I have had season tickets for the last 3 years for the Women Ducks. They are exciting to watch and to follow the team. They did it twice this year, they beat Mississippi State two times. I am so happy for the team. I wish that it would be easy to travel to the last games....but leaving the farm isn't going to happen.

The games will be on TV live, and you can be sure that I will be watching.

Boundaries and Saying No

First of all, I want to tell you that this is not my essay. I think that the message is important to most of us. We have been taught and socialized to always agree to do things when asked of us. Sometimes these can take over your life. I gave about 10 years to an organization...it was terrible...but I finally said no...No More of my time. The local organization did close afterward, but I would not continue. I am better for saying No!




One of the foundations of self-love: Boundaries. Your ability to say “no” to people is often an indicator of how well you’re loving yourself. If you are constantly saying yes to people and situations that you want to say “no” to you end up being exhausted, burnt out, and with little time for yourself and for self-care.

When I first created my Self-Love Planner, one of the things I noticed right away was how much time I spent doing things that I didn’t want to do. At that time of my life, I was absolutely miserable. And still, I said yes.

It’s okay to say “no”. No, when you don’t want to do something. No, when someone makes you uncomfortable and treats you in a way you don’t want to be treated. No, when it will affect you in a negative way physically, mentally, or emotionally.

Is that something you do easily? It takes practice.

When you are able to say “no” to other people it means that you are putting yourself first. You may even feel selfish, but you know what it really is? Creating clear, consistent, boundaries and loving yourself and that is necessary for living a happy life.

We have a finite reserve of inner energy. If you give to others and leave nothing for yourself you’ll be miserable.

There was a time in my life when saying “no” literally felt like one of the hardest things in the world. Someone would ask me to do something I didn’t want to do or go somewhere I didn’t want to go and instantly my body would go into panic mode. My palms would get sweaty, my stomach would feel queasy, and my brain would mentally run through the list of all of the things I would be missing out and sacrificing if I said yes.

All of the hours I wasted on people I didn’t like but spent time anyway because it was polite.

All of the times I was treated badly by people and played it off as a joke because it was so hard to say “No, that’s not okay.” Then I learned something.

My needs matter. YOUR needs matter. It is our job to take care of our needs. It is not your job to take care of everyone else’s needs. You have to give to yourself, you have to nurture yourself. When those things are laid to the wayside by someone else’s wants and needs it is time to re-evaluate your boundaries.

When someone asks you to do something tune into your intuition. What does your gut say? What is your first instinct? Go with that, that is listening to the truth of your heart. What does your body say? Are you extra tired or stressed out? Even if it’s something you want to do, maybe it’s time to take your body’s side this time and bow out so that you have extra time for yourself to rest and relax.

You have to learn how to say no. Remember that you don’t have to explain yourself to anyone, but honesty is the best policy. Work on saying “no” and saying it right away. 

I try to do it with as much love and compassion as I can. I get asked to do things all of the time. I get asked to work on projects, I know that I only have so much energy. When I add extra stuff – I get burnt out really easily. Even though I love those people that think of me and believe in me, I still have to say no.

It really sucks. I feel bad when I do it, but not as bad as I know I’d feel if I was stressed out trying to meet a deadline, or suffering from burn-out. Or how disappointed I would feel putting my own plans on the back burner so that I could do something for someone else.

What things are you doing that you don’t want to do?

How can you say “no” to those kinds of things in the future?

From www.blessingmanifesting.com

The Power of Positive Energy

The most important decision you make each morning is what energy you choose to bring to the world that day.

Remember… you have the power to consciously choose and cultivate positive energy.

People with positive energy (who hold that on a reasonably consistent basis), don't end up that way by mistake.

They create it for themselves.

If you want to be happier, to have more flow in your life, to overcome challenges, to find solutions, to achieve your goals, to have awesome people around you, to have love, opportunities, adventure and success – get VERY INTERESTED in your energy and learn how to dial it up to positive on a daily basis.

And most importantly the energy you put out is telling life WHAT YOU WANT MORE OF.

from  The Daily Positive

University of Oregon Women's Basketball NCAA

The Women Ducks BB are starting the NCAA tournament today, and in a few hours Hubby and I will again be seated at the arena watching the game.

