Turkey Creek Garden Varmints

     So this post is about varmints, but before I start I want you to know that you can trust my blogs to be honest because I have a truthometer.  I married him 32 years ago. His name is James and I adore him.  When I write, he is also my dictionary (faster than spell check) and my thesaurus.  Yesterday I asked him if there was such a word as "hince".  He replied, "Yes, but the word is spelled "hence";  "hince" is a word that makes you sound illiterate."  Ummm.... spell check with attitude.

       But for you he serves as the truthometer, keeping my desire to "gild the lily" in check.  This is important for today's blog about varmints.  Varmint stories must be truthful! 

     What is a varmint? Well, the dictionary (the real one, not James) says it is a chiefly Southern term for an irritating or obnoxious animal or person.

     We live on Turkey Creek road.  In my blog I would love to call our place Turkey Creek Farms, but the truthometer won't let me since we live in a subdivision.  We only have two acres and no animals so I guess that really doesn't qualify as a farm. I asked the truthometer if I could call our place Turkey Creek Garden.  He suggested Turkey Creek Yard, completely not understanding my need to call it anything, but said he could live with Turkey Creek Garden since we really have one - a garden. 

 So now.....


     We have a lot of varmints here at Turkey Creek Garden.  The deer are a constant pain in the........neck. When we first moved here from Lafayette I was so excited to be back in a small town and away from traffic that I put a salt lick out to draw in the deer!  We hadn't started the garden yet and I thought the deer were so pretty. Be careful what you wish for!!!It took me a solid year of using Liquid Fence to train them away my garden. 

Sunflower patch before deer......

.....after deer!!

 

 

     Armadillos start rooting around in the late summer when it gets dry in the woods.  One year an armadillo dug a tunnel way up under our garage.  I stuck a shovel down in the hole to see how deep it was and couldn't find the bottom!  Now we put out moth balls to keep them away.

 

 

 

     Ella and I made a fairy garden in the summer of 2012 but I let it go to weed, so I  planned to revive it this weekend.  When I grabbed the little house to remove it, a huge swarm of wasps flew out!!!!  A HUGE swarm!!  A herd!  A coven!!!! I screamed (wanted to curse, but Moses was watching me), ran, and hoped for the best. James came running.  There was a cloud of wasps swarming the back corner of the garden! No one got stung; it was a miracle.  After a good soaking with Raid, the fairy house was restored to its garden spot and I saved the wasp nest because I've been seeing them in antique stores selling for $8....seriously!!

 

Wasp garden

Fairy garden

 

    

$8.00

 

     Another Turkey Creek Garden varmint is a red tailed hawk.  He is so comfortable at our house that he often perches on the porch furniture while waiting to pick off some of our sweet birds from the feeders.  The fact that he doesn't go after the squirrels when they're at the feeders is just more proof that life isn't fair.

 

 

 

     But my best varmint story is about these guys....

 

 

 

Two long, really long king snakes.  Now I know that a king snake is a "good" snake, but when you've got a snake in your hand the notion of  "good" snake "bad" snake doesn't enter your mind!!! 

 

      I had been gardening all day.  It was almost dark, but I had just a little more fertilizer to spread under the roses and I was determined to finish before nightfall.  I reached behind the bush grabbing a big handful of pine straw to move out of the way and suddenly felt whatever I had in my hand vibrate like a live wire. I let go, fell back, and released a stream of curse words (Moses hadn't come to live in the garden yet) as a snake uncoiled and quickly slithered away. I later read that king snakes will coil up and vibrate in an effort to imitate poisonous snakes. All I know is I had GRABBED A SNAKE!!  This is a true story; just ask the truthometer!!! I bought a long handled, narrow little rake that I now use to move pine straw.

 

     So those are my Turkey Creek Garden varmint stories. However, the truthometer insists that I come clean and admit that until writing this post I thought "varmints" were "varmits".  I bet "varmit" is a Sabine parish variation of the word! :)

 

                                                                             Love ya'll, Shelli 

 

 



 


 


The Phases of Retirement

     Last week I received my back-to-school letter from the Lincoln Parish School Board telling me when to report to school.  I guess they haven't taken the retired teachers off of the personnel rosters yet. I read it and then threw it away, happy that I wasn't going to be reporting back this year, and yet......

      I started this blog because I retired, but I haven't really written about retirement. If you Google retirement, you will find articles about finance and insurance, but what about the emotional aspect.  Maybe I am the only person alive who has struggled with this change, but I think not. It has taken me most of the summer to come to grips with the idea of retirement and I have gone through some definite phases along the way; some expected and some very unexpected.....

     When May ended, James and I immediately hit the road for Thomas' graduation, a little road trip, and Memorial Day kayaking. Then there was a week of sleeping late, working in the garden, cooking, and watching movies.  All of this while enjoying a feeling of release!!!  Release from deadlines and pressures; no more papers to grade, tests to update, Moodle, or lesson plans. Common Core wouldn't exist in my new world of retirement. These were all things of the past. Ahhhh.......

