As I've said many times before and will continue to say "it's never a dull moment with Dizzy Debbie around." This is so very true :) Yesterday, Wally took her to the Diner for breakfast. She raved about their coffee and thoroughly enjoyed her breakfast. From there they took the Bronco to the barn to figure out something with the alternator...don't ask me what...Wally got it fixed and they headed to the parts store to pick up parts he needs to start working on the old gold (ear wax) truck.
No one had what he needed so he ordered the parts and will pick them up today. With time on their hands they headed over to Pee Wee's Place where Debbie met Joe (who I named my Joe-veralls after) and a couple other guys. She told Wally that Pee Wee's aint' where she's going to meet her next ex! LOL She's so funny. Day time hours at Pee Wee's are slow so we'll take her back Wednesday night when there's a pretty good crowd. I don't think she's going to meet her next ex on Wednesday either but she'll have fun hanging with the locals and listening to their stories. I've no doubt in my mind that they will have fun hanging out with her! Look out Centerville Dizzy Debbie is in town!!
After the visit to Pee Wee's, Wally took her down Mill Creek Road. There's a sign posted that the road is closed due to the flood of last year. Well, they were in the Bronco so they decided to try it anyway. Wally said it was a mess out there but they locked in the 4 wheel drive and cruised right on through. Debbie was amazed and asked him to get her a truck just like that...! She said the truck was awesome. I said only because Wally made it what it is...I told her the story of how it came together (she doesn't read the blog) and she was even more amazed!
They drove the back roads and came upon a creek where Debbie decided to get her feet wet. As she stood there barefooted, letting the cool, spring water flow over her feet, Wally hollered "Snake!!" and proceeded to scoop her up and out of that water before the big, black water moccasin could get after her. She said she thought he was joking with her is why she didn't get out of the water. When he grabbed her out, she realized he wasn't kidding. When she looked in the water, she said it scared the crap out of her! I bet it did.
The snakes are beginning to come out from hybernation and I've seen several on the roads. Wally has run over a few. If it's just a black snake, we're not so concerned. They eat rodents and other pesky critters and they aren't poisonous if they do happen to bite. Not that I'm getting that close if I can help it! The poisonous snakes are the ones we'll kill whenever we have a chance to. Please - if anyone out there is a snake lover - I have to say that's really weird. They serve no purpose and can be so dangerous. Besides, look at all the constrictors that are taking over the Everglades. They are even so big as to kill alligators and eat them. I don't see any need for that kind of snake on this earth. Did you know that there are no snakes in Ireland? Handy little piece of information there...
But I digress... back to Debbie's visit. They drove through creeks and mud holes and made their way back home just shortly after I had arrived. I had time to take pictures of the tractor in with the wild flowers and pet the puppies before I heard them coming up the driveway. I shoo'ed the roosters off the back porch and then went inside to start seasoning the pork. They came in and told me all that I've told you here. They had a busy day and a fun day and Debbie now wishes she could stay longer...I gotta wonder how Wally feels about that...lol! Just Kidding :)
Wally let the puppies go free and they were just WILD over Debbie. They circled her, licked her, rubbed up against her and could hardly stand it until she reached down to pet them. I'm pretty much chopped liver at this point unless I have food in my hands. LOL that's okay, it's so cute to watch.
Wally cooked the pork on the grill while I heated up the mixed greens and what was left of the green beans and corn from the night before. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing but there was no more rain until later up in the night. We had our dinner at the table inside and were once again fully sated and beginning to get sleepy. It's hard to stay awake here for some reason. I still haven't figured it out.
When the kitchen was cleaned up and everything set out for her to have coffee in the morning, we stood on the back porch and watched while the roosters performed their nightly ritual of putting themselves to bed. They flew up on the hitching post and made their strange little sounds which Debbie says sounds like someone's stomach growling only really loud! That's a pretty good description of it actually :) Before long they started flying up into the tree one by one. They must not have gone in the right order because one kept knocking the others out of the tree. Before long they were cock-a-doodle-doing and snuggling up together and I told her they would quiet down for the night in another few minutes. Sure enough, a couple more cock-a-doodle-doos and they were done. She finally got to see what I get such a kick out of! I'm not sure it will be enough for her to forgive them their morning crowing though... LOL!
Bedtime for us wasn't far behind the roosters. She said she would be up for a couple more hours but it was really only about a half hour before she too hit the hay...
As you can see from the new pictures on the flickr site, I have a really pretty blooming bush on the side of the driveway. I don't know what it is but it looks kind of like the wild roses that bloom over by my garden. The only differences are that the wild roses are all pink and this one is white and the wild roses don't get nearly as big as this bush/shrub has gotten. I sent pictures to Arlene and Teri to see what they think it might be. Meanwhile, feel free to check out the pictures and send your suggestions too...Looks like I have another mystery plant on my hands for 2011... that's a good thing :)
The wind began to howl somewhere around 1 AM and didn't stop until about 2:30. I stayed awake for most of it as it's so loud that I'm hard put to go back to sleep. This sound does not in any way bother either Wally or Dizzy Debbie. They both slept through all of it...whatever! lol
First I heard the rain sprinkling on the tin roof. That's really pretty calming and will eventually lull me to sleep. The wind came in directly behind that and as the wind picked up so did the rain until it was so loud in my ears, I could hear nothing else. There were no house sounds at all. I knew there were tornado warnings out so I watched the new as they covered the storm in all its intensity. The screen was red from Lyles to Howenwald which spans from our house past Pee Wee's. It was a heck of a storm and it was so big that it took and hour or so to pass. The news people said it was moving 60 miles per hour. Whew that's fast!
This morning when I left for work it was still raining. As I look out my window now at 11:00 am, there's no rain - just sunshine and bright green trees for all the world to see. The trees are swaying in the wind and the storm cloud have moved on over to the plateau. I'm hoping this will last at least until I get home...more rain and more storms are predicted for tonight and tomorrow.
Don't forget I'm out of the office Wednesday and Thursday. I'll try to get a posting on here Friday to include Debbie's final days in Tennessee. I hope you're having a good week. If it's at all possible, take a few minutes to think of some of the funny things Debbie has done so you'll know what it's like for us to have her here. :) Gotta love her!
"A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world." ~Leo Buscaglia
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
In Memory of William Pattishall...
There is a good reason for me not updating the blog. Our dear friend William passed away a week ago today. We left for FL Tuesday and only just arrived home Easter Sunday. While it was good to see everyone, we would have much rather visited under happier circumstances.
Ernie, Shane, Chrystal and Britney will all be in our thoughts as they try to accept the passing of the most important man in their lives. William was such a great guy and he will be missed by all of us. He touched many people and this was never more apparent than when the funeral procession drove through the streets of Apopka. There were so many cars, trucks and motorcycles that we had to have a police escort to the cemetery. I think he would have liked knowing that he stopped traffic on highway 436 in a really big way :)
At the corner of Wekiva Springs Rd. and 436 William's son, Shane, did a burn-out in William's truck. He smoked the tires so much so that anyone behind him would be completely engulfed...that person happened to be Wally on the motorcycle! Wally said even though he couldn't see a thing through all that smoke, he figured William would have been laughing his ass off (excuse the language - it was a direct quote) to see that. Yeah - he sure would have!
I have to say thanks to Victor. He was a great friend to William and he gave the eulogy. While it proved to be a difficult undertaking, Vic pulled it off in a grand manner. He made us cry and made us laugh and showed us that it was possible to do so even under the most dire of situations.
Afterwards everyone went over to Connie & Bobby's house where there was tons of food (Bev - thanks again for bringing all that chicken - you're always so considerate that way), coolers of soda, bottles of water and plenty of beer. We saw old friends and met some new ones. We rang the big dinner bell in Williams honor and lit off fireworks in a grand finale gesture. The younger kids swam in the pool, the older kids played that bag toss game and the adults told stories and got caught up on the happenings in each others lives.
Williams passing brings home the reason why I moved to Tennessee. Life is too short. Make sure you're doing what makes YOU happy because you just never know what lies around the corner for you. May our dear friend Ernie somehow find comfort to get her through this difficult time. May William's children live their lives fully and in such a way that he would be proud. May our dear friend William rest in peace.
