A True Story - Joe Boots

Welcome to Poppy's Blog

A special story for Halloween - Joe Boots

We moved into the little farmhouse in the mid 60's in Silicon Valley. The farmhouse was painted barn red.  The frontage road was lined with bushes and it had a long dirt driveway.  There was a huge loquat tree in front of the farmhouse, you could not miss it.  On the other side was a willow tree and a greenhouse.

We started unpacking the truck and mom decided to open the basement door to air it out. She was planning to store miscellaneous items in the basement.  We continued unpacking until dusk. We had dinner then watched a little TV.  Mom decided to go down to the basement and organize the items she put near the doorway.  Mom walked down about 10 cement steps and found a ceiling light switch and turned it on.  As she looked around, the basement was big, and it had a cement floor with cedar wood walls.  Far off to the left was a few shelves that looked sturdy enough to hold her boxes.  Mom made her way over to the shelves with the boxes.  When she put the boxes down, something caught the corner of her eye.  Mom walked towards the corner and found an old wooden brown trunk.  As she came closer, she felt a cold breeze shoot through her body.  Mom figured it was the wind from the open basement door, so she zipped up her sweatshirt and continued walking towards the old wooden brown trunk. It had black leather straps with metal buckles on each side with a skeleton key lock in the center.  Mom kneeled and released the black leather straps and opened the metal buckles.  She could smell a stench but was determined to open the old trunk. Mom opened the skeleton key latch and then had to push with both hands to open it because it was heavy.  Inside she found a dark

blue military uniform nicely folded along with a pair of boots.  Mom picked up the dark blue coat that was heavy and walked over to the light to see if she could find a name.  The name had been torn off.  Mom yelled for dad, and he went down to the basement.  They both looked at the uniform and dad said, "it was a confederate uniform."  It was double breasted with gold buttons with a high neck collar.  The pants had yellow stripes going down the side leg area

The boots were old and worn with small nails with large heads.  Some were missing. My dad said, we should put these back in the trunk.  Mom agreed, and walked over to the old wooden trunk and folded the uniform exactly the way she found it.  That night dad left for work around 2am, he was a baker.  My sister woke up and could not sleep so she jumped in bed with mom.  Just when my mom went to doze off.  We heard a boom then heavy footsteps coming from the basement.  It felt like it lasted for hours but it was only minutes.  Mom jumped up looked around and did not see anything.  She drank a glass of water and went back to sleep. 
My dad arrived home early morning and mom told him about the boom and footsteps. He said, it is an old house. The following evening came along.  We were watching dark shadows and heard the boom then heavy footsteps, coming from the basement, again. My mom decided to go down to the basement and my big brother went along with his bat.  He said, in case I have to hit a home run and laughed.
We were bunched together on the couch waiting for mom to come back.  We heard the basement door open and then nothing after that.  It was quiet.  You could hear the crickets and coyotes that night.  Mom found the old wooden brown trunk open.  She looked at the trunk puzzled because she knew she locked it.  My brother said, “you must have left it open.” As they both closed the wooden trunk, mom whispered we will call you "Joe Boots."
They came into the house and Mom said, “everything is OK.” That night mom decided to call our ghost “Joe Boots.”  Whenever we heard the boom and heavy footsteps we would say, “Joe Boots is out stretching his legs and keeping us safe.”

Let me leave you with this quote – “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the LIVES OF OTHERS.”

Come follow poppytheauthor a country girl at heart on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and now TikTok

 

Friday’s Quote – I’m a Little Scarecrow

Welcome to Poppy’s Blog!

I’M A LITTLE SCARECROW

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

Come follow poppytheauthor a country girl at heart on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and now TikTok

A Note from Poppytheauthor a Country Girl at Heart

Welcome to Poppy's Blog!

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."

Love and Peace,

Poppytheauthor a Country Girl at Heart

 

Another Day on the Ranch

Welcome to Poppy’s Blog!

Thank you for joining me on this beautiful Sunday

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

Come follow poppytheauthor a country girl at heart on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram

 

 

 

Friday's Quote - For What It's Worth

Welcome to Poppy's Blog

For What It's Worth

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

Come follow poppytheauthor a country girl at heart on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram

Living and Learning

Welcome to Poppy’s Blog!

Thank you for joining me on this beautiful Sunday

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

Come follow poppytheauthor a country girl at heart on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Friday’s Quote – The Crazy Ones

Welcome to Poppy’s Blog!

THE CRAZY ONES

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 

Come follow Poppytheauthor a country girl at heart on YouTube and Instagram.