Just ramblings...

Good morning - I have nothing much to say except that I still have this little "bug" that won't go away. I'm still on antibiotics and cough medicine, etc. It started out with a cold last week - about 10 days ago, then it went into bronchitis, went to the Dr., got medicine, started feeling better over the weekend, now I don't feel good again. No fever, just malaise and droopiness. What's going on? I'm ready to get back to life - I missed a whole week of work - my nice boss is paying for my days off - but I'll go back to work gladly if I could just feel better!!!!!

Ok enough bellyaching - I haven't posted, but I've read lots of your blogs while recuperating (?) and found some new ones that I like very much! Hope I'll be back in the land of the living soon! Take care - don't get my bug! Vickie

Mama's dishes

Just thought I'd show you mama's dishes that were stolen. They're Currier & Ives, each piece is named something different. I think the dinner plate is "The Old Grist Mill". The different sizes of dishes all have a different title and picture. They were not expensive, but I loved them. I love blue transferware. Well, I went to Robbinsnest and Replacements.com and found them so I can replace most of them. I still have 2 dinnerplates and a couple of cups so they didn't clean me out completely. My grandmother's dishes are by Johnson Brothers and they're called "Tally Ho". Brown transferware with some burgandy and a little green on them and they depict different hunt scenes with horses, dogs, etc. They were beautiful, too. Anyway, just thought I'd show you my pretty plates!

Spring

I'm going to change the subject! I'm so sick and tired of complaining and whining about poor pitiful me (altho the last 2 weekends have been really crappy as my kids say). The weather here has been rather nice. Today it was almost balmy. Probably 75 or 80, but with a breeze which kept it from being too warm. I've been wanting to get out in the garden and do some planting, but experience tells me to wait a couple more weeks anyway to avoid a late freeze. It DOES happen even in Texas. The year my brother was born, March 15, 1963, my mama went to the hospital to have him and it snowed several inches and was freezing cold when my nanny took me and my sister to see our new little brother!

I have kept my pansies alive this winter - even remembered to feed them - they still look great! I sometimes have a brown thumb, but it's usually due to the lack of consistent care rather than just not knowing what to do. I have made a new resolution to pay the strictest of care with my plants and garden this year since we are getting started at the farm. I have been busy planting bulbs, and we have set out pecan, plum, peach, dogwood, and crepe myrtle, oh yeah, a few live oak trees, too. Of course we'll probably be dead and gone when the live oaks are big, but maybe our kids will get to enjoy them. We also got a new hybrid called a HICAN (cross pecan and hickory nut). My husband just wanted to get one and see what it did.

Right now we have wild daffodils growing everywhere along the barbed wired fence on the side of the house and they are so pretty. The pear trees are blossoming right now, they're always the first around here along with the tulip trees.

I hope to have tomatoes, carrots, corn, a little squash (cuz I'm the only one that eats it), onions, potatoes, maybe some cucumbers (cuz I have the BEST spicy sweet dill pickle recipe from my grandmother that I'll share with you this summer), purple hull peas and some pole beans. My grandmother taught me how to can, so I'll have to clear out some storage space for jars. In a few years I'll have plum and peach jelly and pear preserves. In the meantime, dad's got all the peaches and plums for that, and I get together with my sister and we make the jelly (mom doesn't like to do that stuff).

Here's a little shot of part of my garden area behind the house. We got it tilled up and are raking the dead weeds out. We'll make our rows this weekend and try to set the onions out. Bunches of folks have already done that. A little frost on the tops won't hurt them.

Well, that's about all for now. It cheers me up to see these flower pictures. I have to say, too, HOW VERY MUCH I APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU THAT HAVE STOPPED BY TO GIVE ME SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT DURING THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. It's been a couple of hard weekends around our house, but your comments and kindnesses and support have been wonderful! Thank you all my bloggie friends out there. I can feel the friendship and the things we share in common and I'm so glad to have found you all! Vickie

Break In

Another stroke of bad luck - our little farmhouse was broken into during the day today while my husband and I were at work. We came in this evening and the thief or thieves had thrown a t-post through the back door double pane glass and came in. They ransacked the house and made a mess - didn't break anything - guess I should be thankful for that. They took our new flat panel TV, my brandnew $1200 laptop, AND, get this - my antique dishes that were my mother's and my grandmother's. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT! I have cried a river of tears over my dishes. The other things can be replaced easily, but the sentiment I feel about losing my dishes is overwhelming. They took a cordless drill, some walkie talkies, and several little antique occasional dishes, candy dishes, handpainted plates. They also took an old vintage green leather covered jewelry box full of vintage jewelry - mostly costume, but still it had some little 14k gold earrings with garnets and other semi-precious stones, some silver and opals and lots of 60's style jewelry. This person knew about antiques I guess. Wierdest thing I ever heard of. Even the sheriff's deputy said it was wierd. I'm wondering if it was a woman or women. I'm going to check around at some of the antique places etc., and see if any of my dishes turn up. The sheriff's dept. said they check regularly with the pawn shops for the electronics, etc.

