I'm Just a Country Girl

So we have moved, and were all settled in. I'm exploring the local environs and getting lost on the roads and finding my way again. It feels like our life has been on hold for months and we can now proceed with life again. I love the vistas here the sunsets you can actually see and the stars!! oh my how I missed the stars. Little Miss Sunshine and I have been taking night walks with our star chart. We are hoping for a really dark night so we can see the Milky Way.

My house is very pretty and I'm contemplating buying turf for the back yard that becomes a mud pit every time it rains... Oh yeah it rained in July In Texas! It was a delightful week of NOT 100 degree weather which I much appreciated. After a few weeks of no wifi (but what was on our phone,) we broke down and bought a hot spot. So I'm blogging on limited data, can't wait till the whole campus is done and we can sign up for connectivity again.

Meanwhile I'm doling the data out to the family in drips an drabs.

Its been a hard transition as the office hasn't moved yet so my Knight in Shining Armor is doing what he did in NY which is drive over an hour each way.  He said to me yesterday... I've realized I'm not twenty anymore. Ha ha ha!  So true.

I have been given the task of trimming the suckers off the trees and pruning.  I never realized just how many trees we planted.  Oh my!  It's like laundry in that it is a never ending job, but unlike laundry the surprises you find are way cooler.  Yesterday I found a birds nest with 4 birds in it. Glad of my hat... I pruned the suckers and skeedaddled so mama bird could come back and take care of her babies.   I also find huge spiders... ok not as big as Frodo faced but the size of a small egg is NOT uncommon. It's weird you have to be at just the right angle to see the webs. Then you notice this huge spider on the web, you shake the tree and it runs like lighting up it's ladder and hides under a leaf and you can hardly see it anymore.   Once again I'm thankful for my hat... I found a few spiders on me afterwards.  I'm getting used to them. Then again (as long as they are not crawling on me) I don't bother spiders and think of them as being beneficial insects.  Heres a good shot from http://www.spiderzrule.com This is what they look like.

I don't think they mind me since I'm always kicking up grass hoppers, and well these guys are so fast. A hopper gets on their web and they wrap them up in about 10 seconds flat. It's pretty cool to watch.  Since we have hundreds of grasshopper out on the "back 40" everyone these guys eats is one less that is eating the trees. I've also become Not a Fan of sap suckers... they are relentless, they seem to love one variety of oak we planted, poor trees.  

Well I have settled back into finishing up the last fews weeks of school from last year I had no idea we took off that much time. Ugh! I've been trying the workbox method for my eldest and she seems to love it. It helps her to see how much work she has to do, and once the boxes are done she is done.  Her best friend moving in 2 blocks away has also been a strong motivation for her to finish her school  on time. Now if I was just better at getting her to complete her chores.  This is a bigger house and mama needs help keeping it tidy!   

Ok next blog I'll show you my Ikea School room / crafting space. The kids love having a dedicated space for school and So do I! Also the work boxes help keep it neat!