Six Important Things That Make Me Happy.

Reader Will tagged me for the Six Important Things That Make Me Happy meme. Since I haven't done a meme in some time, I thought I would do this one. So here it goes:

1. My Christian Faith makes me happy. I love the Lord. and am thankful to Him for my many blessings.

2. My family and friends make me happy. To have them in my life is my greatest blessing.

3. Nature makes me happy. As a destitute child in a refugee camp in Austria, where I lived for four years, I learned to love nature. I used to escape that drab camp, with it's rows and rows of old army barracks lined up like soldiers where desperate people just existed, and sit by a beautiful river, gazing up at the mountains in the distance, and dream about a better life in the future. That river and those beautiful mountains gave my heart hope and saved me from despair. Nature has been my joy and solace ever since.

4. Animals make me happy. I love all animals; my dogs and cats, and all the beautiful, or not so beautiful creatures that share these woods with me, like the opossum that comes every night for his hot dog treat!

5. Writing makes me happy. I am a writer who has suffered many hardships, saw much destruction and tragedy as a child of World War II in Hungary. At the same time, I experienced some genuine miracles during those times as well, saw people rise above and survive many hardships, and was also the recipient of much compassion and kindness. Those experiences shaped me into the person I am today, and inspired me to write about them many years later, finally taking away their haunting power over me.

6. Living in the United States of America makes me happy. This wonderful country, Home of the Free, Thanks to the Brave, has been my home for 58 years, and I'm so blessed to be here. We can never forget that Freedom is Not Free! Many have paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy. We honor their memory this Memorial Day.

There are many more things I love, but we were to list only six. However, I will sneak in one more, I love my pink roses, in full bloom right now!

I will not tag anyone else for this meme, but if any of you would like to join in on the fun, let me know. I would love to come and read your answers.


Thank you for reading. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!


Blessings from the woods.

Beebopping In The Woods.

Election Day was gorgeous around here, with lots of sunshine and warm temperatures, so when I came home from casting my vote, I decided it was a great day for some beebopping in the woods. With camera in one pocket, cell phone in the other, and a sturdy walking stick to help me navigate the woodsy terrain, off we went to enjoy the last of this years autumn's colors.

Of course, some of the animals towed along. Like Felix on the left, and Oreo, on the right. Oh, boy, the woods are fun, Mom!

Sidney came along as well, although at 12, she is a bit arthritic. But she seemed to enjoy beebopping, as much as I; two oldies reveling in nature!

This is the southern exposed side of the woods, where things are dryer, and the ecosystem is a bit different from the northern side, where the huge white oaks grow, and the ginseng thrives! I'll take pictures of that side sometime as well.

But there is much beauty in these woods, where the young hickory trees intermingle with numerous dogwoods.

Sun shining through the tree tops created a magical effect; a feeling of being in a cathedral. Thank you God, for all this beauty!

A crow's nest up high adds some interest as well.

Standing under a dogwood umbrella is magical experience. Color and light make for a gorgeous palette.

We were in the woods for almost two hours. Time flies when you're having fun, and fun we did have! I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

According to the forecast today is our last mild day, for a cold front bringing thunder showers is on the way by tomorrow, followed by somewhat cooler temperatures on Friday. But today I won't be beebopping in the woods. Today is Chinese Buffet day!

Thank you for reading. Have a happy week.

Blessings from the woods!

Pictures That Cheered This Nana Up!

I've been in a bit of a funk the last couple of days-sad and even depressed. So when my daughter sent me some pictures this morning, they cheered me up considerably. As it happens, my 11 year old granddaughter Hannah, who is in these pictures, was in a bit of a funk as well. Her big sister Nichole had left for college last week. This is the first time Nichole is no longer living at home, and Hannah misses her. So her Mom took her to the Farm Park, Wednesday, to help cheer her up.

It was a beautiful day with big, fluffy clouds, and cheerful looking sunflowers welcoming them to the Farm Park.

There are beautiful flower gardens at this Farm Park, and here is Hannah

wearing her Jonas Brothers (hope I spelled that right!) T-shirt, that she got at the live, Jonas Brothers concert she attended a couple of weeks ago. She is mighty proud of that T-shirt!

The beautiful flower gardens have paths through them, so one can get up close and personal with the beautiful flowers.

They also have a vegetable garden there, and it was potato digging time. Here is Hannah helping the farm ladies to gather the freshly dug potatoes. What a fun job that was!

