fields of passion

anybody else ever feel like there are never ending lists of to~dos?

well our latest to~do has been a whopper...big...huge...back breaking.
having the heat whip us everyday is a bit humbling.
we are building a fence...why you ask?

remember....mine and abbey's trip to florida where she learned
from her big sister esther to ride horses...well one horse in particular.

"renny"

we have been gifted with being able to bring renny home to our farm and
call him our very own horse. it's a long story but i will be brief. hopefully.

many months ago i got a call from esther telling me about this wonderful
sweet, spook proof, great with kids, can do anything type of horse...only one problem.

so here goes he has a club foot right?...no, no, nothing like that. he gets the heeves...
heeves, what in the world is that? he has allergies very bad from july for several months and needs a home somewhere north of florida...

tell me a little about this horse...the owner loves him and really doesn't want to give him up but she loves him so much she realizes she doesn't want him to suffer. she needs a good home
where someone will love him and ride him. he practically can do anything and nothing spooks him. he is wonderful with children. he lives in the fields and eats grass so his maintance is minimal. "what if he gets the heeves here?" his owner, karen will get in her truck and come pick him up and trailer him back home. sounds foolproof to me. oh and by the way he is a paint horse....ding ding ding....my head was reeling. okay yes, we'll take him...let me talk to dad.

backtrack......... 5 plus years ago to a little girl's prayer, abbey's prayer..."moma.....can i get a paint horse?"
at the time we lived in the city..."maybe one day my precious."

almost every day for the last 5 plus years, "moma......can i get a paint horse?"
"i sure hope so my precious."

back in march or so...."moma"...yes precious...."there's only one prayer i have prayed that hasn't come true"......yes dear what is that?....."i never got my paint horse".....just keep on praying and believing precious.

when we went to florida i knew renny was ours but i wanted abbey to fall in love with him and make a connection...well she fell and fell hard...

one day standing there grooming him she said, "moma....i wish i could have a horse just like renny." it was all i could do not to cry and tell her but i still wanted the time to be right.

i was able to tell her after she had spent several days with renny...they were riding as one.
she was beside herself and i got to tell her mom and dad had nothing to do with that gift...it was truly a gift from God.....she was soaring with elation and gratitude......"i can't believe that i have my own horse after 5 whole years of praying"......well that's half of her life....that is a long time.
"and it's a paint horse just like i prayed for." "yes precious God is good and He loves you very much."

fastforward...july 2009...we are readying ourselves for our newest member of the family...
renny....we are building a fence.

being the tractor hog that i am. i hop on and start cutting the lines of the field we have mark off for our new fence and horse. much to my surprise i come upon a large patch of passion flowers growing wild out in a part of the field we just don't walk that often. i am elated...i started some from seed this spring and none of them made it...now without any effort i have a whole field of wild passionflowers vining all over the place. they are beautiful...so i cut around them and leave them there for beauty's sake.

i love when nature(God) does that...just drops a wonderful
gift of a flower in your life.

they happen to be my favourite colours.........purple, white, green...
image that....thanks Lord for your love.



now back to the task at hand, after that very lovely diversion.

building a fence.....

around 40 post holes...4 corner posts...10 braces/supporting posts for the corners...
i am glad i have some big boys....and of course dh.

after the corner posts were in and the places were marked for the middle posts

it was the same process over and over again.

take the auger...drill a hole...mind you through clay and limestone...sometimes.

have you ever seen a grown man thrown 4 foot backwards?....i have several times.

then you measure the hole to make sure it is deep enough...around 32 inches.

get ready drop the post.

shore it up...level it...pack down the dirt....level it again and

so on and so forth....again and again.

on one side of our property we have a really nice tree line.

it has a wonderful understory with all kinds of places for critters to hide and live.

it gives us a good line of shade from the front all the way to the back.

we walk that way quite often.

even so with the heat there are breaks needed to cool off.

otter pops, frozen sticks are often consumed on these breaks.

the dogs have been our constant companions and they like the pops too.

there is always a little time for petting.

this makes it all quite...happy...

sometimes we need an a/c break as well...

i will keep you posted on the building of the fence and renny's arrival this coming week.

this is the latest little blossom in my wildflower garden.

so tiny, sweet and the prettiest blue.

a volunteer sunflower just outside my fenced wildflower area.

....so maggie is on guard...in the field of passion flowers....out

where we are building the fence.....good dog....maggie.

good dog!

happy summer days.

reaping the rewards of my lil' potager

"Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself."
~ Henry David Thoreau ~



" The first gatherings of the garden in May of salads, radishes and herbs made me feel like a mother about her baby - how could anything so beautiful be mine. And this emotion of wonder filled me for each vegetable as it was gathered every year. There is nothing that is comparable to it, as satisfactory or as thrilling, as gathering the vegetables one has grown."
~ Alice B. Toklas ~

i couldn't have said it better myself.

between what is growing in our vegetable garden, what we can

get at the market, and from our very own local farming co~op @

http://beaverdamcreekfarm.com...

( it has been such a great experience knowing our local farmer and having input into what they do.)

