~it seems to happen to us in May~

Stuff.

We sure seem to have plenty of it.  Tomorrow is Saturday and I'm pretty sure a big part of it for me will be spent picking up around here and moving all of our stuff to its proper and rightful location.  You'd sure think that two people couldn't accumulate that much to begin with, but we have.

By this time last year, the plan for moving from Colorado to Texas at the end of the month of May was in high gear.  We were saying our "good-byes" to the sweet and dear friends we were soon to leave behind as well as visiting places that we knew we'd not see again for a very long time.  The guest bedroom had been turned into "packed box central" and was filling up quickly at record speed.  We'd already had 2 garage sales and were preparing for a third and final one to get rid of things we simply would not be able to take.  With one 20 foot rental truck and a couple of cars, the idea of taking everything we owned at the time was simply not feasible.  

By the time we finally made it to Burkburnett and found a place to live, both Mike and I wondered just how our household and personal belongings had survived the long journey over Monarch Mountain.  When we opened up the back door of our rental truck, we were thankful to see that everything appeared to have stayed where it was put.  It was nice to breathe a sigh of relief.

Since that day in May of last year, we have moved once again.  In January, we bought our new home here in town.  Prior to our move, we once again sorted out what we thought might not be really a necessity.  This time there was no need to rent a truck for a move of only 4 miles.  We had the help of dear friends and family, making the move much less painful.  There was still a lot of stuff but at least this time we only had to cross town, not an 11,000 feet mountain pass.

Mike's over 100-year old butcher block wasn't going to be left behind in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado and it for sure wasn't going to be left behind in the southeast part of town.  These two young fellows helped Mike get it from the kitchen and onto the back of the trailer we were using.  It now sits in its permanent and forever spot here in our kitchen.

We still find ourselves with a lot of extra stuff around here but slowly we are managing to figure out what is needed and that which can easily be done without.  It's become much easier for me to part ways with things that really serve no purpose to me in this life any longer.  There remain still a few things that I would never give up, things like my grandmother's over 50-year old Easter egg or my record album collection from the 1970's.  There are some things that there will always be room for, no matter where I find myself living.

So for those of us who live in this "land of plenty", I guess today would be as good a day as any to give thanks to the good Lord above us for the gifts we have received.  Tomorrow as we ready ourselves to clean house, dust the furniture, run the vacuum, do the laundry, unload the dishwasher, or a thousand other things perhaps we would do well to remember that there are plenty of other people on the planet living without who wish they could do the same.  

This is Friday, the 29th day of April and the 22,101st day of my life.  For everything that I have received, for each gift that has been bestowed upon me, this day I remember to surely give thanks.

                                                   Wedding day~May 21st, 2013

Mike and I agree.  It seems like everything seems to happen to us in May.  I'm sure this year will be no exception and so far, it's all been good :)

~and she was my mother~

     My mom grew up during the days of the Great Depression, a time of the old saying "waste not, want not".  She knew what it was like to go without, just like the thousands of others enduring those hard and lean times back in the 1930's.  It instilled in her the character trait of not throwing away things, just because they were old or worn out.  It was recycling before it was "cool".  Her old angel food cake pan was a good example.

     I was with her back home in Reno County, Kansas on the summer day that she was planting some flower seeds in the backyard that would later on become my own backyard for over 10 years.  I noticed her writing on the bottom of an old aluminum cake pan with a black magic marker.  I knew it was the one she replaced a few months before with a brand new one that she had purchased down at the local Westlake Hardware Store.  I figured she had thrown the old one away long ago.  

  

     She had not.

     With a smile on her face, she held up the pan to show me the words that she had scrawled on the bottom of it.  The words were an admonishment to any who would come across that pan in the years ahead to do the following......

"Do not throw this away!  Plant flowers in it."

     

     And so she did.  For at least 3 more planting seasons, my mom would fill that old angel food cake pan up with beautiful rose moss and enjoy watching it grow all summer long.  In June of 2003, she entered longterm health care and all the traditions that she practiced in the garden and outside in her beds of flowers came sadly to an end.  The old angel food cake pan was relegated to the corner of the basement until all of the contents of her house were either given to family members or friends who wanted them.  The old cake pan came home with me.

     I didn't do much with it at first, in fact for the longest time it just sat in a box of her belongings in my shed.  But one summer day in 2005 when I bought her old house and moved in there myself, I drug out the old pan and decided to keep the tradition going.  I went down to the corner store at 14th and Main, picked out the nicest rose moss I could find, and into the soil it went.  It looked beautiful and I know in my heart that she would have been happy to see me do that.

