Good Morning!

My view this morning as I did the farm chores.

Gardening in the Desert

 The farm has several gardens in different locations. We have these gardens about as the desert grants some uniqueness that needs to always be on the forefront. I have my major planting by June 1st as we usually have a hail storm in late May.  Last night we planted our largest hanging garden. 

Here are a few pics of the hanging garden in years past:

 

This was a lovely tunnel of so many colorful winter and summer squash. Even the heaviest of squash did remarkably well. 

 

This was one of the hanging gardens in a very rough build. We "built" this converting a clothesline into the garden using some free poles we found at the county transfer station(garbage dump).

 

We learned a few years ago to fence out critters. Sheep, goats and chickens have found ways to the fruit trees and gardens but the real worry is how lovely cool it is under the plants for rattlesnakes. We fence using construction/chicken wire to keep the slithering creepers out. Before the fence,  years ago we had a very large rattlesnake enjoying life under the zucchini. Even then, and now I can run. Like really. I just looked at the plant and saw the pattern of the rattlesnake and lightning bolt Jen took off.

 

In our hanging garden this year, we planted zucchini, zephr, pattypan, several varieties of cucumbers, small pumpkins, tatume, several varieties of melons and probably a bit more. 

Bonus Photo:

Even the "natural" clouds over the farm recognize that the Double Nickel is indeed where a great treasure is. For me, that treasure is simply home,

All because two people fell in love.
 

 

Memorial Day

I had the honor of being the keynote speaker on Memorial Day a few years ago. This was at Veterans Park, Tularosa, New Mexico. 

I will share my closing statement as Memorial Day is a very personal one for me. I closed by stating "If it must be a family that carries this as their story, I am humbled to share  that this is mine. "

 

May we never forget.                                                                                                                                    Captain David P. Gibson KIA 4/8/1967

*It was a very windy day, and two of our grandchildren can be heard slightly during the speech. Thank you to my  Bill for filming this.

UPDATE: When I gave this speech Dad had 34 descendants. He now has 41(5 more from my kids!) Time indeed, marches on. 

Mom receiving the medals awarded to my father posthumously. I am that babe in her arms.

Sunsets

 

                      The beauty takes my breath away!

Tarantula Season

 The seasons are different here on the farm.

We have Hoodie and Shorts season, Shorts and Polo season, Tarantula season, Potholder season, The Three Days of Rain/Flooding season, Woodgathering season and then back to the beginning.

Honorable mention seasons:

 Holy Hail season usually in May.

Rattlesnake season is 24/7 365...

Mountain Lion, bobcat, coyote and javalina season are also 24/7 365 but not as terrifying.

Border season is a new one but becoming a very real one. Living as close to the southern border as we do has been pretty intense these past few months as the three properties surrounding ours have had intruders. It is real and is seemingly not an issue up the food chain, but it is to us. 

Oh and for the record, Tarantula season is not a scary one for me. The predators of the Tarantula are far more worrisome to this often barefooted person (well in the backyard). You see, the Tarantula Hawk hovers in the grass, and to step on one is going to ruin your next few days. 

And every season is a joyfilled season, All because two people fell in love!

Blog Mission

As I begin to fill the posts with more and more of life, I will be addressing the events of the day, as well as events of world renown. Truth has been censored for a while and I surmise it will continue. As for me, I will stand in Truth and fear nothing. 

We are at a shift in our nation. I am not sure what the outcome will be as the methods of manipulation are deeply entrenched not allowing true change to happen. What I do know is that this blog will be my voice for the very least my children and grandchildren for as long as I am able to stay on this platform. 

I am one that is a believer in our Saviour Jesus. 

I believe that the Old and New Testaments are true and devote my life to fearing God and keeping His commandments, Ecclesiastes 12:13

In our home we began celebrating the Feasts of the Bible outlined in Leviticus 23.

I am a help meet to Bill as  stated in Genesis 2:18, and have been for nearly 35 years!

We raised the children to the best of our ability with God's help, as commanded in Proverbs 22:6, homeschooling them for 24 years.

I believe God when He said that we will have dominion over the animal world: Genesis:1:26, and take this very serious and respect every single critter that has claimed the Double Nickel Farm as their home.

