Friday's Quote - Home

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HOME

Find the people and places that make you feel at home.  Find the ones who take care of your soul and make you feel like you can be completely yourself around them. Find the ones who light you up from the inside out and encourage you to be yourself. Find the places where you feel at peace, the places that you could spend forever wandering and exploring.

Find the places that make you want to see even more of the world and the ones that make you happy to be alive. And whenever you find one of these people or places, hold onto them. Tell those people you love them often.

Visit those people or places as much as you can.  Never let go of those people or places because when you find peace, love, and joy in this world, it is worth more than gold. It is where you are meant to be.

 - Nikki Banas

Home is not a place, but a feeling.

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One Spring Day

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Today I will be reading a story I wrote on Thursday - One Spring Day 

It was a beautiful spring day on the ranch.  I woke up, made a cup of coffee, and went outside to check on the sprinklers and turned on a few water lines. I noticed some sprinkler heads were clogged, so I turned off the line and took off the sprinkler heads and blew on them to try and get the earwigs out or used my pocketknife. I turned the sprinklers back on and headed down the hill.  I let Leo, Zach, and Charlie out of their pin for their daily run down the road. When we returned to the ranch, the dogs went into the run except for Charlie, he liked to lay on the porch while I worked in my office.  I went over to the chicken coop and counted them and let them out. 

Last night I was missing Gayle and the red head and this morning they are a no show.  I was a bit worried, but I had to get into the office and work. As, I walked up the hill, I turned around and could see the chickens sprinting across the pasture to the pine trees that lined the westside of the property. My two ducks were in an argument because the mallard male was hiding behind the water trough.

I came back up the hill and poured myself another cup of coffee and went into the office. I was terribly busy working on a contract to sell a large parcel to a Southern California development company and I had to make sure I dotted my i’s and crossed my t’s. I was on the telephone for a while before I realized I had not turned off the water lines. I walked out of the kitchen back door down to the deck and noticed all my sprinklers were just spitting water. There was no water pressure. I walked back into the house and turned on the kitchen faucet and found the same issue.  I turned off the water lines and sprinklers and ran down the hill to see if my water tank was empty. It was not, but no water was making it up the hill. I came back up the hill and called the well people. I met the guy at the main gate around 1pm.  I asked him to do whatever he needed to do to get the water up the hill and went back to work. As I walked up the hill, I still did not see Gayle my bantam or red head hens that were missing.

I decided to take my lunch. Halfway through my lunch there was a knock at the door.  It was the well guy.  He said, he had bad news. I said, OK.  As I took a sip of my water, he said, your bladder is blown. I looked at him dumbfounded and said, can you repeat that, again. I said, ma’am, your bladder is blown. He then said, follow me and I will show you. As we walked down the hill, he explained the bladder function. The well pressure tank uses compressed air to push pressurized water out of the tank and up the hill into your home. Pressure tanks have a diaphragm, also called a bladder, that separates a chamber of air from the water. As the tank fills with water, it compresses the air chamber. As we approached the tank, he knocked on the tank and it was (full) and it was waterlogged. He said, the tank should sound hollow above the bladder.  I said, I am learning something new every day.  I asked if he could take care of it today. He said, yes ma’am, I need to go back and pick up a tank. I said, great and I let him out of the main gate. Just when I went to close the gate, I saw my red head hen coming down the hill with 7 baby chicks walking behind her. Then I noticed the Gayle the bantam in the pasture with 4 baby chicks. My neighbor yelled over and said, oh my, you are a grandmother. I smiled, waved, and laughed. 

The well guy came back and finished the job. I paid him and he was on his way. It was getting dark and I went and opened the chicken coop. All the chickens came in except for the Gayle the bantam hen. I saw the baby chicks near a tree, and I looked up and noticed Gayle the bantam hen was perched on a tree limb. I told Gayle to come down and tend to your children. She did not. I sat there for about 15 minutes waiting. Still nothing. I walked over to the chicken coop and grabbed my new jersey giant and another red head hen and dropped them near the chicks. Within a few minutes, my mature hens said, cluck, cluck and opened their wings and became the stepmothers of the baby chicks. Meanwhile, Gayle the bantam hen was still in the tree. I closed the chicken coop and looked over at Gayle the bantam hen. She was acting like she did not see me. I came in the house and called it a night.

The following morning, I went down to open my dog kennel and Gayle the bantam hen was still in the tree but making weird noises. I decided when I get back from my run with the dogs, I will catch her with my net and put her into the coop by herself. We had a nice run and returned to the ranch.

I grabbed my ladder and the net.  I caught her on my first try.  Gayle was agitated and fought as I talked with her. I think she was crying. As I sat in the coop with her, I believe she had a condition called “postpartum psychosis.”  I heard some women go crazy, become depressed, anxiety, etc. after giving birth.  I guess chickens deal with this too? Gayle sure had the signs. I fluffed a nice bed for her in the corner of the coop.  I must have sat with her for about an hour.  Gayle just stared at me and made these weird noises.  I had to go back up and open my office.  So, I left Gayle in the coop.

That evening I went down to open the coop I found Gayle the bantam hen dead.  I think her little heart just gave out.  I picked her up and buried her in the garden.  I thanked her for the babies and promised they would grow up healthy and happy.  That night I sat quietly drinking a beer and watched the stars from my deck.

Let me leave you with this quote – in any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.

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Friday's Quote - Living Life

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LIVING LIFE

Right now, she is living a blessed life.  She is focused on herself.  She is falling in love with who she is.  She is excited about where she is headed, and what is next.  She has so many goals, so many dreams, so much ambition and she is constantly finding new passions. She is spontaneous. 

She is learning to take risks and constantly stepping out of her comfort zone.  You see – right now, she is chasing the things that make her happy. She is chasing the things that feed her soul.  And to be honest with you – she could care less about what everyone else is doing and thinking. 

Because right now, her life is filled with so much peace, so much light, so much growth, so much faith and so much hope. Right now, she is living a blessed life.  There is absolutely nothing, or no one that can get in the way. 

-   RS 

Poppy

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A True Story - Joe Boots

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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.”

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Friday’s Quote – I’m a Little Scarecrow

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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

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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

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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

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