it's that time of year

it's that time of year

a middle tennessee garden blog


finding beauty in the natural things around us makes for one happy self and a lovely life. ~marmee

dash home farm, leiper's fork, tennessee

Sunday, July 12, 2009

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.

23 comments:

Gail said...

Marmee, What a wonderfully sweet post...I am thrilled for Abbey; her prayer was answered and she will have her Renny. I look forward to seeing Renny in his new home. Gail

Lola said...

I am so glad that Abbeys prayers were answered. She will feel as tho her life in fulfilled. I know how it is to love horses & there is a connection between horse & person. There's nothing like it.
Do keep us informed on how things come about.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi There, We're home after a wonderful weekend in the gorgeous North Carolina mountains. I'll post in the morning.

Congrats on the new horse. Abbey will love Renny SO much.

Good luck with the fence.. That's a HUGE job!!!!

Hope you had a great weekend.
Hugs,
Betsy

Meems said...

Your sweet #2 daughter was at my house a couple of days ago. So wonderful to see her and your absolutely adorable Grace. I just love to see/hear that child express herself. I was asking E about the fence, the horse, the delivery. You've answered all my questions with this heartwarming post.

Those boys are working hard for Abbey and Renny. Too bad it's so hot. That auger looks like a wicked tool.

Can't wait to see the finished fence and Abbey's new horse loving its new home in TN!

Oh, to answer your first question... never ending to-do's? a resounding YES. But then you knew that I'm sure. LOL hugs to you my dear sister!
Meems

ShySongbird said...

Well Marmee, I did enjoy that (as always) and I have learnt something! I had never heard of a Paint Horse but after googling it I now know what they look like, what a wonderful surprise for Abbey. I remember that longing, every year on the top of my list to Father Christmas was a golden Cocker Spaniel and year after year I was disappointed, I realise now it was because my parents were worried about my allergies but I didn't understand that then. Needless to say when I married we got a dog and have had them ever since although it is true to say they have never done my allergies any good but I just can't be without them!

I loved all the photos of your beautiful dogs and am so pleased to see dear Bea growing and thriving :)

I look forward to seeing Abbey enjoying Renny in his new home.

Unknown said...

Today, we are getting Renny all bathed up and pretty for his journey to his new home and family! I can't wait to see you guys. Man, that auger looks tough, we usually have it hooked to a tractor so I feel for my dad and brothers! I am so excited, and Grace has been asking me everytime we leave the farm for the past three days if we are going to Marmee's house now?! I LOVE YOU GUYS! And I think your other special guest is going to fit right in with your crew!

Susie said...

Marmee I love how you held off telling Abbey that Renny was hers. That would have been really hard to do. I bet Renny is going to love his new home. Isn't it great how God always answers our prayers. We just have to remember it's all in his timing.

Roses and Lilacs said...

I'm excited for Abbey. It should be a wonderful learning experience for her plus a huge lesson in responsibility.
Marnie

marmee said...

dear gail,

i am quite thrilled for abbey myself.
we are getting so excited because the time is nearing.
thanks!
happy summer.

marmee said...

dear lola,

if i could have recorded when i told abbey that renny was hers...it was a priceless moment. she is such an expressive child with a heart of gold and is truly grateful.
when i was just a year older than her i spent a summer with an uncle and aunt and i learned to ride...it has impacted my life. i know this will be something for abbey to use her energy for that will produce some great lessons for life.
i will be updating on renny's arrival.

marmee said...

betsy,

so glad you had a wonderful time in the mountains. i love my times in the mountains. such a peaceful place to be.
we are in high anticipation of renny's arrival. should be tomorrow.
we are still hard at work on the fence but all the posts made it in the ground. my dh and son jesse are out there working diligently.
happy summer.

marmee said...

hey dear sis,

i am so happy you got to spend some time with e and g. that little girl is just to precious...we are only going to have her for a couple of days so i will need to take it all in.
we are still working hard today to get that fence in place for our arrival tomorrow evening. today is overcast so at least the sun isn't beating down but the humidity is a kicker.
dh, jesse, david and eric all pitched in yesterday so that was a big help.
today i have been rounding up some supplies for renny.
my to~do's never deminish only grow in length. how does that happen>?
how i fit in blogger i will never know...oh yeah the laundry is plying up...the beds aren't made...i haven't cooked this week...etc...

marmee said...

ssb

we are very excited about getting our renny and abbey is so happy. he is a beautiful horse i did a post on him in may called "first lesson" if you want to see him.
i am sure you didn't understand at all why you couldn't have a dog.
i wasn't allowed to have inside animals so now i have has many as i want and let them inside too. i am happy for you that you can handle the dogs even with allergies.
i have some allergy issues too but completely ignore them.
bea is doing really well and staying put which is great. she is growing so fast but staying just as sweet natured as always...we can't keep her clean though. lol.

marmee said...

dear esther,

i know renny will be looking fine when he steps off that trailor onto our property. i can't wait for dad and the boys to see him...i think they will be shocked at what a gorgeous boy he is.
that two man auger is a kicker. i tried it but don't have the upper body strength to push down. i was helping with all the other stuff though. whew!
i can't wait to see that sweet precious grace either. we will have to slow down time while you are visiting to make it last. tell her i love her.
we are excited about our other guest too! i think you are right.

marmee said...

susie,

you are so right it was hard to do...but i have this thing about the right timing. it is hard on the holder of the secret but it makes the person recieving the news better prepared. i used to wait to tell my kids lots of stuff so they would just keep talking about it. like trips to special places.
we are so blessed to be getting this great horse for abbey and our family.

Cheryl said...

Dear Marmee....I had tears in my eyes reading this post. It takes me back to times with my children....

I am so pleased for sweet Abbey....she is a good girl, and Renny will be a wonderful companion for her.....all children need dreams and hopes, to have them fulfilled is indeed a blessing......

I pray that your hard work is soon finished and Renny is safely installed....

I adore the passionflowers and wild, how amazing. I cannot grow them here, my soil is too wet....

I love to follow your journey....it such a honour.....

marmee said...

marnie,

yes the lesson she will learn from having to care for something that is so dependent on her will be good. i have been making her do a lot with the kittens in preparation for the bigger responsibility of renny.
i really believe children need something like this to spend their energy on to help them have confidence, reach for goals, realize how great life is...etc...

marmee said...

dear cheryl,

having you along on my journey is my priviledge.

we are still working hard today to get the fence ready for renny this evening. i went and bought supplies yesterday for him. it is a wonderful thing for abbey to have this prayer answered. we are all excited around here. dh, jesse, and david are all working hard today to make this happen.
i was so pleasantly surprised to find the wildflowers in the field. they are lovely growing wild and free. i left a large patch so hopefully they will be there year after year.
summer blessings!

Renaissance said...

Wonderful, simply wonderful.

marmee said...

re,

thank you so much.

ShySongbird said...

Hi again Marmee, I hope you don't mind me popping back again. I just wanted to say yes I remember reading and commenting on 'First Lesson' but I didn't realise then that the lovely and (to me) unusual horse was called a Paint Horse, I love that name and I can see why it is called that, no wonder Abbey has always been captivated by them! I hope all is going well, I'm guessing Renny may have arrived by now.

joey said...

Wow Marmee ... what an awesome family project for dear Abbey! Do hope Renny's arrival becomes another 'thing' to add to your love list ... dreams do come true!

marmee said...

joey,

i believe too in dreams coming true.