     Every year without fail, I have used it.  It moved with me over the big mountain when Mike and I got married in 2013.  When we came to Texas last year, I made sure that it was packed safe and sound inside of the moving truck.  After over 10 years of having it, I wasn't going to get rid of it then.  I noticed that Mom's written message on the bottom was nearly disappearing and although it made me sad to think that it was almost gone, I determined to continue using it.

     And I have.

     Yesterday Mike and I found some beautiful rose moss in Grandfield, Oklahoma when we were out driving around.  I picked up 5 nice healthy pots of it and proceeded to bring those beautiful flowers home and get them into the red, rich soil of the great state of Texas.  It felt so good to use that old worn out cake pan once again.  When I turned it over to look at the back side, I could tell that her original message was all but gone.  Only the very faint capital D of the word "don't" was left to see.  Once again it was a sad feeling but I knew that she would be happy it was still around and not in the city dump somewhere.

     I could have thrown that cake pan out long ago but I didn't.  I might have even forgotten the words that my mother wrote so very long ago now but I haven't.  That old container for baking some of the world's very best of angel food cakes in taught me a lesson in kindness and remembrance.  The very best baker I ever knew on this earth once held that cake pan in her very own hands.

     And she was my mother.

~as I see life from their point of view~

     I've been studying a lot as of late for a couple of tests that I must take in May in order to procure my state of Texas teaching certificate by June 1.  Even though I've been teaching for more years than most of the folks that I visit with at TEA have been around, it really doesn't matter.  In this state, every single teacher must take the battery of tests prescribed.  That's how it is and there is no need to argue it further.

     Period.

     I've been seeing things in my study materials that I have not given any thought to in the past long while and some of those things I truly had simply forgotten about.  You know it's the old saying of "out of sight, out of mind".  I believe it now.  In order to teach the subject areas that I am used to, I need to know a little bit (or a whole lot) about everything.  Math and science (each an old nemesis), social studies, language arts, p.e., music, art, Texas history, and a random assortment of a gazillion other things are all included.  Each of the tests is 5 hours long and I think my head already hurts.  One way or the other, I'm getting through it.

     In contrast though, I have also applied for a teaching certificate from the state of Oklahoma.  Not that I would need it or anything but just in case I ever wanted one in the years ahead, I would have it.  The state of Oklahoma does things very differently.  My years of experience would be "grandfathered" in without my having to take any kinds of tests.  It's a stark difference in regards to the teacher certification of each of those states.

     Yesterday as I was taking one of the practice tests, in fact the very last one, I was a bit preoccupied with a few other things around here.  I decided to pause the test and resume it later on, but instead of hitting the "resume later" button, I inadvertently hit the "quit test" button.  The moment I did that, I knew what would happen.  Sure enough the score came up that I didn't know 73% of the subject matter.  With 3/4 of the test's questions unanswered yet, the math made plenty of sense to me.  It was too late and some words that I've uttered a thousand times to students during test taking times came back to haunt me.

"Kids, when you do the last question and believe you are finished with the test, DO NOT hit the "end test" button.  Hold up your hand and I'll come over to your computer first to make sure you are REALLY done!"  

And so it sadly went for their teacher yesterday.   

     I've learned many things about myself as I've struggled through this whole ordeal of studying for a test that I never thought I would have to take in this life.  I don't like sitting still and testing any better than the students in my classroom do.  5 hours will seem like a long time on those two days and my 60-year old body will undoubtedly begin its own kind of special revolt before those 300 minutes are over.  I can only imagine how hard it is for my students to sit still for the 50 minutes of class time we have some days and yet, I still ask them to.

   

     I never did care much for taking tests as a kid growing up and I have to honestly say I'm really not too crazy about doing it now.  How many times as a teacher have I witnessed test anxiety and heard the groans when test day arrived?  To my students from the past nearly 4 decades, I understand.  I surely can see things from your point of view today!  Yet even having said all of that, the bottom line is this.  In my heart, there is a desire to continue to teach.  There is "teacher" yet within me and because of that, you can find me in the test taking room on May 16th.

     I work online with a program that helps those who desire to get certification here in Texas.  It's a great program and gives a nice variety of questions that hopefully will be like the ones I see when I go in for the real test.  I like the way that individual strengths and weaknesses show up before you take the next practice test.  It is a good thing to know which of the competencies you need to work on and believe me, there are several.  I had to smile, even after I accidentally said I was done before I really was, at the first 2 things on my list of strengths.  Even in as much as there is still more to learn, I KNOW in my heart the #1 thing on my list.