Life goes on here as days go by and when we arrived at our gate we found that a huge tree had fallen across the driveway. One of the branches completely crushed the gate and the trunk of the tree blocked the driveway. The electric company had been out and had cut the tree into pieces but they left part of it in the way. I don't know why they even bothered doing what they did as it was no help to us to find this huge mess in the driveway. They could have at least moved the part that blocked us from getting in.
We brought Dizzy Debbie with us since she was in FL and had planned to be here Tuesday. The trip in my little car was anything but comfortable for any of us. We drove to Atlanta where we stayed the night with Jay and Teri. I think I slept that night for the first time since hearing about William. I didn't get out of bed until 10:30. I felt refreshed, revived and ready to get back home as soon as possible.
The car was packed so tightly you couldn't slip a hair in it and we were off to TN via I-75, I-24 and the new I-840. From 840 we took back roads. I knew I was close to home when the interstate changed to cow pastures, barns and silos and absolutely no traffic. We drove in silence for a few miles as we all looked upon the beauty of spring in the hills of Tennessee and remembered our friends in FL.
Since the driveway was blocked, we got out and walked up to the house so we could get the 4 wheelers to go to the barn to get the chain saw and the snaking tongs. After 5 hours of driving, the walk wasn't so bad at all. We rather enjoyed it. The weather was nice, a breeze was blowing, it smelled wonderful and our animals were waiting for us.
The puppies started barking as soon as they heard us coming, the roosters were in the yard and the old dogs shook the dust off as they made their way out from under the back porch. We were home :) and I was never so glad to be there. We hopped on the 4 wheelers and headed for the barn. We got everything we needed to get that big old tree out of the way and got to work on cutting it up and moving it up to the log splitter.
After the tree was dealt with, we unloaded my car. Soooooooo much stuff to unload since we now had our extra passenger and her stuff. I still have more to unpack but thankfully, Debbie is doing the laundry for me so that's a big time saver. I hope she knows how to hang clothes on the line! LOL Hey, not everyone does, you know? Not to mention the fact that I might be just a little bit picky about how they are hung out... I'm sure you would never guess that about me :) hahahahaha
I took out steaks, green beans and corn for dinner and while the steaks thawed, I took Debbie riding on the trails. She had a blast! Her face was all smiles the whole time! It won't be long before she's on it again today...She now calls me "Daredevil Darcy" because of how I drove through those woods. Admittedly I wasn't very confident on the 4 wheelers last year. I've come a long way! The hills are high so you have to build up speed before you get going upward. The same hills going down require you to lightly hold the brake. There are trees down from the storms so we have to avoid them and there are always new rocks in the path. I don't know how the rocks get there but I assume they are like the ones in my garden...they just grow there somehow! LOL hahaha
Wally cooked the steaks on the grill while the beans and corn simmered on the stove. We were quite hungry after our drive from Atlanta, the clearing of the driveway and the ride on the 4 wheelers so when we sat down to eat, all was quiet except for forks picking up bites and mmm mmm good comments about the dinner. The steaks had a nice crunchy edge that we were hard pressed to make Dizzy leave alone. We didn't mind her eating that crunchy bite from her own steak, indeed we just wanted her to let us eat ours as well. lol!
I made the Italian style green beans with my usual seasoning of beef bouillon and garlic powder and Debbie loved them that way. I thought she had them before but she said no, she would remember if she had. Amazingly we had leftovers. We had a spoonful of corn, a smaller spoonful of green beans and a little piece of steak that probably got eaten at some point this morning if it didn't get eaten last night after we went to bed....Debbie.
For dinner tonight I have pork tenderloin thawing in the refrigerator. It's the tenderloin we got from the meat place during the winter. It's sliced into individual servings and then they run it through a tenderizer. It looks like a cube steak but it's pork. It is wonderfully tender (hence the name hahahaha) and when it's cooked quickly in a hot skillet, it comes out just as juicy as can be. I think we'll have that with some mashed sweet potatoes and maybe some turnip greens. Maybe I'll trade out the turnip greens for some of my canned yellow squash from last year. I think I have a few jars of that left and I know Debbie likes squash.
While we were in FL we rode the motorcycle over to Johnny & Lisa's place in Edgewater, FL. We took I-4 to the first Deltona exit and then followed the road around the lake into Osteen. The lake was choppy and the moss swayed in the overhanging branches of the Live Oaks. The road was lined with palmettos growing wildly on either side and we could smell the swampiness of the ground around us. We got in a really good visit with our friends who showed us their new property and shared what they had been up to in the year that I've been gone.
We stopped by Mom's house and talked with her for a little while. She hasn't opened the bbq pork that we sent home with her but it's canned so it'll keep. She does use the quince preserves that I canned last year. She doesn't eat them, instead she uses them to hold the top down on the cake she bought from Publix! LOL At least Grandma tried them. She agreed with me that they were too tart and that some sort of sweetener needed to be added. Next time, I'll add more sugar while it cooks.
We visited the Oriole's, of course. It was nice to see all our buddies and it was nice to know that nothing had really changed there. Ricky was still calling Bingo on Wednesday, Marcia was still busy as heck on Thursday and even though Kat wasn't at the club, we did see her at the funeral along with Ricky, Marcia, Beverly and Joyce.
Kelly came up and brought Kaylee for me to visit with. Kaylee is really growing up and she is starting to look like a young lady now instead of the little 8 year old kid she was when I left. Marcia had Stacy bring Mikey over so I could see him and he was as sweet as ever. He gave me hugs and kisses galore and told me stories about how well he listens in school. I guess some things do change after all... :)
We saw Derek and got to meet his new girlfriend, Tonya. They seemed pretty happy together. The first thing Derek asked was if I was going to be cooking while I was in town to which Wally quickly replied, "NO." I guess that answered that...I did plan to make some dirty rice for everyone but time got away from me so it never happened. Maybe next time Derek.
Lizzard promised her country fried steak and we'll definitely take her up on that when we come back. I've tried and tried but mine never tastes the same. Hers is tender as can be, crunchy on the outside, juicy in the middle and tastes like grandma made it. There's just something I'm missing. We both agree that mine is okay but it's not Lizzard's! LizAnn came over and hugged me and expressed her sympathy for us all and then played some really good songs on the jukebox. She never disappoints. Shawna and Chris were there and it was good to see them too. It was good to see everyone but like I said before, I wish it could have been under happier circumstances.
Beverly was incredibly generous with her donation of two huge boxes of fried chicken at Connie's house. It came fresh and hot and we were all hungry and ready to eat when we got there so it was perfectly timed in addition to being very tasty. Thanks so much Bev!
My sister and Jack had me wanting to scoop them up and bring them back with me but alas we had no room in the car! LOL Neccy looked so pretty with her hair dark and straightened and wearing her sexy black top that Connie gave her. There's nothing quite like a hug from a wonderful, considerate, caring man like Jack. For all that he does to help take care of my family I am eternally grateful. Even if he is Ernie's boyfriend :) :) :) (ha ha ha inside joke).
Take time to appreciate the people in your world.
I know I've been skipping around in this posting but there's so much inside that has to come out and it comes to me in the order you're reading it. One thing reminds me of another and not necessarily from the same day. I hope there's no confusion :) I have enough of that in my own head!
Because we had to get that big old tree out of the driveway and unpack the car and visit with the animals and start dinner to thawing, it was quite some time before we arrived at the garden for my inspection to begin. I could see from the back porch that the peas had grown considerably since we last measured them. Short of something eating them before I can pick them, I should have a pretty good harvest from those rows. On Ernie's mama's advice, I'll be blanching and freezing them rather than canning them. She says they will be better if I do it that way and mama always knows best. She did say that if my freezer space was limited, canning them would be the next best option. I'll take inventory before too long :)
I looked for carrots and beets but so far, unless I just don't know what they look like, it appears there are no carrots or beets coming up from that ground space. I continue to check for them daily and there are some leafy green shoots in the rows but I have a feeling those are weeds. I'm not quite ready to give up on them though so I'm having to deal with believing those weeds to be food instead....
The red onions have gotten to be about 10 inches tall as far as the part that's outside the ground. Underneath, I have no idea. Mom said my Dad used to just dig one up and see if it was the size he wanted. That would be easy enough to do. If it's still too small, I can just bury it back and no one will know the difference. Ha!
