March Wildflowers Part II

Recently, I received an email from a friend that appreciates wildflowers in much the same way that I do.
Her words reminding me of  Matthew 5:44-45.

44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Wildflowers are nondiscriminating, growing around abandoned houses or lots as well as finding their way into the landscaping of your more affluent homes. Wildflowers have the tenacity and perseverance that I long to have in my Christian walk.

 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.   ~Hebrews 12: 1-2


I put together a collage showing a few of the wildflowers we see in our yard in March:

               Clockwise from top left; Henbit, Spring Beautys, Muscari/Grape Hycinth, Johnny Jump-ups

We're also seeing False Garlic and Bluets.

                                                                                                False Garlic

                                                                                                 Bluets

The children and I have done some daily hiking down through the pasture and to the woods and lake as of late. I've been searching for morel mushrooms.
We've discovered the snakes are active as well as the ticks.
But, I will persevere with my search and bring you yet more wild blooms!
Blessings, Julie

March Wildflowers

March is such an exciting time in the world of nature!
The earth seems to wake up and don the most exquisite shades of green.
Migratory birds are passing through and many stop to make this home and raise a brood of chicks or two before returning south in the fall.
The Redbuds are about to open and bless us with their purplish-pink adorned branches! And the rains have been so welcome! Thank you, Lord.



Returning from a morel hunt down by the lake yesterday, my oldest and I discovered the Carolina Anemones blooming. Wonderfully, they bloom in both purple and white!





I love Spring!

More blooms to come...
Blessings, Julie

My Wildflower Watch Begins

When I first started blogging several years ago, many of my posts were nature related. And many of my posts were exclusively about the wildflowers the children and I discovered on our little forty acre homestead and the surrounding areas. At that time, my oldest was very involved in putting together a wildflower notebook for 4H and to enter in the county fair.
I can remember one day loading the kids in the van and we drove from one end of our county to the other just looking for and gathering wildflower cuttings. It took us all day, but we had great fun. We've also learned a lot about how the Native Americans and early pioneers used many of these plants for food and medicinal uses. We learned to look close and identify many by their leaves or how many petals the paticular flower had. The website we use primarily for identification is Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses  as we live in north central Oklahoma. Although, there are other websites that have been helpful as well as books.
And so this is my introduction to a series of posts that I will be doing throughout the wildflower growing season. I promise there will be a few that you've never seen or noticed before as I discovered for myself. One of my favorites and more subtle, as it is a low-growing, trailing plant is, Ratany. It blooms in late spring and early summer. I took this photo of it a couple of years ago.

Actually, I have many favorites and to be quite honest I was a bit surprised in the beginning of this learning experience to learn that there are so many different kinds of wildflowers.
And so my trek to spot the wildflowers begins. As busy as things have gotten around here of late, it's gonna be nice to carve out some time to stop and smell the roses!
Blessings, Julie

My Eleven-Year-Old!

Eleven years ago today, at about this time, I was being prepped for surgery...a cesearean-section.
I had gained 65 pounds during this pregnancy and was more than ready to hold my precious girl!

Our middle child was born weighing 7 lbs 7 oz..

                                                                                         Our Smiley-girl!

From the beginning, we could tell she was a happy child, full of joy and quick to smile!
As she grew it was evident that she loved animals and was drawn to them.

                                                                The pirahnna-dog being gentled by my 3 yr old.

My sweet girl has always been fun-loving and quick to put a smile on our faces!

From an early age, and due to the tutoring of her Grammy, she's learned to sew and cook.

                                                                        At five, she was sewing with Grammy. 

She's learned to ride and competes in 4H horse shows.

 And this past year she achieved a goal that she had worked very hard towards, First Year Outstanding 4H'er.

She seems to be following in her dad's footsteps and hopes to be a veterinarian one day.

                                                                          Strawberry getting an injection.

With her tenacity and take-the-bull-by-the-horns attitude towards life she could very well achieve this particular goal also!
                         Happy Birthday, Precious Girl!!!

Blessings, Julie

An Early Spring???

We have had a mild winter thus far.
There was snowfall but it was brief and temperatures were unusually warm again in just a couple of days.
In contrast to this past summer when temperatures soared and the animals suffered and some died due to the heat, this winter of mild temps has been welcomed. Of course, this being Oklahoma, the weather can take a turn for the worst without nary a moment's notice.
But for now, while I'm taxiing kids here, there, and everywhere it's nice that I'm not nervous about icy roads or whether-or-not one of the sweet cherubs has forgotten their coat.
Walking in the woods, back by the lake last week, the children and I spotted many signs of spring creeping in early. Up here at the house, the tulips that I put in last fall are pushing up through the ground as well as the other early-flowering plants.
Before we know it spring will be here in all her glory!





Spring here means tornado weather, in other words scanning the clouds for rotation within wall clouds, cleaning out the cellar, baseball practices and games, and bucket-calves arriving.
It means yelling at the kids to take their shoes off before coming into the house due to the increased trips to the barn to take care of new calves.





The smell of milk replacement permeates the house and the presence of large feeding bottles begging to be washed constantly causes irritation to all those trying to get to the kitchen sink.
This past Sunday I made a trip to town for groceries and stopped by one of the local farm supply stores. They already had their chicks, ducks, and guineas for sale. Wonderfully, I walked around the large tubs lit up bright yellow by their individual heat lamps and peered in at all the sweet, fluffy cuteness.
Peep, peep, peep, peep...as the little fluffy tushes scurried about or huddled sleepily together.
I told myself, "Resist and the devil, will flee," or in my case the temptation to call my husband and plead that we could put just a few in the schoolroom for just a few weeks and then kick them out to the coop.
But who was I kidding, winter is not over, and this is Oklahoma after all.
Besides, the large rubber feeding tub I've used in the past for the small ones was currently out in the calf pen being used by the five bovine behemoth's and their offspring.
There were strikes against me from all sides, I was hemmed in, and there was no getting around it.
No farm supply chicks this late winter/spring!
But I have a plan.



