{Thankful, November 4, 2015}

Day 4... and no, I'm not talking tin foil... although tin foil does rock.  
Today I'm talking friends.  Those who toss a tin foil hat on their head right next to you without fear.  Those who get it, no matter what "it" is.  Friends who live across the country yet are always there.  The friends I've just met, the friends I have yet to meet, and the friends who have been there forever.  There's a few of you out there who keep me going.  You know who you are.  <3  Some days I owe you my all.  
~Em

{Thankful, November 3, 2015}

Hopefully this, Day 3, of my thankful post doesn't sound overly boastful.  Today I'm thankful for my talents.  Does that sound bad?  I'm always afraid of being too proud about anything.  I tend to cling to anything creative.  Something there screams safety, and memories.  I suppose I could be clinging to worse things.  :)  In a post written by a friend, she questioned what talents everyone wish they had...  And I never dreamnt that what I do daily, to help support my family, or to relax at night, would be things people only wish they could do... which seems sillier considering how much I still wish I could learn or improve...  And I suppose that means that those people we are envious of, probably, maybe are just as envious about us.  
The talent I want?  I wish I could sing, well.  Like famous Rock Star quality.  :)  No fears though, I'll stick to artistic expression with my hands.  
How about you?  Any talents you wish you had?
~Emily

{Thankful, Nov 2, 2015}

Day 2

These 2.  They drive me nuts, and wear me down, but I am still incredibly blessed, and thankful that both are in my life.  Need I say more? ~Emily

{Thankful, Nov 1, 2015}

Things have been beyond hectic and crazy here.  One of those exhausting crazies, where your head aches slightly always, and you avoid making a to-do list because you just might cry.  And you're just not sure if you're really getting ahead, ever...

Example.  My 12 year old car (I loved that thing, lol) died.  So through a lot of hard work and heartaches, and fights, we managed to buy a newer car... Which was a big deal, I'd been in an SUV for over a decade... And then a week later I am asked to join a new job, with dogs, in my car, ALL THE TIME.  (opps, maybe a tiny car wasn't the best idea)  And then my newer car breaks down, and we fight with the dealers, and it's fixed, for now.  And then the husband's car dies in the driveway.  Dead dead.  Two steps forward, a billion steps back.

This waltz has been going on all summer, and now fall, long.

With so many steps back happening all the time, the steps forward, the blessings tend to get forgotten rather fast.  (Like being thankful that you have a newer car that runs, when all you can think about are the two car payments you now have, as you shove 3 Golden Retrievers into you much too small back seat.)

So I'm going to do something I always hate doing... following memes.  My apologies in advance.  :)  Here's the beginning of my attempt of a month of remembering the good things, everyday.  Photo style.  (And maybe I'll remember not to ramble on for 2 hours with every picture)


Day 1 (November 1, 2015)

This summer I took a job with a therapy dog ministry (more on that one day, I'm sure).  In short they send me lots of Golden pups, and I train them.  Their main focus is to provide a shoulder to lean on, to comfort people no matter what, and it's probably one of the most amazing ministries out there... But I'm thankful to steal little moments with these pups, to be able to get my own little comfort sessions with them, as things go crazy around here.  This one I have bonded to the most (shhh don't tell), and even though I have to give her up soon, I'm thankful fo these little moments with her.  <3

What are you most thankful for this hectic holiday season?
Please feel free to share in the comments, or to link to your own thankful posts!

~Emily

May in the Garden ~ 2015

May was an extremely busy month in the Garden.  Not so many great photos, as half of the month was spent dashing between raindrops.  And my hands covered with mud, and then spur of the minute complete changes to EVERYTHING... But we now have a fence around the garden.  It's a start.  I'm still hoping that lovely chicken wire turns into pickets as time goes by.  :)  The fence was an impulse buy as my husband discovered trampled crops with stray dog prints dancing around in the mud.  Cedar poles that were on sale, and chicken wire... it works for now.  

So with a sporadic fence building after one has already started planting the garden, you end up with some funky spaces to fill.  Like what was going to be a simple marigold border around the garden, became an underwhelming start to an herb garden.  Good news, or bad news, depending on how you look at it, most of these are annuals so next year it can be planned much better.  But for this year we have Lavender, Rosemary, Sage, Lemon Balm, German Chamomile, Lemon Verbena, Parsley, Dill, and Cilantro.  And of course grass that I'm still working on clearing out.  The original garden only went to that oh so lovely log on the right hand side, lol.  Behind the herbs is a first year raised strawberry bed.  Like I said, we've been busy.  :)

There's been many challenges and successes already this year.  The great part was the half of the garden that we started with last year was super easy to weed, and the soil is already looking more like dirt and less like clay.  The disadvantages beyond all of the rain, was putting up a fence after the garden was mostly laid out, which is leading to crowded spaces, and unused wasted space (because apparently I can't garden straight, lol).  So getting in the max crop probably won't happen again this year.  And then I started late, and forgot to order seeds, and... well it wasn't a priority when it should have been.  

So with bad planning, and lots of space left to play with (awkward spaces of course) we have planted:

• 3 types of tomatoes, which sounds like a lot, but isn't even enough to feed us and can.
• Sweet Corn 
• popcorn
• green beans (pole and bush)
• potatoes
• onions
• garlic <-planted last fall
• lettuce/spinach/radish
• zucchini
• cucumbers
• watermelon
• pumpkin <- not enough to count, I'm filling in the huge gaps around the fence, hopefully the vines don't destroy the fence, lol.
• herbs
• sweet peppers
• egg plant
• strawberries
• Raspberry bush <-permanent plants from last year, but I'm still counting them.  :)

And then I might have planted lots of things that have nothing to do with food, beyond they feed the bees and butterflies, which help the food.  And they're pretty, which makes me happy.  And ummm, there was lots of awkward spaces to fill.  :)  So farm-ish garden is starting to turn French cottage-ish.  

And they're annuals.  I never buy annuals, but seriously, who could resist?  And they were on clearance.  

We also constructed a compost bin, and have worked in just enough room to build a sort of garden shed, just big enough to toss all the rakes, and shoves, and pots in, to keep them from rusting away.  There's still lots to do.  I need a movable raised bed for carrots, and I'd like to expand on the outside of the fence with cutting flowers, or roses, or something to #1 keep down on weed whacking, and #2 to continue on with the cottage portage garden look.   But at last there is some progress.  We've come a long way since this was taken a year ago:

And then just because, the goat:

And a guest that hung out with us on Memorial Day weekend:

How's your garden growing?

~Emily

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