Trail OPEN, and some not so weekly quotes!

Last June I wrote about a bike trail that we live by, you can see the post here: 

Trail Closed

The trail has been closed since it was damaged by a flood over 2 years ago!

We usually spend a lot of time on this trail, and it has been very hard not having it usable. We don't have a neighborhood sidewalk or park we can ride our bike on....this biketrail is used by so many in our entire community and is so very beautiful all 4 seasons of the year.

Well, finally it is DONE....FIXED.....USABLE....OPEN.... YEAH!!!!

The large gaping hole that was once here...is now filled in with RipRap.

We still have yet to go the whole length of the trail, there were several dangerous areas ....but now, 2 1/2 years later, we can spend time on it safely!

Emma was on a visit home from college....and we spent a beautiful afternoon exploring our newly fixed trail.

We have not a good year for rain....and this creek is normally flowing...hopefully next spring it will again!

"The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination."   Carl Rogers 

"Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility. "  Oprah Winfrey 

This is a nice short work week thanks to our Thanksgiving holiday. 

And the weatherman has announced that it is going to be BEAUTIFUL outside for us Thanksgiving feasters.....hopefully a walk down this path will be obtainable after we fill our bellies!! 

~Kim

Dark clouds are INEVITABLE...

"be sure of this- that I am with you always, even to the end of the world" 

Mathew 28:20

It was a bright, beautiful, sunny day....and while we were not looking, a huge storm cloud came our way.

It was eery, looming, yet somehow fascinating.  My boys called it "the black magic coming, like in Disney movies". I thought of biblical times instead.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Psalm 23:4

We are human...tough times WILL come...dark clouds are inevitable. This is when our Faith in knowing Who is in control comforts us. 

I don't like change....but change is constant. 

I look to my Father for guidance, comfort, and knowledge in His gift to us. 

Hoping that, even though some times are tough.....we all see the rainbow waiting at the end.

~Kim

A Nap

“Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.”

quoting Robert Fulghum in 1987 at Middlebury College

I'm sure that I took naps as a child, but in my adult life, I cannot even count on one hand how many real naps I've taken...

So why, after all these years, do naps have such an appeal to me?

Could it be too much stress?

Too much busy-ness on my mind...that my body and brain just want to shut down?

Or could it be that my age is starting to show? Goodness, I HOPE not!

I think the REAL reason is that I know not everything in life has to be perfect.

That some things can just wait.

Because I need a minute (or two) to recharge....

and to just "BE".

Happy (sleepy) Monday!

~Kim

p.s. All above images were from my Pinterest board SLEEP .  

Just for FUN: my sister's mantel and Quote of the Week

While I was visiting my sister one day this summer, I decided to help her do a mini makeover on her mantel.

And before anyone boos and hisses about my pics, I apologize.....poor lighting and horrible photography skills on a camera phone are not a good combo!!

My sister already had a good look, but she has also had this "good look" since she moved in over 3 yrs ago.

Time for a little change.

This is the "Before"

So I asked her where her favorite place was to travel , even though she is my sister and I kinda already knew. But I wanted this to be HER idea and inspiration, not mine! 

And, of course, she quickly piped up.... F L O R I D A.

Remembering Layla Palmer's cute summer mantel from The Lettered Cottage, 

I thought "WE can do that....do you have any driftwood?"

And my sister found me THE. MOST. PERFECT. PIECE.

So, along with a stick from the yard, and the state of Florida map from an old atlas:

THIS IS WHAT WE MADE!!!!

With a little helper named Cookie: 

I also "shopped" her home for other items that were either from Florida (sand and shells), or looked like it belonged there (palm tree). And the sign that hung in my nephew's room:

"Happiness is a journey, not a destination"

This was a fun little journey my sister and I took together, its nice to see what a quick little change can do to a room and the mood it sets!

~Kim

Weekly Quote 3...and my computer is fixed ya'all!

"TO SUCCEED IN LIFE, YOU NEED THREE THINGS:
a WISHBONE, a BACKBONE, and a FUNNYBONE"
-Reba McEntire

I happen to think that this is especially true for folks in the country!

images via pinterest

You plant a garden (or your crops) in the spring, wishing that the weather cooperates and harvest time is plentiful.

image via pinterst

You have to have a backbone to stand not only for what you believe in but to have a strong body to deal with all the chores and hardwork that comes with living the life of a farmer/ countrygirl!

Cover of a book my kids and BaileyHusband got me last year

And lastly, a FUNNYBONE, because if you can't laugh.....at yourself and the world you live in....then that is not a life you should be living!

These are Dixie's parents- for REAL!!

Enjoy your week friends!! We are quickly approaching the Country Fair and are in full project mode! And tonight the cows are getting their hair all professionally trimmed!
CaN'T WaIt!!!
~Kim

Weekly Quote 2.....and computer complaints!

i am attempting to write this post from my smartphone....

Scratch that, I finally stole my daughter's laptop. You should have seen this technically challenged lady trying to type this post with her phone!!! For one, it is IMPOSSIBLE! There is no way to use "quotes", Exclaimation! Points!, or any other symbols I use often!@&~-( ). Just. Would. Not. Let. Me. on blogger.

The ONLY thing I dislike about living in the country is the internet access...there are not very many options. At first, years ago, I was dial-up (eeewww), then we got the latest and "greatest" (not) satelite system. And every time it was cloudy, windy, rainy, or even breezy in the week prior, it WOULD NOT WORK!! I now have to be "wireless" to be "on-line" with a "jet-pack" "mi-fi" thingy. My problem with this? My home computer is not "wireless capable". So, I have to get an adapter??? UGH! Evidently my computer was born and raised in the city and needs to adapt to country life like I did!

I have so many pictures and blog posts in my drafts folder that I cannot finish until I get my home computer "adapted". But that is OK, because today is Quote of the Week.....

         ~Live by the SUN....Love by the MOON~

So, OK, it's not really a quote, and this is a picture from our cruise to the Bahamas we took in January, but I am dealing with a LAPTOP of my daughter's so my available pictures are limited....I just hope to get this computer problem fixed SOON!!! But, in the meantime, it is nice to be able to sit on my deck, sharing coffee time with my cows, chickens, peacocks, cats, guineas, donkey, and dog while I blog!!!

Hope everyone had a GREAT and SAFE 4th of July yesterday...we did a lot of farm chores, hope to share posts and pics soon of all the things we've been doing around here. Our BIG party is this Saturday, so we will officially celebrate the holiday then.
 ~Kim

Weekly Quote

I want to start doing a series of "Weekly Quotes". I love a good thought-provoking quote and have quite the collection of them.....
So, to start things off, here is my first:

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

                                   -Ralph Waldo Emerson

My daughters are on a vacation with Grandma and this is a picture of the view from their hotel balcany at Virginia Beach. So jealous, I have NEVER been there!
We don't live anywhere near an ocean....this looks so gorgeous, calming, comforting, yet mysterious....some of my favorite traits in a man :)

Have a great rest of the week! Hope it goes fast for us, I want my chicks back home in my nest!  ~Kim