I'm baaaaaaaaack!!

It was really nice visiting with everyone but I sure was glad to get back home. Remember the John Denver song, "Back Home Again?" I felt like singing it as soon as we got off the interstate! lol too bad I couldn't remember the words...

I visited with the kids, Aunt Karen and Uncle Dee, Mom, Neccy, Jack and Kain and everyone at the Oriole's so I think that covered just about everyone. Let me say that's not an easy thing to do with so few days to do it in.

We aren't used to running wide open like that so needless to say, we were exhausted by the time we got home. Then we had to start in on party preparations as we had people coming over for a 4th of July cookout. We had just a small crowd this time but it was still fun. Never as much fun as when Dizzy Debbie is there...Daryl cooked chickens in the smoker and corn on the grill, I made my salsa with shrimp in it this time, some pea salad, some cucumber and tomato salad and Claudia brought a watermelon. We had plenty of good food, good people, good (?) karaoke and perfect weather, what more can you ask for?

Of course I went to bed earlier than anyone else! I just can't hang with the big dogs anymore. On the good side, I felt just fine the next morning while some others weren't quite up to par. I made a breakfast casserole and dug out the coffee pot for those who partake. Claudia found the coffee and took care of that. Everyone who came to the party, stayed over. No one wanted to drive on a holiday weekend when there are road blocks around every corner.

We got everything all cleaned up and the guys started playing horseshoes while the girls sat in the shade and talked about recipes, gardening, birds and men. Beverly, Claudia and I all have lots of cookbooks so we decided we're going to swap them out come winter when we can't get out in the yard. I'll be plowing through those sure enough and you'll get to hear all the new recipe ideas and trials and errors :)

When it started getting kind of warm out, we loaded up and went to the swimming hole. It's a rough road getting there but well worth the trip. Before the storm it wasn't so bad but now there are big ruts in the road and trees down blocking the way. It's just beautiful to see - the water is crystal clear and the trees hang over just enough to provide shade when you need it. The side is all stone and you can climb up and jump in if you so desire - I didn't. It's not deep enough to be over Wally's head but it's perfect for jumping in and cooling off when the heat of the day is sapping your strength. I think I got into some chiggers because the next day I had little, red, itchy bumps all over me. Claudia said the same thing. So we painted our spots with nail polish and all is well. Poison ivy doesn't seem to bother me but those chiggers are something else!

I have my first cucumber on the vine! It's just a little one but it's growing bigger every day. I now know which plants are cucumbers and which are squash :) All the plants look great and the cucumbers have runners coming off in all directions. Can't wait for more! The squash look really good too but so far just a bunch of flowers on them. I didn't even know I had the cucumber on the vine. I was showing the garden to Claudia and Beverly and Claudia noticed it on the ground. I was so excited! I'm not sure they 'get me' as Dizzy Debbie would say but they could tell how happy it made me - lol. 

Next we worked on the hummingbird feeder. Apparently I was doing it all wrong... surprise, surprise. The girls informed me that the red food coloring doesn't actually draw the birds to the feeder. The sweet smell of the sugar is the draw. They also told me my water was probably sour since it had been hanging there for so long. Little did I know, it has to be changed every couple of days. It sure did stink too - no wonder I had no birds. That was Sunday. I washed the feeder, put clean water in and lots of sugar. We hung it back up and low and behold, yesterday there was a hummingbird on it! Wally said it was back today too... how bout them apples? I have a cucumber and a hummingbird within a matter of days :)  Life's good huh?

The tomato plants are coming along really well. I was very surprised at how big they got in just the few days we were gone. Jimbo ate the top off another one but I think it will still survive. It's just going to be stunted somewhat. After that happened, the guys fenced in the garden so he won't be able to wander in there anymore. I know it was accidental because otherwise, he would have eaten all of them. On our way home from FL, we stopped at Jay and Teri's to pick up a tomato plant that she had set aside for me. It is a German tomato and promises to be very prolific. There are probably 20 blooms on it and it went through some trauma just via the 5 hour car ride to get here. I can't remember the name of it but Teri very nicely left the tag in with it so I'll have it tomorrow or the next day in case you want to look it up.

