Behind the Scenes at the 7 MSN

Hi Carolynn here, aka A Glowing Ember. As some of you know, I've been visiting Linda and her herd for the last couple of days and she asked me if I'd stop by here and say a few words.

I know you've come over here to see her, so why don't I share a few things about her with you that you may not already know.

She gets up at dawn every day and attends to the needs of her herd before making her morning cup of coffee, taken with half & half and a tsp. of sugar in a 7 MSN mug, of course.

Her animals are all extremely laid back and adore her. Smooch can be a little excitable but it's all very well intentioned and, after all, she has a very important job to do watching over the place.

In fact, Smooch spent the night on a comfortable chair in my bedroom last night. I'm not sure if she was keeping me company or keeping an eye on me. I'd prefer to think it was because she enjoys my company that much. It's mutual, I assure you.

Linda is very self-sufficient and takes everything in stride.

She tells me it's a family tradition to try out new recipies on house guests. She's an excellent cook and everything she's tested on served me not only smells delicious, but tastes wonderful, too.

She refers to the job she left in Washington D.C. as her "real" job because she loves what she's doing now so much that it doesn't feel like work. Would that we were all that fortunate...

She's adventerous and loves to explore. She also loves her neighbourhood and is proud to show off its many and varied highlights. (Just as an aside, I'll be sharing more about our adventures over at my place when I get back home.)

She hasn't met a jalapeno pepper she doesn't like and she makes a wicked margarita.

She thanks her chickens, by name, every time they lay an egg for her.

She won't reveal her middle name to anyone, even after several adult beverages and a great deal of peer pressure. Trust me. She's not givin' it up.

Every spring, she makes sure there's lots of mud around the water trough so the swallows will have enough to do house repairs on their nests.Linda is a woman after my own heart and most respects those people who care about the welfare of animals. She prefers her own company and that of her herd to most creatures of the two-legged variety, so, I'm extremely honoured that she has so graciously opened her home to me and made me feel so incredibly welcome.