CONFLICT

Have you ever had a conflict in your most concrete of beliefs?

Have you ever smelled a skunk up close and personal?

well, it seems that the hole being dug beneath our back fence

that we were certain was due to a cute little rabbit...

so much so that we built a rabbit home....

seems in reality, not to have been a cute little rabbit at all

living in rural Texas...it is possible to get all kinds of critters,

most of which are desirable!  We trapped a raccoon in our backyard a few years ago..he was eating our Koi!

many of my country Instagram friends are posting snakes in houses and that's about as icky as it can get!

but, if in fact, you claim to be a wildlife habitat,

does this not include ALL wildlife?

where would YOU draw the line?

this pile of rock and brick and cinderblock, along with a trap,

has been moved around a bit the past few days

as our new friend has moved in...

we move it to catch him/her

he/she moves it to come and go

who will give in first?

SKUNK PET???

ummm...I have a basket just like this

:-)

YELLOW BIRD BOUTIQUE

YELLOW BIRD BOUTIQUE

may I introduce you please?

TOGETHER THEY....

• both have jobs
• have a teen, 8 year old, 1 year old and June Carter Cash lab
• teach Sunday School and volunteer for other local events and charities
• own and operate Yellow Bird
• are under full scale home remodel and have been eating out of a crock pot for months
• build custom cool stuff for customers like the light below
• go to auctions on the weekends to find cool stuff for customers
• are about to launch a vintage lumber yard
• and never and I mean never ask anything of anyone

this family is one cool family

and I am so proud of them!

I hope you like the link to their online store!

HAVING BEES

Do you Facebook? 

I only do so I can put the HPO headlines front and center...as an old person, I have to face that social media is the way the majority of the public inform themselves. 

I have taken advantage of it and have LIKED several pages that are helpful and I can learn from.

Recently there was a FACEBOOK FIGHT on a bee association page...how can you tell it was a fight?  It's so interesting how the tone of a written word makes itself loud and clear! 

The topic...keeping bees or having bees...two entirely different things and the whole rant really put me in my place.

I am not and never will be a

BEEKEEPER

so I guess that makes me a

BEEHAVER

this is my life list and I wanted to raise honey bees for a very very long time...so long ago that I almost forgot about it!

I suspect this was me in some other life...I would be the one drawing, except she's right handed

maybe what I really love the most is growing flowers and therefore having bees just comes with it

and no matter what, if you keep or have...you will get a bee sting

don't be scared...it only hurts for a little while...last week I got a bee sting on my upper lip and reminded myself of Marge....as my dad used to say

"I've had worse on my lip and never stopped whistling"

HAVING bees is so easy...no daily checks of the hive, no finding the queen and putting a dot on her, no inspections for mites and worms and bugs and stuff...no...just let the bees be bees like they have been doing for thousands of years...all without the help of a human

on occasion...giving them a little intoxicating cedar smoke (it intoxicates me too!)

and taking just a little bit of God's perfect food to have and share...

I hear it's the best thing in the world for a bee sting!

LLOYD KIVA NEW

We are so lucky to live a decently short drive to the Land of Enchantment.  We often can take a weekend and get lost in the drive there, which takes about 5 hours.

Typically we go to Santa Fe because it's I-40 most of the way, but from time to time there is no better place for a hippy hipster to visit than Taos.  There are many very cool places to stay and this time we chose The Historic Taos Inn with the famous Doc Martin's Bar 

THE HISTORIC TAOS INN

We considered the El Monte, but truthfully it is the place to stay when the leaves are turning and there is a winter chill in the air...but of course you simply must have a cocktail at

The Anaconda Bar (can you see that brass scaled snake?)

the Anaconda bar is at

EL MONTE

We always stop in to light a candle at the

San Francisco de Asis Mission Church

and pop into Two Graces Art Gallery where this time I could not pass up a piece of fabric...Mr. PV was a little surprised that this was my "purchase" of the trip.  Actually, I left the fabric behind and it haunted me until I contacted Robert and Holly and had them ship it to me a few days later.

