Happy Birthday to Me

My wonderful parents got me a wheel barrow for my birthday. They are truly wonderful. I will think of them when I (or... ahem... Adam) is hauling chicken poop across the yard!! Ha! But really, I NEEDED a wheel barrow and my lovin' Daddy and Ma got me one. One of the *many* reasons they are truly awesome parents. Fuzz really appreciates it too... or appreciated it. There has been chicken poop since then, so he has now reverted to the far reaches of the property again unless he knows we're outside.

I turned thirty today. I'm okay with thirty. I figure my life is better than it's ever been so I'm happy and life is good. On the other hand, I'm having trouble letting go of my twenties. They were good to me. I learned how to be ME. I won't ever think of BEING in my twenties again and that is life changing to me for some reason and I don't even really know why.

I do know that God has a plan for me, though, and that I'm looking forward to my *gulp* FORTH decade.

Adam has truly spoiled me today. He even agreed to go see the symphony with me Friday (thanks to Mark and Jenny for the tickets!!) and also bought me pizza tonight just because that is what I really wanted. He built me a fire and we sat and talked for a long time. I'm so thankful to have such a truly loving husband and best friend all in the same human being. Thanks, baby, for making my pretty "blah" day extra - extra special just by loving and caring for me!!

So today, remember. Think about a time in your life when it was hard for you to let go of one way and embrace another. Then smile and thank God that it is OVER!!!!

I truly love you all!!

Malinda

So Much to Say!

Last Monday we finally took the baby chicks (not so much babies anymore) down to the pen that they will live in for the rest of their lives. They have GROWN!! We had to make sure that neither their feet nor their little heads got stuck in the kennel while transporting them. As you can see, they are a little freaked out.

Getting them to realize that they needed to come out of the kennel and into the pen was hard work! My Lovin' Husband talked sweet to them, though, and they eventually ended up in the pen. Talk about confused chickens. They had all sorts of room to run around, but didn't know what to do about it...

See? Very confused chickens.

They eventually got the point and figured that the coop (which we have not replaced yet) was nice and shady and full of brand new straw to scratch around in. I of course had the very busy job of taking pictures and making sure Adam knew exactly what to do. :)

Potato bins. They are growing like crazy...

Especially out of the sides that we should have wrapped last week... *bashful*

Those are the potatoes in the garden. Also coming along nicely.

These are Adam's babies. See the fence around them? This is what the chicks were in. Now that they are where they need to be Adam uses it to protect his precious plants from the animals.

I can't wait to eat some homegrown tomatoes. My mouth waters at the thought!

Peas!!

Squash...

Corn!!

My sweet baby takin' care of the broccoli...

And when it is all said and done.... I come in to play the piano.... But I have to share the rug with Maggie. No joke. She doesn't move - EVER. I play - she sleeps and keep my feet warm!!

P.S. While writing this post this morning, I fried our modum with a cup of coffee... I'll try to have things back up and running in a short time!!! Have a good day. Smile and laugh!!!

Love,

Malinda

A Blinding Light

When I wrote the post below, I had no idea that my weekend would involve such a troubled person. As I was going through the weekend, I forgot that I had written the post. Go figure. But I would like to say a few things. Not to glorify myself, but to glorify God and His ability to be a light for us in every situation.

I did not write this person off. I prayed for her. SO MUCH. I got over my anger and hurt because it was NOT about ME. I laid my confusion and indignation down and picked up understanding and patience and LOVE. Her thorns were sharp and poisonous and I could have responded with thorns of my own. It would have been easy. I almost did. I thought about it and it made me feel so dark and awful inside that I felt hopeless. I feel that God put her feelings inside me so that I could understand that if I responded with my own thorns, some of that darkness and hopelessness would stay inside of me forever.

So I prayed that God would hold her and love her and give her the light that she needed to blossom. I prayed that God would give me the strength and light that I needed to overcome my anger and GOD DID. I prayed for God to help me love her and to truly forgive her and GOD DID. Never have I felt such peace. God troubled my heart for this person and I hurt for her. I want her so badly to blossom in God's light. Everyone deserves NO LESS than that.

