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Spring is Springing down here in Florida!  Last weekend, I walked out into my yard where I have planted lots of herbs and plants to attract all kinds of wonderful critters and flitters!  My first sign of feeding was my bees on the basil  bush!  What a show!  I just plopped down in the grass and was amazed at these tiny flitters hopping from flower to flower enjoying the yummies.  They had no idea that I was anywhere in sight.  They were intoxicated by the freshness of this simple and small bush.

I also thought about these 2 very natural things which we personally can enjoy the fruits of THEIR labor.  As most of you know, my husband and I love to cook!  There is nothing more incredible than walking out my front door with scissors in hand and snipping the fragrant and delicious basil.  We use it in so many sauces but my favorite it just taking the whole leave and adding it to a tomato (also fresh from our garden) and a slice of mozzarella...don't forget the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  What a treat!

The other element of our bees is the HONEY!  I have not gotten into bee keeping yet, but I have several friends who are making this their hobby!  I feel honored to help them pollenate.  With so many chemicals in our world today, it is a challenge for our bees to find happy places.  Getting and having natural honey is also a delectable treat!  I just made some tasty barbeque sauce using a local honey!

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At the end of February during the full moon, I planted Mammoth Sunflower seeds into a mini indoor greenhouse kit.  After planting the seeds, I performed a ceremony with one of my turkey feathers and blessed the seeds to grow!  I sat my mini greenhouse in my kitchen so I could track the progress of my seedlings each day.  The directions said the germination time was 14-21 days.  This weekend as I was working in the kitchen, my eye caught a tiny glimpse of green emerging from the almost black soil!  I screamed with such joy and excitement that my husband thought something tragic had happened.  He ran over to see the sprouts and he too was excited.  This investment was just over $7.00 and I cannot tell you the pleasure it is bringing us every day.   This morning, I have 11 sprouts total and I have set them in the warm and delicious sun to grow towards the light.  

I can't wait to plant these in my yard where I will begin my 2nd phase of excitement to wait for the BLOOM which is 75-90 days!  I believe this wonderful adventure will bring many lessons.  The first and most important is patience.  The second lesson I have already learned is that it only takes a few dollars to create months of entertainment.  I am reading a book now titled "A Bride goes West" and it is about life in the late 1800's and ranching.  People would ask these folks how did they live out in the middle of no where with no neighbors and interaction.  They would reply that there was so much culture and adventure in nature that living in a town would not even compare!  I would have to agree!

I would encourage all of us as we head into the glorious spring time to not only physically plant seeds but to mentally plant some seeds of our own.  Just think how wonderful those "seeds of thought or intention" will become...and BETTER than that...it ONLY takes 14-21 days to germinate!  Allow your mind and body to pop out of that dark soil bed and rise to the glorious sunlight!  BLOSSOM my friends!

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Life is full of twists and turns, ups and downs and unhappy people.  So many times those "unhappy people"  try to spread their toxic waste onto "happy" people.  As "happy"  people we must constantly remind ourselves of the wonderful things we have within our heart and send good intention to those who need love. We should always look around and see the beautiful things which surround us!  My house and my yard are my sanctuary.  When I look outside I see beautiful doves and cardinals flying about blessing me with their spirit.  My trees and plants sport such grace and they bend and flow with the storms and wind.  They see it as an opportunity to dance and bring positive movement and energy.

Their was an old Indian story about a Grandfather and his Grandson.  The Grandfather told him we have a good wolf and a bad wolf inside of us.  The young boy asked "which one do I have?"  The Grandfather replied "Whichever one you FEED"

Feed your good wolf, your mind and spirit with honesty, goodness and most of all happiness!

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Love...what a powerful four lettered word!  We use it everyday to show our affection for our spouse, children, parents and even our animals.  When my husband tells me he loves me, it is like he is wrapping a big soft blanket of protection around me for the day!  Love is not only a word but a feeling for me!  Love for me is that warmness which flows from my chest, up through my throat and sometimes erupting into tears of happiness!  When our heart is happy, that is LOVE.

Even though my dog Jackson can't say "I love you Mom", I know this by the smile on his face and the wag in his tail!  And of course I cannot forget to mention the puppy kisses!

My Mom and Dad always end our phone conversations many miles apart by saying "I love You..I Love you too"  It makes my day complete.

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What a wonderful way to start off 2010!  My "girly" friend Melanie and her husband joined us at our hunting camp this past weekend to enjoy the last weekend of white tail rifle season.  This was a first for my fashionista friend who has never been a cold weather fan.  ( our temperatures were in the teens).  My friend had also never been hunting.  I packed her warm and cozy camo clothing which had a flair of high fashion.  She always dresses and looks adorable!  As they drove into camp, she got out with her darling little grey uggs, matching jeans and a frilly pink scarf wrapped around her neck!  Her makeup was flawless and she carried in gold and leopard bag full of clothes and toiletries.  

Our first hunt would be the next morning bright and early.  We climbed up into my shooting house which I call my tree house and we sat quietly as the cold wind blew in with great force!  All of a sudden, Melanie is waving her finger at me and pointing.  She spotted the first deer of the morning, 3 does and as we were climbing down out of the tree house she spotted a small buck.  I was so proud of her.  I had no doubts my friend would not excel at this sport because of her background and love of sports, she has awesome eye and hand coordination.

My friend had never shot a rifle but she took this opportunity to learn everything she could about hunting.  She was such a sponge, just soaking it all in!

