Hello everyone, I hope this finds you well.🤗 I wanted to share with y'all what I received for Christmas from my brother. It was truly unexpected and made me jump, holler then tear up when I saw it.
Short backstory..
For Thanksgiving, my parents usually traveled from Houston to my aunt's house in Arkansas. This past Thanksgiving my brother joined them. First time in years he's been back to Arkansas. While in town for the few days they were there, one of those days they drove down to our house to visit and show my brother where we had moved to.
I showed my brother around (we've been offered to buy where we're living, waiting on appraisal)
Anyways, I was telling/showing my brother our chickens, the property lines etc.
And we talked about the garden I had this past summer. I told him how blessed and fortunate I was one of my son's friends had come and disked up the ground for me so I could plant. I was explaining what I was doing with the leaves since we've added a fence around the garden. Not wanting to remove part of our makeshift fence or inconvenience anyone. I've been filling in the garden area with leaves and pine straw with my little grandsons help. He's the wagon puller🥰 Throwing scraps in on them, allowing the chickens to get in there and scratch around. Also, I have some Lyme and of course chicken manure (haven't added either yet). Anyways,(I tend to ramble 🤪🤣)..He asked how I kept it weeded and I explained I used a hoe and kept it chopped back. (Not perfect, there were times I thought it was going to be completely overgrown but eventually I'd get it back in control again. I'd also been throwing cardboard down in between rows to help stop the weeds..
Anyways, my plan was to fill in the entire garden area so by spring maybe I could plant in it and it'd be easier for me vs asking someone to come disk it, getting their tractor here, tearing fences down etc
The bottom half of the garden area
"Heavy work"for Micah, he helps Mimi
Top half of the garden area
This was the end I had started filling in first. I have completed all but maybe 2 wagon fulls on this end.
Ok all caught up..
For Christmas, my parents traveled again to Arkansas, but for the first time ever my aunt's, Uncle and parents came here and ate Christmas lunch with us. After eating, I didn't realize my mom asked my boys and husband to go get the box from the back of the truck and bring it in.
I'm talking and not paying attention, when I hear my mom say " Rachael, turn around and look at what your brother sent you"
I turn and see this big brown cardboard box just sitting there. I'm confused like where's that been, trying to read from the distance I was at ... When I saw the picture on the box. Y'all it was a tiller!! I jumped, and screamed then teared up and cried for joy.🥹 It made my aunt's and mom tear up too seeing my reaction🥹
My mom told me how that's all my brother could talk about on the way back to Texas, was how hard I worked on the garden, and how I'm 4 years older than him and he wouldn't do it🤦🤪 (I'll be 54 in less than 2 months)
Anyways, I'm extremely grateful for it, and can hardly wait to use it.
I see a big ole pea patch in my future, plus other goodies🫛🥬🥦🌽🧅🥕🍅🥒🌶️🫑🍆🧄🥔
My wonderful husband put it together for me. Thank you 