Please pray for this person. Please love her in your heart with the light of God. Know that in God, ALL things are POSSIBLE and that if you ask God to help you, you will be more than helped. You will be washed in light. Such light that you will be blinded to anger and hurt. Blinded to indignation and pride. All you will be able to see is the hurt of the person and the compassion that God bestows upon you so that you can TRULY love.

And the neatest thing is... that THEN you can shine your own light and JUST BELIEVE. And before you know it, the person you thought the most unlikely to prune your branches was the person God sent to do just that.

I believe!!
So much love,
Malinda

Potential

When I think about people a lot of times, I think about their potential. You meet them and see only who they are at that moment. Then you start to get to know a person. They share things about themselves and you share back and before you know it a person has blossomed before your very eyes.

Once you commit to fertilizing a friendship things often get sticky. Sometimes the people you thought would prune your branches only ever want you to prune theirs. Sometimes their are thorns (like the Thorn Tree from You Know Where). But a person always has the ability to blossom if you foster that within them.

Sometimes it is easy to write people off because they are mean or rude or just so angry and upset inside that they can't be happy. I forget that it is easier to pray for someone than to just leave them to the elements. And when you start praying beautiful things start happening. Seeds are planted and new seeds sown. Cycles are broken and different cyles are started and sometimes all it takes is YOU.

I'll be gone for a few days and unable to blog, but I'll be back!

Pray for someone over the next few days. Pray that they will find the sun and blossom.

Love and more love,

Malinda

Hangin' in There...

Today is my busy teaching day. Kiddies with violins, guitars, and mandolins all wiggly and giggly after school. A good day, but a hectic one. So I'm makin' like Mr. Catapiller up there and hangin' with the best of them. It is a daunting perspective when sitting in my quiet music room.

Music will be made and kiddos will sing and laugh and the teacher, well the teacher will smile and sing and play along. And laugh, too. They make me laugh - the little ones. So often I find it so much easier to talk to a five year old than their parent. What does that say about me??

Have a good day, folks, and remember to find some quiet time. No TV - no radio - no music even. Just sit and let the quiet help you think. Note: if you go outside in the country, the quiet is deafening!!

Laughs,
Malinda

Update... Gardeny Things.

I have mentioned before that we live in a cedar barren in middle Tennessee. One aspect of living in a cedar barren (other than cedar trees like WEEDS) is all of the rock. Everywhere there are rocks. Little ones, big ones, tiny ones. God didn't discriminate! We have rocks of all kinds and sizes. Lots of limestone, but also these really freaky ones that actually break down and become... claylike. (As in "claylike soil". I'm sure some of you have read those very words on the back of a seed packet and casually waved off the thought of claylike soil. How awful, you think. I'm so glad I don't have claylike soil. Well I DO! So the next time you read that and you don't have claylike soil. THANK YOUR MAKER, PEOPLE!.)..............................I digress.

I couldn't find any of my stakes that I usually use to mark beds so I found yet another use for all of the rocks laying as far as the eye cans see. Check it out... Until the relentless summer sun bakes that permanent Sharpie off of there we're good to go on labels from here on out. I may even challenge myself to never spend money on markers again. God gave me all of these FREE ROCKS. Might as well use 'em! Below we see that Adam and I don't discriminate either. Rocks of all shapes and sized can be used to line permanent beds. (I'll show you pictures of the rock piles sometime. We have those, too. Made 'em all by ourselves WITHOUT a wheelbarrow. Just so ya know.) Below is my reseeding/asparagus bed. I've had cilantro growing there for three years now. This makes me happy. :) Mmmm cilantro!

The tater bins doth work. Yay!! We were worried because we hadn't seen any sings of life in there, but I went out yesterday and saw leafage. We are gonna have SO MANY potatoes for our lovely little farmer's market.

The grassy lookin' stuff is from the bale of straw. Look closer. See the round leafy stuff? In the center toward the bottom? THAT, my friends, is a potato leaf. Potato leaves mean that down in all that straw and dirt baby taters are being made as I type.