Of course, there were lots of animals at the Farm Park, such as Llama's.

And calves. Here she is petting a little bull calf that is chowing down. Of course, many other animals reside at the Farm Park as well.



And here is Hannah with the draft horses that pulled the wagon she rode in. Nana is saving some of the other pictures for another time. But as you can see, Hannah enjoyed the Farm Park. It cheered her up considerably, as it did this Nana, who enjoyed the pictures.

All Nana's, also known as Grandma's, enjoy pictures of their grandchildren! :-)

Have a wonderful weekend, and a great week ahead, everyone.

Blessings from the woods!


I do have a couple of awards to acknowledge, and I will do that sometime next week.

Twenty Five Years in the Woods!

August 16th was my 25th year in these woods. I can't believe it has been 25 years, but it has. Now that I am getting on in years, the thought that one day I may have to leave here, saddens me. But I try not to let it get me down. They have been good years for someone who loves nature; loves the serenity of these woods, loves her disposition to solitude. But I also have a strong social side, and love the times spent with family and friends. I'm out there often, having lunch with friends, yakking with many that I run into, when I'm in town. For I am a champion yakker, according to Eileen! :-)

But after three or four hours of lunching, shopping and yakking, I look forward to coming home again, where the serenity of the trees, field and pond fill me with peace, and where the wild things, who consider me as one of them, wait for me. (As do the not so wild things, like my dogs and cats.) And one of them I am; as much a part of nature as they are.

So, I thought I'd post a few of my recent pictures. Images that are always a part of my life; always loved and enjoyed.

When I sit on my deck, this is my view to the East- my small field, where the deer like to congregate. There are some in this picture, though way up in the field. Can you see them?

I love this picture of a grazing doe, while the setting sun casts a small, magical glow on part of the woods, behind her.

This is Bucky, my favorite young buck. He comes close, hoping I'll give him a little treat. I have known him since he was a tiny fawn.

The wild turkeys, way on top of the field, are heading to the woods, to spend the night roosting in the sheltering branches of a huge oak tree.

This is my small, wildlife pond, in the north corner of the field, close to the house. When I sit at my lap top in the little sun room, this is my view. I love the little pond. It is used by birds and beasts, and insects, of course. Dragonflies cruise back and forth, and lay their eggs in the water, and the fish do a splash dance for me, when I feed them.

Sometimes, a Great Blue Heron comes to try his luck at a frog dinner as well. I have even seen a thirsty coyote on the far side, taking a drink. And at night in the warm months, frogs serenade me to sleep.

So, if and when the time comes for me to leave these woods, I may leave them physically, but they will always remain in my memory and heart. And I'm thankful to God for the happy years I got to spend here, because He blessed me with a wonderful daughter and two great sons, who not only understood (!), they helped to make it possible!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and my little lament. Thank you for reading. Blessings from the woods!

This and That

After a beautiful, mild week of visiting, some family members are on their way home to Ohio today. We've had a wonderful time of eating, going places and just being together.

My favorite visitor has been my youngest granddaughter, McKenzie, who is 8 years old. Here she is smiling her bright smile for her Nana.

McKenzie especially enjoyed playing with the animals. Here she is above with my little mop, Midge, who loves to be hugged by McKenzie! Can't you tell by her expression? LOL.

Here is McKenzie trying to get Maya, my primadonna cat, to show some interest in the cat toy Mckenzie brought her. Maya is a very laid-back cat. LOL.

When it was time to go home, McKenzie promised she would be back this summer. I can't wait.

Now, it's time for this Nana to take a little nap. LOL.

Have a great weekend and week everyone!

Tagged Again--Mememememememe!

Mary, at Mary's Writing Nook has tagged for this new meme, which is to list 15 things that make it great to be me. (Oi!) Since I have done a couple of meme's about myself already, I thought I'd do a lighter, more fun one this time. So, here it goes...

1. When my children were grown and living lives of their own, I decided to follow my dream of living in the country. After all, I was newly single, and the time was right to seek and find my own way of living. And my grown children were happy for me.

2. In August of 1983, I moved to this beautiful Ozark hill country, thrilled to be here, and even the heat of August in these hills, didn't dampen my joy.

3. I brought with me my dear Grandma, who was 83 years old at the time, and had always seen me through thick and thin. She had to be a part of this new adventure.