     But then I read an article online about the roads melting in Yellowstone National Park and thought how much my students would enjoy that article when we were studying volcanoes this year!  But wait, I wouldn't be teaching volcanoes or anything else this year. No students, no experiments, no colleagues, no fun.  These were all things of the past.....

     Hence started a period of depression.  I was hit with the realization that I was entering the final stage of life, the retired years.  Now I know they are going to be great years and that the world is my oyster and all that, but that doesn't mean they aren't the last phase of life.  With this realization came a flood of doubt and regret.  Have I done enough with my life so far; how should I use the rest of my life. Where do I start? I needed to sign up for as many volunteer organizations, college courses, exercise classes, and clubs as I could! Quick!!!! Anxiety attack!!! I was overwhelmed by an unexpected urgency to have it all figured out RIGHT NOW!!!!!!  I needed a BIG, BOLD, IMPORTANT RETIREMENT!!!!!

     And then I went home for our family's summer get together.  They had planned a retirement party and while we were celebrating, I took a good look around and realized that I was missing the point of retirement by worrying about grandiose plans. I didn't need to bring peace to the Middle East or solve world hunger.  I didn't need to run for mayor, paint a masterpiece, or write a book.  I needed to be a good wife, mom, sister, aunt, and daughter.  I needed to meditate every day and be healthy. I needed to be more active at church and nurture friendships.

     Retirement is a luxury; the luxury to slow down and focus on the small, simple things in life again. I have always tried to be mindful of the simple, but important things such as family, friends, and faith, but often they unintentionally got pushed to the back burner as my job took precedence.  Now is the time to restructure my priorities and if God has other plans for me, He'll let me know.  I don't have to figure it all out, He already has.

                 So now I am in a phase of slow, peacefulness; the best phase of retirement!

Love ya'll,

Shelli

  "You can only have bliss if you don’t chase it."

~Henepola Gunaratana (Bhante G)


  

    

DIY Botanical Art

     As you may have read from an earlier post, I recently redecorated my bedrooms.  In one of them I made two botanical art pieces. I thought I would share how easy this project was.

 

 

Materials:

 

1  burlap canvas ($14 Hobby Lobby, but you could so easily staple burlap over an old

                            canvas)

1  piece colored burlap

1  12" square piece scrapbook paper

1  botanical print from internet copied onto cardstock (allow ink to dry well)

Mod Podge

sponge brush

1 4" plastic spackle spreader (I have no idea what this thing is really called, so here's a picture)

 

 

 

Directions:

1. Cut colored burlap to desired size and fray the edges by pulling threads.

2. Position colored burlap onto canvas.

3. Use sponge brush to apply Mod Podge directly onto colored burlap.  The Mod Podge will 

    soak through the colored burlap and adhere it to the burlap below. Pay special attention

    to the frayed edges. (Remember that Mod Podge dries clear!)

4. Coat the back of the scrapbook paper with a thin layer of Mod Podge.

5. While the colored burlap is still wet, position piece of scrapbook paper in the center of the

    colored burlap.  Gently smooth the paper down using the spackle spreader. (The paper

    will wrinkle, but the wrinkles will flatten as it dries.)

6. With the sponge brush, add a thin layer of Mod Podge over the scrapbook paper and

    position your printed cardstock on top of it.  Smooth with spackle spreader.

7. Cover the cardstock with a thin layer of Mod Podge and smooth down with the spackle

    spreader.

8. Continue flattening everything out as much as possible during the first few minutes of

    drying time.

9. Allow to dry completely.

 

 

Good luck, Shelli

 



C. S. Lewis, Branches, and Trees

     Are you familiar with C. S. Lewis?  I love The Chronicles of Narnia and used to read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to my students when I taught younger grades. I especially love his book Mere Christianity. Recently I was surprised to find this excerpt he wrote in The Great Divorce about branches and trees:

"We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, if followed long enough, will therefore draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the centre: rather in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two, and each of those into two again, and at each fork you must make a decision.  Even on the biological level life is not like a river but like a tree.  It does not move towards unity but away from it and the creatures grow further apart as they increase in perfection.  Good, as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil but from other good."

I hope you have a great day today and realize that the "ripe goodness" in you is unique and therefore needs to be nurtured and shared with confidence!

                                                                                                    Love ya'll, Shelli

Rain and Redecorating

     Well it was a rainy weekend in Ruston. That's right, in July!!!  This means that for the dog days of summer, the grass will be greener, the trees won't droop as early, and the new fall seeds I planted in the garden will get a good head start.  This also means that I didn't have to water the yard much this week making time for some redecorating I've had planned.

