A Southern Belle with Northern Roots/Junkflirt

 How do you know when it is time to say goodbye?
How do I know how you feel?
I see you are tired and sore, and I know the stairs are hard for you but how do I know if you are ready?

 Your eyes  are as sharp as they were when you were a pup.
Remember the night you woke us up barking? Your howl let us know you were scared, which scared us too! I creeped in the room where you were... afraid yet bravely making your stand facing the presence in front of you. Terrified I looked with you....It was a balloon! With helium fleeting  away it had begun to bob and bounce along just at the right height so it looked a  person's head moving in the dark, we laughed with relief.


 Your ears can still hear a bunny scamper in the yard yet your body won't let you chase it away. So you look at it and growl....a funny little growl.
You still hear us coming to the door when we get home yet now you stay in your spot. Your tail wags and your eyes squint...you smile your sweet doggie smile and you wait for us to come to greet you because you just can't get up sometimes to greet us.





Do you look up at the kitchen counter and think of the time you stole 2 loaves of bread? Or the time you took the left over chicken that had been so deliciously baked in butter? Did you think at the time.."Mommy will be so mad but it looks so good, and she loves me no matter what!"
I think you convinced yourself it was worth it because you dragged that carcass dripping in butter all the way to our bed where you climbed up on the 200 dollar comforter and ate it.

Do you remember playing puppy chase and sock nose with your kids? Do you wish you still could?





 The large tumor on your arm is making it harder every day. Your hips feel the strain with every move and getting up is so hard. Sometimes even finding a comfortable position on your bed is difficult. Your 12 and that doesn't seem that old.
How do I know if your ready?
How will I know if I am?
Am I selfish for not wanting this?
You have been our friend.
loyal and loving
Always ready for a pet....
   a walk
    a kiss
      a hug
 and always ready to share what we are eating.
What will we do without you?
How do we know?










blessings and thanks for visiting

 Cleome...so delicate! Things are in full swing in the garden, some things a little behind yet but so lush and green. We have had nearly 5 inches of rain the last week and that is a lot for ND!!








 The end of the peonies....Casey is saying good bye, that or she smells a bunny.


 hmmm guess that answers that.



 Yarrow and miniature Coreopsis in bloom.








 Does anyone ever complain about having too much thyme?








 Hen and chicks nestled among the daisies.


 and getting ready to bloom!


 The garden peas are doing well, everything else is a little behind.  We should be heading to the upper 80's and 90's this week, which the peppers and tomatoes will appreciate.




 And this weekend we went to Casselton ND to shoot at the gun range. I think everyone should shoot sporting an updo....what do you think?


 We saw the world's largest oil can pile.....yes we sure did!

 And if that wasn't enough to make you jealous.....we sat in the BIG Chair!







 Th really BIG Chair








 Did you enter the Happy MY birthday giveaway yet? It ends July 2nd!

Joining
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Outdoor Wednesdays
Cottage Flora Thursday
Wow us Wednesdays
The Little Round Table




blessings and thanks for visiting

Just buy me something old, something used. New is nice....don't get me wrong but it just doesn't have the same charm. I have said before there is that certain "where were you" and "who did you know" that comes with something old.



I grew up in Williston, ND and a short Sunday drive away was the town of Hanks. I think while I was a child the population was 9. It had become a ghost town. A few relatives lived there and the old school was set up as a museum. I would visit that museum every summer when they had the big gathering, inside where miniature settings of life past, sectioned off with rope. I would wander from the school house display to the kitchen, full of cast iron cookware, wooden ironing boards and enamel ware and....


I marveled at the beauty salon and how beastly the perm machine was! I can't believe anyone had any hair left!





Every chance I got, I would sneak away and rummage through the abandoned homes. I really don't know what happened, some of those houses were left just like they were when someone lived in them. Everything in place, beds made, dishes in the cupboards yet covered in years of dust and dirt. Just left that way.
My favorite place to visit must have belonged to a widower, I can't remember his name now but he had lots of books and a small bedroom that I would sit in.  I sat on the dusty bed and looked in amazement, his name was inscribed in the cover of all those books. So why did he leave them here? Why didn't anyone want them?  I tried to nab a couple treasures but my grandma made me put them back.
I wish she would have let me keep them.






Perhaps I was born with a love of old things. Things that seemed to have outlived their purpose to me were an  extension of those who left them behind.






Can you look at this photo and smell the coffee? Makes me think of my grandma, clinking in the kitchen, always very early. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted through the home. It was a cool morning and the heater hadn't yet kicked on. A small child in a robe and slippers wakes from a deep slumber and makes her way to the davenport  covering herself with a hand made afghan.  Sun begins to break and cast its light through the heavy drapes. Breakfast is ready.








Later,
flour dances through the sifter onto the counter. Grandma now rolls out pie crust for dinner, the day has been long and busy and it is only 11 am.

Memories like this lived in those houses and,
Years later....they are covered in dust?
yes, these are just things
they are not important
what is important are the people that used them and the memories that dwell within them.
The stories they tell.


 I hope today you tell a story, one that will be retold. A story lives on in ways you are unaware of.
Tell a good story today.
Sit in the sun, smell the coffee, listen to the children playing. Smile when you do the dishes, hug someone. Live and make memories that will live on when your things are covered in dust.








 Feathered Nest Friday
Hodge Podge Friday
 Funky Junk
Table Top Tuesday
 Show and Tell Friday
Under the Table and Dreaming
Show Off Your Cottage Monday



*this post has been modified from it's original publication


blessings and thanks for visiting

 Peony
 lovely
  simple
   beauty
 enough said!


 Bloomin Tuesday
 Outdoor Wednesday

Cottage Flora Thursdays

Check out my birthday giveaway while your here.



blessings and thanks for visiting

 Yep my birthday is right around the corner so....here is a little giveaway for Southern Belle followers!




 What's in the box?
a burlap coffee bag
a tea pot candle
a scrapbooking dvd
garden signs
and two do-hickies, yep! I used a couple of them on my Farm sign


 I would love to know how you would use them.

giveaway
  open to followers of SBNR!
1- leave a comment here
2- send a friend request to SBNR new facebook page and write a comment on the wall mentioning the giveaway  ( you can see it on the side bar...there are two facebook links, one for SBNR and one for me, you can send me a request too, but please only leave entry comments on the official SBNR page)
 two ways to enter!!
Giveaway will end and winner drawn on July 2-My birthday!!  around 9 am.....unless I sleep in, it will be my birthday ya know.
Be sure to leave an email if you do not have it on your blog profile, if there is no way to contact you another winner will be drawn, sorry.

 Coming up on SBNR lots of vintage suitcases.... I have been playing around with some new ones and can't wait to show you.
PS I will be 45 yrs old...in case you were wondering.




blessings and thanks for visiting