Entrances Draw You To Excitement

     Entrances in gardens make you want to find out what is beyond them.  The more interesting an entrance the more lure to search what is behind it. These horse pillars made of cement tell you that you can expect horses if you go this way.  You cannot see any horses at the entry but you want to go through this entrance to find the horses.  (Of course, the path the entrance puts you on leads you down to the barn and the pastures where the horses are.






This path brings you toward the barn but first you go
through the gardens in between. 

 On the right side of this path you will see a chicken coop and outside pen.  If it is daytime you might see the chickens scratching, pruning, pecking.  And then you will see the ENTRANCE to the Chickens.  It is different and fun looking so you find yourself going over to it and opening the entrance door.



                                        You will see the long white shelters that keep the chickens in shade or protect them from a cold wind.  The fun looking weeping pine also might let you discover chickens hiding under the graceful limbs, and eventually you walk up to the Chicken coops ENTRANCE. 








This entrance might make you think of fresh healthy eggs
might be inside.  You peak a look but need to step in to find them.





Dotty and the black and white striped Betty are
under the weeping pine tree.



Then again maybe you are not at all interested in chickens and horses come to mind again.  You look around and see beautiful gardens and of course another ENTRANCE...  You walk in and it leads you to the path that goes to the roses.  Now this is getting a little better.



 You lean over and smell and the aroma almost makes you forget about horses all together!  You touch them to see if they are real.  The cool weather this past spring in Wisconsin and all that rain  has been kind to the roses.  Your nose almost bumps into a hornet that is pulling on something almost like a robin does.  It is a little green worm!  He flies off barely able to stay a flight from the weight of his captive.  Gee such fun things to discover in this garden goes through your mind.

Yellow roses are bright and cheerful, giving one a lift in life as you gaze upon them.

There are so many colors and types of flowers to see. 

Yellow lilies mingle with white Campion.  A perennial that is tall and has a small flower on the top of the stem.
It protrudes up through a cluster of another perennial and yells LOOK AT ME!  It gives a grouping a splash of color other than the one like the above yellow lillies. 



Rose Campion nestle nearby with a lily that is not open yet.













Here is Rose Campion which is a
gorgeous flash of rosie pink.  See how the gray leaves add to its zest.  It takes very little growing room.  Here it is mingeling with tall lilies.
Leaving this circle garden to start down the path once more towards the barn which you can see now.  Of course this entrance back onto the main path does not mean you will stay on it .

To the left again there is a neat setting with an antique
outhouse that holds garden tools and the arbor with
Bless on it leads you into the Fairy Garden.  Peaking over the fence you can see a delight to the eyes!  Shady spots that have lots of flowers growing in them...... and of course Fairies.

Still wanting to see the horses but enticed to wonder into this fairy garden ....  trying to resist the colors, the fun things all over the place.......  maybe I can come back, after I see the horses.  Wow!  There are the horses !  I can see them over the fence from the Fairy garden. 

Pictures of Ginger the pony and Hawk the dark Morgan are sad.  I lost my Refa the 34 year old gray Arabian a couple weeks ago. If you go into my old blog  http://withinnature-chickens-horses.blogspot.com/2009/12/in-wisconsin-winter-has-arrived.html  you can see Refa and also my old blogs.  (for some reason Google would not let me go in with my password so I got a new blog and password for the blog I write now)  Ginger was always at REfa side guiding her around because Refa was partially blind.  The day was so hot.  93 degrees for three days in a row.  The second day of the three she quit eating and drinking water and I called the vet.  He said she was all ready shutting down.  Her system just could not take that heat and she gave up living.  It took Ginger a whole week to stop calling for Refa and looking for her at night.  Ginger and Refa always waited out in the second pasture until the big horses were in then she would lead Refa into the barn.  I not only felt devastated loosing my Refa ( I had her for 19 years) but I could see how confused and sad Ginger was.  I poured lots of affection on her and groomed her every day while trying to let her see she would be ok.  I felt the same way Ginger was acting.  I caught myself looking into Refa's stall though habit, to see if she was ready to go out and then let the tears tumble down my cheeks and blow my wet nose because the stall was empty and my Refa was gone.  Refa was a lot of work the past few years because she could not take care of herself as well as she use to.  I missed that times with her too.  Then came all the "what if's "  Or maybe if I did this or that she would still be here.  Just a week before she died she was trotting up the hill to the upper pasture with the cool wind blowing her tail and main out to the side.    Another thing that I wished I hadn't done was give my Palameno away to a gal that loves to ride.  He was not being used here and he was the perfect riding horse.  I was fearful of the 16 hands high and his big build (part work horse)  so did not ride him.  He is now making this gal happy and I am sure he is happier too.  He did a lot of shows and jumping and winning ribbons for the girl that owned him before me.  My  son found this nice family for him to go to.  I can go over there to visit him if I want because it is just a few miles from here. 

