red bowls that are tulips. The yellow dandelions looked good enough to eat, along with the lush blue of the muscari. No matter how much we do long to live up there, it is good to be back here.

Thanks for all your well wishes, and concerns. My back is slowly getting better, and the Chiropractor has worked wonders. Of course it will still take a little time, I am now walking like Cro-Magnum man, instead of the hunchback of Notre Dam.

After I get a chance to download all the photos I will share some of my favorites with you. We discovered a new favorite place, a wonderful park, and a gorgeous turquoise lake. But it is still good to be back home.

Ouch!

I had great plans for today's post. But I tell you, life does keep getting in the way. As I was bending over to give my Mom a goodbye hug yesterday something went "ping" in my back. And after sitting in the truck for the 5 hour drive down, I could barely move. When we got home I took a muscle relaxant.......wow! Do they ever make you relaxed. Gar had to wake me up 4 times just to get me to move from the couch. So here I am, hobbling off to the Chiropractor to get repaired. And all my wonderful photos that I want to share with you sitting on the camera, because I can't bend down right now to reach the USB port. LOL. As soon as I can get mobile again, I will be back, no pun intended!

I'm in the Garden - Archives

By Monday things will be back to normal. See you then.

Things that go "buzz in the night"

Don't know about you, but I don't like things that go buzz in the middle of the night. The other night when our heads hit the pillows we were out like lights, and that's why it was such a shock to hear the phone ring late into the evening. It woke me up, the double ring that signifies someone buzzing from the front door of the building echoing in my dreams. Fumbling for the phone in the dark, vestiges of a dream sticking like cobwebs to my hands, I just missed the call by a split second before the answering machine came on. Hearing your own voice recite the "please leave a message" tune, in the dark, when you have been woken up from a deep sleep is eerie. Even odder is hearing your 89 year old neighbor laughingly tell someone standing outside the building as he buzzes random people, that he has woken you up. I know, this scenario should be reversed. But he is a true recycled teenager. He apparently realized that he left his keys in the apartment after being out all night. He then decided to buzz people, until he found someone to let him in.

Just as he buzzed us, and woke us out of a deep sleep, another neighbor came to the door, and let him in. Sounds like someone needs a curfew.

Winner of the "Muddy Booters" draw

This is the draw for the Gift Pack of Muddy Boot Dreams greeting cards. The four previous "Muddy Booters" who are, Farside of Fifty, Tatersmama, Rosehaven Cottage, and A Glowing Ember have been entered in the draw, and a random winner was drawn.......... [thanks Gar, for your help] THE WINNER IS Tatersmama! Congratulations!!! I will be sending you your cards in the mail, please email me your address. I will continue to write the "Muddy Booters" posts every Friday, but I can no longer offer a winner the gift pack of cards once a month. Unfortunately we too, have fallen into the black hole of the economic meltdown, and are counting our pennies just like all the other unemployed people out there. Maybe when things improve I can offer the monthly gift pack prize again. Each week a random commenter will be picked to be featured as a "Muddy Booter".

Still getting used to it

Still getting used to not posting every day. I thought it might take awhile until I got the hang of it. But now, I think that I have come to the conclusion that maybe it will just be some photos on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And my version of a Wordless Wednesday. I miss everyone too much. Hope that it is OK to change my mind. Jen

Wordless Wednesdays

I think I am finally getting the hang of it. See, less words.

Time off Tuesdays?

Right, I was not going to post today. Forgot about that.

How old am I?

I apparently have this issue with my real age, and every year a few weeks before my birthday I start to forget how old I am. Truly forget, as in just can't remember exactly how old I am, and how old I am going to be. So I am forever asking Gar "how old am I?" He patiently replies with my true age, and then I am reassured once again that I am not quite as old as I thought I was.

I have this habit of making myself a year older than I really am. Don't know why, or how it happened, but the weeks leading up to my birthday are like that. And I do it every year. Well, I guess as far as issues go, it could be considered a minor one. By the way, how old am I again?

Be Right Back

To My Bloggy Friends; I wanted to let you know that I will have only limited computer time available to me in the coming week. "Life" is temporarilly getting in the way of my blogging, LOL and I will update you later. So I while I might not have a chance everyday to moderate your comments, or comment on your blog, I will catch up as soon as I can. All is fine, and should be back to normal by the end of next week. Happy Blogging! Jen

I'm in the garden - Archives

The cherry blossoms have just started to open last week and I realized that I never shared photos with you. Pink puffies, perfectly pink confetti blowing in the breeze, as Spring darts by whistling to the birds. She is such a show off that girl.

Don't you wish

There are a few blog posts that I have read lately, that make me really wish I could remember who wrote them. When you read over 80 blogs, things get a little confusing. Don't you wish there was just a box that you could type in __________, or __________. Up would come the correct post. If there is, and I don't know about it, someone please let me know. But so far, my faulty memory is all I have. See, I love links, I love to read the comments that other bloggers make, and if they sound interesting to me, then I click on them. Best way to discover new and interesting bloggers that I can then add to my google reader. But sometimes there is such a labyrinth of clicking that I get lost in blogger land. So if anyone has read the posts from the blogger [sorry I can't remember who you were] that wrote about the amazing 5 minute a day Artisan bread recipe a few weeks ago, that she got from Mother Earth News, please remind me who she is. I would love to thank her for putting me onto such a "amazing and simple to make wonderful tastes like I took weeks to ferment my own" sourdough bread. I baked it every night when the biker guys were here, they devoured it. And my nephew is one picky dude. Wonderful I tell you, wonderful.

