Magical Groundhogland

We have this chubby little groundhog that lives in a culvert in the ditch in front of our house.  He's the cutest little thing and he's lived there for a few years now, at least.  He comes out the first of Spring and we see him in the yard all through the end of Fall, right before it starts getting cold for the Winter.  He eats pears that have fallen from our tree in the Fall, and he wanders all around the grass in our side yard in the mornings and evenings, looking for what, I don't know.

The other day, I saw him climb out of the culvert and stand up on his haunches, looking all around.  I think he timidly sneaks his way out into the open and then stands as tall as he can, looking all around for any dangers before he ventures out into the grass, or across the road to explore.  He looks like he's already put on some weight, which means he's been eating well this season.  He's cute as can be.  I decided it was high time I marched on over to the ditch to introduce myself, so I did.

As I approached the ditch, the groundhog had his back to me.  He was standing tall again, and the closer I got, I could see his whiskers twitching as he turned his head to and fro, watching across the road.  I got within a few feet of him and he must have sensed me coming because he jumped straight up in the air and turned around to face me in one quick movement.  His eyes were wide as saucers, but when he realized it was me and that I meant him no harm, he seemed to compose himself and tilted his head in question at me.  I knelt in the grass before him and proceeded to introduce myself.  "Hello Mr. Groundhog, how are you this fine sunny day?"  I reached out my hand toward him and he extended his furry little paw and shook one of my fingers.  "I thought I might come introduce myself after all these years of watching you in our yard.  I hope you don't mind," I told him.

"Oh my, how wonderful!" he said.  "I've always wanted to meet you too.  Please, come and let me show you around my humble abode," he said, and motioned toward the culvert in the ditch with his furry little paw.  He started to run toward the ditch and turned back to see if I was following.  I stood up and walked to the ditch and he ran down and stood in front of the culvert pipe, which was the entrance to his little home.  "Come on down!" he said, and I replied, "Oh don't be silly! I could never fit my big old self through that tiny little culvert!"  "Sure you can," he said.  "Come on, I'll show you!"

Hesitantly, I knelt down in the grass again and crawled down into the ditch.  I got to the culvert entrance and suddenly it didn't seem so small.  Maybe I could fit through here after all.  The groundhog led the way and I followed along after him.  Once we got through the dark tunnel of the culvert, the ground seemed to open up a little more and there was room to move around.  I was amazed at what all I saw!  There was room after room in this underground world and each was decorated in it's own wonderful way!  Tiny little lanterns hung around the rooms filled with fireflies lighting our way.  There was one big room with vegetables hanging from the ceiling.  Each had tags hanging from them with words written on them to identify the vegetable.  There were radishes, turnips, carrots, beets and potatoes, to name a few.  Among those veggies, there were numerous roots hanging around and clumps of this and that, and I realized we were underneath our neighbor's garden!  These were the vegetables planted in the garden and apparently the groundhog had labeled the ones that he liked to eat the best.  They were all within reach and whenever he got a hankerin for a radish, all he had to do was reach up and pull it down to eat it.  How clever!

There was another room lined with walnut shells and inside each shell was something different.  Dandelion heads, purple clover blossoms, dried beetles, grub worms, apple and pear seeds and peach pits in a pile in the corner.  Tiny little bowls filled with items for storage.  There was a long since abandoned turtle shell in the corner filled with water and there was a long reed hanging down out of the ceiling drip-drip-dripping the water down into the shell to keep it full.  One of the rooms must have been for sleeping because it had several spaces throughout the room where mud had been packed down tightly to form a bed and soft cottony fuzz and bird feathers had been placed around for comfort.  In this room, there were butterfly and moth wings pasted about on the walls and it was so pretty.

I was in awe as the groundhog led me from room to room.  What a beautiful little home he had made for himself down here and how lucky I was that he was willing to show it all to me.  I know he was proud as he saw how impressed I was with his cleverness.

Once the tour was over and he led me back out through the culvert, I straightened up and brushed the dirt from my hands and knees, hugged the little groundhog, who was now my dear and trusted friend, and bid him farewell.  I'm so glad to have him as our neighbor!