Peas.... we will have lots of peas! Planted beside these very peas are turnips and kohl rabi. And if you don't know what kohl rabi is, you are missin' out people. I don't have any big enought to show you, but when I do you can be assured that you will then know! I also know that a lot of you probably think that turnips are gross. We beg to differ. They're pretty darn good when you GROW YOUR OWN!!!

Hello little baby pea shoot. I am going to eat you when you get a couple of inches taller. Yes, I know you didn't know you were edible, but you are. And quite tasty I've heard. We'll see...

This is the corner of the garden that I thought would NEVER AND I MEAN NEVER get done. It is done - and planted. *Thanks, Dad, for letting us use the tiller.* There is quite a bit of corn and squash planted there now. Before you get on to me for planting my corn early lemme say one thing. EARWORMS. I don't like them and they are gross, so this is my (our) plan. Plant the corn early (Early Sunglow - 63 days - can be planted a little early because it can take a little cold) and plant the squash in with the corn (Our squash lasts longer into the summer if we do this. The corn keeps it shady and cool.). Hopefully we will trick the worst of the bugs.

Below is Fuzz one of our wonderful kitties. He hangs with us in the garden a lot.




Here is what has been done for a while. Tatoes, then peas back where you can see the trellis. And Violet, of course. I can't take 2 steps without her on my heals. She is so NOT a country dog. We adopted her when she was dropped off here at the homestead. She does pretty good for a city girl, though.

And it is finished. Planted. Full up. We (well, Adam) are madly tilling and creating new raised bed systems for our summery warm weather stuff. We only had a tiller for the last few beds. Everything else we did by hand. It was sweaty, dirty, rocky, cloddy, hard, hard work, but it is done and I weigh about 5 pounds less than I did when we started. Adam has some serious muscles goin' on and we are looking forward to the fruits of our labors.

Have a great Tuesday!! Do something nice for someone today. It is good for your soul, ya know!!

Much, much love,

Malinda

Onions Do Weird Things

I was "helping" Adam til up new ground the other day and got distracted. Not by the weeds in my onion beds, of course, but by the onions themselves. They are called walking onions. Let me show you why. Take a really close look at these onions. Do you see the what they're doing? Let us take a closer look. This onion appears as though it will be givning birth to some sort of alien life form in the very near future. When in all actuality it is getting ready to "walk".

So what happens is.... the new "green" growth has a seed pod at the end of it. You can see it in the picture below. They end up falling over and starting new bunches of multiplier onions. Multiplier because they grow in .... you guessed it! Multiples! This is all very exciting, I know.

Here we go again.

For some reason I always think they look "snaky" when they start to protrude all curled up like that. See the red blob at the top of the picture below? There is my baby - tilling away while I ponder on the meaning of onions with weird growth habits. What would he do without me?

Hello little baby onion.

And just so ya know, we (I actually did help WEED) did weed the onions. They are happier now - as are all of the baby chamomille plants that I found growing. Yay!!! Reseeding plants are wonderful things.

Have a good day, people. Warm weather is almost here to stay! Dwell on that if this latest cool spell gets ya down....

Some Sunshine and Some Rain

It is raining this morning. I'm happy for a break and I know Adam is. We're both so sore from all of the garden preparing. Our plants are happy, I'm sure. I didn't water them or the seeds I planted yesterday in hopes that the rain would come along and do a much better job than myself. I'm all about conserving some water. I found some pretty "weeds" blooming in the side yard and took probably a hundred pictures. There is such beauty in the unexpected!

Potatoes are doing GREAT. We're growing them differently this year and are just amazed at the difference in the plants. All of the beds have begun to sprout. *happy*

More sunshine.

I love the native plants of Tennessee and have decided that I will have irises til the day I die. I keep finding them in the side yard that we have been clearing.

Look for beauty somewhere today that you normally wouldn't. When you find it, show somebody else and enjoy it together

Lots of love,

Malinda

Another Cat Post...