My husband and I had talked about installing a security system in the house as late as last week, and I was all set to call and get estimates next week. You can bet your bippy I will be doing that. Is this what I'm going to be dealing with out here in the country? Do I feel so violated right now because this has never happened to me or us in my lifetime? Have I been that sheltered? Has this happened to any of you? I'm ANGRY, I'm frustrated, I'm hurt, and even a little scared. I should be glad that we were not home, or that this wasn't a violent crime. I should be glad that they didn't tear up the whole house or take any more than they did. Of course, with the exception of a few items, most everything is second hand. I imagine now that I will take anything of value back to my home and not leave it there. What I worry about now, is that they've cased our farmhouse and KNOW what we have and might be back!

But THAT was what my farmhouse was all about! Having all my OLD stuff there and all the remnants of long ago around me, my memories of my grandmothers & great grandmother, my mom, the quilts, the dishes, the pictures, the old furniture, all that goes with that. I'm so upset - my husband and I have had this dream, this vision, of what we're going to do with our farm, how we're going to live there, have horses and cows, have a big garden, maybe build a bigger more permanent home and keep the cottage for a guest house or an art studio, have a neat place for the grandkids to come and play and ride horses, etc. We have worked our tails off on this house for the last YEAR, and Tonight I just feel like someone popped our balloon, burst our bubble. I feel violated that someone came into my house and went through all my stuff, even emptied my dresser where my clothes are, and my closets, and my personal items.

My husband is my rock. He reminded me about "storing up treasures on earth where thieves break in and steal". I could care less about the TV and computer treasures - I just want my treasured dishes back. He said tomorrow will look brighter, and we may can still have our dream. We'll just have to think about it a little more. But you know, crime is all around us I guess. ANd I suppose that anytime you live out in the country, you are susceptible to things like this. Doesn't make me feel any better tho... My daughter's scared to stay home alone now. Guess we'll be beefing up security at our house, too. We've gotten too comfortable. Nothing's ever happened in our neighborhood in the 20 years we've been there. Our HOME home is close to the country but in a cul de sac and there was never any thru traffic. We could turn the kids loose and they would come home at lunch time and supper time.

What a week. It's definitely been one big pity party for me. And I'm not through grieving over my dishes and my feeling of loss yet. Maybe tomorrow will be better. I hope so.

LEND ME A PUPPY...

Lend Me A Puppy

I will lend you for a while

a puppy, God said.

For you to love while she lives,

and mourn when she is dead

Maybe for twelve or fourteen years,

or maybe two or three.

But will you, till I call her back,

take care of her for me?

She'll bring her charm to gladden you

and should her stay be brief,

you'll always have her memories

as solace for your grief.

I cannot promise she will stay,

since all from earth return,

but there are lessons taught below

this puppy is to learn.

I've looked the whole world over

in search of teachers true,

and from all the folks on earth

I have chosen you.

Now will you give her all your love,

not think the labor vain?

Nor hate me when I come to take

my puppy home again?

And my heart replied,

"My Lord, that will be done."

For all the joys this puppy brings,

The risk of grief I'll run.

We'll shelter her with tenderness,

We'll love her while we may,

And for the happiness we've known,

Forever grateful stay.

But should you call her back

Much sooner than we planned,

We'll brave the bitter grief that comes,

And try to understand.

If by our love we've managed

Your wishes to achieve,

In memory of her sweet love,

Please help us while we grieve

When our cherished puppy departs

this world of stress and strife,

please send yet another needing soul

to love for all her life

A fellow Pomeranian friend sent me this little poem when my Cookie died. We are in mourning again. Our little Bella fell ill this weekend and couldn't seem to get better. We had a really rough nite with her last night which I can't bear to talk about right now. We had to take her to the emergency vet and the decision was made that it would be better to put her down and not let her suffer anymore. My daughter and I are heartbroken, and it of course, brings back fresh memories of Cookie, too. We didn't have Bella very long, but we were deeply in love with her. She will be sorely missed.