A busy week ahead of us...

We have a lot of stuff to do before we make our trip down to FL. I still don't even know what day we're leaving but we'll figure it out as the weekend draws nearer. Even though we weren't home much this weekend, we did have a good time.

Friday's drive home from work proved to be very nice. It was hot outside but clouds were moving in so there was a cool breeze blowing as I drove along. We ended up at Pee Wee's Place and stayed there for a few hours. She actually had a pretty good crowd for a Friday night and my friend Claudia came in so I had someone to talk to while Wally visited with the guys he knows. We were home early because we wanted to get up early Saturday morning and go for a motorcycle ride before it would get too hot.

We got up early and had breakfast, we watered and fertilized the garden and I hung some clothes on the line. In this heat they're practically dry by the time I get done hanging all of them. I imagine we're realizing a pretty good monetary savings on our electric bill by going this route, not to mention how good the clothes feel and smell. The girls at the cook-out were certainly impressed by the pulley system Wally has set up for me. I just stand at the corner of the back porch and pull the line towards me as I take the clothes off. As I hang them up, I just push the line out towards the trees. I never have to step on the ground unless I drop a clothespin, which I regularly do. lol  But it does make it easier not having to drag the clothes basket down the line as I hang them. To top it off, I'm standing in the shade of the porch :)  Love it!

I loaded us up with sunscreen and bottled water and off we went. Since we were out pretty early in the morning, it was nice and cool and shady riding along those curvy roads. You have to wear a helmet here and that takes some getting used to again. I'm constantly reaching up to scratch my head or my fix my ponytail and all I get is a bonk in the helmet! You would think I'd get used to it...  It is hotter to have the helmet on but the tangles in my hair are greatly reduced. If you have ever brushed out hair after being on a motorcycle, you know it's worth it just for that. Forget brushing it dry - I usually wet it, condition it, then comb it and then wash and condition again. With the helmet on I can just wash it as always with very few tangles to deal with.

We rode around for a while and Wally pointed out some highlights of the places we saw, old iron bridges, the shortcut to the Mennonite's, a CSA Farm that I had read about on the internet but wasn't sure where it was. Around 11:00 we stopped in to have lunch at Logan's Steakhouse. We ended up with just an appetizer of wings. It was a combo plate where we had some spicy bbq wings, some garlic Parmesan and some regular hot wings. They were just okay. I wouldn't order them again. But then you have to realize that my mindset for wings is always based on the ones they serve at Pretzels. In my opinion, there are none better. I've tried a bunch of them too. Wings N Things used to have good ones but they have long since closed down.

After lunch we headed back to the cabin and I was able to get some long overdue chores taken care of. Of course the clothes were dry so I brought them in and hung out another load. I cleaned the downstairs bathroom and wiped down the shelves in the refrigerator. I gently tore the leaves from the stems of the kale that came in my CSA basket and rinsed it in cold water a couple times. It wasn't all that dirty but they say you should do it anyway so I did. I bagged up the stems for the horses. From what I've read the kale is best cooked like spinach. I'll probably wilt it down in some chicken or beef broth and then put the butter and garlic on it to finish it up.

I filled the water bucket for the animals (no bunny today) and fed the horses some carrots. They were pretty clear in that they wanted some sweet feed to go along with those carrots as they kept walking off towards the feeding pen every time I would give them one.  Smokey wouldn't come to me for a carrot so I tossed his on the ground. I won't usually do that because Wally says I have to make him come to me but I could tell it wasn't going to be one of those days. Every now and then it's okay to toss his treats on the ground but you really can't make a habit of it or he'll never come to you.

So off I went to the feeding pens. We have started tying up the horses when we feed them so they get used to waiting for us should we ever have time to climb on their backs and go for a ride. One day...  Well, tying them is easy enough for Wally because they're used to him doing it. I was a little intimidated to say the least. They know they're getting fed so they get a little antsy and Rebel will sometimes even nudge you with his nose. It's pretty cool but they are big animals so I do have to be careful walking around them.