The little scallions are struggling to do their best and there are quite a few of them in the rows. They are very thin and wispy and it appears they will take some time to reach maturity at this rate. That's okay though. I wouldn't want the red onions and the scallions to all come in at the same time - goodness what would I do with all those onions???? lol - I could send some to Aunt Karen - she loves onions like no one I've ever met before!
Finally, it pleases me to tell you that while we were gone, my bush beans not only sprang from the ground but they grew to about 4 inches when they did come up. Amazing! Certainly I hoped they would be coming up when we got home, but just as certainly I didn't think they would be that big already. What a nice, green, healthy, surprise I got! Soon I'll have to get a fence around that 2nd garden area so the deer won't be able to eat my bean plants or the beans that they will produce. Hmmm does that sound like a job for Dizzy Debbie and I to embark upon??? There's a very good possibility!
We walked across the front yard and saw that the grass seed was growing and before long we'll be able to mow it. The little stalks with more grass seed have emerged but aren't quite ready to spread with the mower. I might get to do that this weekend depending on the rain. Down the driveway I saw that my little pink, purple and white flowers have declined to just a green clump. They don't get cut back so I'll be leaving them as they are but I do need to get the weed eater out there and weed eat in front of the rocks so the weeds don't climb in there and take over. Besides, the weeds just make it look messy to me.
Before we left for FL I noticed the delphinium seeds had sprouted in the little circle by the tree stump. There's a picture on the flickr site if you want to see them. I couldn't resist checking the other little spots where I planted them so down towards the gate I wandered. Sure enough in each of the places where I sprinkled them, little green shoots were clustered together and growing up nicely. I think I made 3 places down one side, sprinkled some in the flower bed by the flag pole and on the other side, I dumped what was left in a rotted tree stump. It had lots of decomposing leaves in a hole on the top so I dumped them in there hoping they would enjoy that rich environment. Many thanks to Teri for her generous donation of the seeds :) and might I add that while we were visiting with her and Jay, she said I could have some of her black irises when the time comes to separate them! They were spectacular!! They are so deep purple that the centers are actually black.
We saw many, many colors and varieties of irises on this trip, from yellow to white to lavender and, of course, Teri's black ones. While I have several of them planted, I have no idea what color they be. I think Claudia said the ones she gave me were blue. The ones I dug up from down at the trailer are a mystery since they were planted by Wally's mom some years ago. I'll be digging up more of those again but for now I have to wait until they are done blooming - assuming they actually will bloom :) hahaha I don't have much confidence in my flower growing abilities do I?
The wild roses were blooming on the side of the dirt road but they haven't started yet at the house. I hope they bloom some before Debbie has to leave - they're so pretty! Gosh, I just hope something blooms before she leaves, she wasn't very impressed with my vegetables.
So that's the update on our trip and the farm. I'll be here tomorrow and then I'm out until Friday after I drop Debbie at the airport. I'm sure to have lots of pictures to add so even if there is no posting, you'll still have something to look at :)
For Ernie and her family:
"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight." ~Kahlil Gibran
Ernie, Shane, Chrystal and Britney will all be in our thoughts as they try to accept the passing of the most important man in their lives. William was such a great guy and he will be missed by all of us. He touched many people and this was never more apparent than when the funeral procession drove through the streets of Apopka. There were so many cars, trucks and motorcycles that we had to have a police escort to the cemetery. I think he would have liked knowing that he stopped traffic on highway 436 in a really big way :)
At the corner of Wekiva Springs Rd. and 436 William's son, Shane, did a burn-out in William's truck. He smoked the tires so much so that anyone behind him would be completely engulfed...that person happened to be Wally on the motorcycle! Wally said even though he couldn't see a thing through all that smoke, he figured William would have been laughing his ass off (excuse the language - it was a direct quote) to see that. Yeah - he sure would have!
I have to say thanks to Victor. He was a great friend to William and he gave the eulogy. While it proved to be a difficult undertaking, Vic pulled it off in a grand manner. He made us cry and made us laugh and showed us that it was possible to do so even under the most dire of situations.
Afterwards everyone went over to Connie & Bobby's house where there was tons of food (Bev - thanks again for bringing all that chicken - you're always so considerate that way), coolers of soda, bottles of water and plenty of beer. We saw old friends and met some new ones. We rang the big dinner bell in Williams honor and lit off fireworks in a grand finale gesture. The younger kids swam in the pool, the older kids played that bag toss game and the adults told stories and got caught up on the happenings in each others lives.
Williams passing brings home the reason why I moved to Tennessee. Life is too short. Make sure you're doing what makes YOU happy because you just never know what lies around the corner for you. May our dear friend Ernie somehow find comfort to get her through this difficult time. May William's children live their lives fully and in such a way that he would be proud. May our dear friend William rest in peace.
Life goes on here as days go by and when we arrived at our gate we found that a huge tree had fallen across the driveway. One of the branches completely crushed the gate and the trunk of the tree blocked the driveway. The electric company had been out and had cut the tree into pieces but they left part of it in the way. I don't know why they even bothered doing what they did as it was no help to us to find this huge mess in the driveway. They could have at least moved the part that blocked us from getting in.
We brought Dizzy Debbie with us since she was in FL and had planned to be here Tuesday. The trip in my little car was anything but comfortable for any of us. We drove to Atlanta where we stayed the night with Jay and Teri. I think I slept that night for the first time since hearing about William. I didn't get out of bed until 10:30. I felt refreshed, revived and ready to get back home as soon as possible.
The car was packed so tightly you couldn't slip a hair in it and we were off to TN via I-75, I-24 and the new I-840. From 840 we took back roads. I knew I was close to home when the interstate changed to cow pastures, barns and silos and absolutely no traffic. We drove in silence for a few miles as we all looked upon the beauty of spring in the hills of Tennessee and remembered our friends in FL.
Since the driveway was blocked, we got out and walked up to the house so we could get the 4 wheelers to go to the barn to get the chain saw and the snaking tongs. After 5 hours of driving, the walk wasn't so bad at all. We rather enjoyed it. The weather was nice, a breeze was blowing, it smelled wonderful and our animals were waiting for us.
The puppies started barking as soon as they heard us coming, the roosters were in the yard and the old dogs shook the dust off as they made their way out from under the back porch. We were home :) and I was never so glad to be there. We hopped on the 4 wheelers and headed for the barn. We got everything we needed to get that big old tree out of the way and got to work on cutting it up and moving it up to the log splitter.
After the tree was dealt with, we unloaded my car. Soooooooo much stuff to unload since we now had our extra passenger and her stuff. I still have more to unpack but thankfully, Debbie is doing the laundry for me so that's a big time saver. I hope she knows how to hang clothes on the line! LOL Hey, not everyone does, you know? Not to mention the fact that I might be just a little bit picky about how they are hung out... I'm sure you would never guess that about me :) hahahahaha
I took out steaks, green beans and corn for dinner and while the steaks thawed, I took Debbie riding on the trails. She had a blast! Her face was all smiles the whole time! It won't be long before she's on it again today...She now calls me "Daredevil Darcy" because of how I drove through those woods. Admittedly I wasn't very confident on the 4 wheelers last year. I've come a long way! The hills are high so you have to build up speed before you get going upward. The same hills going down require you to lightly hold the brake. There are trees down from the storms so we have to avoid them and there are always new rocks in the path. I don't know how the rocks get there but I assume they are like the ones in my garden...they just grow there somehow! LOL hahaha
Wally cooked the steaks on the grill while the beans and corn simmered on the stove. We were quite hungry after our drive from Atlanta, the clearing of the driveway and the ride on the 4 wheelers so when we sat down to eat, all was quiet except for forks picking up bites and mmm mmm good comments about the dinner. The steaks had a nice crunchy edge that we were hard pressed to make Dizzy leave alone. We didn't mind her eating that crunchy bite from her own steak, indeed we just wanted her to let us eat ours as well. lol!
I made the Italian style green beans with my usual seasoning of beef bouillon and garlic powder and Debbie loved them that way. I thought she had them before but she said no, she would remember if she had. Amazingly we had leftovers. We had a spoonful of corn, a smaller spoonful of green beans and a little piece of steak that probably got eaten at some point this morning if it didn't get eaten last night after we went to bed....Debbie.
