Letting Go of Pebbles of Time

There comes a times in everyone's life when we need to let go.  

Let go .....let go.....let go. Stuff. 

The makings of stuff weigh us down and letting go is the freeing benefit we wish for. Family is the utmost importance thing to me as those particular relationships are  golden formed with love from the beginning. Not the kind of love you manifest and form later on in life but the actual essence of unending. Undying, unadulterated love. Mother and child, child and siblings, and this brings me to the point of this blog. I am hoping that loved ones come to understand each other and learn the depths of "family", what it is, how important it is, and how they will draw from each other as they too will grow older. Someday they will be the honored elders and will be asked for their wisdom.

My pathway in life has rounded many bends but the bends of time that lead me away from loved ones that have passed are the hardest to let go of. I've collected Pebbles in time, experiences with loved ones, and after their passing I inherited their Pebbles, their stuff. Wanting to create a simpler life I finally reached the point where I need to let go. I inherited my mothers and grandmothers "stuff". Hung on to it for years, rearranged, dusted, washed and displayed it. Now I want to pack it up and let it go. Does this free me to obtain a more minamist life style? No, not really but getting rid of "stuff" helps. Although, I know it's going to my children, in their 40's now, responsible, and caring, it still leaves me with a sense of guilt. So, letting go, but not too far.... lol.
My stuff is in boxes, I feel better for letting go. Pebbles in waters of life make ripples for others to learn from. Gratitude...... I have universal gratitude. I'm a lucky soul.

Tribute to My Brother Bob Jones

...My Brother,.... he who walked me to school, who shared his trains with me, who saved me from drowning, who was partners in crime with me peeking at hidden Christmas gifts, although not hidden well, he who was sometimes embarrassed of his little sister, me,  but defended me always, he who shared what he had and the last bite was given to me, he who loved showing his little sister off when she wasn't so little but a blossoming teenager, he who showed me the peek hole at the cottage from the upper bunk so we could watch tv secretly when we were suppose to be sleeping, he who taught me about fairness, he who engaged in arguments challenging me in every way but ultimately  I learned to be a better person, he who shares secrets with me  which I hold dearly to this day, (only he and I know), he who thinks sometimes I'm strange, weird and odd but loves me anyway in all my ways, he who held out his hand while ice skating (Denslow St.) so I wouldn't fall,  he who showed me the ropes while growing into adulthood, he who let me play with his toys at Christmas, because I had a smidgen of tomboy in me, he who played with me when he probably didn't really want to, he who fixed my broken toys.....

This is my brother and so much more. This is who I look up to. This is my best friend. 

I love you Bob Jones.

I hold you in my heart daily and will always walk with you.

Sadly my brother died in March of 2017. This was written for him and he read it two weeks before his passing. 

So, if you love someone, tell them.

The Pea vs Venus Fly Trap Story

.......the annual Twilight Zone marathon reminds me without fail of my mother's Venus Fly Trap. Some have heard the story, but here goes....this is how I apologize every year to my mom, owning it.

PEA vs Venus Fly Trap STORY.....

......I remember Twilight Zone was on every Friday night at 9, right after Outer Limits. 

I so recall Friday nights, my mom served peas. I so hated peas then. Loved them now. I wasn't allowed to watch the shows until my peas were gone. I watched a lot of television in the reflection in the kitchen window. 

I tried to rein in my strength to eat peas but couldn't. About 2 or 3 months later my mothers beautiful, huge, (largest I've ever seen, even now) Venus Fly Trap died. Sigh, I guess it wasn't a vegetarian.  I've always felt guilt about feeding it those peas weekly.

The attached pics are not her plant, her's was 6 times larger or more......

Royal's Farm and Jurneez End Farm 2013 - back dated ...sorry

Well, It's been a long time and a dear friend reminded today about blogging.....Thank You Diana ...... So there have been several updates and I will first post about Freddie Greenwell. He was my first love and mentioned in an earlier post, but today I will post some pictures of the farm......the blueberry bushes are another year older now, this was last year. 633 bushes. The logging truck has done logging on all points of the property......presently for sale.....we've done our work.... and then there's the equipment that runs the farm......

