Reassessing Priorities in Life

I spent the last two days wrapped up in the cocoon of my hammock studying the seasons of life. 

We lost a friend this week, not to old age, but to malpractice.    

Ten years ago, an inattentive nurse delivered the wrong medication to an 18 year old boy recovering from brain surgery, and the child never moved more than a facial muscle again. 

He walked in the hospital and was wheeled out…only to spend more than a decade in a convalescent home. 

On the 21^st of February, this young man’s soul was released.  All who knew him wept.

I’ll not write much more about this sadness.  The unfairness of it all is still too hard to grasp. 

But like all life’s sorrows, events such as these tend to wake the rest of us up, push us out of our comfort zones, and remind us to keep reaching for the sun. 

“Have I become all that I’m capable of being in this life,” we ask ourselves.  “Have I embraced all that’s necessary for my spirit?” 

Or the favorite, “is there anything I’ve put off doing that needs correcting?” 

And there always is.  There always is.

So today I’ll stay home and kiss my babies, but tomorrow I’ll start planning my trip to the tropics.

The sea has been calling me for awhile now.   

And it’s time to answer the call.

What’s Been Keeping Me Busy Lately

Love Those Wide Open Spaces is a blog designed to follow my daily life as a freelance writer and rancher.  It’s a life full of constant change and a wide scope of interests.

Freelance writing, by its definition, requires the ability to write on a variety of subjects, to juggle many assignments during the times of plenty, and to fill the void when checks are slow.   That said, I’m always writing.

Much of my work is done for others such as corporations, websites, or articles penned under another’s name.  I’ve sold the rights to these works, so they can’t be shared. 

However, many of my projects are available under my own name and can be read right here on the web.    

 You can click on either the site or the story below to see them.

Check out what’s been keeping me busy lately!

Rural Florida Living  
The Florida Azalea Festival - The Pride of Palatka  
Famous Floridian Friday: Tom Petty, Rock Legend and Florida Native 
The Alligator Snapping Turtle - Florida's Largest Freshwater Turtle  
Fort Mose in St. Augustine, Florida - The First Free African Settlement in the US 

City to Country - A Rural Florida Adventure     
We Learn What to Look for When Buying Hay  

A Field Full of Babies

Love Those Wide Open Spaces 
This is My Brain on Writing 
Mudfest in Okeechobee 
Trading Treasures - Pepper Jam
Super Bowl Party 

Winter Weather 
The Project's Over 

Florida: Just For Fun!
Things to Do in Florida This Weekend - Friday, February 22nd thru Sunday, February 24th, 2013 

Sanne On Squidoo Blog 
Looking for a Subject? Ideas for Writing Online  
How to Tailor Your Squidoo Article to Your Audience  
How to Get Traffic to New Articles on Squidoo
What Can I Write About on Squidoo?
Have You Squidoo'ed? 

@SanneCollins 2013

 

   

This is My Brain on Writing

I’m a freelance writer.  Perspective on this career is that my life that ebbs and flows with the availability of assignments.  The reality of my occupation is that production never ceases.

One of the offshoots of writing is that it energizes my brain.  This would be quite an asset if my head would slow down as the workday wound down.  But that’s not really how it functions.  When I’m onto projects, my mind runs full throttle and thoughts are racing 24-hours a day.

The energy I get from writing carries me through life.  

Sitting at my desk at Zero Dark Thirty, I glance up and find that day has dawned and I haven’t yet reached for my coffee.  

It’s sunlight peering through the east windows that sends me scurrying for feed buckets and to my outdoor chores because when I’m, fully immersed, I forget the time.  Even as I tend the farm, my head is swimming in concepts ripe and ready for consumption.    

My personal shopping, my housework and even my friendships get relegated to tiny microbursts of activity when I’m writing--clips of social responsibility viewed through a lens of distraction.  Day turns to evening; evening into late night; and I’m still fully engaged with a strange driving force.    

Dreams wake me with new directions that I mull over in bed and jot down in the dark.  When morning returns, I follow the new pathways feeling invigorated.     

Sounds bi-polar, doesn’t it?  But it’s not.  It’s ongoing inspiration.

A strange form of creativity creeps into my soul when I write.  It runs wide open until well-spent, then demands a day or two for peace and restoration.    

Monday was such a day.  I shut the door to my office, closed up my tools, and found a comfy spot in the sun to pause and refresh. 

I’ll sleep well this week for doing so.

- Sanne Collins

   From the Ranch in Florida

 

What’s Been Keeping Me Busy Lately

Love Those Wide Open Spaces is a blog designed to follow my daily life as a freelance writer and rancher.  It’s a life full of constant change and a wide scope of interests.

Freelance writing, by its definition, requires the ability to write on a variety of subjects, to juggle many assignments during the times of plenty, and to fill the void when checks are slow.   That said, I’m always writing.

Much of my work is done for others such as corporations, websites, or articles penned under another’s name.  I’ve sold the rights to these works, so they can’t be shared. 

However, many of my projects are available under my own name and can be read right here on the web.    

 You can click on either the site or the story below to see them.

Check out what’s been keeping me busy lately!

