Happy Birthday Baby Sister # 1!!

Birthday wishes to my sweet baby sister # 1.....XXXOOO

Summer Gypsy Working Vacation--Part 7

...another passion whether I'm on the road or not...sunrises and sunsets....not much more to say about that!!....

Glimpses of Beauty

The gypsy adventures afford glimpses of beauty even in the city...

...songs of the day....Somebody I Used to Know ...and...

"Let Her Go"

Well you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you’re missin' home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go

Staring at the bottom of your glass
Hoping one day you'll make a dream last
But dreams come slow and they go so fast

You see her when you close your eyes
Maybe one day you'll understand why
Everything your touch surely dies.......

........Staring at the ceiling in the dark
Same old empty feeling in your heart
'Cause love comes slow and it goes so fast

Well you see her when you fall asleep
But never to touch and never to keep
'Cause you loved her too much
And you dived too deep......

........And you let her go

Fond Memories-Spring Garden Building Part 2

Garden # 2--Dale, TX

...600 square feet of new garden beds...with help from some sweet Waco farmily....

Summer Gypsy Working Vacation--Part 6

Things to appreciate while on the road....

...a comfortable mobile bed...and a clothesline...

...the BIG truck stops like TA, Pilot, Love's, AM Best, etc...and MEGA auto stops like Buc-ee's...they are certainly customer service oriented!!...you learn to seek out those places for their consistency of amenities...like....the little things....door hooks for your purse or jacket...

...door locks that tell you right up front if the stall is occupied...no looking under the door for feet!!...

...hand sanitizer INSIDE the bathroom stalls!!...

...and if a BIG/AUTO stop is not available...look for the biggest regular gas station possible...and occasionally you find a jewel where you just want to meet the owner because they obviously LOVE their business!!....live plants in the ladies' restroom!!
...a memorable bathroom experience--the only small gas station found in a very small Texas town--on entering, the proprietor was smoking...AARGH!!...I bought a bottle of water and then headed to the toilet.  The sign on the outside of the door said the restroom was for paying customers ONLY!!...that's fair--glad I bought the water BEFORE I went to the toi-toi...Inside was a filthy room...and NO toilet paper!!...Definitely NOT the winner of ANY kind of award!! :-(

...flowers at the pumps and landscaping around the perimeter.  This station even had a picnic area on the side of the bldg with additional flowers and landscaping.  Some of the staff were enjoying the area for a smoke break....

 ...how do I LOVE safety rest areas!!??  Let me count the ways!!...they bring tears to my eyes to see maybe 100 long-haul truckers safely resting in their rigs as the sun comes up!!...a wonderful use of our tax $$'s...dogs going potty...kiddos playing on the playground...vending machines...a nice chance to stretch your legs...and photo ops!!....

...and I've learned to certainly appreciate roads that adequately display speed limit signs!!  You'd be amazed how many roads have speed limit signs posted few and far between!!...many times NOT even after onramp traffic has entered the highway...I wonder how we're suppose to just KNOW how fast...or slow to go!!?? ...and HURRAY for the multi-lane highways that post the speed limit sign not only on the right-hand side of the road...but also in the median!!  If you are in the fast lane and there are several lanes of 18-wheelers between you and the right-hand side of the road...you very often MISS seeing the posted speed limit!!  I suppose there is a smart phone app that could tell me the speed limit!! You just hope as you top a hill that you are going the appropriate speed and that a highway patrol officer is not sitting there waiting for you!!...

...and HURRAY for highway signage!!...I've driven many miles wondering if I really took the right highway exit...because there were no signs to tell me where I was!!...I of course am NOT afraid to just get off at the next exit and retrace my driving steps!!  I seem to do that at least once on every trip!!...

...I do not exit now...looking for gas or food...unless there is a sign telling me what is available at that exit.  Another HURRAY for whomever thought of that bit of tourist ingeniousness!!  And I've learned to NOT exit a place that only has ONE gas or food option listed on one of the signs.  Learned the hard way that those signs are not ALWAYS updated in a timely manner...removing the only ONE amenity available.

At one such stops there were several of us bewildered travelers slowly driving through the gas station wondering if it was REALLY closed!!...or what!!??  How CONFUSING!! We ALL looked stupid!!...AHHH...those tourists!!!!

...I now truly appreciate freshly resurfaced roads!!  OMG!!...how many miles of pitiful roads have I recently traversed!!??...(6,000 miles in one month Discount Tire told me!!)...and I'm NOT even talking about RURAL Canada and Alaska!!....I even had to get my tires re-aligned after one recent, short trip through Dallas' horrendous roads!!  I have decided it is worth getting away from the masses and driving some extra miles along any toll way...rather than on "free" roads...because the toll roads are at least being maintained!!...and are much more secluded!!  GREAT for this reclusive gypsy spirit of mine!!...

..Happy driving!!  :-D

Happy Birthday Baby Brother!!

XXXOOO to my baby brother!!

Wonderful memories of you during our FUN Maine summers!!

Golden Year Brainstorming--Paths Part 2

....111.....and others....

In the days leading up to the super moon...the nanu-nanu-isms were running rampant!!

I was assigned, in a medical research study, the subject number 111.  I had a queer feeling when I heard that!!  And to be honest, I probably would never have even clued-in to all of this if it wasn't for the fact that the technician commented she needed a marker to write 111 on the label, because it was missing. The goose bumps rose immediately!!

Later, when I reviewed my study chronology, I read I was in study 1, period 1, and group # 1...more goose bumps!!

I immediately researched the repeating number sequences...and came up with...