I grew one in FL a few years back and as I recall (I can't recall much but I do recall my tomato plants... ha ha) it put out some of the juiciest tomatoes I've ever tasted. They were almost a purple color and really big. The plant grew so tall I had to tie it to the tree branches to hold it up.

Saturday we had such a nice breeze coming off the hill it felt like the beginning of spring again. We shut the air off until about 4 in the afternoon. While the weather did cool off over the weekend, for the next few days it promises to be extremely hot. I think today it's supposed to hit 97. I hope the guys are drinking plenty of water while they work outside.

Yesterday Daryl finished putting the stone on the grill and Daniel and Wally went and got some tree saplings to plant along the driveway. They look so cool! The leaves are purple right now and I'm not really sure if they change or not but even if they don't, they look good the way they are. Claudia brought me some hollyhock seeds from her flower garden and I'm planning to put them in the ground around an old tree stump up by the gate.

Jimbo is doing really well. He's not fat by any means but it's not for lack of trying. He eats and eats and eats all day long. I wouldn't be surprised if he ate all night long too. lol  He is starting to fill out a little bit in the shoulder and rib areas but his backbone is still very prominent. It's just going to take some time. He likes watermelon rinds and cucumber peels but mostly he just likes being left alone to his grass eating so that's what we do.

Smokey and Rebel were down at the bottom of the hill while we were gone but surprised us all by showing up Saturday for the party. They must have heard the music and decided to come see what they were missing. I'm sure they were glad they came up because they were getting fed all kinds of stuff. Watermelon, corn, cantaloupe, chips... lol  They got a wild hair for a few minutes and just ran around and around the cabin for no reason we could see. Maybe they were just showing off for our guests?

My CSA baskets were awesome!! Claudia picked up one for me on the Monday we were in FL. It had summer squash, cucumbers, garlic, a head of regular cabbage, a bunch of carrots and a couple heads of lettuce. The one I picked up this past Monday had more squash (getting the canner out this weekend!), cucumbers, fresh dill, beets, two heads of lettuce, a container of cherry tomatoes, red onions (that look like scallions?) and a bunch of huge sunflowers! I just love it!

The lettuces go first because I use them in my salad every day. The salad now has fresh beets instead of canned (can I ever go back to canned? ugh), farm fresh cucumbers and yes, they do taste a lot different, radishes from the vegetable stand, fresh green beans (from Teri) and the little cherry tomatoes from the basket. I throw in some black olives and salad peppers to round it out. I sometimes add a hard boiled egg too. Sadly, today I forgot the egg :(

Daryl has been keeping me in fresh eggs since I got here. I think I may have bought one dozen and all the rest have come from him. I don't know who his connection is but I'm sure glad to be the recipient of all those brown eggs. I don't even have to tell you the difference in the taste and texture of these eggs compared to pasteurized eggs. My oh my!! He gave me a bag full of cucumbers too so I'm going to try my luck at pickles. I don't have a hot water canner so I'll have to invest in one of those. I hear they have them at the Tractor Supply store and it just happens to be on my way home from work :)  yeah, that's the ticket! I'll let you know if they turn out to be edible.. ha ha ha

With all this squash coming my way I have made a squash casserole from a recipe given to me by a really sweet lady named Marie. She goes to Pee Wee's and heard I had a bunch of squash so she sent the recipe my way. She reminds me a little of Bernice. Which, by the way, if you see Marvin and Bernice please tell them I said hi and give them a hug for me. This recipe has creamed corn in it. I didn't think I would like it because I'm not a big fan of creamed corn but it was sooooooo good! The corn added a sweetness to it that made it taste almost like dessert. The topping was crushed up ritz crackers (whole wheat of course) mixed with melted butter - smile.

So while I'm gardening, cooking, canning vegetable, hanging my clothes on the line and enjoying the hummingbirds and breezes off the hill, I hope you're making your dreams come true too! There's no time like the present and besides, haven't we learned that life is too short?

 "You can never do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late." Unknown Author