Molly Buries Box Turtles

Most of you remember Molly, my sweet Jack Russell Terrier.  My sweet girl, Molly buries box turtles in my flower beds.  She picks them up and carries them to my flower bed where she digs a shallow hole, tucks the box turtle inside and then pushes the dirt around the turtle with her nose. 

I saw her do this the first time at the farm and thought it was a strange thing for her to do, but thought she did it on a whim.  When I saw her do it again this week in the city, I knew that was the true relationship she has with box turtles.  She buries them in my flower beds where she buries her most prized possessions like rawhide pieces, bones, and various toys.  She seems very pleased with herself when she is finished, bounding up the steps with her short little tail wiggling with glee.

A very large box turtle has made his way into our fenced yard to eat the peaches that have fallen from the tree in our garden.  He's rather large and barely fits in Mollys mouth.

Photo - Evan Shaw Blackerby

It's the game they play, Molly picks turtle up, carries him to the garden, buries him there then runs away.  The turtle climbs out of the shallow hole and goes about his day.  They have done this everyday this week.

I wonder if the turtle thinks, "Oh Great!  There's that nasty little dog that buries me everyday.  Can I make it to cover in time before she see's me?  One foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other....  Blast!  Tuck into shell quick...here we go again.  Rotten little dog."

It's been fun for Molly and me, and a nuisance I am sure to the turtle making his way back to the peach tree from the flower garden each morning.  Just another fun morning at my house...while I sip my coffee and watch the antics in the garden.

"You see Peter, there's this nasty little dog that picks me up in her jaws and carries me to the garden where she buries me under the cone flowers every morning!" exclaimed Turtle.  "Oh no, gasped Peter, how dreadful."

I have been organizing my studio space.  I have moved into a larger space and haven't had time to really organize until now with the Spring and early Summer shows which provided the perfect excuse to avoid rolling up my sleeves and getting organized once again.  It isn't one of my favorite things to do, but when things get out of control, you just have to take a pause and do a bit of housekeeping.  I still had bead stashes in plastic bags from the Gem Shows earlier this year.

I brought in three new shelving units, a new desk top made of vintage wicker that I love and a couple of vintage mannequins to model my jewelry as I work.

I am hoping to complete the space in time for a Fall Open Studio show but, I have a long way to go to bring it all together in time for a show this year in between custom orders and new jewelry for the Holiday season.

This is one of the things on my wish list for 2010...

Larger Studio Space - check

Hiking on the Konza Prairie - This Fall

Learning How to Make a Delicious Pie Crust -check

Mandolin Lessons - This Fall

Gardening and Planting Trees - check

Getting Physically Fit - in progress

Cleaning Up My Diet - check

Spending Time with my Parents - the very best of all - check

I highly recommend this excellent cookbook.

Over the weekend, I made my first great pie crust!  I was so excited, my crusts are usually doughy and tough.  But, I made an apricot galatte that was declicious with the apricots from our trees!  I couldn't wait until Winter.  One more thing off my list - check it off.

What was on your list this year?  It's not too late to make one filled with some of the things you have always wished you could do.  Work in a few of your dreams.

Blessings - Julie

Apricot Blessings

One afternoon while at the farm, a car pulled into the drive.  A couple of ladies with beaming smiles climbed out of the car and  introduced themselves as the daughter of the original owners of the farm.  She was now in her late 80's and had requested her daughter in law to drive her by the house to see what had changed over the years and saw that we were working in the yard.

 

We walked around the farm together as she shared stories of her childhood and growing up on the farm as a little girl.  Sharing stories of her horses, adventures in the barn, milking cows, riding to school in a wagon each morning, and the wonderful life she had there as a child.  It was easy to see that she still had a deep love of the farm.

When we walked to the back of the farmhouse she pointed to the trees there and told us that they were apricot trees that her parent's loved so much over the years.  Originally there was an orchard with many trees but, now there are only three left.  This meant that these remaining trees were at least 80 years old.

We were so happy that she stopped by and that she was pleased that the farm was now in our care.  We felt so lucky that we were there when she stopped by that day.  We hope that she will stop by again.

We often wondered if the trees would produce any fruit or if they were too old to bear.  Last year, there were no apricots at all, just bare branches with leaves.

 

This year is quite different, we have apricots - lovely little apricots dangling from the branches of the trees that I climbed into the tailgate of the truck with a ladder to pluck from the branches of the tree.

  I picked two large tubs full of these little beauties.

We will have apricot sauces, pies and cobblers this Fall and Winter that I am so looking forward to sharing with my family as we sit around the fireplace to stay warm while it snows outside.

To the Moon Bracelet - Purchase Here

A bracelet made from a silver butter knife with one of my favorite proclamations of love.  Who do you love to the moon and back?

Aren't the apricots lovely?  They look like sunshine to me - so golden with a hint of pink.  Delicious.

Bee Peaceful Bracelet - Purchase Here

A leather thong bracelet with a silver honeybee, a peace charm and turquoise bead reminding you to "Bee Peaceful" as you go about your day.

It was a glorious day picking apricots while the birds sang overhead among the branches.  I couldn't ask for more than this...

Blessings - Julie