     So this teacher is now a student once again and it's a humbling experience.  My goal of being a lifelong learner is getting a workout during the next 3 1/2 weeks and for a 60-year old whose brain cells disappear from time to time, it gets a bit overwhelming.  I'm in it for the long run because I am a teacher.

     I wouldn't have it any other way.

3 years ago now~when Mr. Renfro came to Kansas and married their teacher.  The gym was filled with students, teachers, family and friends.  I can't imagine where 3 years have already gone.

  

Tuesday morning~4:30 a.m.

4:30 a.m.

Good morning dear friends and family out there~

The rain returned again overnight, further filling up the streams, brooks, ponds, lakes, and rivers of this part of the country.  We give thanks always for this gift of water.  Last night Mike and I made the trip up north a mile or two with the purpose in mind of checking on how high the mighty Red River was running yesterday.  We were not surprised at all to see its condition.

This photo was taken about 9 hours ago and with the rain that arrived overnight, one can only imagine what it must look like now.

Yesterday morning as I drove to school, I did so with even more caution than I normally do.  Usually I am on the lookout for deer or herds of wild hogs that are wandering across the roadway.  I come across more than my share of them as well as an assortment of dead/alive skunks, possums, and armadillos each and every morning on the 30-mile trek to school.  But yesterday morning, I was praying to not encounter another menace to drivers, one not of the creature side of life.  I was indeed looking for another thing that could have crossed the roadways.

Water.

In the early morning hours of darkness, it would have been difficult to see what lie ahead for me as a driver.  I left early and slowed down, trying my best to anticipate whatever might be coming up in the next series of "s turns" that my route provides.  I made it with no difficulty yesterday and am praying to do the same this morning.

I have driven many miles this year as I went back and forth from here in Burkburnett to school in Petrolia.  It's a given that I'll put 300 miles each week on my car just to get to school and back.  So far, I am thankful to say that it has been with minimal incident.  Once I nearly ran out of gas (totally my own fault), the transmission went crazy and I had to limp the last 5 miles home (now that's a Jeep issue), and I've avoided every encounter thus far with wildlife.  I'd say I've done well.

5:15 a.m.

Time to get ready to go and begin another new day.  Not sure what the day ahead shall bring and the only remedy that I know of for that is to go forward in faith.  One thing I do know is this.......

The good Lord above has been so good to me.

~what shall we make of it?~

The rain finally began to fall yesterday afternoon and just as was promised, it has not stopped since then.  The sound of it coming down outside is peaceful to me and a lullaby of sorts for a good night's rest.  Mike is still sleeping away, tucked snugly under the covers of our bed.  We are alive and well here in Burkburnett, Texas.

What a gift the moisture is and even though it appears today that some flooding is likely, we still should give thanks for what we receive.  Last year's drought was broken just about this time in 2015 and for the people of Texhoma, it could not have come at a better time.  Life without rain for nearly 5 years left many stories to be told to newcomers, just like Mike and I.  None of the remembrances sound very fun or inviting.  

It was wonderful to visit a local greenhouse a couple of weekends past and to hear people talking with excitement in their voices about all of the things they were hoping to plant this year.  Smiles were on every single face that we saw that day as people filled their carts to the brim with annuals and perennials of every type, size, and color.  

They were not afraid to use water any longer.

Mike and I checked on the condition of our garden yesterday and it was looking pretty good.  Everything is up, green, and growing like crazy.  This present rainfall will continue to help its progress.  Although it will take some time for the ground to dry out later on this week, I'm sure we will be back out there taking care of the weeds and grass that like to share the soil with our plants.   Although my 60-year old body sometimes doesn't want to do the same things it used to 10 years ago in the garden, I still find gardening to be some of the very best of exercise.  I appreciate what it does for my body and equally so, what it does for my spirit.

We are doing fine here and have made many new friends.  One of them is Alice and two days ago she arrived at our house with her husband Jeff as they dropped off tables for us to use in yesterday's short-lived garage sale.  Alice had a smile on her face as she met me at the door with a small blue container filled with beautiful rose buds that she had just cut off of the bushes at their church here in town.  She wanted to share them with me and for that wonderful gesture of friendship, I give thanks.  This morning they are beautiful as they have opened up in the windowsill that they must share with all of my African violets.  They bring a smile to my face and to my heart as well.  Alice is a fellow Kansan and a Jayhawker from the southern part of the state.  So nice to have a connection to my old home back there.

