I'm a little scarecrow raggedy and worn. I have big fingers and toes. I wear a hat, and a long sleeve shirt to keep the sun rays at bay. When it’s time to scare the crows away, this is how it goes.
I say, Shoo Shoo Shoo, go crow go, then I
wave, “Away from my garden, go, go go!
I want to wish everyone a "Happy Halloween," and always have the courage to follow your Heart.
Poppytheauthor a Country Girl at Heart
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I am happy to be writing this note to my readers and viewers. When I started writing, my aspiration was to read inspiring quotes and write short stories. Since the beginning of covid/lock down my wish was to keep my readers and viewers buoyant with hope. Poppy has had an overwhelming response to her blog and has touched the hearts of many people which makes her feel loved and blessed. Thank you!
Let me leave you with this quote, "Worry is like a rocking chair: It gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere."
Here is a story I wrote on Friday - Another Day on the Ranch
As I settled in my ranch, I noticed the pine trees that lined the west side of the property were turning brown and dying.I called an arborist.He came out on a Thursday and said I had a “soil
compaction problem” which caused the beetles. I said, OK.What do I need to do?You need to till the soil around each tree at
a depth of about 9 inches and add a layer of amendments.He pointed across the road to the neighbor’s
horses.He said grab some of their horse
manure and mix it with some of your dirt on your property and make a pile in the
middle of your pasture. Every day turn the soil with a pitchfork.You will then be able to use this aged manure
around the pine trees once it is ready.I will be back in 2 weeks to check on you.As I sat there, I grabbed some dirt and formed
it into a ball that did not come apart. So basically, I had clay dirt. I was
watering and nothing was going to the root and my pine trees were stressed. Not to mention, I was stressed too.
After he left, I walked over to the chicken coop and picked up two of my hens.My sexy new jersey giant, and a barred rock hen.I took them over to the trees and set them
down.As I watched, they started scratching
and eating the beetles.My other chickens
started to make their way over to the pine trees. I figured I had a few weeks
before my aged manure would be ready. Why not give the chickens a feast for a
couple of weeks?
The following day, I went
to the neighbors and they let me take some manure off their hands.I then drove over to the Rental Depot on
Riverside and looked at the tillers.A
young man approached me and asked, “what are you looking for?”I said, I need a tiller in about 2 weeks.He then went on and said do you need a front
or rear tiller?I was puzzled at that
point.But I continued and said, it
needs to be able to easily move around my pine trees and small spaces. The kid
looked at me and said, “great let's get the paperwork going for a front tiller.”After I finished the paperwork, I asked him what
is the difference?He said the “rear
tillers are good for larger open garden areas. I learned something new today.
Every day, I went down with my pitchfork, let the dogs out of their kennel and opened my chicken coop.I then went over to the pile of manure and
turned it. It smelled but my only
thought was, it will help the stressed pine trees.
Two weeks came along, and
I picked up the tiller and it had a bladed wheel. The kid said, to make sure to hold it in place so the tiller will dig deeper. I said, ok. As I drove home, I said to myself about a thousand times, “I can do
this.” I got home and drove into the pasture and dropped the tiller. I turned it on, then I engaged the choke, and pulled the cord and it started. I pushed the choke handle in. I did exactly what the kid said, to hold it in place so it would dig deeper. I started on top and came down to the bottom, then
went back up with the wheelbarrow and dropped manure around the trees and
tilled one more time. I then dropped the drip lines and made sure they were not
clogged with earwigs. For some reason earwigs loved curling up in the heads. I started around
7am and finished a little after 2pm.
I made my way into the
house and was ready to kick my boots off when I looked out the window and saw
the arborist parking outside of the main gate.He started walking towards the pine trees and I met him halfway.He saw the chickens scratching near the
pine trees and said, "they too will assist with the war against the beetles."We started from the top and walked along the
fence line.The drip-line was on and he was
extremely impressed.He said I did a
great job.As we said our goodbyes.He looked at me and said, "I thought for sure you would
hire someone to do the work."I said, “No,
I enjoy being outside and learning about beetles, aged manure, front and rear tillers.He let out a laugh and said, a pretty lady
with a sense of humor. I smiled and said, thank you.
Let me leave you with
this quote - Your only limit is YOU!
Poppy
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For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There is no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can
change or stay the same, there are no rules. We can make the best or the worst
of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle
you.