Refa and Ginger

Moose

We are a lot better now that a couple weeks have passed.  Time heals and I have entered into a new part of my life.  Work has been cut in half and also expenses.  There will always be a hole in my soul for those two beautiful horses but i am also glad Refa does not have to suffer anymore in the cold and heat and Moose is tearing around with his new owner with a great big smile on her face.  I firmly believe in providence or what I call God's plan for me and I am anticipating the turn through the next entrance of my experiences.

A trick of the mind helps heal the sad thoughts.  My Aunt Helen who just passed away this past year was a fantastic image for me.  Her attitude and continuance on living a positive life inspite of so many hardships gave me encouragement in my problems and decisions.  She taught me that everytime a sad or negative thought comes to mind, replace it with something you love.  Well many years ago I replaced it with roses.

 I loved Roses, and the smell brought me into smiles and loving feelings.  What I was stammering in my mind about would slip out the back door as I opened the ENTRANCE OF NEW THINKING.  One beautiful thought led to another and soon I forgot what was making me so miserable.  In the begininng I had to use continuance in changing my thoughts to something positive but now after so many years I can be like my Aunt Helen and live a positive life, a joyfilled life.  Amazing what the mind can do to someone.  Train it up right and it will grow healthy and strong. 

Romans 2:7 " Eternal life to those who by patient CONTINUANCE in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality. " Bible verse in the New Testement

                                                                              

       Blessings to you all,

 May July bring you lots of giggles and happy memories

as you ENTER  a new month of experiences.

                                                 Let me know how you are doing ...........

                                                                          Kate

The Earth Has Renewed Itself With Flowers and New Green Leaves

It is so good to feel the sunshine again.



     One of my favorite gardens I have been working in is the Fairy Garden.  I have many things that I bring out of the potting shed, and there are two very big plastic bins in the lath house full of the glass plates I line the paths with and all the do - dads I store over the winter.  The above photo shows one of the many fairy statues I take out of storage and put in place for another year of whimsy and fun.  It takes me a couple weeks to weed and put in order all the things that make the Fairy garden one of my favorites to sit in.  Everyone should have a spot to let the child out in you.  Joy seeps out as the gentle songs of the birds rejoice their Creators beauty.  I want to sing out myself because I am so happy.  The wind has been pretty strong this past week and what a welcome to have it skip around my head cooling my already sun burnt cheeks.

The chickens are out and about finding all sorts of wiggly worms, bugs, and sometimes my prize flowers I just set into the gardens. I scolded them plenty when they scratched out the blue lobelia.  The fresh loose ground excites them and they eagerly look for that new spring worm that ventured out as I worked up the soil and mulched with two year old leaves from fall. It is almost like dirt now.  The city truckers bring me about 5 truck loads in Sept. and I leave them sit for a couple years until they are perfect for keeping my soil loose cool and moist.

New Tree Peonies

Each time I walk the paths of all my gardens I find another surprise.  Above; Pink Tree Peonies planted last fall.  With this 92 degree weather we are having in Wisconsin everything will almost burst open in days.  We had such a late spring (two weeks) but now Summer is not going to let it be outdone in its spectacular display as June slips into July.  I try to take pictures as soon as I see a new shoot.

This Batik Iris stole the show this morning.       When my eyes first gazed upon the lovely blue it took my breath away!












Sweet woodruff mingled inbetweeh hostas and other shade plants.
Dick my husband, made the two divider screens made out of metal.



Blue Forget-me-Nots  are amazing the way they compliment shade plants



I like to use whimsy in my gardens in surprised spots.  Here is a gift I received and I think it adds so much to this large pot of shade plants. Makes me smile each time I turn the corner and gaze upon it.

Just bought this birdhouse at a flea market.  A wren is already building a nest.



Medium size Iris reminds me of cream sickles




Three birdhouses accent this shady spot that was recently mulched, bringing out the colors of the Heuchera (Coral Bells)

 

Rock Garden next to the house going up hill.  Use many shade plants in this area.
The .trees just getting their spring dressings of leaves leave enough sun
to filter through  giving perennials the light they need to flower.