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As hunters we are always thinking about our scent in the woods!  Well I would like to share about scents in the house.  During the last few months, there has been some mighty fantastic smells coming from our kitchen.  There is nothing better than having the smells of turkey, bread, cookies and anything else we might bake up "Stinking up the house".  This is what my Dad calls it!  When I was little, my Mom would put our Thanksgiving Turkey on the night before the big day.  When morning came, the smell would levitate me off my bed, down the steps to the kitchen....mmmm good.  This year my Husband cooked a standing rib roast with a horseradish, garlic, olive oil and rosemary rub.  The roast cooked for almost 3 hours and I wanted to just put a cot by the stove and inhale!  Maybe the spa should try this over burning essential oils.

When I traveled through airports a few years ago, They could have blind folded me, flown me around, dropped me off and said "where are you?".  With one big sniff, I could say Cinnabon, that is Cincinnati airport.  Smells can reach way back in our memory banks and revive an old feeling or place.

There are some smells we might like to avoid but most smells are good.  This may sound crazy but I love the smell of the skunk.  From childhood we are automatically taught that when we smell this smell we reply "PEWWWWW".  It was not until by adulthood that a friend, Tom, told me he liked the smell of the skunk.  I thought about this for a while and determined he was right.   I agreed even more when I moved away from Tennessee to Florida, where I do not get those whiffs much anymore.  When I drive home and get that scent of skunk, I feel at home...silly but true.

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What a wonderful escape to go to hunting camp!  A place where I am surrounded by nature as my neighbor!  The peace and tranquility is such a blessing.  The deer, turkey, fox, birds of all kinds, and lots of chipmunks create such a harmonious environment.  Everyone gets along and is focused on their own happiness.  The animals are honest and sincere, they don't sweat the small stuff!  Humans should take note from these creatures.  We should learn how to be quite and still and listen to our inner hearts!  The animals remind us to play and share this great land with others.

When I am at hunting camp, I hear the beautiful songs the birds sing.  I hear the trees blowing in the wind...the scurry of a chipmunk in the leaves,  Sometimes I hear nothing at all and I look up and see the stars shining bright in the sky.  My campfire keeps me warm and offers a place to gaze as the flames change color and direction.  Food seems to taste better here too!  Even though my husband is the best cook in the world all year long, the food just has this warm and cozy taste!  It is nice to escape the sounds of cars and the stress of the world and people.  It is nice to be in the woods!  

God Bless our hunting camps!

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I am so thankful to my wonderful parents for teaching me Honesty and Integrity.  The values and morals taught to us as children give us a compassion for life and the ability to care for others.  I believe that people who enjoy the outdoors have an EXTRA level of love and compassion.  When our feet can crunch through leaves in a forest or we can hop rocks in a creek bed, we become engaged in the energy of Mother Nature.  There is no greater therapy or medication than being in the outdoors.

In our world today, it seems we need to wear a haz-mat suit daily just to keep the negativity of unhappy people and all the goop from television off of us.  I wanted to call Chick Fil A and ask if they could share their training program with the world.  I am ALWAYS so impressed with their kindness of their employees...they are happy, friendly and say thank you...WOW...AND the food is usually fresh and hot!  

Maybe we could all get together and go out into the world and smile and say HI (honesty and integrity) I know eventually that positive energy would spread!

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I wanted to tell you about the 2 newest DoeVille employees, Dots and Bob.  Dots appeared outside the DoeVille headquarters several months ago.  He is a young and quite curious cardinal.  Not only is his personality incredibly enjoyable but his unique markings earned him the name "Dots".  You see he has these bright red dots on this breast, they are adorable.  In the beginning, Dots was the only cardinal that would appear to investigate our feeder just outside the office window.  Now his entire family has joined him.  His family consists of 2 sisters and a brother as well as Mom and Dad.  It was like they sent Dots on a reconaissance mission to make sure our office and trees were a safe place!  They could not have selected a more loving and caring home....we love our Nature around here!

Recently, Dots and his family got a new neighbor Bob.  Bob is new to our community.  He is a feisty squirrel with a bob tail.  We have decided that he looks and acts more like a rabbit than a squirrel.  These creatures all share well together.  We also have an enormous dove and butterfly community which add both audible and visual excitement to our work place.

I think we can learn many things from our friends in nature.  They work very well together and if one of them gets in another one's way they just give them a peck and keep moving forward.  My favorite saying is "Go Back to Grazing".  This is what horses do in the pasture.  If another horse snips or gets in their way, they may kick back or snip back but then they go back to grazing!  It is good for us human folk to just stop, watch and listen to the birds and the bees.

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What makes your spirit bell ring?  Mountains or Oceans?  I ask this question many times of myself.  When I am in the great big mountains overlooking wide open spaces, my body feels so grounded, so at home.  Spending many summers on horseback for a week in the Teton National Forest elevated my spirit and my creativity.  I never came back from these adventures the same woman!  As I meet many people they seem to feel the same passion.  I have also met people here in Florida who say when they get away from water and the ocean they feel lost.  There are also those beings who straddle the fence, loving both.  I encourage you to ponder what and where your SPIRIT bell resonates and rings the most.  I feel it is an important item for us each to recognize and to place ourselves there often.  To just be still on a rock surrounded by big aspens or to dip our toes in the sand to quench that place that feels sooo good.

The great thing about being in the outdoors is that we can enjoy our hobbies of fishing, hunting, photography or just being in that moment.

In a few weeks this WILD WILD Woman of the West will be in those Tetons, on horseback hunting Elk and just soaking it all in...placing in my mind memories and photos which will not exist on any camera or computer but in my SPIRIT. 

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