Thankful in Planning,Pruning, Planting, and Painting Life

 Getting out in the garden on these Winter afternoons 

 does this soul some good. 

--I'm thankful for the warmth I got to feel.

For the sunshine and getting to shuck my hoodie and jacket

in February!

-- I'm thankful for Myguy...

How fun he is- 

especially when  jammin to old rock songs

while we  drive down the road.  

I'm thankful for work and  the time we get to spend together.

Yesterday we drove all the way to Quitman for axels-

also to haul a truck.

Business is good and these moments; they're all gifts.

-I'm thankful for our boys.

While circumstances have stunk for our Strongheart lately-

even in that... I give thanks.  Our family's strong- no matter what.

We have eachother's backs.  

These two bros are 

beats of my heart.

(Thank you Lord)

These sunny afternoons have made outdoor cleanup 

sheer enjoyment. 

As hard as it is for me to prune; I've kept after it and here you can see I've  

 hauled off yet another truck load of twigs, sticks and debris.

Hard to believe the strawberry plants stay as green as they do in  Winter.  

They sure filled in and several plants grew   right out of their bed. 

These are the ones that are supposed to grow  as big as peaches; 

We'll see? 

It's kinda fun having a cat again.

There's something wonderful about kitty hugs.

Ophelia is quite a garden kitty.

If I stop in one place for ten seconds -

she's rubbing my legs.  

So far she has two bad habits-

she's a dog terrorist- 

and chases ours all  day long. 

And two; she likes feathers as much as I do-

so when she goes in the greenhouse; the vintage bottles

filled with feathers she thinks are her feline entertainment.  

Finding cobalt blue shards of glass on the paver stone floor

and chewed strewn feathers does  not amuse me.  

Her hugs...kinda  make it all better though.  

Hints of tulips are in thee air.

Daffodils also are on the rise.

Can't wait till they  fill blue masons to the brim!

It won't be long.

Finally; the garden is all cleaned and 

can sleep in... another month.  

Meanwhile vegetable and flower lists grow in my head..

Wylie hasn't been spotted lately so the chickens have been getting 

free range during daylight.  

The other day however Trent happened to look up and spotted a neighbors

dog run by him with a hen in his mouth. 

Trent  jumped in a truck and followed the dog home; forcing the dog to give up our still LIVE

banty hen: Eve.  He knocked on the door and told the neighbor what their dog had done-

and showed the woman our hen.  She said she'd  pen their dogs-

but unfortunately I've seen the lab up n down the road.. and had to run it off 

once.  

This makes for a difficult situation.  

:(

Back in the coop

 we have a setter.

It's one of the things I so love 

about Spring...

fuzzy chicklets!

This past week a friend  messaged:

"Hey do you want any fig trees?"

I'd never grown a fig tree before..

but boy oh boy do I ever love fig newtons!

She told me to come on over -

It was a beautiful afternoon.. and  

 I enjoyed our time  together so much out  in her backyard.

She shared so much wisdom probably without even realizing that she did.

But I heard.... 

and listened intently.  

We both stood dirty... having each worked in our own backyards all day.

Neither of us cared one bit what we looked like;

Or what the other looked like.... and that was... in itself a beautiful thing. 

 She and I  are connected dots.  

I'm realizing right now... how cool it was how  God crossed our paths.

It was a  few years back 

and we bumped into eachother in a thrift shop; 

the next town over.

We spoke... 

and ...connected BIG.  I could feel it.    

I wrote down her name and we found each other online later.

She's old enough to be my Momma.  

And our two unrelated hearts; related.

While we walked her yard and loaded the trees... she talked about work.

The kind of work you do if you want to eat.

"You don't work 

you don't eat." she said.  

(scripture.)

She talked morals, honor, and  obedience,

 in her tiny yet Godstrong frame.

Again I was drawn in hearing her..

just as I was that very first day we met.

Her words encourage and always point  to Christ. 