What I couldn't forget, is the story that Robert told me about the fabric, how long he'd had it, that he purchased it in Boston and about the man who created it.  I loved the story and the history and the color of the print block was incredible. 

LLOYD KIVA NEW

so here I am....I have had two large pillows made for my sofa with enough fabric left over to do something fantastic with.  I am thinking I will take a large square and frame it under glass...and if I have enough after that I will have Mr. PV a vest made to go with his bolo...j/k...or maybe I'm not???

HONEY HARVEST 2016

MY MAN

PRESIDENT

have you ever wondered the value of your existence?

of course we all have value and we all have our own sphere of influence

I just wonder sometimes if we realize the power that lies in the story of our lives

this man....is very smart.  

He graduated first in his class in junior high and high school

he was the class president

he went on to college, working his way through...

while he was attending Texas Tech University in Lubbock, he worked at the sports hall the entire time

and came home to Spearman in the summer to work at First National Bank

just out of college he was hired as a teller at Amarillo National Bank where he worked for 6 months

and then began his lifelong career at First National Bank in Spearman

from the time I have known him

he has had goals

structured, well planned, 

he wrote his life goals when he was in the 8th grade

he never ever stopped

planning, thinking, wanting and working

and along the way he has made many many friends

I know he has made a few enemies...he is not perfect...but

he is honest and fair and good

he is a teacher

his example is simple

work

toward

the

things

you

desire

in 

life

and 

they 

will 

become

yours

and then.....

apologize when you need to

and above all else

share

LONG LINE OF LOVE

This Henry came to America as a young boy and became a farmer in Ochiltree County Texas,

he married Pauline "Pauly"

This Henry came to Bokchita Oklahoma Indian Territory, as a young boy by way of

TRAIL OF TEARS

he married Phoebe Onie

this Henry

 turned one on February 26

and is sitting on the ground where his family has farmed for over 100 years

 in a room full of young and old

while he was eating his tractor cake

each stood in turn to say who they were and how they were related to Henry

as we all stood to salute Henry on his big day

I couldn't help but wonder if 

Henry Benton

and 

Henry Pshigoda

were talking a few things over... 

namely... how in the world did their separate lives all those years ago...

become woven into 

one little boy named

Henry

GUESS WHAT?!

well....

let me tell you 'bout

the birds

and the bees 

and the flowers and the trees

and the moon up above

 and a thing called

LOVE

CROWN OF GREY

when I was a little girl

I wanted to be a Barbie doll

didn't we all?

Over the years, I grew into a 1970 full fledged bell-bottomed, halter-topped

hipster hippie chick who never wanted to get married, have kids, eat meat, do drugs,

drink or smoke or do one single fake thing

E.V.E.R.

quite the contrast from the Barbie doll phase

as I got older I imagined that some day I

M.I.G.H.T.

consider

coloring my hair and maybe doing a little something to my wrinkling face

when the time and budget allowed

and then

I turned 55

 I reverted back to my 1970 self with my hipster 15 year old hippie chick mentality

(with the exception of  3 kids+ steak on the grill often+wine OFTEN)

I promised myself

no dying or cutting of hair

no cutting of face or neck

this is when I realized the ones I admired the most

had crowns of grey

my very great grandmother's hair was always in a bun

but I sometimes sat at her dressing table and watched as she let it down and 

brushed it with her horned soft bristle brush

it was to the small of her back...silver and wavy

my mother turned 82 this December...her hair turned grey many years ago and it is very long also

I'm not sure what gave me the peace to just

 let it be

to just let things be and occur as they would and will

but I have that peace

for my daughters, I want to be the kind of mother that doesn't try too hard 

to hang on to fleeting beauty because it will part...no matter what I do

and what better example is this little beauty...I have a feeling that this is exactly what Betty 

will look like when she's 92 

I delight to wonder 

what things in her life will turn her hair the most glorious color of grey

as my grandmother told me all of her life

beauty

is what you are on the inside