And so this day begins.  What shall we make of it?  As for me, I choose the good.

~and so it took a community~

Last year as a first grade teacher at Olathe Elementary, the kids and I began the tradition of the community rock jar.  Not even sure where I came up with the idea but it was something that we did from day #1.  I had some rocks that I had picked up along the shores of the Puget Sound waters and an empty mason jar.  And oh yes, I had one other thing.

I had an idea.

On that first day of school in August of 2014, I gathered all 22 of those little people around me and handed them each a rock of their very own.  When I called their names, they each came up to the empty jar to say who they were and one thing that they were very good at.  After so doing, they let the rock slide into the jar very carefully.  We talked about how that glass jar was fragile, just like the feelings of each of the class members.  If we threw the rock in carelessly, there was a chance that the container would break.  In a similar way, if we spoke harshly about one another with little regard to our feelings, it could break the heart of those involved.  It was a good lesson to learn.

At first there were only 23 rocks in the jar, the kids' and mine.  Later on in the week, we felt it very important to invite other people to join our classroom community.  They came in to see us and no matter what we were doing at the time, we immediately stopped and headed back to the place where we always met around our "pretend" campfire.  Once we were all settled, then whatever adult we asked to join our rock community would proceed to tell us their names and something that they too were good at.  Toni Brown became the owner of the "big rock" after she joined us one morning.  Nikki Corn and Mary Morris were in there as well.  They were teachers whose daughters were in my classroom.  Nurse Ruthie came in to put her rock inside of the jar and when we ran out of rocks, we switched over to special marbles.  Miss Daisy was the sole owner of those.  Mr. Brummitt, our principal, added his as well.  When we were finished, our jar was filled to the brim and our classroom community was strong as well.  

The 9 months we had together went way too fast and before I knew it, May had arrived and with it the last day of school.  Mike and I were packing up our things to move away from Colorado and make a new life here in north central Texas.  There was no way that I would leave the community rock jar behind so on that last day of school I carefully wrapped bubble wrap all around it and nestled it inside of my belongings.  It made the trip over the big mountain with little concern and once I found that I would be going to Petrolia to teach, I decided that it should go with me to school.  For nearly nine months it has set atop my desk as a reminder to me of the wonderful little community of Olathe, Colorado.  

I brought it home the other day because with about 6 weeks left in this school year, I've begun to bring a few things home each day.  I looked at it a long time this week before deciding that it was probably ok to empty out the jar and do something special with all of the things that had been placed aside.  It seemed kind of weird to dismantle it.  The last hands that touched those rocks were those of dear people back in the mountains of Colorado.  For the first time in nearly a year and a half, I emptied out the jar's contents to place into some of the things that we are attempting to grow here on the plains of Texas.  For a moment I hesitated to remove them but then I realized that it was ok to use them in our flower beds.  The kids would like that.

Now the rocks grace the area where our plants and fairy gardens are growing.  I think the kids would be happy knowing that their special treasures are still with me, reminding me of the happy times we had together last year in the first grade.  Each time I see them, my heart will be warmed by great memories of a time that will some day be so very long ago.

Today Mike helped me to make another fairy garden.  Some of the rocks made a pathway while the "big rock" will soon be a resting place for fairy furniture.  

Earlier today Mike and I put this plant assortment together and I decided later on to add some of the rocks from the jar to the boxes.

And so at long last, the rock jar is empty.  The empty jar will be washed out and placed on the shelf to more than likely hold seeds from this year's flower garden come late September.  Those seeds will be planted next spring and the whole process will start over again.  Yet even in all of that, there is one thing for sure.

I will never forget those dear children back there nor will I lose sight of all the folks who helped me get through some tough times in the adjustment to my new life.  Olathe Elementary people, this once Kansas, Colorado and now Texas school teacher will always be beholden to you. What a great community to call your own!

"The 18" from my fourth grade year-2013-14~

3 of "the 22" from my first grade year-2014-15~

Remembering always just how much God has blessed me as a teacher.

~and so I am a teacher~

Some of the 6th grade kids at school were shocked to learn this week that I don't watch television.  I'm not even sure how the subject came up but I told them there were very few shows on that I thought were worth my time to watch.  Besides that, I'm spending most of my available waking hours studying for the tests that I must take at the end of May in order to receive a new teaching certificate here in Texas.  Not sure what shocked them the most~me not wanting to watch television or that their teacher needed to study for a test.  

