Paradise Found

A portion of our Grove. I love this part of our property!
The foot bridge from the driveway to the Grove
A place for planting some wild flowers and bulbs
hopefully this spring.... if not, we'll do it next year
It's good to rest after planting wildflowers and bulbs..
what better place than our hammock with views of
the pastures, the mountains and the valley... sigh....
could this be why the larkspur and daffodils aren't growing
in rich abundance in the grove?? Could it be I'm resting before I plant?

Everyone should have a picture of their garage door.
But this includes a small shot of the park that is our side yard...
Our bridge is the permanent picture on the blog and is located at
the end of the gravel drive on the right. The home is humble that's for sure.

But, we do have a guest room and clean towels. Wayne will try his hand at barbecuing some chicken or burgers... maybe even a dutch oven dinner. I make a mean omelet for overnight guests. So this is an invitation for one and all to come and visit us at the Hollow. We LOVE company!

A Coco Wickie No

Too perfect a day to be contained in one small space. This is a continuation ... and I somehow got two pics of the same thing on here and I'm too green at this stuff to be able to figure out how to get it off, so I guess you'll have to enjoy it twice.... Eden Valley truly is Eden revisited on earth.

Memories are Made of This

Have you ever closed your eyes and tried to search through the channels of your mind the way you might browse through the pages of a well worn book... looking for a cherished memory or a favorite passage. I was watching the weather move in across the valley last night feeling the serenity that living in our little Kingdom affords me, and my mind drifted to last summer and a strawberry shortcake delicious day spent with my daughter and her boys in Eden Valley. Dessert for the soul!!! I've added a few photos to share some of the magic with you. I can only hope that everyone will taste such moments many times in their lives.

Where, oh where???

Well, the boys packed up the car and left about an hour ago. I stood in the driveway as they drove away and felt a little emptiness creep over me. The house always seems like it's missing something for a day or two after the children visit. It isn't the house that's missing something, I know. It's me. I miss their laughter and teasing and digging through the kitchen cupboards for something more to eat.

It was a good time. We had meatloaf sandwiches today. I don't know why I don't make meatloaf more often... I love it. Well, I do too know why. I've been leaning away from meats and towards a more natural, vegetarian diet for a while now. But, they were might tasty! The guys went for walks and to the B.Y.U. game. We all discussed the results of the South Carolina primary, and the close Florida race between McCain and Romney. Whoa! Dustin is a little crazy when it comes to politics! He's sort of an uneven and ever shifting blend of Bill O'Reilly, Glen Beck and Michael Savage. It was interesting and I think we all stretched our minds and opened them to each others opinions. I like discussions where a free exchange of differing thoughts are explored. I get so bored when conversations consist of one person talking while the other sits and listens, bobble heading to everything said. It shows, to quote my dad, "A lack of spirit only to be admired in sheep". I like that all of my children are confident enough to express themselves and speak up when they're in disagreement with what's being said, and/or done.

Dallin mostly listened to us talk... at least when we weren't listening to him snore. He always sort of melts onto the couch and slips into some twilight space between consciousness and unconsciousness when he's here. (That's with a heavy leaning toward the unconscious side)

I love this!!... the feather touch of the evening sunbeams have just crept into the room. The scene through the upstairs window is breathtaking. It snowed earlier in the day (actually, just as my sons were driving across the bridge). It was one of those soft as soap bubble snows. Now, as the sun hits the trees in the grove, each delicate branch has the appearance of being adorned with diamond earrings. I need to stop and take a few minutes to let it soak into my memory.

sigh.....

That was nice! It's been overcast most of the day with dismal, drifting clouds, persistanty sheltering the sun from view. I remember when I moved to Sanpete County, I was told that, on average, the sun shone 360 days of the year. I sputtered, snorted and scoffed. Who was going to believe that Chamber of Commerce hype? But, you know what? I paid attention over the last two years and it's been true! Granted, it doesn't shine ALL day. But, it shines for a portion of almost EVERY day.

Well, I need to go find a book that a good friend gave to me when we left New Harmony. Shortly after reading it, I put it someplace for safekeeping. Unfortunately, for the life of me, I can't seem to remember where I was keeping it safely. Where, oh where could it be? I'm sure my children will stumble across it while packing my belongings for my move into assisted living. I can't understand how I can lose things in this tiny cabin. There just aren't that many places to hide. I'll sleep on it tonight and look again in the morning. There's an Arabic expression, "Bukra, inshallah". It means, Tomorrow, God willing". Seems appropriate, here.

I don't know how long it will be before I write again. I'm leaving for Chandi and John's Wednesday to watch their crew of munchkins while they sit poolside, and partake of the goodie laden tables, on a cruise. I'll take my laptop and hope I can keep it functioning. I have a few things stiring in my real estate pot that I need to keep an eye on. And, if I break this habit... I may not pick up the pieces and put it back together again.

All is well, here....

watching

I have only a minute... lots to do yet today. But I wanted to share this great little thought that I came across this morning:

DON'T WORRY THAT CHILDREN NEVER LISTEN TO YOU.... WORRY THAT THEY ARE ALWAYS WATCHING YOU.

