Do you have SS friends? Or do your friends think you are weird?

[Quail_Antwerp]

Oh I love photography!! I haven't had any lessons, but I use everything in my life as my subjects!!

One project I would loooove to work on is farm life photography!! I take tons of pics of my animals and our place, I just wish the local farmers would let me take pics of their farms!!

I asked the neighbors if I could photograph their cows, they thought I was nuts!

 

[the simple life]

Yep, I got you all! Why ya think I'm on here all the time? Finally met some folks that don't think I've got a major screw loose because I want to live meagerly and humble....but, Oh, so richly! .

I am a little too busy making ends meet right now to take any classes but, once the kids are gone, I will definitely be taking some painting classes. Used to paint with acrylics on old barn board and I loved it. Used to sell them and folks loved them, but I've never had any formal training. Would love to learn! I would also like to take a class on photography and invest in some good equipment. And then I would like to go to one of the mission trips that help build churches in other places and countries, but I would have to save up money for that as well.

Beekissed, you can do fundraisers for the mission trips.
My daughters go oversees every year to build houses, community centers and orphanages, it sure is a great thing to do.
Our group did a variety of fundraisers to pay for each participants trip.
We did a yardsale at my house and I put a request in the church bulletin for any unwanted items church members might have to be donated to the sale.
I had stuff coming every day, I would come home from somewhere and there would be piles of it on my lawn.
I couldn't even store it anymore, I had stuff from floor to ceiling in my carriage house.
We made over $2000.00 from that one yard sale and we have done the same thing ever since.

 

[Beekissed]

I love farm life photography and eat up the pages of Country Woman and Country Living mags when I see one at the library! I drive all over 3 counties for my job and have seen some stunning wildlife and farm photo ops on my travels.

The other day I drove up over a rise on this gravel road and saw an ancient barn leaning in a secluded field.....on top of the roof was about 30 buzzards with their wings spread to the morning sun. Still as sentries...like sun worshippers! At the same point in the road, a red-tailed hawk flew beside my car at window height for about 50 yards down the road...he was enormous. The real clincher was that around the next bend a bald eagle was flying right over head! I kid you not! It kind of freaked me....like I had found some lost bird haven on this old road (I was lost at the time and had went 10 miles out of my way!) I didn't know which bird(s) to gawk at, they were all so magnificent!

There is one stretch of the river along the road I drive a couple of times a week that always has Great Blue Herons standing in the middle of the creek. Like little grey men all hunched over contemplating their death....comical and beautiful all at the same time. One day there were two white herons along the same stretch...and they are not native to this area, so I was thrilled!

Yep, would love to have a camera with me all the time. For now, I just gasp in wonder and thank God over and over that I alone got to see all these wondrous things....like my own private show!

 

[Henrietta23]

One of my patients told me today that she thinks people are just meaner than they used to be and I had to agree with her.

*******hey beekissed
I think this is true. For me though not so much meaner, just being "short" on personality. Time, no time for people to chat, too busy, gotta run, gotta go, gotta do this and that.

remember the old "hang out over the picket fence" and chat with a neighbor. Doesn't happen anymore.

sad way we are heading. life being so super fast! super fast we practically miss it!



AND you ain't whining...you are just saying some feelings, like the kids are growing up big time and you are looking for new friends and such. Everyone needs companionship.....have ya thought about signing up for a type of class, like pottery, knitting, "anything" to meet some gals like us near your area. You can make some great friends that way?????? just a suggestion!

I make all my friends thru the farmer market and horses. I moved to NC 16 years ago and brought my horse from PA with me. Got to the barn and they were all fancy show people, I asked Henry who around here rides trails and relaxes and he said, Barb, the dairy farmer up the road. Off I went, rode with Barb and we are inseparable ever since. My best friend.......so you never know when a great best friend will pop up! And ya got us!

