Wandering but not lost

It's been a long time since I've updated my blog--Boxer passed on back in November of 2012 and his last months were hard for me. It's hard to watch the animal you've loved for fourteen years deteriorate in body and mind. I do believe he had some form of dementia towards the end. I have a new dog, Jaxon, whom I rescued in April of last year. He's a Plotthound-German shepherd mix (I think). He's such a sweet, happy dog. He loves everyone, rarely barks, and has become quite the couch potato. 
     I was involved in an auto accident (no fault of mine) at the beginning of January when a guy rear-ended me driving a Ford F-150. My car was totaled. I recently got a 2004 Grand Am and it's a good car. I was very stressed out for the first two months of this year; last night was the first time I'd driven in heavy (interstate) traffic since the accident. It went pretty smoothly so I must be back to "normal" whatever that is.
      I've lost about 14 pounds since last August and I've been working out at Nautilus so I can lose more and shape up. I feel stronger since I've been working out and I don't have near as much pain in my shoulders.
     I wonder where my life is headed. I've reached that age where I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do and nobody is going to stop me. I've spent way too much of my life being what other people thought I should be--trouble is, it wasn't me. Over the last few years, I've noticed that people have developed strong opinions about me--they either love me or hate me, but I'm not :"invisible" like I was in the past. I'm starting to realize that I have a mysterious soul, and that scares some people.   There's no need to be afraid--I'm just more spiritually inclined than a lot of people.
     Now that my life has recovered from losing Boxer, I'll try to write more often.

My poor garden

Well, I haven't written anything about my gardening efforts this year because I have no garden to speak of. Extremely high temperatures, combined with severe drought = no garden. My blackberry brambles are doing OK due to a soaker hose. Very few blackberries, but this was its first year so I didn't expect much. This weather has been awful. Climate change has come to the United States. I was doing some activities with llamas and alpacas but I gave it a break cause it's been so hot. Very stressful for the animals. Boxer is really showing signs of age, has some neurological issues with his back legs, weakness and loss of sensation. He still wants to go for walks, but I keep them short and slow. My oak tree will probably have to come down, a huge branch fell from it and smashed the fence. The branch showed signs of rotting within that can't be seen from the outside. I'm worried a storm may blow the tree over onto the house. So I've been feeling pretty stressed out, keep forgetting things and very distracted a lot of the time. I hope you're doing well in your neck of the woods. Pray for rain.

Globe lamp

Here is my lamp made from a vintage globe--an idea I got from my favorite magazine, MaryJane's Farm. I got the globe for one dollar at a yard sale; the lamp was seven dollars and the trim was a yard for two dollars. So the total cost of my lamp was ten dollars--not bad at all. It now graces my living room.

This is winter?

It doesn't feel like January today--I took Boxer for a walk and actually felt a little warm by the time we were done. The other day it was freezing. Weird weather. Makes me wonder what the spring will bring. I've already planned what seeds to order--I'm not going to try growing so many different things this year--just going to grow those things I know will do well. I've been doing yoga almost every day now for the past few weeks and feel a lot better. I helped count eagles a few weeks ago and we counted 42. Not bad, but we probably would have seen a lot more had it been colder. We saw a great blue heron catch a fish--he just plunged his bill into the water and came up with a fish. They are beautiful birds. I hope we don't have a too-wet spring like last year. I'm looking forward to harvesting some blackberries.

Whew!!! It's been a long time since I last checked in. I was very sick with asthma/bronchitis a while back and just wasn't feeling very well for several months. But now I'm back up to speed. My garden didn't do very well this year due to an excessively wet spring and a hot, dry summer. I'm almost finished painting my living room and I need to get started on Christmas gifts. I got a new computer (a storm killed the Apple computer that my brother gave me after my original bit the dust). Boxer turned thirteen in May and Koko is eighteen. I don't even want to think about my birthday in January. I don't even want to think about winter--that means snow! I like the snow, but I'm in no hurry for it. Today was a mild day, rather windy, and I saw a sundog this evening so I know the weather is going to change. I hope you're having good weather, wherever you are.

Back in the Saddle

OK, it's been a while since you've heard from me--I was hibernating over the winter, is my only explanation. But now spring is just around the corner and I'm thinking seeds, building a new garden bed, raising blackberries--the dreams we urban homesteaders have. I also want to plant more purple coneflowers, since they're both native and beautiful, and provide food for the goldfinches in late summer. I bought some lumber to build a raised bed in my front yard, where the old maple once stood. It gets lots of sunlight and some of the veggies, such as peppers, that didn't do so well last year in my back yard, should do well there. Things are going along quite well in my life, after a very sad winter, which saw the tragic loss of a friend. Boxer will turn thirteen this May, and is doing well, after being bitten by a pit bull at the park where I sometimes walk him. I have nothing against pit bulls, but they need to be socialized when they're young and you can still control them. This dog was on a leash and his owner couldn't control him. It was also only the dog's second time being out in the public, and the dog was two years old. Stupid owner.
I hope all your plans for spring and a beautiful garden come true this year.

End of season

I harvested the last of my lettuce and spinach yesterday and had a salad last night with a few cherry tomatoes and homemade dressing. Now to get the beds ready for winter. I'm already planning for next year (more sugar snap peas) and have received one seed catalog so far. Now I need to work on making Christmas presents. I'm already starting to get stressed out by the holidays so doing some embroidery will help slow me down. And I'll do some cooking, which will make the house smell good, which will also calm me down. I always seem to get depressed around Thanksgiving, not sure why. Maybe it's the long dark evenings, or the gray and overcast days that seem to be more prevalent this time of year. Such a contrast to the greenery of summer or even the brightness of October. Will post some pictures soon as I get some new batteries for my camera.