     In late May, James and I were in Alabama for my nephew's high school graduation.  We did some antiquing/car shopping on the way home and I found some great twin beds. I had been wanting twin beds in our guest room, so I was very excited to find the pair (with footboards and railings) for a really low price!

     Now there is no such thing as redecorating without running into some challenges.   

     Challenge 1: I love antiques, but if you decorate with too many antiques, your home can begin to look like a museum, dark and stuffy.  I read that you should use new fabrics in updated colors and patterns to balance the look of old furniture.  So, off to Hobby Lobby for fabrics in graphic patterns and current colors.  I planned to sew most of my pillows and curtains myself, but Hobby Lobby does have cute pillow cases and curtain panels for really good prices if you don't like to sew.

 

    
     Challenge 2:   How to use the same bedding, but switch it from a full bed to twins. I love the Target quilt I had in the room. It was the perfect color and pattern. I already had a painting and accessories to match as well as a refinished table. The shams were no problem, so I found a coordinating quilt in a solid color.  Then I took the old, full sized patterned quilt, cut it in half, hemmed it with matching bias tape, and folded the (now two) quilts at the foot of each bed. I added two new pillows with appliqued birds and then continued the bird theme with two new pictures from Hobby Lobby (50% off) also with a bird motif.  And since my mom, a great decorator, says every room should have some whimsy, I have a picture of a cat in there with all the birds. :)

 

 

 

 

 

     Challenge 3: One thing leads to another! Putting twin beds in the guest room meant taking down my Eastlake bed, and I really love my Eastlake bed that I got at an auction many years ago.  So I decided to move it into the middle bedroom and remove the iron bed that was in there.  Sold the iron bed on Craig's list, so now I found myself redecorating this room too!  This was good because I had really hated putting away all of my Earth science collections when I moved out of my classroom this Spring.  I decided to make this bedroom a "nature" room.  With more fabric from Hobby Lobby, I sewed new pillows, bed skirt, and curtains.  I made two DIY pine cone botanical art pieces (more on them later) that I hung on the wall with my turkey tail and turtle shell. Fossils went into the bedside table; rocks, minerals, owl wing, and coconut went into the display cabinet.

 

 

 

 

 

     Two redecorated bedrooms, all done!

 

Love ya'll, Shelli



 

  

    

Hard, Unwanted Branches

     Growing branches...?  My cousin's husband died on July 3.  He had been diagnosed with cancer in February.  Our family gathered for the funeral and I felt like a self absorbed idiot!!

     I started this blog because I retired and needed to grow "new branches" due to that change in my life. What a whimp I am! My change was an easy, happy one.  What about people who have catastrophic change thrust upon them? What about the branches they are forced to grow; branches they never wanted? 

     When I write, I sit in our office looking out onto the back yard filled with trees, towering pines, delicate dogwoods, and tenacious sweetgums.  They shade our yard and every shrub or flower I have planted beneath them depends on this shade. When particularly nasty thunderstorms blow through, I always fret that lightning or wind will take out some of the trees changing the complexion of the whole yard and endangering every plant in it.

     How similar to the life of a family stricken by disease, death, divorce, or any other disaster, forcing upon them changes in the whole complexion of their lives.  I want to acknowledge families and individuals who grow new branches under the direst of circumstances.  Thank you for setting examples of courage and resilience!  Thank you for showing us how it is done and thereby giving us hope for when it is our turn.

Love ya'll, 

Shelli

       Come, ye disconsolate, where'er you languish,

 Come at the shrine of God fervently kneel;

                             Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish—

           Earth has no sorrow that Heaven  cannot  heal.

                                                        

                                                      ~ Thomas Moore, c.1813, published in Sacred Songs, 1816

    

Normal Day

Normal day,

Let me be aware of the treasure you are.

Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.

Let me not pass you by

In quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.

 

Mary Jean Iron

Moses Makes It To The Promised Land

    I have a soft spot in my heart for Moses; putting up with all those Israelites and their shenanigans, and he still didn't make it to the promised land!

 I realize it had to be that way and that there are many lessons we can learn from his situation, but my heart goes out to him.  So when I saw him at a yard sale, I had to bring him home to my promised land - my garden.  There's no milk or honey, no manna falling from Heaven, but the hummingbirds and bees buzz around on cool summer mornings and the gardener smiles every time she sees him.

                                                                           Love ya'll,
                                                                              Shelli

’Tis sweet as the day begins to dawn,

When the lark her song is singing,

To wander at will through the grassy lawn

Where fresh flowers around are springing.

’Tis sweet at that solemn hour to go

O’er the rocky slope, all alone,

Where the scattering streamlets freely flow...

’Tis well to inhale the earthly gale,

As it sweeps the green hill’s side...

Or to look on the wood in its leafy pride,

In the glen or on the grove, the dawn is fair,—

Morning is beautiful every where!

~Thomas Furlong, "Morning Meditations"