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... :)

Things Upon Which I Ponder...

My sweet Lovin' Husband has not of yet come around to my way of thinking where goats are concerned. As of right now when we need to clear land, we do it ourselves. We have these groups of the wickedest thorn trees. I don't know what they are properly called, but we call them The Thorn Trees From Hell. The bottom picture was supposed to be first, so go ahead. Scroll down to the bottom and take a good look at our nemisis.

Are you back from your visit to the bottom of the page? Ok, now I find a bird's nest IN The Thorn Tree From Hell. (See photo below.) Does the little birdie KNOW that the wicked thorns are there? Does it know that the Tree From Hell will protect it's little eggie-pies or did it just get lucky? Take a look at that thorn below. That is an old one. The new growth puts out about 2 to 3 inch long maroon thorns that look like they belong in a Sci Fi movie.

So, these are some of the things upon which I ponder. Does the bird know that the tree keeps predators away? Or did it unknowingly find a comfy little home with one heck of a security system?

And just for giggles, can you find the nest in The Thorn Tree From Hell? Please disregard the old, yucky chicken coop in the back. We are replacing it with a better coop for our 31 babies as soon as the Good Lord sends us a couple of days of sunshine in a row.

Find something strange to ponder upon today. It is kind of a stress releaver - at least until I remember that we still have to get rid of those very Thorn Trees From Hell....

They kind of scare me. I've decided that I'll let Adam take care of those...

Easter Morning

I had never been to a sunrise service until this year. I'll never miss one again if I can help it. The first thing I saw when I looked out my window was this. (below)

The next thing I saw were my Irises blooming beautifully.

We don't have a big dinner. I don't even usually get a new dress. This year I wore a skirt that I found at the goodwill and hadn't worn yet! My husband isn't much a church goer and I mostly just celebrate Easter in my heart. Which is ok with me - but this year was a little different.

Our church and two others switch out community services for sunrise at Easter and also others like Thanksgiving and what not. The minister at the church we were going to this year asked me to play a couple of songs. I have always wanted to arrange hymns for solo violin in an appalachian style, but never had and decided that it was way past time. The newness of Easter was just what I needed to inspire me to actually get a marker and transcribe what was going through my head when I played.

I have learned this easter season that it is ok to be spiritual. That it is ok to be moved emotinoally by the enormity and mystery of it all and that it is even ok that I celebrate it alone (not alone at church, of course). Because my faith is just that - mine - and that God wants me not to shout at folks what I believe, but to live it quietly. To be the hands and feet of Jesus does not take many words at all - if any.

I have a different feeling this year. A feeling of hope and goodness and being loved and saved. Deep, still waters in my soul....

I hope that you feel hope. That God blesses you with peaceful waters and a stillness in your soul.

All my love,

Malinda

Tatoes...

About four years ago we decided to grow some potatoes. Little did we know the love affair that would develop from one little bitty bed of potatoes. The next year we did two beds and the next year we did four. This brings us to this year. We have 10 beds of potatoes and 6 bins of potatoes and are growing Yukon Golds (our personal fave), Kennebecs (my dear gramps suggested we grow those before he went on to heaven), and pontiac reds (practical in our rocky region and a new variety). Here are some Yukon Golds from last year. Have you ever dug up potatoes? If not, you should at least once in your life. Or just live vicariously through us...

The next two pictures are out of order. ANYWAY...

My next question is.... have you ever EATEN home grown potatoes?? They make you this happy.... (see below)

I hope you find a way to enjoy any part of today!!

Much love,

Malinda

Peas, Please??

There is talk in my town of starting up a farmer's market! This of course excites me to no end...

We are revamping the garden plan to accomodate. Hopefully we will be turning up new ground and planting lots AND LOTS of veggies so that we can do our part to support a local market.

More soon....

It's a Big World, Baby

Sometimes I feel like that snail. I tiny little girl in a big, big world. Then again, sometimes I don't. Furthermore, when I do, it isn't a bad thing. It is just nice to have some perspective.

I have to teach a make up lesson this morning and then we have a consultation with a new family for lessons and then... and then I get to put on my blue jeans and my tank top and head out to the garden to work out there.

It is my quiet time. All of the music that is constantly running through my head gets quieter and quieter until all I hear is the wind in the tall dead grass and the creek when it has rained enough. The birds yell at each other across the fields and the chickens coo and sing when they're happy. (This time of year they are because they get the weeds we pull.)

I hope today that you can find some good quiet time like that. It is good for the soul...

happy day...

Don't Look so Sad!

www.jimfields.wordpress.com

I'm posting on my Dad's blog through Wednesday, so if you need new bloggy material, check me out over there. Different format, but still fun... otherwise, check out my archives and I'll see you back here Thursday!

Please tilt your head to the left...

I don't know why I thought this was funny, but I did. So there.

Yes I'm goofing off while Adam is working hard, but that's ok. He says so.

I love him...

Some Hope

This is the hope I found. I hope it gives you some, too...

What Do You See? Part 1

We were clearing land yesterday and I found a lot of hope! I'll share it with you once I get home for the day.

Hug somebody and SMILE today!!

Love

Malinda

A Sister Who Really Isn't a Sister at all, but a Very Best Friend (Part 1 of 3)

She and I grew up together. We were very close and, I am thankful to say, still are. We live too far apart and she is often busy being SUPERMOM, wife, doggy selling extraordinaire, and a very hard worker. I get bogged down in work and can't get away often enough to see her, but we always pick right up where we left off. This day was a supermom day. As you see sweet Anna is turning 3 and Abby threw the girl a bash. I was lucky enough to be part of the after party and hang out with my sister's family for quite a while that day. There is our wonderful Mama (with the camera) and our equally wonderful granny there below.

We slept together growing up. She told me stories about unicorns so I would go to sleep. I was there for her when she needed me most (I hope, anyway...) and now we talk almost every day. What I love most about Abby is that she is just Abby. And I know she loves me back!

www.abbykey.blogspot.com

Garden Update...

Here is Maggie inspecting Adam's potato planting a few weeks ago. She is so funny. Very concerned with why WE are digging up the garden when SHE knows that she is not allowed.

Garlic!

Onions! Mmmmm...

Asparagus from my Gramps's garden in Ohio. I brought some home with me a couple of years ago and am so thankful to have it. Now that he's gone on to Heaven, I have something here on earth that reminds me of my beloved Gramps.

And here is some sunshine for you on a somewhat murky day! Be happy, people, and smile at a stanger today...

Love,

Malinda

A Couple of Trips to the River With a Cool Kid...

The middle school kids from church are going through their confirmation class right now and I get the honor of being a mentor to sweet Jacey (pronounced JAY cee, like Lacey or Casey). She is aslo a student of mine, so we've been close for over a year, now. But we've decided to be friends, I think, and there is NO WAY that we're NOT gonna go hiking after this class is over. One of the jobs of being Jacey's mentor is for us to hang out together once a month. I missed February so we did two weeks in a row at the local park (Henry Horton) and walked by the river talking, snapping pictures, and just enjoying each other and the day.

She's learning not to take a picture of the river with a big tree right in front of her and I'm learning that getting an eleven year old to talk about God is a lot harder than I started out thinking it would be. But we finally did because I learned that...

... sometimes Jacey just likes to sit and talk. The important talks were always sitting. Staring at the river while resting on the big rocks that line the riverbank.

We were great buddies before, but now our relationship is different and I got an "I love you, Ms. Malinda" somewhere between .7 and .9 miles on the river loop trail. It just doesn't get better than that, folks.

I love this kid...