I'm Not Lucky, I'm Blessed

Because I believe in "blessings" and not "luck".

I thought Phillipians 4:19 would sum up the day.......

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

This is a 4-leaf clover that Ryan found with his Uncle Mike 7 years ago.  I have it in a frame look at it every day.

May the road

 rise to meet you,

May the wind

 be at your back,

May the sun 

shine warm upon your face,

May the rains 

fall softly upon your fields.

Irish blessing

...... and may you catch your leprechaun!!!

Paint Wars

I've never quite understood the whole "boy thing".  Guns, dinosaurs, war games, are what they crave.  That is completely foreign to me, because I loved unicorns, make-up and Patrick Swayze at their age.  

Rick assures me that the desire for fully automatic weapons that shoot marble sized paint-balls, is normal.  To me, I think it's crazy!!!  

Either way, Rick, Ryan and Ian all received paint ball guns for Christmas.  Last weekend, they headed to the woods to use them for the first time.

Ryan, put his scowl on, and readied himself for battle!

Ian, the teddy bear sort, pumps up for combat!

Brothers in arms

Working together for the same cause.  Justice!  Justice for the Smith's farm.  Justice for all the critters that roam our woods, our pond, and our yard!  

The world can sleep easy tonight.

Because.......... they have lots of refills!!!!

Bunny Make Over

I am slowly bringing out the Spring decor..  I don't want to overstep my seasonal bounds, but it IS March people.  It doesn't matter to me that it is grey, misting and chilly outside.  I shall overcome my "Winter annoyance" with pastels, glitter and bunnies.

I bought this bunny a couple weeks ago.  It wasn't exactly my style but I knew that I could "spruce" it up a bit.

I removed this ribbon around it's neck.

Sprayed this ribbon with a clear adhesive and poured glitter over the top.  You can never have enough glitter, right?

I put a bead of hot glue around it's neck and wrapped the ribbon over it.  

I applied another dot of hot glue on the ribbon and applied the pale yellow flower.

I glittered the eggs with tacky glue and a paintbrush.

Then sprinkled them with glitter.

I used the same process to add a glittered detail to the ears.

Here is the finished product.  

Wouldn't this make a sweet centerpiece on your Easter table?  

Happy Monday Peeps!

Big ole' birds

Halfway between Rocky Ridge Farm (a.k.a. "The Smith's House") and Chillicothe is an abundance of farm ground.  Normally, there is nothing interesting to look at.  Although, recently a flock of eagles have made temporary residence in an overflow lake.  We have seen up to 13 of them at once.  They are beautiful!  Beee-uuuuu-tiiiii-fulllllllllllll!  

Some of them are immature birds and still have brown heads.  At least 5 or 6 of them, however, have heads as white as snow.  Did I tell you how beautiful they are?

Some "old timers" have told me that they migrate with the geese.  I don't know, makes sense to me???

According to Wikipedia, this is also a bald eagle.  He just hasn't fully matured.  Per my BRIEF research, the bald eagle normally develops a white head after his fourth year.  However, they can turn white after their third year, albeit rare.  

I think that I scared this one out of the tree with my camera clicks.  

Have I told you that I think they are beautiful?

I captured two mature baldies and an immature baldie looking for lunch.  

You can see the small article about them in our local paper here.  

The Wikipedia page that I made reference to, may be found here.

HURRY, Miss. Spring!!!!!

I'm craving pastels and sweet smelling tulips.  

I'm craving warm black soil and seedling tomato plants

I'm craving short sleeve shirts, shorts and flip flops.

I've been noticing that when I'm creating lately, I've gravitated towards brighter colors.  I've also noticed that my buttons, glitter and paints have been here all Winter.  Yet, I've only recently noticed them.

This is a layout of Gracie and her Grandpa Larry.  

I love this picture.

I love the "why" in my journaling.

Since nature is not cooperating with my wishes, I purchased a $5 shamrock.  

It is providing my family room with much needed color.  

It is reminding me that Spring is around the corner.

It is helping me get out of this funk that I've been in lately.

Pond Critters

Last Fall we noticed that our cat-tails were disappearing.  Strangely enough, a tidy den of cat-tail reeds was being built beside where they once stood.  Upon further inspection, we concluded that it was a muskrat den.

Muskrats are nasty vamits.

Muskrats are large rats with tails.

We have noticed them swimming in the pond this week.  From a distance, of course.  

Please note that I said "them".

There are two rodents!  To protect the privacy of those accused, I will call them "Chip and Dale".  However,  I bet that Chip is really "Chip-ette".

Sooooo, I had the bright idea to sneak down to the pond (camera in hand) to snap a few pictures. 

Since T-bone is my protector, I asked if he would tag along.

 

Me: "T-bone, I'm going to the pond.  It may be dangerous.  I need a protector.  Will you go?

Me: "Plllleeeassseee T-bone, will you go?  I would feel much better having you there with me.  Muskrats have large teeth, and wild claws.  I'm certain this is going to be a dangerous journey. 

 

 Me: "T-Bone, you are not a very good protector"!

Congo said he didn't want to go either.  Someday I will have a pet that will be a loyal and fearless companion.  

 

So I begin my short trek to the pond.  I noticed that I am surprisingly stealthy.

I am very close now.  This photo shows some of the very few cat-tails that remain near our pond.  

I begin seeing evidence of our little rodent.

More evidence.........

Then, out of the nowhere, Chip appears.

He emerges out of the water, but soon discovers his stalker.

Then as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared.  I saturated my backside while sitting quietly on the bank, hoping that he would return.  However my patience is short.  After 20 minutes I decided to do a walk-around.

No Chip.......... no Dale!

No T-Bone............. no Congo!

THE END

p.s.

This is a muskrat home.  This isn't Chip (ette) or Dale's Home.  I found this in Wikipedia.  

Random Thoughts....

Remember the memory trick of tying a string around your finger?  

I thought this might be a little easier (and a little cuter).

It has done nothing for my memory however!  

As a matter of fact, I have no idea where I was going with this story!!!!

Go figure!

As I've told you before, I have a small fetish over gnomes, trolls, elves, and such.

My Aunt P. feeds my fetish.  Therefore, they are multiplying at an alarming rate.  

The big guy might be my secret boyfriend.  (I will deny it if you tell Rick, just saying.)

 My lazy cat.

The lazy cat who can think of nothing better to do than stalk me!

It's starting to creep me out!

Isn't he pretty though?  He's too pretty to be annoyed with, so I shall photograph him.

Then, my daughter, painted this work of art.

She brought it home in her zebra striped backpack (with a matching zebra striped hairbrush and umbrella).

I'm thinking this must somehow end up in a frame and hung on my wall.  

I promise my next post will have more substance.  My creativity comes in waves, my dear friends.  Often times,  waves carry in a little seaweed (or yucky salad as Gracie used to say).