For dinner tonight I have pork tenderloin thawing in the refrigerator. It's the tenderloin we got from the meat place during the winter. It's sliced into individual servings and then they run it through a tenderizer. It looks like a cube steak but it's pork. It is wonderfully tender (hence the name hahahaha) and when it's cooked quickly in a hot skillet, it comes out just as juicy as can be. I think we'll have that with some mashed sweet potatoes and maybe some turnip greens. Maybe I'll trade out the turnip greens for some of my canned yellow squash from last year. I think I have a few jars of that left and I know Debbie likes squash.
While we were in FL we rode the motorcycle over to Johnny & Lisa's place in Edgewater, FL. We took I-4 to the first Deltona exit and then followed the road around the lake into Osteen. The lake was choppy and the moss swayed in the overhanging branches of the Live Oaks. The road was lined with palmettos growing wildly on either side and we could smell the swampiness of the ground around us. We got in a really good visit with our friends who showed us their new property and shared what they had been up to in the year that I've been gone.
We stopped by Mom's house and talked with her for a little while. She hasn't opened the bbq pork that we sent home with her but it's canned so it'll keep. She does use the quince preserves that I canned last year. She doesn't eat them, instead she uses them to hold the top down on the cake she bought from Publix! LOL At least Grandma tried them. She agreed with me that they were too tart and that some sort of sweetener needed to be added. Next time, I'll add more sugar while it cooks.
We visited the Oriole's, of course. It was nice to see all our buddies and it was nice to know that nothing had really changed there. Ricky was still calling Bingo on Wednesday, Marcia was still busy as heck on Thursday and even though Kat wasn't at the club, we did see her at the funeral along with Ricky, Marcia, Beverly and Joyce.
Kelly came up and brought Kaylee for me to visit with. Kaylee is really growing up and she is starting to look like a young lady now instead of the little 8 year old kid she was when I left. Marcia had Stacy bring Mikey over so I could see him and he was as sweet as ever. He gave me hugs and kisses galore and told me stories about how well he listens in school. I guess some things do change after all... :)
We saw Derek and got to meet his new girlfriend, Tonya. They seemed pretty happy together. The first thing Derek asked was if I was going to be cooking while I was in town to which Wally quickly replied, "NO." I guess that answered that...I did plan to make some dirty rice for everyone but time got away from me so it never happened. Maybe next time Derek.
Lizzard promised her country fried steak and we'll definitely take her up on that when we come back. I've tried and tried but mine never tastes the same. Hers is tender as can be, crunchy on the outside, juicy in the middle and tastes like grandma made it. There's just something I'm missing. We both agree that mine is okay but it's not Lizzard's! LizAnn came over and hugged me and expressed her sympathy for us all and then played some really good songs on the jukebox. She never disappoints. Shawna and Chris were there and it was good to see them too. It was good to see everyone but like I said before, I wish it could have been under happier circumstances.
Beverly was incredibly generous with her donation of two huge boxes of fried chicken at Connie's house. It came fresh and hot and we were all hungry and ready to eat when we got there so it was perfectly timed in addition to being very tasty. Thanks so much Bev!
My sister and Jack had me wanting to scoop them up and bring them back with me but alas we had no room in the car! LOL Neccy looked so pretty with her hair dark and straightened and wearing her sexy black top that Connie gave her. There's nothing quite like a hug from a wonderful, considerate, caring man like Jack. For all that he does to help take care of my family I am eternally grateful. Even if he is Ernie's boyfriend :) :) :) (ha ha ha inside joke).
Take time to appreciate the people in your world.
I know I've been skipping around in this posting but there's so much inside that has to come out and it comes to me in the order you're reading it. One thing reminds me of another and not necessarily from the same day. I hope there's no confusion :) I have enough of that in my own head!
Because we had to get that big old tree out of the driveway and unpack the car and visit with the animals and start dinner to thawing, it was quite some time before we arrived at the garden for my inspection to begin. I could see from the back porch that the peas had grown considerably since we last measured them. Short of something eating them before I can pick them, I should have a pretty good harvest from those rows. On Ernie's mama's advice, I'll be blanching and freezing them rather than canning them. She says they will be better if I do it that way and mama always knows best. She did say that if my freezer space was limited, canning them would be the next best option. I'll take inventory before too long :)
I looked for carrots and beets but so far, unless I just don't know what they look like, it appears there are no carrots or beets coming up from that ground space. I continue to check for them daily and there are some leafy green shoots in the rows but I have a feeling those are weeds. I'm not quite ready to give up on them though so I'm having to deal with believing those weeds to be food instead....
The red onions have gotten to be about 10 inches tall as far as the part that's outside the ground. Underneath, I have no idea. Mom said my Dad used to just dig one up and see if it was the size he wanted. That would be easy enough to do. If it's still too small, I can just bury it back and no one will know the difference. Ha!
The little scallions are struggling to do their best and there are quite a few of them in the rows. They are very thin and wispy and it appears they will take some time to reach maturity at this rate. That's okay though. I wouldn't want the red onions and the scallions to all come in at the same time - goodness what would I do with all those onions???? lol - I could send some to Aunt Karen - she loves onions like no one I've ever met before!
Finally, it pleases me to tell you that while we were gone, my bush beans not only sprang from the ground but they grew to about 4 inches when they did come up. Amazing! Certainly I hoped they would be coming up when we got home, but just as certainly I didn't think they would be that big already. What a nice, green, healthy, surprise I got! Soon I'll have to get a fence around that 2nd garden area so the deer won't be able to eat my bean plants or the beans that they will produce. Hmmm does that sound like a job for Dizzy Debbie and I to embark upon??? There's a very good possibility!
We walked across the front yard and saw that the grass seed was growing and before long we'll be able to mow it. The little stalks with more grass seed have emerged but aren't quite ready to spread with the mower. I might get to do that this weekend depending on the rain. Down the driveway I saw that my little pink, purple and white flowers have declined to just a green clump. They don't get cut back so I'll be leaving them as they are but I do need to get the weed eater out there and weed eat in front of the rocks so the weeds don't climb in there and take over. Besides, the weeds just make it look messy to me.
Before we left for FL I noticed the delphinium seeds had sprouted in the little circle by the tree stump. There's a picture on the flickr site if you want to see them. I couldn't resist checking the other little spots where I planted them so down towards the gate I wandered. Sure enough in each of the places where I sprinkled them, little green shoots were clustered together and growing up nicely. I think I made 3 places down one side, sprinkled some in the flower bed by the flag pole and on the other side, I dumped what was left in a rotted tree stump. It had lots of decomposing leaves in a hole on the top so I dumped them in there hoping they would enjoy that rich environment. Many thanks to Teri for her generous donation of the seeds :) and might I add that while we were visiting with her and Jay, she said I could have some of her black irises when the time comes to separate them! They were spectacular!! They are so deep purple that the centers are actually black.
We saw many, many colors and varieties of irises on this trip, from yellow to white to lavender and, of course, Teri's black ones. While I have several of them planted, I have no idea what color they be. I think Claudia said the ones she gave me were blue. The ones I dug up from down at the trailer are a mystery since they were planted by Wally's mom some years ago. I'll be digging up more of those again but for now I have to wait until they are done blooming - assuming they actually will bloom :) hahaha I don't have much confidence in my flower growing abilities do I?
The wild roses were blooming on the side of the dirt road but they haven't started yet at the house. I hope they bloom some before Debbie has to leave - they're so pretty! Gosh, I just hope something blooms before she leaves, she wasn't very impressed with my vegetables.
So that's the update on our trip and the farm. I'll be here tomorrow and then I'm out until Friday after I drop Debbie at the airport. I'm sure to have lots of pictures to add so even if there is no posting, you'll still have something to look at :)
For Ernie and her family:
"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight." ~Kahlil Gibran
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
See How My Garden Grows...
I hope I don't bore you with garden updates! I'll try to make it as interesting as possible and if you aren't into gardening, I'll still be including all the usual rambling so there's always something for everyone :)
Added to the flickr photograph site today were pictures of the first row peas, the new row that just popped up the other day, the scallions from Mom, the red onions and some miscellaneous pictures of the farm, me and Wally.
That first row of peas has grown so much that they already have tendrils sprouting from them. These little string-like growths are what enable the peas to cling to fencing, posts, other plants, etc. The tendrils haven't quite reached the chicken wire fence provided for them but they soon will. It may be that I'll have to assist them in their first attempt but rest assured, they'll be climbing that fence in no time.
