The sky absolutely fascinates me. <3

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​One of my dreams when we moved was to be able to live in one of the darkest areas and possibly maybe even see the Milky Way. And while I can't get a good photo of the Milky Way, it's absolutely stunning and clear quite often.


God is good--He hears our prayers.  #10000000000gifts

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​Here's a tiny clip so you can hear the night sounds. 
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Isaiah 40:26-31 The Message (MSG)25-26 “So—who is like me?

    Who holds a candle to me?” says The Holy.
Look at the night skies:
    Who do you think made all this?
Who marches this army of stars out each night,
    counts them off, calls each by name
—so magnificent! so powerful!--
    and never overlooks a single one?

27-31 Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
    or, whine, Israel, saying,
“God has lost track of me.
    He doesn’t care what happens to me”?
Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?
God doesn’t come and go. God lasts.
    He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.
    And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
    gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
    young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
    They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don’t get tired,
    they walk and don’t lag behind.


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​If you follow me on social media, you know one of my favorite hashtags  is #DugginsCastleSky. If I could manage a camera that could take amazing night photos, you would definitely  see a LOT more this hashtag, since we get amazing views of the Milky Way on clear nights. (Nothin' like country livin'!)

It feels like the intense heat of summer might finally be gone, and wonderful September days  means ever so many more glorious morning drives. Albeit, the sun is in our eyes for 45 minutes as we drive into the east, but as you can see, there are glorious sunrises to be found. <3

​Some mornings produce intense fog and crisp light all within minutes. *Swoon*

God is GOOD and gracious to make such art in the sky every morning. He didn't have to, He just wanted to. *double swoon*

Which brings me to one of my other favorite hashtags.---> ​#1000gifts  :)

​Here are a few snaps of the glorious sky on our morning drives so far this week...

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He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the human heart;
yet no one can fathom
what God has done from beginning to end.

​Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV


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​I planted marigolds all over this year, and a few even came up from last year's seeds self-sewing (which is my favorite thing). It is absolutely amazing how large these beauties get. I'm not into orange or yellow, but these lovelies (which are supposed to make everything coalesce better in the garden anyway) are just breathtaking when the get so big. <3

​Perhaps I'll take it upon myself to invent pink marigolds. #dreams

Sir Alfred, Arthur, Al, Big Al, Ally, Ally-oop! 

​Al is the best cat you might happen to meet. He showed up on our back doorstep back in the winter. We tried to find him a warm spot in the garage to sleep, but he disappeared after a few days, and we assumed he succumbed to the winter cold.

Months and months later he showed back up and decided to stay. We already have five other cats, so he's an outdoor-only kitto.

He's mortal enemies with Mr. Tibbs, and all the rest of our kittos are afraid of him too. I say he must be Ender--he won all the fights, now he just chills, and everyone cowers when he comes around. Except us humans, who must endure much snuggling from this big guy.

​My Al. 

  

Ecclesiastes 3, ESVA Time for Everything

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
​a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
 time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

Country girl!

​We often happily lament of our weariness during this busy busy season of life. Choosing to move to the middle of nowhere to farm while still having 40-hour a week jobs was QUITE the decision, but I don't regret it for one second when I see my country girl growing up with all this hard work and fresh air.

​When God puts a stirring into your heart, listen to it! Even when the logistics don't make human sense!

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Our gorgeous wild primrose (there are several around the property) are blooming! Had to capture this one in the fog this morning. <3 

And a quick snap of the moon before we headed inside last night. 

We're looking forward to another glorious, busy weekend at the castle. Yay for sunshine!

<3,
​KD

I scattered chia over it first thing to get roots started to help hold the soil in place. Then I transplanted thyme, self heal, and strawberries. A few days later I planted potatoes, cucumbers and watermelon (on either end so they'll have lots of room), and then I scattered purslane and carrot seeds as well. 

I'm thankful for the rain this week--we should have pretty good growth starting!

More pics to come!

​--Kristi

Sadly, along with spring comes blinding sunlight on the way in to work and on the way home, so I haven't been drawing as much as I'd like. Evenings are busy with gardening and castle upkeep, and by the time we sit down at night I'm much too tired to draw. It's a good trade-off though. Gardening always wins as the best hobby.

I've been tweaking this floral repeat here and there for a few days now.  I already have a couple of versions of this design in my Spoonflower shop, but the shadows and a few other things were bugging me. So I'm probably recreating the entire thing--just for the fun of it. 

This week I planted more corn and then added some black beans. I've been researching better ways to ward off pests before it's too late this year. ​ As it turns out, straw mulch should be helpful in that arena, so I'm going to tuck it in around all my plant babies and add some cedar and mint mulch along with it.

​Watch out, buggies, your days are numbered!

Mint is one of my absolute favorite things to grow. It's so easy, so pretty, and smells amazing in the breeze.

Both of our snowball bushes are starting to bloom. Hopefully I'll get a good photo of both of them together.   Always reminds me of my Gramma. She had three big snowball bushes in her front yard. <3

We saw these at the Baker Creek festival last weekend. :) 

This is Jeb (Jebbo, Jebbers, Jebebibah). He's a spunky sweetie who joined our crew about a month ago. His job is to keep briars down to a minimum and fertilize. He's quite adept at both.