...we are well supplied with all the good things you could want for summer fixings.

including a dozen or so herbs...purple basil is one of my personal favourites.
both to look at and to use in various recipes.

so far our cucumbers have been plentiful, very tender and sweet.

our tomatoes have been very flavourful and delicious.

scallions, green beans, onions, and beets have been in small portions but really good.

we have more than enough loose leaf lettuce...we just go out cut what we want

and make a fresh salad for one or for a dozen or more.

peppers have been a great addition to many meals.

the blueberries are tart and sweet at the same time.

not a whole lot make it inside.

even the compost is in the giving mood.

we have this volunteer (squash) i believe.

having a potager is like having a little baby to tend to...constantly

checking to see how it's growing, seeing what new things it can do...looking for

signs of maturing.

the watermelon is flowering and upon closer inspection...

has a little melon growing on the vine...isn't it just the most

beautiful little watermelon you have ever seen...for me it is.

when you are growing flowers and vegetables...the most wonderful thing

happens. you get so many critters checking out what you are doing.

the ladybugs/beetles are mating in the corn stalks.

i love to drive by a field all planted with corn and watch it glisten

with the sun behind it...or watch it sway when a warm breeze blows thru.

i love the long green leaves bending down and making crevices for insects.

they are just beautiful plants to me and especially seeing them

growing in my own little field is such a blessing.

this beauty did me the favour of a visit while i was checking on the corn.

i always have at least one companion in the garden... most of the time

more...this time buster brown is keeping a watchful eye on me.

our boys have been doing well with their own little raised beds.

of course dad and i have been helping with the watering when needed.

and giving a little bit of advice here and there.
their abe lincoln tomatoes are ripening.

my humble thanks to my pollinating friend on the cantaloupe.

lima flowers and soon some beans.

the leaf from the beets is so pretty...don't you think?

one of my loose leaf lettuces flowering out.

we have planted as you know, lots of companion flowers.

the orange marigolds add such a sunny deposition to their little corners of the garden.

the boys planted this unusual flower amongst their veggies.

is this coxcomb? i love the colour.

miniature vining red morning glory is a spot of just the right

colour, as well as the lavender morning glory and the vining black~eyed susans.

when my dh finally tilled around the front yard picket fence...i

didn't have much time before leaving for a trip to fl to plant...so i

did what any gardener might have done...i sprinkled it with various seed.

i am getting things popping up all the time now and i really

am not sure what some of them are...maybe weeds for all i

know...but it is attracting little green flying creatures.

~click to see better~

and interesting heads like these.

i am a bit surprised at the green envy zinnias...i wish they were

a little more green...but i like where they are planted.

the purple zinnia seeds and bud turned out to be rather pink.

don't you think? i am still glad they flowered.

this might be early buds on poke weed...but the buds

and it's shadow caught my fancy.

i am not quite sure why the sunflowers give me so much

anticipated pleasure but they do...i check them regularly.

i planted more variety this year and in many different spots around the yard.

i also have had many self sown sunflowers this year.

blooming is all sizes and colours...they never cease to amuse me.

from the moment they show their petals...

...to the lasting moments of attracting lots of various bees...

...they delight me.

the hostas and oakleaf hydrangea are blooming profusely...

i love every stage of the hydrangea...right now up against

my red house they are really standing out and grabbing the attention.

summer is such a wonderful time of the year...i love it.
i am greatly rewarded.

summer blessings to you all.

happy un~b~day to you

after a gorgeous sunset last night on the 6th of july
we decided to celebrate america's unbirthday without the
rain to interfere with the fireworks.

with what we had leftover from the 4th it was just
enough to make something of it.

the children were delighted with two fun days in the same week.

they danced and swirled around...lined up to catch the
parachutes shot off by g-pa.

we had some giagantic sparklers left.

we had eaten another great meal outdoors of beef brisket, home

grown beets, greens beans w/pototoes & onions, stewed tomatoes

over rice...and a little bit of leftover lemon~coconut cake.

we had a lovely evening playing with the kittens outdoors

this little grey one is quite docile.

...if we keep one this one will be it...if...

everyone was quite relaxed and just enjoying being out of doors.

we didn't mind having to celebrate

again...somebody has to do it...right?

celebrating the fourth...american style

we love to celebrate our wonderful country on this special day.
we played table topics/travel addition...we laughed until we cried.

we had an awesome 4th of july. there were lamb chops...organic corn on the cob...
a cold salad with shallots, cucs, tomatoes, banana peppers, all from our garden.


rachel made the most amazing coconut~lemon cake from scratch.
oh my it might be my new favourite dessert. yummo!

we ate outside at dusk under the umbrella while it sprinkled lightly.

then we moved to the firepit for fireworks...well our fireworks were

no competition for God's fireworks...we sat there until we were drenched and then ran

inside and wrapped up in beachtowels and ate cake with milk and coffee.

no firework photos because of the pouring rain...we had a great day.

hope all of you did too!

felines...flora...fauna

~speedy and bud~

babies and mama came out in the sunshine today.

we try to let them out everyday for a while.

jade was able to relax.

abbey named all the kittens until they go to their forever homes.

this one david is holding is heidi.

everyone seems to have their favourites.

abbey calls this one rose.

lantana in hanging baskets.

some summer blooms are starting to flower.

milkweed...

blanket flower

big sky harvest moon coneflowers

rudbeckia

unfurling caladiums

touch me nots

miss muffet...i am so proud to have these from meems garden.

it feels like i have a little bit of my sister in my garden.

i went to the nursery to get some things the other day and

i was fortunate enough to find a sale going on...pots,

plants, other plant paraphernalia...

i felt like i was at an antique store and so i bargained.

i really got some great deals on these over sized water pots

and the green and brown glazed pot.

of course now they need plants and some holes drilled in the bottom.

variegated potato vine... rainbow coleus...a few miss

muffets...cajun vermillion queen hibiscus... with white impatiens

i am hoping the hibiscus looks like this one off the internet.

this one has hydrangea...jacob's coat...an ornamental pepper plant with purple peppers and variegated leaves...'copper plant' acalypha wilkesiana rounded out the things planted.

this glazed pot is so pretty...temporarily i put

'ogon dawn redwood' metasequoia g ogon in it until we find

a good place to plant the $15 tree. i love bargains at the nursery.

happy fourth to everybody.

God bless America!