4. Our family also included two large dogs, and a couple of cats. The dogs loved their new life in the country, the cats did not!

5. My new neighbors were nice and welcomed us with home made peach pies, and friendly smiles. I felt at home among them instantly.

6. As an animal lover, I soon began to acquire more animals to add to my place in the woods. Within a short time, chickens of various sizes and colors scratched around in the yard and edges of the woods. I was happy, so was Grandma. "Csirke, csirke," she would call out to them. And the chickens came running to her. I couldn't believe those American chickens could understand Hungarian!

7. After the chickens, my sweet neighbor Bessie, brought over a couple of guinea hens, as a gift. Oh, goody, more animals. They made noises like a machine gun, and caused a great deal of excitement in the woods. And they were better watchdogs then the dogs!

8. Since I had a pond, the next logical step was to get some ducks and geese, of course! And soon, there were Peking's, Mallards and some downright homely Muscovy ducks swimming around in the pond. Free meals for marauding coyotes, raccoons, Bobcats and even owls, I soon discovered!

9. I also discovered that my nice new neighbors and friends loved to give some of their animals as gifts. It was an easy way to get rid of ones excess animals. I got into the habit of giving them away, myself, after a while.

10. I love rabbits, of course. So very soon, I had some adorable bunnies in my menagerie as well. Unfortunately, black snakes love baby bunnies, and baby chicks much too much, and suddenly there I was, a former city gal, battling black snakes in the Ozark hills!

11. As I surveyed my animal kingdom in the woods, it dawned on me that I was missing one of the most fun animals that ever boarded Noah's Ark-the goat. So I acquired a black and white pygmy goat. Grandma was elated and named him, Kecske, which is the Hungarian word for goat. (Catch-keh.) My dogs seemed elated as well with their fun loving new friend.


12. I loved to go hiking around in the woods, accompanied by the dogs, Dobie and Samson, and Kecke, the goat, who by this time thought he was a dog, too. (Hiking is still my favorite past time in the woods.)



13. I got lost in the woods several times, until my son Greg bought me a compass and taught me how to use it!

14. Those first few years in the woods were full of fun, excitement and even chaos. There is always chaos with a bunch of animals around. But the fun and companionship they provide makes it all worthwhile.

15. Although I no longer have a huge menagerie of domestic animals, there are still a couple of dogs and couple of cats. And there is a large menagerie of woodland animals now that call my woods and field home, and grace my life with their beautiful presence. I am ever thankful to God for the gift of these 24 years in the woods. And remembering all the sweet and fun moments with the animals, warms the cockles of my heart on this mighty cold winter morning.

Thank you for tagging me, Mary. It was fun.

And thank you for reading. Stay warm and have a blessed week!

More Unexpected Gifts

My friend Eileen's niece Pat, who lives in Broad Channel, New York, surprised me by sending me this beautiful little gift the other day. It is a keepsake of Saint Francis, with some animals and the baby Jesus. Eileen had told her how much I love animals, and had sent her a book with one of my animal stories in it. Pat said she was so touched by my story, that she just had to send me this lovely ceramic piece. Along with it, was a copy of these special prayers:


Prayer for my Pets--

In Your infinite wisdom, Lord God,
When You created the Universe,
You blessed us with all living creatures.
We especially thank You for giving us our pets
Who are our friends and who bring us so much joy in life.
Their presence very often helps us get through trying times.
Kindly bless my pets. May my pets continue
giving me joy and remind me of Your power.

May we realize that as our pets
trust us to take care of them, so
we should trust You to take care of us,
and in taking care of them, we share Your love
for all Your creatures.

Enlighten our minds to preserve all
endangered species so that we may continue to
appreciate all Your creations. Amen.


PRAYER TO ST. FRANCIS
FOR OUR PETS--

Good St. Francis, you loved all of God's creatures.
To you they were your brothers and sisters.
Help us to follow your example
of treating every living thing with kindness.
St. Francis, Patron Saint of animals,
watch over my pets
and keep my companions safe and healthy.
Amen


I was truly touched by your beautiful, surprise gift, Pat. Thank you!

PS. Eileen said it was hard to keep this surprise a secret, but she did it!

Meanwhile, my friend Jan, gave me an unexpected gift as well. This adorable country girl with her animals. Isn't she cute? I love her. Thank you, Jan.

Surprises are a wonderful way to end the week.

Have a blessed day!