Oh, I get to break the mold on the fence one! I hang out over the fence and chat with my nextdoor neighbors almost everyday! One or the other will be in the backyard brushing out their Newfoundland and I'll fussing with something around the coop or shed. We'll get a chance to catch up. It doesn't matter if it's the husband, wife or one of the teenage girls. On the other hand, now that I'm subbing and not a regular face at either of the schools I used to work at, whenever I get in a conversation about anything I truly care about, it seems no one wants to even be polite and try to "get it."
I don't have a lot of close friends, but I do have people I can call if I need them. Most are from church. We get together and knit, hike etc. once in a while plus chat after church on Sundays. Then there's my college roommate who I got to thinking about on Monday. I picked up the phone and called her just to chat. We realized we haven't seen each other in over a year and haven't talked in 6 months or more. And in a way it doesn't matter. We don't need to check in frequently. We're here if the other needs us. It's weird but it works. We're only an hour and half away from each other. She doesn't get the chickens and ducks but she humors me!
I'm no longer making sense even to myself so I'm going to take a shower and have a second cup of coffee and try to accomplish something since I didn't get called to work today.

 

[attack-cat]

Most of our friends are survivalists. They have thier bug out bags ready to go! So our way of life isn't off to them at all. One of them has been prepping since the 60's! Now the families think we're nuts!

 

[FarmerChick]

Henrietta
you are so lucky you take the time to hang out and enjoy some idle chit chat!!!! You are smart! So many won't stop to smell the roses... Just idle chit chat not about politics, gas prices, etc. etc. is a relief! Keep hanging out over that fence! More people need to do that! Plus I believe idle chit chat that isn't negative like politics and gas prices can help relieve stress....we all need that..LOL

 

[Henrietta23]

LOL! I was so tempted to write that I just drove past the local gas station and prices are down to $2.82 for regular unleaded! I'll probably end up sharing that over the fence later on with the neighbors.
Oh well! I will go eat my peanut butter toast on homemade molasses oatmeal bread while sitting on my deck talking to my chickens and ducks since there's no one else around!
For now, back to cleaning. Babysitter coming tomorrow night so DH and I can go to the big church anniversary dinner. It smells like quail in here.

 

[the simple life]

I too have the fence chat.

My yard is fenced in but the neighbors on either side of me chat almost every day if we are out there at the same time. If I am not out there sometimes they will call my name until I hear them and see what they want.
The gentleman who lives to the back of my house, our backyards meet at the fence, he and my husband just discussed us putting a gate in where our properties meet. So that he can come through to visit instead of having to walk all the way around the neighborhood, which he has to do to get to my house.
He brings over his backhoe or whatever else we need. I have him over for barbecues. I worry about him now that he is alone there.
He is also the town historian and a wealth of information on my 1700s house.

Then the people on either side of me, its the same thing. Talking over the fence is a way to catch up, exchange plants, vegetables etc.
The other day I heard her calling my son's name, so I went over to see what she needed, she found a birds' nest and wanted to give it to him.
He thought it was so cool.
Then I heard her calling my daughter over to the fence just a couple of days ago. She found out the chickens had just started to lay eggs and she knew how excited the kids were so she gave them a basket to collect eggs.

Its great to have this kind of communication, its becoming lost now.

 

[Henrietta23]

Fence chat makes me think of my grandpa who lived in a suburb of Rochester NY. My grandparents house was built in the 40s and when they moved in the hillside behind them was field and farmland. We'd see ringneck pheasants from the dining room window. Not for long. The 70s came and those beautiful fields became covered with condos. Now my grandfather had always kept a very large vegetable garden plus a few fruit trees, grape vines and strawberries. When the condos came someone built a fence along the back of the properties that the condo properties back up to, including Grandpa's. He met more people while out working in the garden, chatting over the fence talking with the young mothers, the retired couples, etc., who moved into those condos. PLUS he was able to share his surplus veggies and fruits with them! Talk about making the best of what could have been considered an unpleasant change!

 

[FarmerChick]

H 23

I will go eat my peanut butter toast on homemade molasses oatmeal bread while sitting on my deck talking to my chickens and ducks since there's no one else around!

**********Great food and good company! Have at it!