     Early June brings the Iris into bloom which is my favorite flower at this time.

The above Iris are called bearded Iris and this one has the name of Infinite Grace.

There are many colors, shapes and sizes to choose from.  Schreiner's Nursery, Cooley's Nursery are two

of my favorite places to look, ponder, and finely choose one or two to order.  White Flower Farm also has a

nice assortment.  Just type in the names in your search engine and you will find the web pages for them.

Peonies, Early Daises, and Iris mix nicely in my Natural Country gardens.



Pink Poppies in partial shade do fine





Red Poppies with Daises in full sun are happy there too.

Yesterday I had the Green Thumb Garden Club come for a look around in my gardens.  They wanted to see the iris in bloom but also got a tour of the whole place.  As you can see in  the blog this time there are so many different colors, and types of plants.  They all somehow work together to make my world beautiful.  Mixing all these colors in your living room might clash but somehow out in nature they blend. God does not make mistakes with our surroundings.  He does not make mistakes with us either.  No matter how many blemishes we have with our mistakes in life we are still beautiful to Him and He loves us just as I love each and every flower in my little world.  In one of the pictures above, an iris has been mared with holes from bugs but as a group it is still a beautiful picture.  Likewise with all humanity wrong makes holes in our lives but we are still precious to our Great Creator. I want to Love Like God Does. 

Blessings to you all!

Kate  

May 14th 2011 Spring Has Finely Arived-- Really!

     It has been a while since I have wrote.  We almost lost our Gilly the 9 year old Airedale.  We took her home from the vet's thinking she only had one week to live or two at the most.

We decided to do the make a wish foundation and gave her anything she wanted.  She could barely walk, ate so very little I wondered how she would last even a week.  So we buttered her dog food by covering it with Fancy Feast Chicken Cat food which she was always trying to steal from our cat when she was healthy.  She started to gobble the food up.  She got chicken noodle soup for lunch and I also ordered her some capsules of Antioxidant Complex for Canine/Feline, 2mor-Saver Canine/Feline, ImmuneSaver Canine/Feline, and Pet Saver Canine/Feline, all products from Figuerola labs out in California.  http://www.figuerola.net/ 
I have been using their Equine Saver for my horses so decided to try their pet products.  My old 34 year old Arabian mare was death warmed over two years ago and when I was advised to use this project.  the mare is now cantering and keeping up with my other horses.  Amaizing what their all natural products have done!
     It has been a month now since we brought Gilly home from the vets's sad news.  Gilly is still getting all the products I mentioned above and she is taking walks outside again.  Playing with our puppy who is now 6 months and acting like her old self again.  She no longer gets the chicken noodle soup, just the Eucanaba dog food mixed with the nautral powder from Figuerola Labs and topped with ....  Fancy Feast Chicken cat food.

I would like to believe she is healed from the things that made her so ill.  Her imunde system had shut down, her white blood cells were way up, her platelettes were a mess.  And the vet thought she had a tumor on her spleen.  She is walking again and is full of pep.


KATE

February 25, 2011 Airedales Are So Entertaining !

    
                    
AIREDALES TERRIERS ARE SO ENTERTAINING!
      
        On December 12, 2010, Dick and my life changed 100 percent. 
We brought home our snugly wigglely little Airedale puppy.  We named him Luke Skywalker because his blood line on Luke's mothers side comes from Ch Reydaleterrydale Stone Ridge Star Wars, (the grandfather), and his mother is Jolee Aire Padme Joy.  On his fathers side he has the bloodline of Darbywood's Jolee Aire Jordan father, and CH. Evermay's High Performance and CH Darbywood's Rare Gem O'Mcbeth as grandparents to him.  I



Nike (Harrison)



                                  Above picture, Nike (nick-name) is Luke's father.



LUKE SKYWALKER OUR PUPPY

          

There is endless Joy owning our Airedale Luke





Padme Joy Luke's Mother





Luke and Gilly watching Dick 

  


 

Our older Airedale Gilly and Luke first meeting each other.
Joanne Vohs is the breeder we bought both dogs from.
She has been breeding dogs and showing them since 1960.
She is well known in the United States and Internationally too.
You can speak with her at 920-766-3778 or email Joannesinc@aol.com
Joanne also has developed a wonderful training video for puppies.
It sure made our attempts at introducing Luke into our lives a lot easier!
She has put temperament on top of her list and over the years has developed the most gentle, fun loving, loyal Airedales in the USA.  She
has produces an abundance of champions in the best of dog shows also.