As I have planted the second row of peas on the other side of the fence, they too will enjoy clinging, climbing, growing and generally taking over the fence. Of course, you and I will enjoy seeing this happen :) The row for the second set of peas is not quite as long as the first row. Not because I didn't want as many peas in the second row but rather because I ran out of seeds....lol! Either way, I'm sure to be covered up (hahahaha) in peas sometime around the beginning of June. Seems like forever doesn't it? I know!!! Don't worry, there's plenty more to keep us busy round here.
The scallions did indeed make their first appearance in the garden! The funny thing is, the two that came up were the last two I planted. Not that it should matter since they were all planted in the same day but I would have thought the first ones planted would come up first. So much for what I think should happen...lol Those scallions will do what they want when they want regardless of my thoughts. Hahahaha that's one of the fun things about gardening! They are but just 3-4 inches tall, and remember, we can see only what grows on the outside of the dirt. What grows underneath will remain a mystery until such time as the scallions are ready to be picked. I'm not sure of the harvest date for them - I'll have to look on the packet again.
The red onions from Darryl are just a delight to see! They grow so quickly, again only on the top side of the dirt, that I swear you can almost watch it happen. lol! I tried to get a picture of them where all the different sizes were represented. Onions aren't the easiest to photograph hahahahha When the crop comes in, I'll get as many pictures of those big, purple orbs as my camera can hold! They'll go in salsas and corn relish. They'll be sauteed with mushrooms to pour over our steaks and they'll definitely be chopped up and added to my summer salads for lunch. hmmmm maybe 25-30 won't be enough after all....LOL!
I checked on the carrots and beats again but still nothing for sure over there. Perhaps they take as long as the peas to emerge? LOL well I'll be keeping an eye out for them as days go by. There is no sign of the hollyhocks or delphinium but I'm thinking they'll need a few more warm weeks to get them going. If my irises are like the other ones I see around town, they should be blooming here before too long. The caladium bulbs and Lilly of the Valley haven't shown any new growth as of yet but I checked for the bulbs to see that the squirrels didn't get them and they were all still there! Whew!
I put out plant markers (finally!) so I could remember what is planted where. LOL With so much in the ground, it's hard to remember! I also created a gardening calendar so I know when the seeds were planted and, according to their packages, when they will emerge and when the veggies or flowers should be ready to pick or bloom as the case may be. There are some things you just gotta know! Well, I do anyway :) :) It's kind of my way of organizing things since there's no room in my head for it. Do you have that same problem? Welcome to my world hahaha.
Still as yet unplanted are the Echinacea seeds and the sunflower seeds. I have a little bit of time for those as they like the heat of the summer and will be just as happy then as now. So the garden grows here in TN!
According to the April edition of Southern Living magazine, the time for dividing and transplanting day lilies is here. Heck I didn't know that. I'll have to add it to my list of things to do on Sunday. I can't do it Saturday because we have company coming in for the weekend starting tomorrow. We'll be busy on the 4 wheelers, taking tours of the back roads and generally relaxing and visiting. I hope to do some cooking for them - they've never had my mayonnaise biscuits with sausage gravy - ah they don't know what they've been missing lol!
Which reminds me, I'll be out of the office Friday....sorry readers! I promise to have a nice long update for you come Monday :) Okay? lol
Monday night it rained and rained and my garden looked absolutely beautiful when the sun finally came out. The yard is greening up with new grass and all along the driveway shoots of it are almost in need of mowing. I've seen several people out mowing their yards but honestly I don't think it's because the yard necessarily needs to be mowed. I think the people just need to get outside and do something since the weather has turned so nice. Still the smell of fresh cut grass is so nice as it blows through my open window...
The time finally came for me to have tractor-driving lessons. So far so good! I didn't wreck it! LOL It was a blast!! Wally told me all about the gears and the brake and the gas. None of which really resemble a car by the way... he started me off in the lowest gear available and told me how to change up if I decided I wanted to. Well, I hadn't gone but a couple of yards when I wanted to go just a little bit faster. Not a lot, mind you. I wasn't entirely sure what that thing could do but I knew it was strong. We've been using it to pull my truck in and out of the barn as needed for working on it.
I putted down the driveway leaving the barn and headed over towards the condo (trailerhood...) with Wally riding along beside or in front of me on the 4 wheeler. Oh what fun it was! You sit up real high and it's so comfortable that I now know how a farmer could sit there all day just tooling along plowing his fields. The day was sunny and breezy and I was sitting high on the hog up there in that seat. I can't wait to get back on it and take another ride. Oh to be plowing a field!! Plowing takes attachments though and Wally says I'm not ready for all that just yet...I need some more time in the seat! LOL! But just you wait, my time will come. One of these days I'll have a field to plow :) Can't you just see me out there?
With my tractor-driving lesson over, we packed up our stuff in the barn and rode the 4 wheelers home. I seasoned some pork chops while Wally set free the puppies and turned on the radio so we could hear it outside. I chopped up some green cabbage and put it in a pan to steam with a little (very little!) bacon fat, some black pepper and a couple pats of real butter. I know it sounds like a lot of fat but most of it stays in the pan - not on the cabbage. It just helps so much to soften and season it....I cut up some carrots and started them to boil and then we put the chops on the grill.
The puppies did their usual running, jumping, playing thing and the roosters, as always, had no time for them. The old dogs hung out by the grill as soon as the scent of seared pork reached their noses and we stood out there just watching our animals, our dinner and appreciated what life had to offer. At this time of day, the front yard is in full sun and the hawks soar in the wind coming off the hill. There are two of them out there and have been there for years. Wally says they mate for life. They sure make a pretty sight in this, the earliest part of the evening.
Soon dusk will descend and we'll see a few bats flying hither and yon gobbling up mosquitoes as they go. We're looking into building a bat house so they have a place to stay in between their feeding frenzies! I remember when Aunt Karen and Uncle Dee lived over in Longwood off Grant St. They had a bat that came out every evening and ate all the mosquitoes he could possibly consume. He was a great bat and his name was, of course, Baseball. LOL True story!
With our chops ready to come off the grill we headed back inside so I could finish up the vegetables. I heard the puppies chasing the roosters and the roosters were having a fit. Wally went to check on them and found that Colt had pinned down one of the roosters. He called him and called him but he wouldn't come. Ruger wouldn't come either. Oh by were they ever in big trouble for that! After a couple times calling them, Colt finally came over. Ruger ran under the porch. Uh oh. Now that made matters worse.
Wally did finally get them to come to him and they were reminded to listen to him when he called. I won't go into detail but lets just say I couldn't watch their lesson. In the end, he did the right thing with them as they were eagerly coming to him and happy to do so. Our worry is if they were playing with a child and had the child pinned down - then if they didn't come to us, what would we do? There are no children here but you never know when someone will bring their children over and we need to be sure the puppies will listen when they are called. The rooster? Oh, he was fine - just madder than all get out! They were all very riled up and not the least bit happy. I guess the one that was pinned played opossum and that's probably a good thing.
I don't think Colt intends to hurt them, I think he wants them to play with him like Ruger does. Of course, they couldn't begin to do that but he doesn't know it. They are supposed to herd and protect farm animals, not chase and possibly kill them so there are more lessons to be learned for those two haney bug teenagers! lol Today we go back to walking them on their leashes every day until they learn to behave like they did before. I can't have them taking out my roosters - it's just not right nor is it fair when the roosters have become so accustomed to a carefree lifestyle.
So the puppies were back on their chains, the old dogs were lazily resting on the back porch, we had grilled pork chops, buttery-peppery-steamed cabbage and honey-buttered carrots waiting for us to begin our feast. mmm talk about a good day! The sun had barely set in the west when we headed upstairs to bed. I think I stayed awake until 8:00 pm (a record!) before I drifted off into the world of dreams.... zzzzzzzz
I hope my dear friend Lizzard had a most wonderful birthday yesterday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZZARD :)
You do so much for me Lizzard and I can't thank you enough!
"You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted." ~Ruth E. Renkl
Added to the flickr photograph site today were pictures of the first row peas, the new row that just popped up the other day, the scallions from Mom, the red onions and some miscellaneous pictures of the farm, me and Wally.
That first row of peas has grown so much that they already have tendrils sprouting from them. These little string-like growths are what enable the peas to cling to fencing, posts, other plants, etc. The tendrils haven't quite reached the chicken wire fence provided for them but they soon will. It may be that I'll have to assist them in their first attempt but rest assured, they'll be climbing that fence in no time.