Gulp!
But, don't you think that's worth thinking about?

Hats off to today and all the joy it brings!

Working flushers and Eloquent thoughts

Once again sleep eluded me last night. I was up late, late, late. I finally gulped down a 12 oz glass of hot milk to help drop my eyelids. While wishing I was dreaming instead of wishing I was dreaming, I thought of so many things I wanted to talk about this morning. But for someone who has a longer tongue than a Canadian Mountie's boot, I suddenly have nothing to say. How does that happen, I wonder. I so wanted to woo you with a few lovely turns of phrase and dazzle you with witty banter. Ahhh well... perhaps in a more creative moment.

My two oldest sons, Dustin and Dallin, and Dusty's boy Davin, are coming to spend the week-end with us. YeeHaw!!! I am so stoked.

I may end up liking this Blog thing, after all. Well, maybe not writing it so much, but...it was such a delicious surprise to get a comment from Maria, a beautiful you lady who shared our home and stole our hearts many long years ago. And my angel of a niece, Jade, typed in a few sweet words to brighten my spirits. I'm liking that! I also, somehow, accidently stumbled on a blog from an incredibly interesting young lady that fascinates me... so I may peek in on her musings from time to time. Kinda fun. I had to share her blog with Cordell, who I think might enjoy it as well. Not her, her blog... well, maybe her too, if she wasn't on the morning side of the mountain and he wasn't on the twilight side of the hill. I know she'd like him. I mean who can resist a gorgeous, successful, sensitive poet?

Gosh. I have a busy day coming up. I suppose I ought to do the "housewife" schtick and make the bed and throw in a load of laundry before heading into the office to scheme our getaway from Coldwell Banker's hefty fee's, and our principal broker's lack of concern about our crummy working conditions. He has an office seperate from ours. He told me he couldn't imagine why we didn't buy a couple gallon jugs of water to use in our "flusher" and wash our hands afterwards. I said, "Are you KIDDING me?? I can't believe you haven't furnished us an office with RUNNING water!!" So, that night, he forked out enough of his cash stash to purchase a couple gallon jugs to keep in the bathroom. Couldn't call a plumber. That's his m.o. A "prince of a guy" the twinkie! It's only been since December 6th that we've been without heat and water. Oh well... the temperature was only -13 Tuesday morning. Yup! You read that right. MINUS 13 degrees.

Before I leave, I want to tell Chandi how touching and eloquently expressed her last blog was. I made a copy of the first paragraph to carry with me. I also made a hard copy of her story about Brannock. Both are precious.

ta ta for now.

Three Broads and a Dog?

It's been a delicious day! I slept in soooo late. Well, maybe slept in isn't technically correct. I stayed in bed much later than usual. I just luxuriated on our wonderful mattress surrounded by ultra soft cotton bedding, freshly fluffed, delicately scented down pillows, and a new, baby tummy/bum cuddly, down comforter. It felt absolutely decadent and I loved every minute of it. My mind was completely still and calm. Now that's a rarity! It was nice to just glance out the window at last nights snow fluttering to the ground as a gentle breeze tossed it from the branches in the grove. I was able to lie there with no distractions and just be reflective. A perfect way to start a day.

Then a long, hot shower where I could pray out loud and feel my muscles release the concerns of the outside world. Nice!

I volunteered at the Museum part of the day and spent some quality time with LaVay and Linda, two of the gals who work there. I taught them to make beaded bookmarks and we shared a spirited and motivating conversation while stringing glass balls on thread. It was delightful!

I also got a call from the broker in my office. She wants to open her... well... our own office. Just her, me and Maureen. I drove into the office so we could share ideas and come up with a game plan. She ordered some mighty fine veggie pizza and three drinks of rootbeer. Each of the drinks was about the size of your average kiddie pool. Not too smart when you work in an office without a working "flusher". Anyway, I digress. She wants to call it, "Three Broads and a Dog". Wha??? Really, what kind of name is that? Catchy? Maybe so. But, I have just a teense of concern over exactly what we'd catch with it. I suggested that we check into the possibility of renting a little red caboose in Mt Pleasant and call it the "On Track Realty". I could really get excited about the prospect. I hope we move on it. I have a zillion plus ideas on marketing and building the business.

Well.. that's my day. Wayne is finishing up a John Grishom novel. The house is quiet. I'm sure that before long it will be filled with the sounds of basketball games and political pundits. It is the evening habit of the sweet man who shares my life.

Annnnnnnnnnddd... heeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrs the t.v. That happened a might sooner than I thought it would. Guess I'll give a hefty OOF! and lift this body off the chair and cart it downstairs to spend some time with my hubby pretending like I care who wins the game.

Yikes. We just had a power outage. You'd think that would revert the house to silence. But, Wayne scrounged around and found our battered radio that plays more static than any other sound... so, we can still hear the politico's blather on and on and on. I'm sooo thrilled. My trusty old laptop is still chuggin right along for me... it switched to battery, I'm sure. So I could continue writing.... except that there's no light and I can't see the keyboard worth a tinkers da#@n. I have no idea why that expletive just turned blue. Is there a message here?
Anyway, so long for now..............