And who was it that wrote about their adventures, and I mean "ADVENTURES" in cold waxing their ah.... bikini parts. Hilarious, and if I could find your post again, girl, I would send it to all my friends, as a warning! I hope that you have managed to unstick yourself from the bottom of the bathtub by now? So if there is a button out there that can find these posts, or if you have read them, please let me know. After all blogging is a small, small world. Some one's friend must have mentioned encountered a few, let's just call them "difficulties" with cold waxing.

A Glowing Ember and a Muddy Booter

Carolynn is on a journey, a road to discovery, wonder, and eventual fulfilment of a dream. Her blog A Glowing Ember, is filled with posts that unfold like a new leaf, illuminating, encouraging, and inspiring readers. Gifted writer that she is, her writing flows, descriptive, and evocative. She loves words, cultivates and nurtures them. Growing them like sunflowers in a field, only picking the most descriptive and beautiful to adorn her blog. Carolynn has a life long big "D" dream, and she is committed to pursuing, and achieving it. Declaring her dream was the first step, and setting a date to achieve this dream, was another. This is a determined woman who will succeed. A avid animal lover, photographer, and gardener, she lives with the lifelong burning desire to move to the south of France, where she wishes to own a country cottage complete with a few animals, and her own personal wake up call each morning from a rooster. She describes it as the pursuit of peace. "France" she says "strikes her as having a slower pace, where moments are savoured sitting in a curbside cafe, or meandering along sleepy back roads lined with lavender fields." She also remarks that it doesn't hurt that they have excellent wine, as well. She shares her home with Bear, her beautiful ball of Zen like fluff a former rescue cat now recovered after once being hit by a car. Bunny, [ also known as Sarge ], the dwarf foster rabbit, who has been adopted by both her and Bear, and some fish. She has big plans for her current "small space" a balcony garden. And this is why garden centres love people like her. "Actually, what I do generally is drive up to a garden store, [she has been to the one that I work at, and she really likes it.] and walk in clutching my credit card. I wander up and down the aisles with the intention of just getting a few key pieces to brighten up my little balcony, and create a outdoor oasis for me and my furry critters to enjoy........I usually walk out with a cart full of bedding plants all cheerfully waving their pretty little petal faces in the breeze and my credit card smoking in my wallet." Oh we love people like her! Drop by on Carolynn's blog, tell her that I sent you, read about her part time work in the stable with horses, her love of photography, her adventure in the making. She is a interesting, outgoing, and altogether amazing talented woman. Carolynn, sometime after you get settled in that country cottage in France, there might be a knock at the door. It could be one of us, stopping by to say hello, how are you doing. With a simple housewarming gift of artisan bread, and a special bottle of French wine that we picked up at the local Cafe, on the way to your house. We are so dreaming of sitting at your little outdoor table, giggling at the antics of the rooster as he struts through his harem of hens. Enjoying the sunshine as it sparkles through the leaves of the olive tree branches above us. Dreams do come true!

A knock on the door

I was sitting at my computer yesterday, contemplating not writing a post for today. After all it would be Thursday, and I had said that I was not posting on Thursdays. There was a knock on my door, and when I opened it, no one was there, I looked down the hallway and when I did not see anyone I was a little puzzled. As I was shutting the door, I noticed that a padded manila envelope was laying on the carpet by my feet. I have been patiently waiting to see this arrive since Anna from Flowergardengirl anounced that I would be one of the first. Once a month we each send Anna, one card per blogger, she organizes them and sends them out to the next blogger on the list. Then when it is our turn, we receive a package in the mail. I was simply overwhelmed, and amazed that people I had never met in person could be so generous, creative, and kind. I love sending and receiving letters, and cards, but hardly anyone ever sends me them anymore. Well, yesterday was a true "letter day." These wonderful bloggers sent such a array of items, it felt like I was opening up a early birthday care package. It contained specialty teas, book marks, a celtic apron, a needle pointed minitature tea bag holder, and a needle point with my name on it. Lots and lots of cards, stationary, stickers, stamps. Anna put everything into a cute little handmade bag, made from recycled family jeans, it is adorable! And seeds, so many "oh be still my gardening heart!" seeds, from specialty seed companies, and from their gardens, I have more seeds than garden. But like I told Anna, I will find a place for all of them. Oh this is going to be a amazing summer! Wait until they all bloom, I will show you photos. Thank you all of the participating bloggers, Jodi @ bloomingwriter, Jared @ Pleasant Hill Ramblings, Cathering @ A Gardener in Progress, Phillip @ Gardens of a Golden Afternoon, Jan @ Thanks for 2day, VP @ Veg Plotting, Kylee @ Our little Acre, Ann @ Northeast Gardener, Kathleen @ Kasey's Korner, Peggy @ Organic Growing Pains. And a extra big thank you to Anna at Flowergardengirl, for creating such a wonderful project. I so very much appreciate all the hard work that you have put into this. I will be dropping by each of your blogs in the coming days to personally say thank you for all the effort and creativity you have put into this.

A Wordless Wednesday.

See not a word! Well barely any. This is very hard!

I have to ease into it.

I know that I said I was not posting on Tuesdays, and Thursdays........

But I need to ease into it a bit.

I had a few free minutes, and I thought I would post some photos.

Besides, I miss you guys.