What a Nice Surprise!

The Rustic Vintage Country has awarded The Versatile Blogger Award to my blog, Meggie on the Prairie. A big thank you for this!

With accepting this award, I must in turn pass it on to 15 recently discovered blogs.

Here is my list, in no particular order. I hope you will check out each one, for they are all unique.

1.  Pear Tree Log
2.  Tales from Beyond the Nook
3.  Country & Cosy
4.  Beck to Vintage
5.  The Barefoot Crofter
6.  The Log Cabin
7.  Little Home in the Country
8.  And Sew On
9.  Mias Landliv
10. Pellas Lotshemman
11. Going Green
12. Making It Vintage
13. Ngo
14. The Barefoot Gardner
15. Happy Cottage Quilter

Part of the acceptance requirement is to create a list of 7 things about myself.

So here goes.....

1. My age....let's just say I'm 60 +
2. I'm learning to play the Bodhran
3. Careers out of the past and long ago...Newspaper Reporter, Activity Director of a nursing home
4. I know how to pour, dip and carve candles with a knife.
5. I get sick when I fly
6. Last year, I began writing a historical romance novel
7. I love life and find some joy every day.

Thanks again to Rustic Vintage Country for the nomination.

I'm so proud of all of us!!

Meggie Mac

The Beauty of a Kitchen Garden

This is what I see looking out my kitchen windows.....parsley and chives.



When the shades are completely open, the kitchen garden is in front of me with a background of a couple of miles of rolling hills. Lucky for me, these old windows were stored in the barn when I purchased the farm. Originally, there was one very small window centered over the sink.

Sometimes, when you are cooking, you just need a sprig of fresh parsley or a couple leaves of a herb like oregano. That is part of the beauty of having the kitchen garden so close to the farmhouse.

Or a handful of lettuce to add to the sandwich I am making for lunch.




Onions






Parsley



The sage, planted last summer, is still going strong.

The romaine lettuce needs another couple of weeks of growing before it is ready for a salad.




The Brussels Sprouts have a long way to go in growing.

The Arugula is almost ready to snip and add to my salad.

The good thing about keeping it small, especially in the cooler months, I can easily cover the entire space if the temperature drops. Gardening weather from November through February is unpredictable. I may have a day of 75 degrees and the next evening it might drop to 32 degrees. And before the week is over, it can go back to the 75 degrees.

In summer months I also keep at least one tomato plant, several varieties of peppers and many more tender herbs.

I hope this inspires you to give it a try....remember, some of this can be grown in containers!

Meggie Mac

Thankful Sunday

Looking at the bouquet of tulips this morning made me think about my family and how thankful I am for being blessed with them.
I'm also thankful for all the new friends I have connected with through the world of blogging.

The post I did earlier this week about the painted churches in my area was so well received, I've decided to continue to explore, photograph and post about some of the others. Most are located in a 20 miles area close to the farm.

Yesterday, I remembered another interesting church. The drive was a short distance.

               The church is only 14' 3" x 18' 1". Apparently, a mass is still held here once a month.

It was almost noon when I took this photo. There was not a cloud in the sky with a crisp temperature of 56 degrees.

 

Let's take a closer look at the details on this small church, originally built in the late 1880's. The story is told that by 1915 much of the congregation had moved away so the building was dismantled to build a school in a nearby town. It has been said, that it was rebuilt with the left over lumber in 1915.

Take a look through one side window.....

If you click here, you can read more about the painting that is hanging behind the altar.





There will be no chance to nod off to sleep with these rustic backless pews.

      The ceiling has been left in its' natural state with the walls painted a soft shade of green. 

Meggie Mac



                      

Another Perfect Friday

Let me say, I was right about the To Do List. It was too long to accomplish in one day. I worked until dark, picked up my tools, and made my way to the farm house.

The first of "more to come" rain barrels did get installed on Friday. As it turns out, they are not that difficult to install.

Decide on the location of the rain barrel and make a level spot that is strong enough to hold 58 gallons of water. I used concrete blocks I had re-cycled from another project. I wanted it high enough to make sure the water would flow all the way to the garden when I attach a hose.

Because I didn't originally have a downspout installed on the greenhouse gutters, a T-section and elbow had to be installed.

After determining the right height for the water diverter, the downspout was cut to the correct length.



Now isn't she pretty. The goal is to install at least 6 rain barrels on the back side of the barn. I'm hopping this will help with the cost of water in the summer. I do have a well, but it would be nice if I had enough caught water to use for the garden.

I also accomplished planting an apple tree and installed pipe for summer watering to all the fruit trees. This part of the day took much longer than I anticipated.



I still need to spend a few more hours to tidy everything and add the mulch around all the fruit trees.

So, not everything on the list was accomplished. That didn't keep me from celebrating the day.
It was.... a perfect project day!

Meggie Mac

Grass Gauge

A photo to put a smile on your face......

Two months ago, after summers' long drought, this very same photo was brown, burnt up grass. Today, with some rain, the winter grass in the corral is back to green.

It's Friday again and the first month of the year is almost over. Today is Project Day...with the fun starting in a couple of hours.

I bought a new apple tree to plant, a rain barrel to be installed, seeds to be started in the greenhouse, and another dead tree will be coming down. It looks like the list may be too long.

Wish you were here to help. There is a free lunch included and plenty of tea and conversation.

Meggie Mac

Down Time

I'm taking a little break today...

Meggie Mac

My Truck and Me

The stress of everyday living just melts away when I can take my truck on the back roads in my small world known as "home".

Together, with me behind the steering wheel, we have reached a milestone in the trucks' life. Together we have reached the 200,000 mile mark as you can see in the photo!

The Dodge has been relatively free of problems because of the maintenance it is given. A couple of years ago, the truck endured a 4-day ice storm. Last summer it had many days of driving in over 100 degrees with a couple of days topping out at 107.  And, it still kept on "truck'n".

When I took on the life in the country, it quickly became apparent how valuable a truck would be. Oh, I know, you can put 1 small square bale of hay in the trunk of a car. I have tried it. But, what a mess it will make. I'm not sure you can ever get all the hay bits out of the carpet.

And, how about all those bags of feed for chickens, goats, sheep, cats,

and the occasional baby calf.

A truck is also needed to carry lumber for all the projects on the farm like new raised garden beds.

As far as it's looks, I can't complain about the paint job either. Except for a few dings, it still cleans up nicely.

Let's raise our glass today for a toast to my faithful companion, the truck, and another 200,000 miles!

Meggie Mac

Church in the Country

Saturday afternoon I wanted to get away from the farm for a few hours. I decided I would visit one of the 20 painted churches in Texas that is located only a few miles from the farmhouse.




It is located in an unincorporated community that is mainly comprised of the church, a KJT Hall, a small store, and twenty or so residences.

A closer look....the steeple

the windows

The Church doors are unlocked each day for the parish members and visitors.

When you first go inside, your eyes instinctively look up. The entire ceiling is hand stenciled in various shades of rose pink and earthy greens on top of a soft pink background.

The delicate work also continues on all the surfaces of the walls.

I hope you have enjoyed the tour of one of our beautiful churches in Texas. Don't forget to click on the photos to see them in more detail.

Meggie Mac