As I have planted the second row of peas on the other side of the fence, they too will enjoy clinging, climbing, growing and generally taking over the fence. Of course, you and I will enjoy seeing this happen :) The row for the second set of peas is not quite as long as the first row. Not because I didn't want as many peas in the second row but rather because I ran out of seeds....lol! Either way, I'm sure to be covered up (hahahaha) in peas sometime around the beginning of June. Seems like forever doesn't it? I know!!! Don't worry, there's plenty more to keep us busy round here.
The scallions did indeed make their first appearance in the garden! The funny thing is, the two that came up were the last two I planted. Not that it should matter since they were all planted in the same day but I would have thought the first ones planted would come up first. So much for what I think should happen...lol Those scallions will do what they want when they want regardless of my thoughts. Hahahaha that's one of the fun things about gardening! They are but just 3-4 inches tall, and remember, we can see only what grows on the outside of the dirt. What grows underneath will remain a mystery until such time as the scallions are ready to be picked. I'm not sure of the harvest date for them - I'll have to look on the packet again.
The red onions from Darryl are just a delight to see! They grow so quickly, again only on the top side of the dirt, that I swear you can almost watch it happen. lol! I tried to get a picture of them where all the different sizes were represented. Onions aren't the easiest to photograph hahahahha When the crop comes in, I'll get as many pictures of those big, purple orbs as my camera can hold! They'll go in salsas and corn relish. They'll be sauteed with mushrooms to pour over our steaks and they'll definitely be chopped up and added to my summer salads for lunch. hmmmm maybe 25-30 won't be enough after all....LOL!
I checked on the carrots and beats again but still nothing for sure over there. Perhaps they take as long as the peas to emerge? LOL well I'll be keeping an eye out for them as days go by. There is no sign of the hollyhocks or delphinium but I'm thinking they'll need a few more warm weeks to get them going. If my irises are like the other ones I see around town, they should be blooming here before too long. The caladium bulbs and Lilly of the Valley haven't shown any new growth as of yet but I checked for the bulbs to see that the squirrels didn't get them and they were all still there! Whew!
I put out plant markers (finally!) so I could remember what is planted where. LOL With so much in the ground, it's hard to remember! I also created a gardening calendar so I know when the seeds were planted and, according to their packages, when they will emerge and when the veggies or flowers should be ready to pick or bloom as the case may be. There are some things you just gotta know! Well, I do anyway :) :) It's kind of my way of organizing things since there's no room in my head for it. Do you have that same problem? Welcome to my world hahaha.
Still as yet unplanted are the Echinacea seeds and the sunflower seeds. I have a little bit of time for those as they like the heat of the summer and will be just as happy then as now. So the garden grows here in TN!
According to the April edition of Southern Living magazine, the time for dividing and transplanting day lilies is here. Heck I didn't know that. I'll have to add it to my list of things to do on Sunday. I can't do it Saturday because we have company coming in for the weekend starting tomorrow. We'll be busy on the 4 wheelers, taking tours of the back roads and generally relaxing and visiting. I hope to do some cooking for them - they've never had my mayonnaise biscuits with sausage gravy - ah they don't know what they've been missing lol!
Which reminds me, I'll be out of the office Friday....sorry readers! I promise to have a nice long update for you come Monday :) Okay? lol
Monday night it rained and rained and my garden looked absolutely beautiful when the sun finally came out. The yard is greening up with new grass and all along the driveway shoots of it are almost in need of mowing. I've seen several people out mowing their yards but honestly I don't think it's because the yard necessarily needs to be mowed. I think the people just need to get outside and do something since the weather has turned so nice. Still the smell of fresh cut grass is so nice as it blows through my open window...
The time finally came for me to have tractor-driving lessons. So far so good! I didn't wreck it! LOL It was a blast!! Wally told me all about the gears and the brake and the gas. None of which really resemble a car by the way... he started me off in the lowest gear available and told me how to change up if I decided I wanted to. Well, I hadn't gone but a couple of yards when I wanted to go just a little bit faster. Not a lot, mind you. I wasn't entirely sure what that thing could do but I knew it was strong. We've been using it to pull my truck in and out of the barn as needed for working on it.
I putted down the driveway leaving the barn and headed over towards the condo (trailerhood...) with Wally riding along beside or in front of me on the 4 wheeler. Oh what fun it was! You sit up real high and it's so comfortable that I now know how a farmer could sit there all day just tooling along plowing his fields. The day was sunny and breezy and I was sitting high on the hog up there in that seat. I can't wait to get back on it and take another ride. Oh to be plowing a field!! Plowing takes attachments though and Wally says I'm not ready for all that just yet...I need some more time in the seat! LOL! But just you wait, my time will come. One of these days I'll have a field to plow :) Can't you just see me out there?
With my tractor-driving lesson over, we packed up our stuff in the barn and rode the 4 wheelers home. I seasoned some pork chops while Wally set free the puppies and turned on the radio so we could hear it outside. I chopped up some green cabbage and put it in a pan to steam with a little (very little!) bacon fat, some black pepper and a couple pats of real butter. I know it sounds like a lot of fat but most of it stays in the pan - not on the cabbage. It just helps so much to soften and season it....I cut up some carrots and started them to boil and then we put the chops on the grill.
The puppies did their usual running, jumping, playing thing and the roosters, as always, had no time for them. The old dogs hung out by the grill as soon as the scent of seared pork reached their noses and we stood out there just watching our animals, our dinner and appreciated what life had to offer. At this time of day, the front yard is in full sun and the hawks soar in the wind coming off the hill. There are two of them out there and have been there for years. Wally says they mate for life. They sure make a pretty sight in this, the earliest part of the evening.
Soon dusk will descend and we'll see a few bats flying hither and yon gobbling up mosquitoes as they go. We're looking into building a bat house so they have a place to stay in between their feeding frenzies! I remember when Aunt Karen and Uncle Dee lived over in Longwood off Grant St. They had a bat that came out every evening and ate all the mosquitoes he could possibly consume. He was a great bat and his name was, of course, Baseball. LOL True story!
With our chops ready to come off the grill we headed back inside so I could finish up the vegetables. I heard the puppies chasing the roosters and the roosters were having a fit. Wally went to check on them and found that Colt had pinned down one of the roosters. He called him and called him but he wouldn't come. Ruger wouldn't come either. Oh by were they ever in big trouble for that! After a couple times calling them, Colt finally came over. Ruger ran under the porch. Uh oh. Now that made matters worse.
Wally did finally get them to come to him and they were reminded to listen to him when he called. I won't go into detail but lets just say I couldn't watch their lesson. In the end, he did the right thing with them as they were eagerly coming to him and happy to do so. Our worry is if they were playing with a child and had the child pinned down - then if they didn't come to us, what would we do? There are no children here but you never know when someone will bring their children over and we need to be sure the puppies will listen when they are called. The rooster? Oh, he was fine - just madder than all get out! They were all very riled up and not the least bit happy. I guess the one that was pinned played opossum and that's probably a good thing.
I don't think Colt intends to hurt them, I think he wants them to play with him like Ruger does. Of course, they couldn't begin to do that but he doesn't know it. They are supposed to herd and protect farm animals, not chase and possibly kill them so there are more lessons to be learned for those two haney bug teenagers! lol Today we go back to walking them on their leashes every day until they learn to behave like they did before. I can't have them taking out my roosters - it's just not right nor is it fair when the roosters have become so accustomed to a carefree lifestyle.
So the puppies were back on their chains, the old dogs were lazily resting on the back porch, we had grilled pork chops, buttery-peppery-steamed cabbage and honey-buttered carrots waiting for us to begin our feast. mmm talk about a good day! The sun had barely set in the west when we headed upstairs to bed. I think I stayed awake until 8:00 pm (a record!) before I drifted off into the world of dreams.... zzzzzzzz
I hope my dear friend Lizzard had a most wonderful birthday yesterday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZZARD :)
You do so much for me Lizzard and I can't thank you enough!
"You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted." ~Ruth E. Renkl
Monday, April 11, 2011
Pea Pictures and A Trip To Tunica, MS...