Last year when Mike and I moved here, I had no idea what I'd be doing for a job during the 2015-16 school year.  We came here in faith that something would come open for me to do.  I desperately wanted to teach and in order to do so, I had to apply for a Texas teaching certificate.  When notification finally came in the mail in early June that I indeed had been granted a one-year probationary one, I breathed a sigh of relief.  Without a teaching certificate from the state of Texas, I wasn't going to be considered for anything that came open.  

One week later as Mike and I were headed over to Byers for their annual car show, we came through the small town of Petrolia, Texas.  I didn't think much about it on the way over but as we came home I suddenly had this thought that perhaps there was a school there.  If there was a school there, then maybe they might still be in need of teachers.  Sure enough, there were openings for two teachers in the elementary building.  Something told me that God had a reason for me to be there.  Two weeks later, I was offered the position that I have this year.  It all worked out according to the plans of someone way more advanced in the creating of things than I will ever profess to be.  

All year long I have known that I must begin to study and prepare myself for taking the tests.  That time of study has now arrived and study I must in order to pass the two tests that are required of me.  If I told you that it was going to be a piece of cake to do so, then I would not be telling the truth.  It is hard, difficult in ways that I had long ago forgotten.  One of the tests involves questions from all aspects of the curriculum and subject areas.  My old nemesis, "mathematics", is just one part of it.  As I worked through the first practice test in math earlier today, I could feel my stress level growing.  All of a sudden I was having flashbacks to 1965, the year I was a fifth grader at Haven Grade School and my charter membership to the "I Hate Math!" club was conceived.  Math is NOT my thing and there's no way to get around it.  Never has been and never will be.  But because I want to be a teacher, I will continue to try and even though some of it is really not fun at all, it's necessary.  One thing is for certain.......

I commiserate with my students.

I believe in the concept of lifelong learning and I'm finding out that's a good attitude to take, especially at this point in time.  Many of the things in the preparatory manuals that I ordered from Amazon are things that I've learned over the course of the 6 decades that I've been around on this planet called Earth.  There are a few things, ok really a lot of things, that I swear I have never heard of before.  Yet as they say here in this part of the world, I'm soon fixing to learn them all.

And so because I am a teacher and intend to be for at least 2 years more, it's time to turn off this computer for the night and practice what I preach to all of my students.  I've got one more chapter of math to look at before my eyes close in sleep.  Hopefully that will be in my bed and not sitting here in front of the computer screen.

No matter what it takes to get my certificate, I'm up for it.  There would have been plenty of other jobs that I might have done in life, other choices that would have given me a much heftier paycheck than teaching does.  It would not have mattered.  I love kids and teaching them what they need to know.  The bonus checks are pretty dang good in my line of work.

And so I am a teacher.

                                              It's never too late to learn something new!

~and I am a farmer's daughter~

This week at school our fourth graders were invited to visit a local farm in nearby Byers, Texas for the annual Clay County Ag. Day.  We were gifted with a beautiful and slightly windy weather day, with temperatures in the 70 degree range.  For 5 hours, the great outdoors was our classroom and our teachers were a fine bunch of folks who are committed to promoting the agricultural way of life.  It was fun to see the excitement on the faces of all the kids and if I could have seen my own face, I'm sure there would have been a smile on mine as well.

I was raised up in the country of south-central Kansas.  I'm a farm girl believer.

I was reminded of my own rural upbringing so much that day and as we moved from station to station, I felt an even greater appreciation for the life that my parents provided for me and my 6 siblings.  They could have chosen anywhere to bring their 7 children up.  If they would have wanted us all to live in the city or even a small town, then my folks could have done just that.  Yet they saw a different life for us, a life where things were a whole quieter and opportunities to grow up their children as well as their crops could happen.

That life was on a farm.

Until I was 9 years old, my family lived on 200 acres of land in the sand hills of Harvey County, Kansas.  We went to school in the little town of Burrton, a journey that took about 20 minutes or so on the old school bus that always hauled the Scott family to school each day.  My dad and older siblings milked the herd of cows we had every single morning before the sun came up. The little kids in the family had their own set of chores to do like feeding ducks and chickens, gathering eggs, and making sure that the waterers were clean and full.  When we got home from school, the same thing happened once again.  It was a good life, an honest life that was filled with important lessons for all to learn.  