We enjoy following these amazing women for 3 years. We watch the wins and sad losses. We talk about them, just like we really know them. 

Our seats are up behind the team bench, and we will enjoy the game tremendously. Go Ducks!

The First Day of Spring

We have been enjoying the most lovely spring weather recently. Daffodil's are blooming at lower elevations. 

The warm weather has melted most of the snow. Yay! The snow has been here for such a long time.  Several of the spring bird migration have appeared. The Swallows, Turkey Buzzards, and Rufus Hummingbirds have been here about a week. The tiny Hummingbirds here in the cold and snow, and I provided them with food.

We cleared out the broken/destroyed Flowering Plum beside the front door. A small lonely replacement tree is still there, however I think that it is doomed, due to the cracked, broken, bark....that is not a good sign of a healthy tree.  I think that a dogwood tree may be planted there.

I received an order of rhubarb plants, and now I must get the new bed installed and the roots planted. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Get Free

From Kelly Rae Roberts

My Self Care Day!

I love getting a pedicure. I regret not starting to do this for myself long ago. I highly recommend this self-care!

My junking was interesting today, no purchases for me. Yes, I did see things that I almost purchased.....I just thought to myself what am I going to do with it, where will I put it, and do I want to spend my $$$ for it. Well, those cute candlesticks, Birkenstock sandals, vintage vase, and beautiful sterling pendant are still at their respective stores.

Hubs drives my 4 Runner over a snow bank

The man went crazy..........in a parking lot that had snow berms. He lost his mind and drove my 4 Runner over - thru a snowbank. Who knows what damage he has done to it. I could have brained him, idiot, stupid, crazy..... We went and got gas, and someone saw that something hanging down, I heard it myself and  major anger is seething inside me.

What an Idiot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oregon Dark Eyed Junco

This small bird is found here on the farm in great numbers during the winter months. I am currently feeding about 500 of so with the deep snow here. I have fed them about 400 lbs of wildbird food in the last 3 weeks.

There have been large areas logged 14 months ago, of the privately owned timber that once grew on about 500 acres, beside me. The birds don't have the the historical habitat that they once enjoyed. Now, in this major snow they have found me. I will be getting some additional bags of wildbird food very soon.

My Snow Photos 2019

I took these photos several days ago. I think that you may enjoy seeing them. The snow was 36" at the deepest. 

We have lived in this area for almost 40 years, and this has not happened with all the challenges before. In 1979 at Christmas, we had 4' of snow and only lost power for about 3-4 days, and the snow stayed until late March 1980.

The bad news is that there is a winter storm warning for up to 12" of new snow tonight and tomorrow.

We purchased more supplies today, and I am washing all the dirty clothes. 

Something Good...

I have been missing from my blog for over a week. What happened? A major snowstorm in this area caused everyone big problems. I had my share...

1. The Electric power went out on Sunday Feb 24th. I live out in a rural area, so that means, no water, no TV, no Internet, no appliance's working, and the only heat is the fireplace wood stove insert. 

2. The road was not plowed, and the snow was 36" deep. Plowing was done on Feb 27, 3 days later. There are trees down and wires too.

3. The major state highway was completely closed, in both directions for 3 days, and they went out of the way to keep the up-to-date information from the local people.

4. There was a terrible lack of information available. There were actually emergency services available... however there was no way we could access the information. It appears that they were relying on cell phones with facebook.

5. There is no cell phone reception in my area. The only carrier that had service was Verizon.

Here is what was good, we had plenty of food, drinking water that I have stashed, propane cooking available, one small generator to run the refrigerator, and a swimming pool of water for flushing toilets and washing.

The snow plowed road finally gave us the ability to get more gas, diesel, and water. Mid-week the local town got some electric service back to limited areas, and we had a meal in town. A couple, whom we are friends with in town asked us to come for dinner and a bit of TV...two times!

Today, March 4th, at 3:30 pm electricity was restored. Now, we have to put all the stuff around the house back to order. And...we received mail for the first time in a week.