I'll add some pics of the dogs as well, after all, they keep the spirits going as far as I can tell. Royce is the black and white Border Collie, - he herds everything, and when it's time to drive out back to the back field, he stares at the truck tires,- at the moment they turn he's off...... Wiry, a fast runner and smart. The Big Gray and White, well, that's Shiitake. He's a Old English Sheep Dog, different from a Border Collie in about 1000 ways. He's likes to stick close to humans and lumbers around.....he watches out for ya....he's a pal.

Always busy but now that we are experiencing the bloom of our lives we are thinking on selling the farm and relax a little more. It has orchards of fruit and nut trees, crops fields, river frontage, small pond and 3 wells. That's a good start as well as being organic.....Then we'll miss it.....perplexing isn't isn't.....and jurneez (lower case) Farm...still kickin.
Always busy, but what would life be if we were't busy. Satisfaction at days end is the souls blessing ....

Commitment Honored - Ending 2014 --Beginning 2015

So, it's Christmas Eve and I accomplished my self set goals plus threw in an extra 3 hours of duty. It was snowing hard and the skies were dark at 4p.m. ..but I was off to accomplish a commitment I made to friends down the road. Said I'd feed their cat and after all the cat knows Auntie...Kitty here I come....Usually the first day mom and dad are gone I get snubbed for a bit, he's takes out his frustrations with humans on me as expected.

So, I was driving down the road feeling mighty spiritual. I had just finished reading some uplifting material and I was being so grateful for this existence and how lucky I was. I was considering 2015 being a great year as this one as been...but I wanted to do better with this vessel we call a body. I want to take better care of it...after all I am in good health and at decent weight but I could do better..I can fix it. Believe in Great Health and Great Control. After all it's fleshy and pliable...I can fix it.....whatever might be wrong...I'm feeling empowered ….....then it occurred to me....the planet is alive too...fleshy and pliable ….so......we can fix it.....whatever might be wrong....even with thriving human ignorance. We can fix it.

                       

So I arrive at my destination after this incredible conversation I just had with myself. I get out in the pouring rain, black vest, black hoodie, dark jeans and I struggle to open the door. I tried 10 times. The roof rain water is pouring on me and my hoodie and sweatshirt are soaking wet. Didn't know ya had to be a rocket scientist to open a door.

I crawl back into my car, text the owners, ooops...I was in the wrong lock (note to self, use lower lock)....mind you I have not had any holiday libations yet.....I run back to the door....now by this time Kitty is frightened someones trying to break in...black hoodie and all. By the time I get inside kitty is in hiding for his life, he knows for sure it was a burglar who just finally busted in....Couldn't coax him out....So I scooped out two large coated lumps from his box, gave fresh food and waited, …...and waited.....and waited......he was still protecting his life in the darkness under the bed.....”Auntie didn't mean to scare you....come here”...Not.

I ate peanuts.....chocolate, cheez-its and a candy bar. I drove home saying ,...”yeah right, I'll start fixing that vessel tomorrow and maybe later on we can work on the planet thing”.

Hope your 2015 is spiritually uplifting.

Enjoy your life ....it's the best.

~ jurn   

Small Town Living and Chores

My persistence goes on following up on a multitude of projects I have yet to do and it seems Fall is closing in quickly. Does this sound familiar? I rise in the morning with gratitude that I could....I first attack my list before the mid-day heat. Wandering out to the hummingbird feeders to wash and fill....starts out good. Along the way I see the step ladder left out, grabbed it to put away, turn around, head further out, saw the wagon right side up, turned it over, headed out again, saw the brush pile had dried, broke it up for burning, headed out (again to the feeders)....saw the shed doors open...on the way to the doors I saw rocks, on the small wall, out of place in the garden.....I relocate the flat rock and to my surprise, the hornets I tried to negotiate with last month would have no part of their rock being moved...they won...I got stung....no more negotiations.....and continued to shed doors...closed them, headed out.....saw the extension ladder still up along the eaves from repairs, took it down and headed out to the feeders.....saw the barn drive way spot light needed repair....made note, ...now what was I doing and where was I going....????