Rural Florida Living  
Famous Floridian Friday: Tom Petty, Rock Legend and Florida Native 
The Alligator Snapping Turtle - Florida's Largest Freshwater Turtle  
Fort Mose in St. Augustine, Florida - The First Free African Settlement in the US 
The Real Florida Run Series      

Florida Outdoors: What You Can See in February
Hillsborough River State Park - Where History and Natural Beauty Converge  

City to Country - A Rural Florida Adventure     
We Learn What to Look for When Buying Hay  

A Field Full of Babies

Love Those Wide Open Spaces 
Mudfest in Okeechobee 
Trading Treasures - Pepper Jam
Super Bowl Party 

Winter Weather 
The Project's Over 

Florida: Just For Fun!
Things to Do in Florida This Weekend - Friday, February 8th thru Sunday, February 10th 

Things to Do This Weekend in Florida - Feb 1 thru Feb 3 

Sanne On Squidoo Blog 
How to Tailor Your Squidoo Article to Your Audience  
How to Get Traffic to New Articles on Squidoo
What Can I Write About on Squidoo?
Have You Squidoo'ed? 

@SanneCollins 2013

 

Pellet Feeding in Pastures

It’s a brisk and breezy today on the ranch.  Temperatures fell well into the 30’s overnight and this morning there’s a stiff north wind blowing down the spine of Florida.

People often ask me how the cows fare in weather like this.  The cold itself doesn’t really bother them greatly, but they don’t like a lot of wind.  Who can blame them?

Our cows lounge more on days like this one, and don’t spend enough time grazing.  Like many of us, they prefer to keep their heads down and keep a low profile when its windy.   We worry about their nutrition intake during cold weather periods like this, so on a day like this we often supplement their diet of pastureland grasses.

One of the ways we do this is through feed pellets.  Feed pellets contain protein and carbohydrates mainly obtained through grains and sugars which help with a cow’s energy needs.   

 Pellets work well on the Florida ranch where we don’t battle snow, because we can take them out directly to the field to feed the cattle.  This way we don’t have to use bunk feeders and/or corral the cattle.   

The pellets come in large 50 pound feed bags similar to dog food.  The trick is to get the feed out of the bags and into the bellies of our cows. 

Large ranches have specialized machines which can be pulled behind either a truck or tractor.  The equipment drops pellets in a straight row making it easy for the cows to find them without fighting each other for feed in the field.  This works well and is fast, just one of many tasks performed at ranches each day.  

Smaller ranches make pellet feeding more of a game.  Here’s how we do it.

We load up the back bed of a pick-up truck with a good number of feed bags, while someone standing in the bed makes sure each bag is standing straight up and is fully opened. 

With a driver in the cab, feed bags in the bed, and the feeding person(s) sitting on an open tailgate, we head out into the fields with lots of bags full of goodies. 

Now cows love pellets, and the fragrance of grain and molasses travels far.   

In no time flat the herd is bellowing loudly and in a full run, heading straight for the folks on the tailgate. 

There’s a science to laying the feed pellets in open fields. 

The driver of the truck has to maintain a speed that’s fast enough to keep his passengers away from long cow tongues and cow horns, but slow enough that they don’t fall off the open tailgate.  He also had to miss any bull holes, sink holes, or sleeping baby calves sometimes found in a field while keeping an eye on his feeders in the rearview mirror! 

I’m usually a feeder, one of those trying to stay safely on the back of the pick-up.  If you’re dropping pellets, you aim to make straight feed lines and not food piles, while all the while trying to avoid ant hills and field manure.

At this point the cows are still running after the truck.  Some will stop and eat a few, but in a “grass is always greener somewhere else” state of mind, they keep on at full speed chasing the vehicle.

When the feeder finishes the contents of one bag, it’s important to hustle onto the next one or the cows won’t stop and eat at all.  Cattle seem to recognize if you’re a slowpoke and you end up with a cow face in your lap. 

So as a feeder, while you’re finessing the feed drop, you’re also juggling the next 50-pound bag.  As you can imagine, there is an insane amount of hooting, hollering, giggling and outright laughter happening during our pellet feed drops. 

So this is how I spent my early Sunday morning today…throwing feed bags, staying clear of marauding cattle and braving the cold northern temperatures. 

I’m going to enjoy that fresh cup of coffee.

- Sanne Collins

   From the Ranch in Florida

 

What’s Been Keeping Me Busy Lately

Love Those Wide Open Spaces is a blog designed to follow my daily life as a freelance writer and rancher.  It’s a life full of constant change and a wide scope of interests.

Freelance writing, by its definition, requires the ability to write on a variety of subjects, to juggle many assignments during the times of plenty, and to fill the void when checks are slow.   That said, I’m always writing.

Much of my work is done for others such as corporations, websites, or articles penned under another’s name.  I’ve sold the rights to these works, so they can’t be shared. 

However, many of my projects are available under my own name and can be read right here on the web.    

 You can click on either the site or the story below to see them.

Check out what’s been keeping me busy lately!