Yes, the pictures of the peas have been posted on the flickr account. I was only able to get two of them before my camera told me that my memory was full. HUH? I didn't even know it had one...and I must say it's a darn site better memory than my own. LOL! It knows when it's full hahahahaha I think sometimes that's the reason I can't remember anything...my memory is full. Now I just need to train my brain to let me know when that happens so I don't have such high expectations when it comes to remembering things... right? But where was I? Oh yeah - the peas! hahahahaha
While taking the pictures of the peas, I had to check out the other vegetables and I think, I'm not positive but I think, I might just have some beets coming up too. Along one of the rows there appears to be a few very small sprouts that don't look like anything else out there. The carrots still prove to be elusive but the onions are going crazy...not the scallion seeds but the actual sets that Darryl gave me. They've been in the ground just one short week and yet they have green tops reaching up about 3 inches. I'd have gotten a picture of them too but there was that memory problem I mentioned earlier. lol
As days go by my garden will continue to flourish and before long I hope to be busy harvesting the bounty therein. There will be the picking, of course, but also the shelling of the peas. This, I'm told, is best done sitting in a comfortable chair on one's porch. There should be only the sounds of nature (and your honey if he's available) and maybe a cooler of your favorite beverage beside you. There should be a bowl, ample in size, to accommodate the harvested peas and there should be a compost bag where the empty pods are held. If there happens to be a horse anywhere near, he should and will be fed those empty pea pods.
From there it's off to the canner. The canner will have been unboxed and cleaned so it stands ready for this spring's work. With luck there will be much to keep the canner busy. The jars will have been sanitized in the dish washer and will be sitting on the counter awaiting their fulfillment - peas are fulfilling in many ways you see...the rings and lids readily available to top off the jars.
The hot packing directions say to bring the peas to boil in a big pot of water. After just a few minutes, they are to be poured into a colander through which the water flows into another bowl. I'll scoop the peas into the jars and fill them with that same water as it has already been boiled. It's by your own choice whether or not you add some canning salt. I usually do. It's not so much for flavor as it is to protect the color of the peas and keep the water from becoming foggy looking. Regular salt will make the water foggy looking. It doesn't hurt anything - just looks somewhat unappealing.
The jarred peas will process according to the directions for the canner. Once they have processed for the appropriate amount of time, the canner will be left to cool down and another set of jars will be prepared. When the canner's pressure valve resets itself, I'll know it's time to grab up the tongs (specially made for canning they have a wide opening and rubber grips to protect your hands from the heat) and set the super hot jars on a towel on the counter top. Literally within minutes, we'll hear the tell-tale signs of completion. Yep, "pop, pop, pop, etc." as the jars begin to force the air out and the healthy vegetables in. There are few so satisfying sounds...
The same process is repeated throughout the day until all of the peas have been put up. The same will happen again and again as the beets, carrots and beans begin to mature and are plucked from their underground homes or their above ground vines. I look forward to filling my days in this way and already I have thoughts about what will go in next year...a different variety, more rows, maybe lettuce???? There are so many possibilities. It's all a matter of me being able to find the time to devote to this, my favorite hobby. And you probably thought cooking was my favorite hobby...? LOL Well, they both kind of go hand in hand though don't you think? I'll plant it, nurture it, grow it, pick it, cook it, eat it and be nourished by it :) That's a great concept - wish I had come up with it.
If at anytime you would like to come see how it all unfolds, you're certainly welcome to head on up and watch and/or participate if you so desire :) :) Don't worry, if you don't feel like helping and wish only to see how the process works, I'm perfectly fine with that. Not everyone can be as inspired or excited about these things as I can sometimes (almost always) be. It just does my eyes very well indeed to see a counter overflowing with canned vegetables of my own doing.
Well now, as today's heading indicates, we did take a trip to Tunica, MS. It's about a 3 hour drive for us but not a bad one at all. We got up, had breakfast, fed and watered all the animals and were on the road by 8ish. We stopped at the tag office in Centerville but they were closed. We picked up the interstate off Hwy. 50 (just a few miles this side of Pee Wee's Place) and enjoyed a nice, leisurely drive down to Mississippi where my aunt and uncle were eagerly awaiting our arrival.
Tunica is where the casinos are located and there are several hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. It's like an extremely scaled down Vegas. I think I liked it better than Vegas. For one thing, it's much closer so less expensive to get there. We can do it in a weekend - no problem. The slots were fairly loose so not much money was lost, all things considered.
We met up with Aunt Karen & Uncle Dee around 1:00 pm. We played a few slots and then went to lunch at Paula Dean's Buffet. Don't get all excited...it was just okay. I thought it was really going to WOW me but, eh, not so much. Maybe if it was her actual restaurant in Savannah it would have been better. I have half a mind to write and tell her about it too. She probably has no idea that those folks really weren't doing her signature recipes justice by any stretch of the word.
I had fried chicken. It was very crunchy so I was very hopeful but it was sort of dry and it didn't seem like there was any house seasoning on it at all. I had country fried steak (just a small piece) - it was horrible! It was so dry I couldn't even cut it with a knife. I don't know if it was seasoned because it never got to my mouth. I was afraid I'd break a tooth! lol I had a bbq pork chop - again, very dry. The bbq sauce was good but the chop tasted like there was no seasoning on it either. Oh, by the way, I didn't have all this in one meal. We ate there twice... :)
I had some boiled shrimp. It tasted just like boiled shrimp - no big deal. I had a salad - it was really good but it wasn't a signature dish, it was just a salad. Wally had the country ham and said it was just okay. We both had some oysters that were baked in the oven and then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, parsley and garlic. They were good but they had sat too long and were cold. I think I would have really enjoyed these if they were fresh and hot from the oven.
I did have some fried green tomatoes that were superbly cooked and seasoned! Then, on the breakfast buffet they served the fried green tomatoes with a poached egg and hollandaise (sp?) sauce on top. Now that looked really good but they took too long bringing out fresh ones so I was already full by the time they were ready. Wally and Aunt Karen both had them and said they were really, really good. I wished I had saved room!
I would eat there again because it was convenient and I know now what to select. I guess I just had my hopes too high with the Paula Dean name and all that. Maybe I will write to her...she probably has no idea.
We play slots rather than cards or any of the other stuff. For me, it's just easier and I'm not all that concerned with a big win. I like the little wins you get from the slot machines and I like the sounds they make when you hit something good. They throw enough money back at you to keep you playing like they know just when you're about to get up and leave...lol!
A new slot machine feature that we all enjoyed was a beverage menu on the machine. You press a button on the touch screen and you can get a slot machine attendant, a cocktail waitress, emergency aid, etc. It was pretty cool. It used to be that you sat there forever waiting on a drink but not at Tunica. Those girls are fast on their feet and since it's computerized, they know right where to deliver the drinks. It was so much more organized than the old way - VEGAS could take a lesson from them on that note. It even remembers what you order throughout your trip so you can go to the "my menu" feature and select the same thing over again. It's fast and efficient - I liked that.
Well you win some, you lose some, as they say. We did okay. After we counted what we had left, we figured out that we both played on about twenty bucks each the whole time. Sometimes we were down and sometimes we were up. That's just the way it is, right? You can't go there hoping to bring all your money back or you'll be sorely disappointed LOL In all it was a fun trip. We enjoyed seeing Aunt Karen & Uncle Dee and of course, we're making plans to meet up again soon. If all else fails, I hope to get them here during hunting season. I can hunt with a pro and when the hunting is done, I can cook with a pro lol the best of both worlds for me!
On the way home, Wally wanted to take me to the Rendezvous for ribs. It's a famous place in Memphis and I was looking forward to it. We drove into downtown and I was quickly reminded of New Orleans. It was very similar in the look and feel of things though no where near as big. Just a few streets of activity and those few were very busy with tourists and people headed to the baseball field. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed on Sunday. Darn!
Since BBQ was no longer an option, we found a place called Huey's and as it turned out, it was voted #1 hamburger in Memphis for years and years gone by. You know me! I'm always up for a good hamburger so in we went. It was packed with people, it was not air conditioned very well, it smelled of frying food and blues music was blaring from the speakers. It was perfect :) We ordered cheeseburgers and beer and sat there enjoying the music, people watching and checking out the memorabilia on the walls. Our burgers were cooked perfectly, they were big and juicy and loaded with pickles, lettuce and tomatoes....mmmm mmmmm GOOD! They served fresh, hot steak fries on the side that we didn't know we were going to get and they didn't disappoint either. We were full but not stuffed and ready to go home.