When I was 9, my parents moved us all to what would become our hometown of Haven, Kansas.  It was just a 30 minute drive into Reno County where once again we would find a home in the country and settle down.  My father gave up farming on his own and started his custom combining business, "Scott Custom Harvesters."  For the next more than 2 decades, he would head south each year in May and work his way back up north through all of the Great Plains states as he harvested other farmers' crops of wheat, oats, barley, and corn.  In our house, my father's blood ran "Massey Ferguson" red for nearly all of his days in the business. Although I might not have seen it back then, I realize now just how hard both of my parents worked in order to raise their family in the way that they did.

Growing up as a farm kid taught me many valuable lessons and perhaps the greatest of them was the value of working hard.  It's a skill that has stayed with me all of my days.  I saw my folks go through tight times and still come out with their heads above the water.  I've seen some of those rough times as well and as I worked through them, I remembered the examples that my mom and dad taught me.  For that and a whole lot of other things they did for me, I'm most grateful.

It was a pleasure to take those 40 little Petrolia Pirates on their field trip this week.  I've said many times throughout my 38 year career as a teacher and will continue to say until I take my last breath, that the classroom is not the only place for kids to learn their lessons.  Sometimes the best place of all to learn is on the farm of a kind gentleman named Tommy Henderson.

Wednesday of this week, we did just that.

                               My fourth grade homeroom kids~For the record, we had a great time!

                               I am this farmer's daughter and always will be.

~and so it is April 3rd~

~and so it is April 3rd~

It's always hard to imagine, extremely hard to believe just how fast the passage of time really goes.  One day it's Friday night and you are dragging Main Street in Hutch with all of your friends, looking to see where all of the cute guys are.  The next day you are 60 years old and wondering where your 20's went.  I've noticed it more and more as the years have gone by and one thing for certain shall be this.

As life goes on, those years will not pass any slower.

I'm reminded of that subject of time each and every day.  It's been on my mind so much it would seem.  I'm finishing up year number 38 of being a teacher and I'd love to be able to teach for two more years before I really do retire.  I've got this thing about teaching 40 years and it's important to me.  Right now I am studying feverishly, ok maybe not to that extreme, but still studying in order to pass the tests that I must take to receive my teaching license here in Texas.  Time is of the essence here as my current one expires on the first day of June.  I have found it to be not as easy as I had hoped for but it does not deter me from making the effort to try.  Prayers would be appreciated on this old teacher's behalf.  I need all of the help I can possibly get.

Yesterday as Mike and I planted flowers and veggies in the garden, I stopped for a moment and took a break from it all.  It's not as easy to get up and down off the ground these days.  As you get older, perhaps you shall feel the same.  My old knees are telling on me and every once in a while I get winded.  That old subject of time crept into the conversation when I wondered what the perennials would look like 10 years from now.  Would they be able to survive the sometimes dry conditions that this area of the U.S. sometimes endures?  Then I paused to realize that even I might not be around to find out.  It's a sobering thought but one that I get from time to time.  

Today is Sunday.  One final day of the weekend awaits us before returning to school come the morrow.  Time shall go quickly this day as well.  There are more flowers to plant, more gardening selections to put into the red soil of this great state, house cleaning chores, and hopefully just a little time to sit on the front porch and relax a bit.  Who knows what lies ahead of this day?  None of us do.  But whatever it is, I go forth in faith that all will be well.  

You know, I wrote those words shown above at 4:30 this morning when I had awoken.  I didn't know what I'd be doing for sure, only that I'd be busy doing something around here.  About mid-morning, I decided to do something that I had been wanting to do for a long time now.  I realized that if I did, then several other things on my "to do" list would have to wait for another day.  Looking back, I'm glad I made the decision to do what was fun for a change.  The little 9-year old girl who still lives inside of me, gave me the message loud and clear.

"It's about time!"

I'd been wanting to make a fairy garden since I first saw a flower bed full of them in Ridgway, Colorado in the fall of 2014.  I was intrigued by the little special things that went into one and in the back of my mind I kept telling myself that I'd make one for sure sometime.  

Well the sometime was today.

It was fun and actually rather relaxing to do.  Just needed a few things that I already had around here, plus a few things I did not.  For those things, well that's what they make WalMart for.

For an amateur fairy garden maker, I'm pleased with the first attempt.  Who knows?  I had so much fun doing it that I just might make another one to go with it.  After all, it really only takes one thing.

Time.