Remember Mr. Incredible...the incredibly mean rooster that my husband killed last summer? Well, the one sole survivor of the chick crop from last summer lives on. That's right, Mr Incredible has a son, and he's the spittin' image of his cantankerous dad. And rather fittingly his name is, Dash.
Dash and his harem will supply me with a fresh crop of chickens, I just know it...or I think so anyway.
We will see, we will see.
Counting my chickens before they hatch,
& looking forward to Spring,
Julie

A Compulsive Need to Share

These past few months have been but a blur!
It seems that since the end of summer our family has been catapulted forward at an alarming speed!!!
And this "old mama" is resisting every chance I get.
I'm not a go-with-the-flow type person. I am an extreme type-A personality that needs lotsa routine and stay-at-home time and I've been robbed I tell ya...ROBBED!
First of all let's get something straight. I'm shy or maybe introverted may be a better word...really.
I was talking with a fellow 4H mom at a meeting this past January and confessed this. She started laughing and looked at me incredulously and said, "Julie, I refuse to believe that!" I gasped at her doubting words and replied, "Really, I am! It's just that I'm very opinionated and feel strongly compelled to speak my mind!"  With all sincerity, I then added, "I hate to draw attention to myself!" She responded by proceeding to giggle uncontrollably and shaking her head back-and-forth.
I couldn't believe it!
She obviously was not taking me seriously!!!

And to add insult to injury the 4H leader, who by-the-way is half my age, turned and "shhhhed!!!" me.
Okay, okay, so there were children giving demonstration speeches and people trying to listen but you gotta understand I felt very misunderstood!

So after the meeting, while visiting a bit more with friends, and speaking with the 4H leader regarding some upcoming events, I tattled on my friend. That's right, I told our trusty, young 4H leader (ok, ok,...I confess she isn't as young as half my age) that it was my friend's fault for the disruption because I had been trying to convince her that I was shy and didn't like attention.
To which the TY 4H leader started laughing and walked off...while my friend snickered and muttered, "Shy,...yeah, right."
I have no idea why I just shared that with you???



Happy Valentine's Day!
Shy, Reserved, & in denial, Julie

U.S. Civil War Re-enactment: Battle of Round Mountain 2012

Two years ago our family participated in an event held annually in Yale, Oklahoma at Jim Thorpe park.

The Battle Of Round Mountain Civil War Re-enactment




The actual re-enactment of the battle takes place Saturday and Sunday afternoon while the Friday before is open for school-aged kids to come tour the encampment.





Saturday night there is a ball with authentic U.S. Civil War era-style music.





After several dances, my hoop broke.



If you'd like more information on this fun and educational event, go here.

Also, if you have the time and would like to read a little bit more about our experience, I blogged about it here at my old blog.

I hope your week has gotten off to a great start...I'm cleaning house to prepare for a geography co-op.
And it feels a bit like one step forward and two back!

Blessings, Julie

Workin' Some Calves

The kids got out and helped Tim put eartags in the calves this morning.



Oh and they were a big help! They helped Tim get the calves cornered into a couple of panels. Middle child assisted in loading the tagging gun. She has serious dreams of following in her dad's footsteps to be a veterinarian someday.



Ta-da! "Look Ma, I got my ear pierced!"
(Momma bawling in the background)
"I always knew he was the black sheep...errrr, I mean rebel in the family!"



Tim had to play cowboy to catch our smallest and newest calf, Bingo.



Catching her was pretty easy, but keepin Mama at a safe distance was another thing altogether!



"Watch out Tim!"

 

And finally, Bingo is tagged.



"Momma, that was a bit brutal."



"Yes, I know Honey, there are plenty of hoops to jump through in life, just wait...I heard the man say that he would be castrating calves next month."

And Bandito watched the whole thing while enjoying the Oklahoma early morning sunshine!



Our week has started off productively, I hope yours has too!
Blessings, Julie

Just A Few Things...

Here are just a few things the girls and I have been working on for our next craft fair:

This is an 8X10 mixed media art on canvas entitled "Grow."



This 11X14 mixed media art on canvas is really one of my favorites. It's simple and pretty.



And this particular piece is one that I toiled over, LOL. I began painting it this past week and knew it was going to be a bit offbeat and that's probably why I call it, "Abstract Blue Horse."
It's 16X20 and this is the first time I've worked on a canvas that large.



Anyway, that's just a little sampling of what we're doing here.
Blessings! Julie

A Bird Poem in Free Verse

A small girl walks outside.
It is time to feed the birds.
It is cold and she shivers,
but she trudges on.


Icicles hang down from branches of trees nearby.


She smiles watching a bluejay land on the ice.
She shivers again and begins pouring the feed.
A chickadee watches with interest.
The bluejay also stops to gaze at the small intruder.


She smiles at the birds.
They are her friends.
More birds fly down to lower branches,
watching the girl.


The chickadee peeps impatiently.
The girl smiles again,
backing away from the feeder.


She watches as the birds enjoy their meal.
     
        ~~~  Written 1/4/12 by my oldest daughter.