Ahhhh...think I'll just sit on the porch and soak in the rest of the morning.....just as I sat down...peered outward and saw the feeders....I remembered..I had to fill the feeders....I headed out with no stops......Success.

I know I'm not alone in having multiple inspirational and disciplinarian thoughts interrupting my daily routine. In my 35 years living in Hampton I have never had a straight run to accomplish a task with out the relentless sights and sounds altering my direction.

Everyday life. Enjoy.

jurn

Life in a small town......

What a morning....up at 3:45 a.m....out the door and on the road at

4:12 a.m. to help with someones barn animals...... a feeding....Saw the cutest

2 or 3 week old fawn near the barn. Came back home at sunrise......crashed ON the bed jeans and all.

Suddenly...thump de thump...Oh no, I know that sound at this time of year.......fledglings hitting the window....two because of the double thump de thump. Sure enough 2 of them on the ground.....but they crashed into and through a white faced hornets nest on their way down. I quickly grabbed the hornet spray but that, and the extras, were empty as well from repairs being done on the eaves. ….....oh my...now what? I navigated through the garden to move the fledglings to a safer place. I tried to negotiate with the hornets but they wouldn't hear of it. Now ... what to do about the hornets nest which happens to be 2 feet from the dog tie. Cool outside at 55 degrees and now it's only 6:30 a.m. …...the answer......burn the huge 8 inch nest. I did...with a long handled lighter for the wood stove. Success...but after 3 times. Now I turn my attention back on the fledglings One died. Broken neck. The other I comforted until it flew off. I buried the poor little dead one. 6:45 a.m. Now...back On the bed...jeans and all.

Now that's a Life!

jurn

Hints, Lessons and Wisdom

It seems when you live long enough, you see clearly the the values and priorities for their true worth. I mean, younger folks may not see the insight or experience the knowledge given, but the older folks lose the ability to see and think like a child. The children glow from the inside. They question. They challenge.

Recently I've been spending time with younger family members and it returned to me a joy I lost along the way. Where? Don't know, but when I hear laughter of children and see how their brain works, it makes me wonder about a lot of things in life...

I've been living in a rural area for 33 years, although with the growth of the towns it seems less rural, none the less, when folks at the general store are talking about a bobcat or mountain lion, it's rural.
Oh yeah, I was going to talk about the ritual of mice patrol. It happens every 5 or so years on the farm. Fall comes, they want in, and I say -NO. Well, This time after I washed out the entire kitchen drawer cabinet again, all the silver wear, I at the end added, dryer towels, and charcoal. I hang charcoal in the tips of nylon stalkings under the hood of my card and it seems to work. Done, still catching a few mice in the cellar but wow, they hate my messing with their homes.

2 weeks later: not a mouse in sight.
And what about what's in his grimy little hands, my food?
We had a snowfall today, not much but winter is off to a late start. So 7 inches now is nothing. I'm planning the spring garden already. Oh my, with the toxins in most food, I hope to eat healthier this spring and summer.

I have a dear friend who lost his farmhouse, all belongings. Reminds me of a story where upon greetings for good bye this family would always say, "I wish you enough" and I absolutely love the reason behind it, it means, I wish you enough hardship to appreciates the gifts, enough pain to appreciate the glory of a good day, enough etc. etc. etc. The point is beautiful. I wish you all enough ..................

After T-Day

Hello All.....Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day. We did. Traveled to my daughters a couple of towns over. No big traffic jams or anything. We live rurally so the biggest thing we saw were the farm tractors still trying to get in some time before dinner. Laura, my daughter made a spectacular dinner. Tried several new items for the menu and all were a great success. Was a good time and great food.

It is a time of Thanks and we are all thankful. I am very thankful for my family and friends. I have great abundance in my life in terms of rich relationships. Hope you all feel as lucky as I do.
Peace and Love, stay healty,
jurn