Number 1 resonates with assertiveness, independence and uniqueness, motivation, new beginnings and striving forward, insight, self-leadership and inspiration, positivity and achieving success.  Number 11 tells us that to connect with our higher-selves is to know and live our soul mission and life purpose.
Number 111 symbolizes the principles of spiritual awakening and enlightenment, high energy, inspiration and intuition, self-expression and sensitivity.
Angel Number 111 is a message from your angels to be very aware of your persistent thoughts and ideas as these are manifesting quickly into your reality.  Ensure that your beliefs, thoughts and mind-sets are positive and optimistic in order to draw the energies of abundance and balance into your life.  Angel Number 111 signifies that an energetic gateway has opened up for you, and this will rapidly manifest your thoughts into your reality.

I recently purchased an old book which had numerous uncut pages.  Encountering that for the FIRST time in my life also caused me to have goose bumps!!  I was the FIRST person to EVER read that particular book!!  WOWZER!!... and then...when I Googled the uncut page nanu-nanu-ism and came up with this article...there was my 111 again!!...

The joy of uncut pages...

...if you find a book with uncut pages, you can be sure that it has never been read. I am currently reading “A Farmer’s Year” by H. Rider Haggard, published in 1899 and it is full of uncut pages. Thus, this particular volume has been waiting for 111 years for me to come along and read it.
I can’t explain the delight of cutting book pages. Particularly with an old book, it is something of a ritual of awakening - allowing the book to fulfill its destiny. To find an uncut page is suddenly to see the book in a new light. This is a beautiful young girl who has lain under an enchantment, maybe for a century, waiting for her prince to awaken her with ... well, with his penknife, in this case.

...and another nanu-nanu-ism...I had just pinned a bunch of stuff on Pinterest for a "to thine own self be true" tattoo.  Then when I was researching more on recurring/repeating numbers...this came along...
...1 is the first step, but you can be assured that you are on your path—and things will evolve so you won’t stop here.
The first house of the zodiac is all about self-expression. As Shakespeare famously quipped, “To thine own self be true.” !!!

The nanu-nanu-isms just went on...and on...websites I went to had 1111 in their URL, "11 signs you are...", 11 minute videos, etc. Minutes after a conversation about crystal hunting in Hot Springs, AK--the next website had Crystal Quest-Hot Springs, AK.....

...the nanu-nanu-isms were quite exciting!!  I feel empowered...and I am embracing the true warrior that I am....

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.....
"A part of my life has been spent following several different paths at different times, and during those times it felt that this was the path I needed to be on.    I always enjoy retreating to the country and to be surrounded by the natural world, but I had also hoped that I would be able to travel.   During the time I was making my choices to travel I was taking a path that was different from the path a lot of others were taking and I got plenty of bruising along the way, but it was wonderful and very educational.   What I experienced from choosing that path is hard to explain to those that have not taken that path.   The bruising I received came from several different directions and at several different times along this path but I was always able to move forward and my life is richer from doing so.

Now when I think about the path that I took back then, I also look at another path that I have chosen.   After I fulfilled that dream and traveled many many miles I was satisfied and happy with where I had been, those new friends I had made and what I had seen and experienced.   When I chose the roads I wanted to follow a lot of factors were in play, so I chose those paths because of the way I felt when making my decisions and not as a choice because of what I was going to find at the other end of that path.  There were some roads I chose not to follow along that path and later learned that I had made very good decisions in doing so.

I have never been really into the socializing and such things as the theater and the fast life that others have chosen to follow but I had always wanted to travel and I have no regrets for doing so.

Now I have started down another path and I want to refer to something that Throeau once wrote:
I had this advantage . . . in my mode of life, over those who were obliged to look abroad for amusement, to society and the theater, that my life itself was to become my amusement and never cease to be novel.  It was a drama of many scenes and without an end.

I am always aware of the nature around me and find amusement and rewards being able to observe it.   Being out in the country the other evening I was startled by the howling of the coyotes but then after the shock of their initial howling piercing the darkness I thought to myself how natural that was and that it fit into the surroundings that I was immersed in.   Later there was the hooting of an owl I heard off in the distance.  I did hear other sounds that night that I didn't know what they were and don't know that I have a desire to know.  

Then there was the rewards of being able to experience a little piece of the Monarch Migration.   I was aware that it was time for the migration but there have usually been Monarchs stopping by because of the flowers in the area.  This year it has been parched and dry even with the spring rains we had gotten so there were no bushes or flowers blooming, but as I worked out in the sunshine I would occasionally see a Monarch fly by, and they were all headed in the same direction.   One happen to stop and landed where the ground was wet because I had been running the water to help with the fall planting that I was doing.    That Monarch had stopped to get a drink before continuing his journey to Mexico.  

I am on a path and journey now to a simpler life that a lot of people would not like or associate with.  I know that there have been many bruises and bumps along the way in the first part of this journey but if feels right and it is good so hopefully I will be able to complete this journey and be able to live a simpler life and a fulfilling life surrounded by nature.  

It would be nice to experience the exotic faraway places now, but I don't know that I would feel the same as I did when I was making that journey down that path earlier in life.   I fulfilled that journey and now I am taking a different path.  

Don't let others get in the way when you choose the path you want to follow.   I had them try but it didn't work.   You will see that you will feel like you are more alive and happier when you follow the path that you have chosen and not one that someone else had led you down.  Your path can and does change at different times along your life journey but follow what feels right for you."

Fond Memories-Spring Garden Building Part 1

Fond memories of past garden building...hopeful to be involved in both a new and an expanded garden in San Marcos, TX...a new garden in Comanche, TX...and an expanded garden in Rusk, TX....FUN TIMES were/will be had by all!!

Garden # 1--Waco, TX

From three 100 square feet demonstration beds to a 1,200 square feet bio-intensive garden plus eighteen ecological/permaculture beds!!