Ticked Off!

I couldn't put it off any longer.  I just had to get outside and pull weeds in my flowerbeds this weekend.  I hadn't given the beds any special attention since we planted all the flowers last month, and they were in desperate need of some loving care.  We have this awful grass that creeps up into the beds that I just despise!  It's so invasive and hard to pull.  And out front under the trees, we have this new ivy that has been popping up out of nowhere and it's choking out my flowers that are planted out there.  I don't know where it came from, but it's all over the place.  Sure hope it's not poison ivy, but whatever it is, it's days are numbered!

Saturday morning after breakfast, I put on sunscreen and bug spray, pinned my hair up and donned my gloves and out I went.  I was about halfway through the big flowerbed out under the pear tree when I looked down at my feet and saw about a million ticks crawling all over my feet!  Ugh!  I went to the back porch and started stomping my feet to get the little buggers off me.  They were scattering all over my feet and through my toes and who knows where else they'd gotten to, so I went inside and took off all my clothes for a thorough inspection.  Most women would avoid a three-way full length mirror like the plague, but I sure was wishing I had one then!  After bending and stretching my body like a freakshow contortionist, I found some on my shoulders and arms, on my hip, a couple on my legs and one on my neck.  Gross!  I pulled them all off and jumped in the shower to scrub myself raw.  I hate bugs!

In the meantime, Hubby took some spray out under the trees and saturated the ground with it.  It said it was safe for use on plants, so he just sprayed the whole bed.  Later that evening, I went out to try and finish the job and this time I only got about three ticks on me, so that wasn't so bad.  I took another shower afterward though, just in case.

The next evening, I went back out to finish the beds closest to the house.  I finished the sides and front and watered all the flowers.  This time when I was done, I only found a couple ticks, but one tick is too many so back in the shower I hopped again.  Every time I felt even the slightest tickle on my arm or leg, I got to itching thinking there was another tick on me again.  I just can't stand bugs of any kind and especially ticks.  They are sneaky little creepers that get into the worse nooks and crannies!  Just typing about them makes me itch.

I wish they made Frontline for humans.  A little dab of medicine behind our necks and poof!  Goodbye ticks!  If there was a pill to take to ward them off, I'd take one for sure!  They take all the joy out of spending a nice sunny day out in the yard!  When I get to Heaven, I'm going to ask God why in the world he ever created these awful bugs!

Breakfast Terror

Weekends are the only times Hubby and I get to have a good sit-down breakfast together.  We usually sleep in for as long as our animals will let us, and then we get up and have a nice breakfast.  This weekend, Cooter was the one to wake us up first with his loud, mournful hee hawing.  You'd think he was starving to death the way he carries on.  No rest for the wicked around our house, that's for sure.  So, up we got and after I had fed the brood, I started fixing our breakfast.

Hubby tuned into a good 70's station and while I hummed along to a Paul McCartney song, I put the bacon on to fry.  I peeled a couple potatoes, plopped some Crisco into a skillet on the stove and pulled out the cutting board to start chopping up the taters.  I finished with one potato and took the cutting board over to the stove to scrape the potato into the skillet, then walked back to the counter and OHMYGOODNESSGRACIOUS there on the counter, right where my cutting board had sat, was the biggest, ugliest, squirmiest centipede I've ever seen in my entire life!  I let out the loudest blood curdling scream you ever heard and in less than a millisecond I was clear across the other side of the house standing next to our bed and hyperventilating. 

Hubby and Tubby were standing there looking at me like I'd grown three heads and I'm sure Hubby just knew I'd cut my finger off with one of his sharp knives.  "What's wrong?!" he yelled and I was so scared that I couldn't even speak.  I spluttered out, "CENT- (heavy breathing)-I-(more heavy breathing)- PEDE! as best I could and flailed one arm toward the kitchen, clutching my chest with the other.  I just knew I was going to pass out any minute.  My arms and legs were all tingly and I couldn't catch my breath.