We have these two black cats. I call them One and Two because you can't tell them apart. One of them will let you pet him and the other won't - that is about the only difference. I've noticed lately that when I go down to the chicken coop, they follow and hop up on the roof to check out a) the goings on in the run (which is the fenced in area the chickens hang in) and b)the goings on in the coop. When I took these pictures a couple of days ago, only one of the duo was there, but usually they hop up there together and stare at you. It is kind of freaky because they are so similar.


As usual I am taking pictures while my Lovin' Husband works. Here we ( and I use the term "we" loosely here people) are getting the composted (old) chicken poop OUT of the coop to put IN our garden. It is full of goodness for our growing and hungry plants. See the composted poop? There is straw in there, too. We put straw in there for the chickies to be comfy in and they reward us by pooping in it and breaking it down. We then (not often enough) remove straw and poop. Free fertilizer. Well, I guess not free, but REALLY cheap.

I post of the cats often enough to explain why I like them so much, I suppose. We had one cat show up and now have quite a few. They keep the voles (mousey rodent types) pretty much gone from the chicken coop, the moles and rabbits out of the garden, and even help with keeping the birds out, too. They do earn their keep. I find them interesting and Adam finds them a pain in his butt until he remembers why he will get to eat broccoli in June. Then he cusses and feeds them. I in turn love on them as much as they will let me. Very self sufficient, the kitties.

They watch the chickens, I watch them, and Adam tolerates us all...

See ya on the flip side...

M

Some Cuteness

I am always amazed at the mama kitties. Especially when they've never been mamas before. It took Matoike a few minutes to figure out what was going on, but she's got the hang of it now. If you need a kitty, let me know because those aren't the only kittens here at the homestead!!

Have a good day and hopefully if I can still move at the end of the day I will show you what's goin' on in the garden!!

SMILE!!

lots of love

Malinda

What I Did Today

Ah.... sunburn...

Nighty nite... and super sweet dreams! See you in the morning.

M

A Very Random Update!

Why a grasshopper, you ask? I'm out of current pictures to share because I haven't taken any. The lovely Tennessee weather has NOT been so lovely. We've been having lower than normal temps and a LOT of rain and wind. Not weather really condusive to taking pictures - outside anyway. And if I take a picture inside it'll either be a)my sweet Lovin' Husband b)a dog c) a guitar or d)myself. Outside is must more fun!

The potatoes are sprouting. The peas, turnips, and koh rabi are also coming up and I planted beans a few days ago when the weather was actually WARM. My dad gave me the seeds last year. They are called Derby Beans. They are a bush bean that are supposed to fruit all season. Stringlessly. I'm excited about this.

Adam and I have been weeding beds. Our tiller is broken, but we try not to use it anyway. I love my worms!!! This means lots of hand work that just takes time people. We're finally over half done and the garden is looking so good. I think I'll go out and take some pictures in a minute. That way tomorrow when I wake up and blog I'll have something to blog about that you can SEE!! Won't that be nice? I digress. I have a bed of reseeding cilantro that also has garlic and bee balm in it and I added asparagus this year. It will be some craziness and I'm looking forward to seeing what it will look like.

The little chickies ain't so little anymore and we have GOT to get a coop up before they take over the back porch! This is the project of the week along with tilling up old garden beds. (My wonderful dad is letting us borrow his tiller for a few days.)

I'm going to visit my parents and sister today. I have a guitar student in that town and my sweet baby sister is starting her first garden! We've been discussing the best way to make her dirt better and chicken poop is way at the top of the list - along with some slow release organic fertilizer goodness. I'm excited to help her make a beautiful and bountiful garden!

Have a great day, everyone, and please be extra kind and understanding today. Smile at someone and just sit at some point today and feel the warm sun on your face. Think on all of the people who have helped make you who you are and about who you can influence just by smiling!!!

So much love,

Malinda

I am going to really learn about WHY even though I separate my sentence grouping they end up back together again. Until then, enjoy the colorful posts, I guess... :)