I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with
a different point of view. I hope you live a life you are proud of. If you find
that you are not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Sophia and Poppy
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Here is a story I wrote on Saturday - Living and Learning
While settling in my new home, I planned to start a vegetable garden. I went to hometown nursery in Paso Robles and purchased vegetable seeds for my raised
beds.Mr. Cardinale assisted me at Hometown Nursery.He was a small framed
man, wore a big hat and had a great sense of humor. I then went to Orchard Supply to buy a weedwhacker.I didn’t know anything about weedwhackers
until my housekeeper’s husband said, they work well.I had an older fella help me and he said, are
you sure you want to buy this?I
said, “yes.”I purchased the ECHO and extra
trimmer line along with the blended 2-stroke oil. I had been pulling weeds manually.It was good exercise but 3 acres.Hmm, lets rethink this.While
I was there, I purchased 120 flower bulbs.I would plant them around the trees coming up the hill and around the
front entrance near the main gate.It would
add a splash of color.
I arrived home and unloaded my car. I put the oil into the weedwhacker
and pulled the cord.It started just
like that.I went down the hill whacking
the weeds to the right then came back up and did the left side.It was easy to use and it was really giving
me a workout. My neighbors were sitting on their porch and yelled, “you sure got a lot of energy.”I
said, yes, I do not want the weeds to get the best of me. They smiled as they watched me.I then made it back up the hill and put the
bulbs into my red wagon and headed down the hill to plant them.I stopped at each tree and planted 12 bulbs near
the irrigation line near the tree.I
then went to the front entrance and planted around 30 bulbs to the right and 10
on the left side.As I walked up the
hill, I planted 15 more on the left side in between the lavender plants. The rest
of the bulbs I put near my door entrance under the headquarters sign. I would work on the
raised beds tomorrow because I ran out of daylight.
That evening, I sat on the patio deck and thought about my friends working in the large firms.If they only knew about this weedwhacker machine.Instead of punching a bag at the gym, they
could weed whack and be out with nature.I then chuckled.That night I
slept like a baby.
Let me leave you with
this quote – Never stop learning because life never stops teaching.
Poppy
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Here is to the crazy ones. The misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers. The round pegs in
the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of
rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them,
disagree with them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only
thing that you can't do, is ignore them because they change things. They invent.
They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward. Maybe they must be crazy. Because the ones who are
crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.
-Jack Kerouac
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Here is a story I wrote on Saturday - Little Jersey
It was my second year in Paso Robles and I decided to check out the small animal auction in Templeton.As
I drove into the parking lot, I had a flashback as a child going to
the 101 livestock auction with my dad.I found
a parking and went into the café to find a cup of coffee.People were selling animals outside of the
auction, chickens, ducks, geese, and some cattle dogs. I made my way into the auction house and found a seat in front of
the round corral.As
the auction started it was interesting. They
had cows, goats, pigs, and horses.Halfway through the auction I saw a little
jersey bull calf come in the pin.People
started to bid on him.I looked at him,
he was small and scrawny looking, but I liked his color markings.As the guy hit him with the cow paddle, I
could see his eyes and he was scared.I
decided to bid on him, and I won.A
whopping $125. I had a few eyes on me but I did not care.I was going to take the little jersey home
and give him lots of TLC so he could get big and healthy. They loaded him in the trailer for me and when we
arrived home, I backed the trailer into my pasture and opened the
door and said this is your new home. I am going to call you “Little Jersey.” He
did not want to get out.But when he saw
the hay in the trough, he came out quickly. He then found the water. Every day I would go out and see Little Jersey.When
he saw me walking down the hill he would start to buck and run around the pasture. He was gentle and ate right out of my hand. The neighbors watched as I fed
him, and they would yell across the field "he loves you." While washing my dishes I would look out of the window to see what he was up to. One
time he was chasing the chickens. It was funny. As time progressed, he started
to look healthier. He was growing into a handsome jersey bull. As I
entered the pasture, I would talk with him and he followed me around. As I
checked the water trough, he would snuggle up against me. He was getting big and he almost pushed me into the water trough when he wanted to snuggle. I even crocheted a necklace for him. He was all grown up and strong and it was
time to take him to the auction.He
was ready to reenter the world but this time healthy and good looking.
I hauled him over on a Saturday morning
and I had my bill of sale. They had separated him and put him in a pin by himself. I
went into the office and the lady said she had called the branding inspector because
she thought I was a cow thief. I had already showed her my bill of sale, but she did not believe it was the same jersey bull. She
said my papers were not in the system. I
had to call an old rancher friend to talk some sense into this woman. He came and set her straight along with the branding
inspector. Apparently, the auction
office was not organized, and had misplaced a stack of papers, which included mine and a few other peoples.
After all this mess was said and done.Little Jersey weighted in over 1,000lbs.
and was sold to a dairy in the valley.I
went over to see when they were loading Little Jersey into a fancy large aluminum
trailer. A man came over to me and said, “mam, he is gentle and healthy.I said, “thank
you” and waved goodbye to Little Jersey.
As I drove off in my truck, I was happy that Little Jersey went to a good home and will have lots of
babies.
Let me end with this quote - Having a tender heart in a tough world is a superpower.
Poppy
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