I got my bucket of sweet feed and by this time they were already in their places. I didn't have to call them because they followed me out there after they finished their carrots. I stay on the back side of the fence until I get more comfortable with feeding them by myself - Wally just walks right up to their trough and dumps the feed in. They like to stick their heads in the bucket and they each want to be first so they aren't really concerned with whether or not they step on me. I'm just not going on that side yet :)  call me chicken if you want, bock bock bock!

I held the bucket up so rebel could get some and then poured some into his trough. While he was eating I clipped his lead rope to his halter so he couldn't go anywhere. Smokey waited patiently by his bucket (amazingly enough) and even let me pet him before I gave him the bucket to get a sample. I was in shock. I reached down to get his bucket and he didn't even flinch - he normally will take off or spin out of the way at the slightest movement.

I pet him again and then poured the rest of the feed into his bucket. While he ate, I clipped his rope to his halter too. Unbelievable how well he acted. I've seen him really show out but not this time. He was as calm as I've ever seen him. I reached out to pet him on the neck and shoulders and he just stood right there and let me. huh! So there... lol   I know it probably won't happen again for a while but it was nice being out there in the woods with two very well-behaved horses. Don't get me wrong, I was still on my side of the fence but I felt like maybe they're actually getting more used to me taking care of them.

Later on we decided to head over to Pee Wee's for a little while and before we left I went and set them free from their ropes - This I can do from their side of the fence because, well, they're tied up! LOL  I unhooked Rebel first and then Smokey and then Wally always tells them to go play. I petted each of them once more and told them to go play. They took off like kids in a candy store!  Running, bucking and tossing their manes and tails. It was a sight to see for sure! Rebel bucked up so high all for feet came off the ground. I'm sure they put on the show for me in thanks of having let them go...  right?

Pee Wee's was crowded again - a bike run had her place as a stop on their route so that was pretty cool. Wally knew most of the group and I met a couple new people. I'm not the social butterfly Neccy is so a couple of new names was enough for me. I sat at the bar and talked to Daryl and was perfectly content doing so. Daryl gave me some zucchini squash that Claudia had given him. He said he likes it but never has time to cook it. I'll be making a squash casserole out of these guys and maybe even fry some up since there's so much of it. I took a picture of them so you can see how huge they are. Claudia did a good job! She said she has more for me if I want it, we just hadn't seen each other in over a week. Maybe I'll try my hand at zucchini bread... me and baking have never really gotten along but it won't hurt to try.

We were invited to go on a fishing trip early Sunday so we didn't stay late Saturday night either. I made some tostadas for dinner and made my list of things to get from the store for the squash casserole and all the other recipes I plan to make this week. I gave up on the soft corn tortillas. They just tear apart no matter how I heat them up. I found them pre-cooked and packaged in the same section of the store where the soft tortillas are. These were much easier to use and stayed together to make them easier to eat as well. I layered on the fat free re-fried beans, the hamburger meat seasoned with taco sauce, the cheese, lettuce and salsa. hmmmmmm yummy! Crunchy but not falling apart, soft warm beans, spicy meat and melted cheese. Ooh la la and all that good stuff, we stuffed ourselves on those things!  LOL we didn't even consider that this might be a problem on the boat the next day... ha ha ha  We were in bed before dark - but we had been up since about 5 so we figured it was justified.

The fishing trip was wonderful. Curt, Beverly and their daughter Tenesha were very gracious boat hosts. Everything was ready when we got there except loading what we had into the coolers. I made salsa and she had picked up some lunch meat and bread. The guys were in charge of the beer and ice. Of course I brought two big bottles of water from the house so I wouldn't get dehydrated. Daryl came along too and he did the driving to start with. As we headed out from the dock, it was foggy and cool. It was so foggy, it was hard to see where we were going but Daryl has been on this river his whole life and knew right where to take us. I got some pictures on Wally's phone. I'll post them when he sends them to me. Daryl put us on some fish pretty quick like and you'll never guess who caught the first one.... that's right, lil old me :)  It was a little white catfish (which is what we were there for) and pretty darn exciting. I haven't caught fish in a long, long time except those little ones in the pond by the cabin. They aren't big enough to keep but this guy was.