Then she said, before I left... "Oh I have a gift for you!"

?

She'd already blessed me so much with that message to come over... 

gifted me with three beautiful fig trees... 

fed me with her reflection of Jesus.

Then she gave me this: 

 "I found this and want you to have it."

She knew from our growing friendship, that I love feathers... and nests. 

What a beautiful gift. 

This was and is... plain and simple-

  ... love.  

We hugged and parted ways.

When I arrived home; Myguy greeted me.

He helped  dig holes and together we planted

three lovely

fig 

trees. 

The sun was just setting;

and the trees settled into their new homes;

watered well.  

This is one of them at dusk.

I hope and pray they do well.  

 More love in action I recently saw here:

Myguy bought me a thingamajig

when he went to Harbor Freight.  

A friend had told me about them  and 

who knew there are so mannnnnny little pieces to put together!

Myguy tackled it fearlessly.   

I think the little ball bearings are so beautiful.

Do you see flowers too?

This is what it looks like on my table all put together.

I'm so glad he did this for me... it would have taken me a week or more. lol

This is what it looks like on my table when 

messyhappiness  happens. 

(ha)

The prompt I was working on for Doc Life was about using 

your underpaper. 

 On one side I glued some wax paper down that caught all 

my spills and splashes... the other side... 

I painted a face upside down.. 

inside out and backwards.  

It was quite enjoyable... 

and makes me wonder if maybe my own roots aren't 

a little  turquoise underneath it all.  

 Little Aspen Rose  is growing... 

Dare I mention I  haven't cleaned up poo or pee off the floor in several days.

She did just chew up an African violet leaf behind me moments ago and spit it out

on the carpet.  In a panic I googled to see if  they're poisonous; and they're not thank God!

It didn't look like she swallowed any and what can I say..

the girl loves flowers.  

(she has good taste)

In our home life...

a miracle is happening.

Addie typically hates other girl dogs guts.  

Meangirl to the bone.  Vicious to Tony's corgi Roxy; tearing, ripping and bloodying her.

So we've been very careful bringing Aspen into the family.  For the longest time we kept

them totally apart.  Supervised closely we've started letting them be in the same room.

Growls happened... and once Addie lunged in aggression but stopped when I scolded.

Little by little... day by day... 

we're becoming a pack. 

 If Aspen would just  stay out of her face... 

they do pretty well.   

Still would never leave them alone together but..

this is an answered prayer.  

 The last few pics I share are of my morning study and 

journal pages.  

A dear friend and my mentor gave me the bible on the left a couple years

ago and I love the life principles inside.  

With Valentines day approaching I keep drawing hearts on everything.

The word today brought me to James 5:8

You also be patient.  

Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.  

After my study time, I jot n doodle in my moleskine 

 Often my verse of the day goes somewhere in my book.

Also I've been printing out a few photos to add here and there.

 Yesterday I wrote a few things I love about Myguy.

He laughed when he read that I love his forearms.  lol.

He'll be thrilled I just know; 

when he reads my blog and discovers 

everyone else now knows  how much 

I love his forearms too. haha 

(I love you Myguy) - 

 Along with photos of people I've also started adding photocopies  of artwork from other journals  into  my book; 

I think it was two years or so ago that I'd cut that red burlap heart out

and found the wren feather in the potting shed. 

The visual is very meaningful spiritually to me- 

It's kinda fun to see how some things... carry on..

and continue forward.

Well I guess I better get to town.  

Realizing it's so close to Valentines day I want to get some special things together for the 

loves in my life.

.  -- I have no clue yet??

Myguy already told me he's gonna have to work super late no doubt on Valentine's day. 

Both businesses are covered smooth up; which is a total blessing. 

 (wifetip; ... don't nag your husband for working late. Support, bless and 

be his number one fan and helpmeet. Lift him up, and lavish him with love instead.)

I'm off to put my love in action.

Have an awesome day!