                                  Gilly (nick name for Nigelia which is a name
                                      of a flower) is our 8 yr. old Airedale. 

Dick and Gilly relaxing.Gilly is very sick.  She  has been fighting an infection for the past two weeks.  So getting Luke and having Gilly sick has been a bittersweet experience.  Fear of loosing our precious Gilly who we have loved dearly for the past eight years, has put a shadow on our enjoying our Luke fully.  The past three weeks we have run to the Vet with Gilly a couple times a week for blood tests, and more meds.  Her age is not helping her fight with this illness.  We are doing our best to keep her comfortable and also trying to give Luke as much attention as we can and show him the training he needs at this critical time of his puppyhood.



Luke almost too big for this stool he learnt to get up on.

 Luke is so smart, so loving, and learning so fast.  Airedales being such smart terriers need positive approach to training.  They don't do well with the negative punishment type but thrive and are so willing to do what we want with the positive approach.  Praise and rewards have given Luke a need to please us.  He has such a happy attitude and is so full of energy.  As with our Gilly when she was a puppy,  we are doing our best to keep this positive attitude strong in our Luke who is just shy of four days from being 4 months in age.  He has doubled in size, has lost that waddle of a new puppy, but is so comical and full of surprises that he keeps us in stitches giggling about his antics.  he loves the snow, and will dive his head right into it, then shake it off and again tear around in his outside cyclone fenced in area behind the attached double garage.  He is trained to ring the leather belt with four bells on it which tells us he wants to go outside.  Yes it is suppose to be for his potty time but now he understands that when he rings it we open the door to his outside winter wonderland that he loves to play in.

He is completely potty trained and never has an accident in the house anymore.  We spent his first two weeks always being with him when he was out of his plastic kennel. The kennel is in our family room just off the dinning room so Luke is in the midst of activity.   We are retired so it was easy to keep our eyes on him.  Dick or I constantly took turns being with him when he was with us in the house.  He soon learnt that when he started to sniff his area, out the door we went and being cold and snowy he went potty fast and in the house we would go.
He sleeps in his kennel, which contain his toys and a fresh towel until 6:30 most mornings now.  When we first had him he got us up in the middle of the night to go out side.  We would stand shivering in our night clothes waiting for him to piddle and then in the house we would go.  Luke would be put back in his kennel and we back to our deep sleep.  Ahhh  thank goodness that is behind us.

 But of course with every puppy as they age they have new things to learn.  Now we are working with his jumping up on us, or visitors.  He is getting that down pretty good but with his high energy once in a while he slips to leaping up to give us his greeting.  That too will recede to just a memory in a few months.  He now fetches his chew toys and often will drop it in front of us but does sometimes decide to keep it for himself to chew and shake his head in a clown like fashion.  My what joy has radiated out of our little Luke.


Gilly last fall outside with Dick taking her for a walk.
Dick is very special to her.  They are buddys


Our Gilly is trying so hard to conquer this illness.  She has good days, but mostly has been laying quietly because of the meds she is getting and because right now her energy level is close to none.  The illness is very serious and we are hoping and praying that she will survive a couple more years to be enjoyed along with Luke.



Gilly in her younger years in 2005.


    We cannot imagine being without our Gilly.  She has been such an intricate part of our everyday life.  There will be no replacing her gentle love and loyalty she shows us.
Luke will add to that intricate part each day in his own special way but Gilly's personality is her own, never to be duplicated.  When I look into her sick gaze I want to make her well, I want to see her spark again, I want my Gilly back, but I know we will adjust to the loss we face.  That is what all the talk about belief in our Great God is.  That knowing He faces us, sees us, loves us just the way we are for today and gives us that serenity to make it through our great and little losses, our pains, and also to share the abundant joy that life presents us in our path from baby hood like our little Luke to the ageing Gilly like Dick and I face as we are just a couple years away from being 70 years.  It is awesome to think of how He came down to earth as God, slipped into our likeness of flesh and bones to feel our joy, to feel our pain and then the supreme sacrifice of dying for us and then give us the right to slip out of that flesh and bones and join Him for all eternity when our path leads us to the end of our earthly journey. It makes the rough spots on our path easier to walk when He is by our side, filling us with peace, when stress wants to shake us apart. 

Blessings to you all and may your path be a gentle one for you today.

                                 Kate  with her Gilly