I Didn't Say Aim For Possums!

In the last couple of days I've noticed an abundance of road kill - possums and raccoons... Neither affect my garden, so please drivers, back off!


Senseless killing affects the psyche of all... My heart goes out to the families in this week's OH shooting rampage... Our children in GA are taught to go into a room without windows if a tornado is coming... In CA we teach our children to duck under tables if an earthquake hits... Do parents in America need to tell our children how to duck, run (not in a straight line) and hide in the event a classmate brings a gun to school? Columbine... Virginia Tech... and now Chandon?

An hour ago it came out that the gun was from his grandfathers (who he lives with) barn. Yessiree gun rights activists... guns don't kill people... people kill people... and when you leave guns in a place where children can get to them, you are increasing the chances of them being used maliciously (teenage angst) or accidentally (how many kids have injured themselves or others out of curiosity?)... Screw you all and your right to bear arms... I shouldn't have to worry about educating my kids on escaping classmates with guns... Nuff said... except my prayers are with the last child in the hospital... may they survive, heal and thrive...


Years ago I went to an eBay convention... and to my surprise, Davy Jones did a concert on night 1. It didn't occur to me that he was alive still... I remember thinking "HOLY SHIT Davy Jones? Where did they find him!" LOL He was a completely entertaining performer... I consider myself lucky to have seen this concert... I grinned from ear to ear while watching... singing songs from my childhood... I have memories as a child walking to school with my besties... singing...

"Here we come, walking down the street
We get the funniest looks from everyone we meet.

Hey, hey, we're the monkees
And people say we monkey around,
But we're too busy singing
To put anybody down..."

RIP Davy... and thanks for my memories...


My life has been stressful the last couple of days with car troubles and taxes... but I think I've come to grips with it all, and like a cat, I will again land on my feet... I'm blessed with an incredible emotional support system around me that keeps me sane when I'm feeling a bit broken... I love you all....


I'm staring outside and seeing the fat little birdies return to my birdbath and garden... It's time to start feeding them again... I stopped because of the chipmunk digging a condo association under my flower and vegetable gardens... Hopefully he moved when the fast food restaurant closed...


What that fat lil birdie is telling me... is the same thing my garden is telling me... "Spring is here... Believe as we believe... Don't live in fear of the cold of winter... We survived and we thrived..." I love my fat little birdies... and my early daffodils... :)


I BELIEVE!

Mom Says Aim for Squirrels Too...

After reading my last blog, my dear mother said "Squirrels dig up bulbs, get them too..." Since my Spring garden is definitely affected by rabbits (the nibbled greens) and potentially affected by squirrels (all bulbs)... I've decided to put an APB for either on the country roads of Suwanee...


“Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always To be blest.
The soul, uneasy, and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.” - Alexander Pope


In Spring, hope springs eternal... I have always loved Spring... Winter, with all of the dormant bleakness and bitter cold depresses me. January, post holidays, is the worst of all. Nothing to enjoy... it's just a month you must ENDURE. Then late February, something amazing begins to happen... Little green leaves start to peak out of the soil... winter has rejuvenated their lil bulb souls... and by March, Hyacinth, Daffodils, and Crocus are all bravely fighting the elements reminding us that even when life is depressing, to look around and find moments of beauty... if winter can pass and earth can glow again... so too, can we...

I step out each Spring, wander my back 40, and find these bits of beauty throughout my garden... and it makes me smile... as the temperature begins to hit the 60's again, I stretch my arms out and look up to the sun... like the plants, I reach for it's healing warmth. Spring is here... and in ME, the hope that lays eternal begins to find ways to make dreams reality... Depression is shaken off, and my brain can function again, spinning cotton candy out of rain clouds...

On so many levels, my Winter has gone and Spring is warming my soul once more. Life is simply... good...


"Don't you worry your pretty little mind,
People throw rocks at things that shine
And life makes love look hard
The stakes are high, the water's rough, but this love is ours..." - Taylor Swift "Ours"

Avoid The Squirrels

I've decided to take a break from blogging about my personal ups and downs. I've closed my "Just So" blog for the time being and am going to focus on my garden, children, and four legged beasties... Let me close the other blog saying simply, I'm happy, content and am focusing on counting my blessings...


Last night one of my close friends posted on facebook that she'd hit a squirrel and was devastated. My sarcastic, nay witty, comeback was "Aim For Rabbits"... Squirrels are cute fuzzy creatures that do no harm to your garden. Rabbits, from late February to November are the bane to any gardeners existence. If it might look good on your plate, know the rabbit family living in your backyard will think it is an appetizer.

I find solace in my garden... I always have... today I stepped outside into the almost balmy 60' winter air and started to unclutter the dead of winter... what I found under the brown leaves was a mixture of fresh greens, plants nibbled to the ground, and stacks and stacks of fresh rabbit poop... They've been hiding a secret... The garden has been coming alive, and they are having 10 course meals.


It's time to go 'caddy shack' again... and try to outwit these furry flea brained creatures. I'll try out new vegetables and see which ones they turn their noses up to and which ones might actually grace my table. I'll loudly make promises to plant enough for them if they just leave 60% for me... the little creeps will leave 20% if I'm lucky... Just look at how many of the plants survived in this bunch... :(


Two for me, five for nature... I long for the day where I will have the money to install a fence that will keep out the deer, and keep in my 180 pounds of four legged rabbit repellent... I do realize though... at that point I'll be blogging about wanting to string my mutts up by the tails for digging in my garden... Sigh...

For now, I'll appreciate that winter will be ending soon... and feel gladness in my heart as spring refreshes my spirit... peace in my soul as I touch the earth as the warm sun shines on my back... and I'll vow not to swerve when a rabbit hops across the country road before my home.


All pictures above were taken today in my garden.