Hubby to the rescue!  He grabbed that three-foot long centipede by it's middle, twirled it around in the air above his head, and wrestled it to the floor while Tubby looked on from his hiding spot underneath Daddy's chair.  The centipede gnashed it's slimy fangs at Hubby and tried to stab him with it's vicious stinger.  It put up a good fight, millions of legs moving every which way, but it was no match for Super Sid!  My Hero!

After about five minutes, I had calmed down enough to finish making breakfast and surprisingly, the bacon hadn't burned and all my ten fingers were still accounted for.  I was still shaking like a leaf and jittery throughout the process, my eyes darting here and there for any relatives that might have been left behind, but I made it through.  No coffee needed for me that morning, that's for sure!

My Beautiful Mother

How thankful I am that God gave me such a beautiful Mother.  I thank Him for her every single day of my life.  She is everything I've hoped to one day be, and so much more.  She has always been my one true constant, loving me unconditionally and guiding me through life's good times and bad times, always there for me when I've needed her. 

Just hearing her voice is a soothing balm.  The sacrifices she has made for me throughout my life have not gone unnoticed.  As I've grown older, I look back and realize just how much she has truly sacrificed of herself to put my well-being first and foremost.  I don't deserve this devotion, but I understand it's what a mother does.  At least it's what my Mother has always done.

I love her strength, her friendship, her faith in God, her beautiful smile, her girlish giggle, the twinkle in her voice, her soft hands, her warmth, her sense of humor, even her stubborn streak.  I always dreamed that one day I would have a daughter of my own to share the same bond I've had with my Mom all these years, but that dream never came true.  Instead, I'm the mother to three loud-mouthed donkeys and a floppy-faced bulldog.  Not quite the mothering bond I had hoped for, but I love them nonetheless.  I wouldn't be able to love at all if it weren't for the love my Mother has continually lavished on me throughout my life.  She taught me how to love and made me what I am today. 

Thank you Lord, for my beautiful Mother.

Dreaming of Donk-a-Poodles

The other morning, I had the sweetest dream!  I was stepping out the back door and into the yard and this sweet, precious, tiny baby donkey came running up to me out of nowhere!  It was gray (unlike my donkeys, who are brown) and fuzzy, about the size of a small puppy.  It had floppy ears like Winnie the Pooh's Eeyore, and curly gray hair on its head like a poodle.  It had long, black eyelashes and the cutest little soft black nose and a fat belly, just like a puppy would have with a tummy full of milk.  It was so excited to see me and seemed like it was just starving for attention.

I squealed with delight and bent down and picked it up in my arms and nuzzled it to my neck and it just licked me all over the face and wriggled all around.  I kept looking all around to see where in the world it might have come from and then Hubby came outside and saw it and he just looked at me with this round-eyed ohmygosh expression on his face and I said, "Go inside and get the camera, quick!"  He grabbed the camera and we started taking pictures of this sweet little creature.  We were just in awe that it was so tiny, yet obviously it was some sort of donkey and I begged and begged if I could please, please, please keep it!

It was running all around my feet and wagging it's tail and I picked it up again and cradled it in my arms, rubbing it's soft belly.  I noticed it had some thorns and stickers in it's belly fur, so I laid him down on his back and said, "Now you stay there!" and it did just as I said and laid there very still while I went inside to get some tweezers.  When I came back, he was still lying there patiently and I pulled the little stickers out of his fur and rubbed his tummy again and he seemed so happy.  Then I woke up. . .

Later that morning, I made sure I told Hubby my dream before I ate breakfast.  If you tell your dreams (and nightmares!) to someone before you eat, then they come true, you know! (wink wink)  I wanted this dream to come true for sure!  All day long I thought about that sweet little donk-a-poodle and the more I thought about him, the more I wanted him for my very own.  I sure hope my dream comes true!

Happy May Day

I remember when we were little girls, on May Day my sister and I used to make these little cone shaped baskets out of colored construction paper and we'd fill them with lilacs from the back yard and hang them on a favorite neighbor's front door.  We'd ring the bell and run off and hide, waiting for the surprised neighbor to find our May Day gift.  I wonder if kids still do this?  I've never found one on my front door on May Day.  Boo Hoo. . .