Rural Florida Living  
Famous Floridian Friday: Tom Petty, Rock Legend and Florida Native 
The Alligator Snapping Turtle - Florida's Largest Freshwater Turtle  
Fort Mose in St. Augustine, Florida - The First Free African Settlement in the US 
The Real Florida Run Series      

Florida Outdoors: What You Can See in February
Hillsborough River State Park - Where History and Natural Beauty Converge  

City to Country - A Rural Florida Adventure     
We Learn What to Look for When Buying Hay  

A Field Full of Babies

Love Those Wide Open Spaces 
Mudfest in Okeechobee 
Trading Treasures - Pepper Jam
Super Bowl Party 

Winter Weather 
The Project's Over 

Florida: Just For Fun!
Things to Do in Florida This Weekend - Friday, February 8th thru Sunday, February 10th 

Things to Do This Weekend in Florida - Feb 1 thru Feb 3 

Sanne On Squidoo Blog 
How to Get Traffic to New Articles on Squidoo
What Can I Write About on Squidoo?
Have You Squidoo'ed? 

@SanneCollins 2013

 

Flowers for Valentine’s Day

You find me freshly returned from my backdoor garden this morning, where   both tropical and sub-tropical plants are springing back to life.  Sunshine and warm weather are paying off in spades. 

What’s blooming in my Florida garden in February? 

Well, let me tell you! 

Amaryllis, my friends…those showy amaryllis flowers!     

Everywhere I look, I suddenly have amaryllis!  The large trumpet-like flowers are appearing atop of what just last week were tall, leafless spikes.   

I see cardinal amaryllis growing near the sunroom window where I work throughout the day. 

I walk out the door and the brain goes dizzy from a cacophony of striped pinks filling the flower pots lining the pergola.  Blooms are the size of softballs, and absolutely stunning.   

Here in Florida, these Amaryllis bulbs are would be perfectly content to be planted in the ground and left to winter in place.  But I’ve always found amaryllis work best, and are at their showiest, when they’re planted in garden pots displayed around the ranch.  With a little care, some light shade and fertilization, amaryllises will flower all the way through our hot days of August.

Ornamental Ginger

Hay, Hammock & the Fragrance of Ginger Flowers

Ornamental ginger, another tropical plant, is once again taking center stage in my backdoor garden.  This beauty’s been quiet since November, but now sings forth with spring. 

Ginger’s tiny little vines of lavender flowers twist and wind around the nearby shrubs before reaching up to nearly touch the eaves.  If you get in close, you’ll find the air is filled with the exotic fragrance of ginger flowers.  

 

Hibiscus Flowers

My hibiscus shrubs made it safely through another winter in good form thanks to a limited number of cold winter days. 

They’re now in full glory--busy producing new flowers each new day.  I  glance up from my computer and see sweet tropical shades in red, pink and coral defining the edges of our gardens.  To me, hibiscus blooms always bring feelings of happiness into the garden landscape. 

Roses

It was 5 months ago that Betsy moved and left me with her rose garden.   She and her family nurtured roses on that grove land for 28 years, then last October before she left, Betsy dug them up and brought every last one of them to me. 

It was a wonderful gift, but one that brought fear and terror into my heart all winter.  If her roses didn’t thrive after this tough relocation, I’d feel responsible—and down right awful.   I have so much emotion tied up in one rose garden! 

But Betsy’s roses survived--and I found the first flowers are blooming this very day.   

Here on this privileged spot in our wide open landscape, the old grove roses raise their branches high and testify to the beauty of friendship.   

- Sanne Collins

   From the Ranch in Florida

 

What’s Been Keeping Me Busy Lately

Love Those Wide Open Spaces is a blog designed to follow my daily life as a freelance writer and rancher.  It’s a life full of constant change and a wide scope of interests.

Freelance writing, by its definition, requires the ability to write on a variety of subjects, to juggle many assignments during the times of plenty, and to fill the void when checks are slow.   That said, I’m always writing.

Much of my work is done for others such as corporations, websites, or articles penned under another’s name.  I’ve sold the rights to these works, so they can’t be shared. 

However, many of my projects are available under my own name and can be read right here on the web.    

 You can click on either the site or the story below to see them.

Check out what’s been keeping me busy lately!

Rural Florida Living  
Famous Floridian Friday: Tom Petty, Rock Legend and Florida Native 
The Alligator Snapping Turtle - Florida's Largest Freshwater Turtle  
Fort Mose in St. Augustine, Florida - The First Free African Settlement in the US 
The Real Florida Run Series      

Florida Outdoors: What You Can See in February
Hillsborough River State Park - Where History and Natural Beauty Converge  

City to Country - A Rural Florida Adventure     
We Learn What to Look for When Buying Hay  

A Field Full of Babies

Love Those Wide Open Spaces 
Mudfest in Okeechobee 
Trading Treasures - Pepper Jam
Super Bowl Party 

Winter Weather 
The Project's Over 

Florida: Just For Fun!
Things to Do in Florida This Weekend - Friday, February 8th thru Sunday, February 10th 

Things to Do This Weekend in Florida - Feb 1 thru Feb 3 

Sanne On Squidoo Blog 
How to Get Traffic to New Articles on Squidoo
What Can I Write About on Squidoo?
Have You Squidoo'ed? 

@SanneCollins 2013