They all gave me credit for the first fish but shortly thereafter Wally got the credit for the biggest fish. Curt caught one too but his was little like mine. Any way we had three good size fish in the bucket within about an hour or so of being on the water. Unfortunately, that was all we caught. Not for lack of trying. I had one on my line that almost bent the pole back on itself but I lost it. They said I must not have had the hook set good since it got away. Who knows? From the way it was pulling on my line, I'm not sure I could get it in if it hadn't gotten away... Beverly was right there to help since the guys were in the water swimming. They took credit for running the fish my way of course. lol 

We fished, had lunch, re-applied sunscreen and swam in the river. It was refreshingly cool as we neared the heat of the day. Curt put the top up on the boat so I wouldn't get burned. Everyone else already had a tan and they wanted to get more tan. Not me - I'm good being skin cancer free. I'm sure I got some sun but not like they did. I wore a hat all day too so the top of my head wouldn't get burned. Only as we were headed in for the day did I think to ask what river we were on. Turns out it was the Tennessee river! That just made it all the more cool. We decided we had to do this again sometime soon even though we were hot, tired and wet as we cleaned out the boat (ladies), loaded it on the trailer (men) and headed for home.

We were both too tired and river-worn to stop and get anything to eat so while Wally got cleaned up, I made us grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and served them with our leftover potato salad. I pulled in my clothes from the line, got my shower and headed for bed. I was exhausted. It's been a long time since I was on the water all day and it sure did feel good. We watched a couple episodes of Criminal Minds - two I had never seen and crashed out.

Up at 4am, out of bed and ready for work by 5am I remembered that I had a pot roast thawed that needed to go in the crock pot... I really wanted to leave early today so I could go pick up my CSA basket but it looks like Wally will have to get it for me this week. I didn't get to work until 6:20am. I cleaned and chopped up some carrots and onions, seasoned the meat and got it set on low in the pot. I have no expectation that it will be as good as the grass-fed roast we had last week but it'll have to do until I can either get my own cow or find a less expensive grass-fed beef supplier.

Getting my own cow seems to be the best deal as Curt knows a guy who sells them for $300.00. It's a 600 lb cow so that's just .50 a pound. His brother has a processing business so we can get them processed for free, we just have to trailer them to West TN for it to be done. A freezer full of beef, bones for broth and some for the dogs and even the tongue for me and the kids...I can't wait! It's not like we don't have plenty of pasture to raise them on :) :) :)   (next I'll work on getting chickens...)

The veggies are doing really well and the flowers have just started to show. We have had to hand water though since it doesn't rain quite enough to sustain them. On the other hand, my herbs are growing like weeds even without the rain! The sage is being dried for Thanksgiving stuffing, the dill is going into some homemade ranch dressing, the basil I just lay across the farmer's market tomatoes and the thyme was used this morning to flavor the beef. I have lots left!

I wrote a letter to Ricky Kline and received one back from him the other day. He's so funny even considering where he is right now, still the same old Ricky. If you have the time and are so inclined I'm sure he would like to hear from you too. Hopefully, he'll be home soon.

I got my first edition of Southern Living magazine with all the things I need to do for my Tennessee garden. I was so excited to see the tips and time lines - what a big help knowing what to plant when for this new zone I'm living in. I won't be throwing away these issues any time soon! Hopefully my garden will be well planted throughout all the seasons - even holly will grown in the winter or at least stay green. The red berries will provide food for the birds and something pretty for us to look at while we hang out inside by the fire. But it's too soon for that kind of writing!

Hope you have a good Monday - I know you're sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation of what will be in my next CSA basket...I sure am! 

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."- Margaret Atwood