I believe in the Great Commission: Matthew 28:18-20 teaching, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, as well as teaching them to observe all things whatsoever Jesus commanded us, and that He is with us always, even to the end. 

I believe that to show that we know Him: Jesus, we keep His commandments. 1 John 2:3

I believe that keeping the seventh day as the day of rest is a sign, between God and the Children of Israel, forever. Exodus 31:17

I believe that once we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour that we are grafted in to Israel Romans 11, and that the Lost sheep of Israel are who Jesus came for, Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

I believe that this is the season where I will use my voice to stand in Truth. The time is now for any that do not know Jesus to call upon his name. Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord (Jesus:Yeshua) shall be saved. 

I am thankful to have this opportunity and look forward to the direction that this will go. 

All because two people fell in love, they journeyed together to God and it has been a path that has made all the difference.

The Family

It is not easy to describe myself without describing those that are my loves. I am a better woman, friend, and person because of my  husband, my children, and now my grandchildren.   As every family, we are very unique, yet, very much like others and definitely like the television show Blue Bloods as in our immediate family of six, 50% are veterans. 50% are LEOs. One third were volunteer firemen for a substantial amount of time. Two work for the courts, and one has been in the medical field a long time. 

Yes, the careers overlap. 

We raised our children to love God, love family, love country. 

We expected community service in many measures as the government should not be first in helping our neighbors. We should. 

Bill and I have had many titles in our marriage. These too overlap at times. First, we were husband and wife. Then Dad and Momma, then Dad and Mom. Our titles made our hearts melt as we became grandparents to now 9: 5 grandsons and 4 granddaughters. 

As much as we love being grandparents, it is just as incredible to see our children as parents. 

Imagine knowing the outcome 35 years ago, I am not sure I could have believed this would be our story...

But it is All because two people fell in love.

How a Farm Began in the Desert

I have often pondered the journey of a girl from the midwest and how she ended up in the southwest. It is a long story with many ups and downs. From the age of twenty the ups far outweighed the downs. My post is about how the farm began so I will skip the long story and just share how the farm began.

It began because I was making an autumn wreath. I wanted to add some buffalo gourds on the wreath. We took a drive looking for the gourds and ended up about 15 miles from the house we were temporarily renting while getting to know our new state. After a year or two in the rental, I was ready to be a bit more remote, even though the "city" we were living in had a population of about 35,000.

Bill and I took a drive on one of our typical dates, meaning we spent time together without spending anything. The views added such an ambience to our date. 

On a lonely road with much overgrowth on the side of the road, I asked Bill to stop as I saw the buffalo plant growing amongst the mesquite. Once he stopped, I got out and began collecting a good number because my crafty mind was thinking of other things I could make with the dried gourds. I made a pocket with the bottom on my shirt which we call a rock shirt when doing this. I loaded the gourds up and began walking to the open door of the truck. Bill was listening to music while I was gathering the gourds. He did have an idea that made him smile, an idea he thought of the moment I got out the of the truck. As I reached the truck and went to grab the door handle to climb in, he pulled forward about 2 feet, laughing. I tried once again, and he, of course, pulled forward. He was laughing quite hard which was infectious and I began laughing while saying, "Stop!"

He granted my wish, but I was moving forward and ended up dropping all the gourds. They rolled under the truck and well, everywhere. He stopped and climbed out to help me gather the gourds,

I bent over and then as I looked up, we both seemed to see the For Sale sign at the same time. The sign was tucked up a road that was not maintained by the county, and it was overgrown with so much mesquite. Bill suggested we drive up this road to see the house. The mesquite scraped the truck on both sides but we continued on. We saw the house and I knew at that moment I wanted to live here. We parked in a very mesquite overgrown area and began to walk around the house, I faced the mountains, took a deep breath and thought yes. 

We walked around the house only able to see in one window and Bill was calling the agent. It was absolutely in need of work, but the views, the size, and most importantly, the price was right. The price was barely low enough that we could afford it. And the name came pretty soon after we closed as we were left with almost nothing to obtain the place. We barely had two nickels to rub together and voila the name was given by the totality of the situation! We truly went on rations to have this remote dream and we haven't looked back. 

The Double Nickel Farm began on a piece of scrub desert in a double wide trailer with barely any money and oh what a difference it has made... 

All because two people fell in love.