If the Good Lord's willing & the creek don't rise

"If the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise."

I'm sure you've heard that expression.  I remember it growing up.  It was an answer we'd get from my Dad when we'd ask if certain events that we were looking forward to were going to take place.  What it essentially means is that some things are out of our control.  Although we'd like for them to take place, the results are out of our hands.  Basically, our job is to pray hard, work hard, and keep pressing forward.

Farming is chock full of "If the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise" situations.  Sometimes you work up the soil, plant the seeds and they don't germinate.  Sometimes you have a good crop going and either too much rain or not enough ruins your crop.  Sometimes farm animals get eaten by predators or get sick and die.  I think that is what poet Robert Burns meant in his poem, To a Mouse,  when he wrote, "The best laid schemes (plans) of mice and men often go awry."  And they do.  Plans often go awry.  Things can be going so good that if it got any better, you couldn't stand it.  And then... you have one of those days.  You've had one of those days, haven't you?  You know what I'm talking about.  I see you nodding your head. 

Worms munching on the sweet potato leaves



Worms munching on the butternut squash

I guess the easiest solution would be to run down to the store and pick up some chemicals to spray on them, but we don't want to do that.  The "welfare queens" are standing by the fence, hoping to get a handout, so we pick the pesky worms off the leaves and feed them to the chickens who enjoy an evening meal of juicy worms. 


Sometimes when you are picking worms off of plants and feeding them to your chickens, you discover that you are standing in a fire ant mound!  Ding dangit!
 

Fire ants in the compost pile.  Ants love the compost pile.

According to the Cooperative Extension Service, fire ants entered the United States in the late 1930s aboard cargo ships from tropical South America.  The Cargo ships arrived in Mobile, Alabama, and fire ants all immediately migrated to Jefferson Davis Parish in South Louisiana to set up their permanent domiciles on the Sonnier property.  Well, okay, I embellished that last part a little, maybe.


I'll steer clear of this fire ant pile so as not to disturb them

Then I discover that with all the rain every last fall tomato seedling I planted is deader than Elvis.



Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust...

And then the lawnmower won't start...  But we got it started.

Gimme a jump, brother!

C'est la Vie!  Such is life.  It's just another day in paradise.  In times like this, it's best to laugh.  It's best to "count your blessings - name them one by one."  Relish the good days.  Dwell on the good things.  Hug your wife.  Cut up with your kids.  Take a walk around the yard and look at a lily blooming.
 

Gorgeous!

  Enjoy a pastoral scene of Daisy grazing in the pasture in front of the barn.



Daisy thinks this is Heaven!

 We are blessed beyond our wildest imaginations.  We're growing more than crops and animals.  We're raising a family and growing memories.  The sun will rise in the morning and it will be a great day... If the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise!  Work hard, play hard, and pray hard!