We hit the interstate and never looked back. The farm it seems has way of calling us home. Perhaps it was the cabin or the animals or a combination of all of it and even though it was only one night, we were missing it badly. I thought about the old Jon Denver song, "Hey it's good, to be back home again....sometimes this old farm feels like a long lost friend yes, and hey it's good to be back home again."
We pulled up to the cabin and the puppies were jumping up and down and turning circles in their excitement. They've never been a night without us except for when they ran off. The big dogs came out from under the back porch and slowly made their way round to see us. The roosters started in making their garble sounds (I don't know how else to describe it if you've never heard it) and followed us wherever we went. We even saw that the horses had come up to the top of the hill to see us.
We let the puppies go free, gave the old dogs their aspirin and then everyone, roosters included, headed over to the horse pen. The old dogs stayed on the porch - it's just too much for them to make the trip and they've made it for so many years that they only go now on occasion. Wally petted Rebel while I tried to get Smokey to come over to me. He wasn't having anything to do with it.
We got their buckets filled and that's when Smokey came over. He leaned his head in and I scratched up under his halter. That's about all he was interested in but it's the one thing he and I see eye to eye on. He likes it, he knows I'm no threat and I feel like he has at least a smidge of trust to let me get close to his face like that. They ate their sweet feed while we walked back to the garden and checked out the peas. Oh they grew alright! lol
We made our trip over to Dizzy's apt. and I got the roosters some scratch feed. I threw it up on a pile of leaves where the new walkway is. We're hoping they'll do their scratching thing and clear a nice little path for us. So far, so good! They really are good at clearing a path - you have to see it from start to finish to believe it. Well, unless you've seen roosters in action before lol! So as I was throwing out the scratch, here come the puppies, running full speed ahead and bound for the roosters! They got those roosters cock-a-doodle-doing over and over and running around like chickens with their heads cut off....LOL!! oh sorry - I just couldn't resist! hahahahahaha
When the herding was over, the roosters had been scattered all about. One was over by the horses, two were behind Dizzy's apt. and the other one was on the hitching post. They were not the least bit happy with Colt and Ruger! I always worry that one of the roosters will get caught at some point but they don't really try to catch them, they just run them around like they're really herding them. The puppies love it and it's in their nature so they think they're doing a good thing. On the other hand, the roosters seem to be thoroughly annoyed with it.
We weren't starving but we were a little bit hungry so we skewered up some bacon wrapped shrimp and seasoned it with bbq rub. We loaded the skewers on the grill and in no time, they were hot and ready to eat. We watched the race from Saturday night that we had recorded but were too tired to make it to the end. It was barely dark when we went to bed.
As I lay there thinking about the weekend I realized that sometimes you have to leave your home just long enough to get the urge to get back to it as soon as you possibly can. Like Dorothy always says, "there's no place like home..." That such a great line!
How was your weekend? Did you plant anything? Did you harvest anything? Did you water your flowers and pull out the weeds? I hope no matter what you did, you had as great a time as I did.
Tonight - if all goes well, my beans will go into the ground! It's all tilled and waiting for them :) :) :) waiting for me actually! lol
"There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling." ~Mirabel Osler
While taking the pictures of the peas, I had to check out the other vegetables and I think, I'm not positive but I think, I might just have some beets coming up too. Along one of the rows there appears to be a few very small sprouts that don't look like anything else out there. The carrots still prove to be elusive but the onions are going crazy...not the scallion seeds but the actual sets that Darryl gave me. They've been in the ground just one short week and yet they have green tops reaching up about 3 inches. I'd have gotten a picture of them too but there was that memory problem I mentioned earlier. lol
As days go by my garden will continue to flourish and before long I hope to be busy harvesting the bounty therein. There will be the picking, of course, but also the shelling of the peas. This, I'm told, is best done sitting in a comfortable chair on one's porch. There should be only the sounds of nature (and your honey if he's available) and maybe a cooler of your favorite beverage beside you. There should be a bowl, ample in size, to accommodate the harvested peas and there should be a compost bag where the empty pods are held. If there happens to be a horse anywhere near, he should and will be fed those empty pea pods.
From there it's off to the canner. The canner will have been unboxed and cleaned so it stands ready for this spring's work. With luck there will be much to keep the canner busy. The jars will have been sanitized in the dish washer and will be sitting on the counter awaiting their fulfillment - peas are fulfilling in many ways you see...the rings and lids readily available to top off the jars.
The hot packing directions say to bring the peas to boil in a big pot of water. After just a few minutes, they are to be poured into a colander through which the water flows into another bowl. I'll scoop the peas into the jars and fill them with that same water as it has already been boiled. It's by your own choice whether or not you add some canning salt. I usually do. It's not so much for flavor as it is to protect the color of the peas and keep the water from becoming foggy looking. Regular salt will make the water foggy looking. It doesn't hurt anything - just looks somewhat unappealing.
The jarred peas will process according to the directions for the canner. Once they have processed for the appropriate amount of time, the canner will be left to cool down and another set of jars will be prepared. When the canner's pressure valve resets itself, I'll know it's time to grab up the tongs (specially made for canning they have a wide opening and rubber grips to protect your hands from the heat) and set the super hot jars on a towel on the counter top. Literally within minutes, we'll hear the tell-tale signs of completion. Yep, "pop, pop, pop, etc." as the jars begin to force the air out and the healthy vegetables in. There are few so satisfying sounds...
The same process is repeated throughout the day until all of the peas have been put up. The same will happen again and again as the beets, carrots and beans begin to mature and are plucked from their underground homes or their above ground vines. I look forward to filling my days in this way and already I have thoughts about what will go in next year...a different variety, more rows, maybe lettuce???? There are so many possibilities. It's all a matter of me being able to find the time to devote to this, my favorite hobby. And you probably thought cooking was my favorite hobby...? LOL Well, they both kind of go hand in hand though don't you think? I'll plant it, nurture it, grow it, pick it, cook it, eat it and be nourished by it :) That's a great concept - wish I had come up with it.
If at anytime you would like to come see how it all unfolds, you're certainly welcome to head on up and watch and/or participate if you so desire :) :) Don't worry, if you don't feel like helping and wish only to see how the process works, I'm perfectly fine with that. Not everyone can be as inspired or excited about these things as I can sometimes (almost always) be. It just does my eyes very well indeed to see a counter overflowing with canned vegetables of my own doing.
Well now, as today's heading indicates, we did take a trip to Tunica, MS. It's about a 3 hour drive for us but not a bad one at all. We got up, had breakfast, fed and watered all the animals and were on the road by 8ish. We stopped at the tag office in Centerville but they were closed. We picked up the interstate off Hwy. 50 (just a few miles this side of Pee Wee's Place) and enjoyed a nice, leisurely drive down to Mississippi where my aunt and uncle were eagerly awaiting our arrival.
Tunica is where the casinos are located and there are several hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. It's like an extremely scaled down Vegas. I think I liked it better than Vegas. For one thing, it's much closer so less expensive to get there. We can do it in a weekend - no problem. The slots were fairly loose so not much money was lost, all things considered.
We met up with Aunt Karen & Uncle Dee around 1:00 pm. We played a few slots and then went to lunch at Paula Dean's Buffet. Don't get all excited...it was just okay. I thought it was really going to WOW me but, eh, not so much. Maybe if it was her actual restaurant in Savannah it would have been better. I have half a mind to write and tell her about it too. She probably has no idea that those folks really weren't doing her signature recipes justice by any stretch of the word.
I had fried chicken. It was very crunchy so I was very hopeful but it was sort of dry and it didn't seem like there was any house seasoning on it at all. I had country fried steak (just a small piece) - it was horrible! It was so dry I couldn't even cut it with a knife. I don't know if it was seasoned because it never got to my mouth. I was afraid I'd break a tooth! lol I had a bbq pork chop - again, very dry. The bbq sauce was good but the chop tasted like there was no seasoning on it either. Oh, by the way, I didn't have all this in one meal. We ate there twice... :)
I had some boiled shrimp. It tasted just like boiled shrimp - no big deal. I had a salad - it was really good but it wasn't a signature dish, it was just a salad. Wally had the country ham and said it was just okay. We both had some oysters that were baked in the oven and then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, parsley and garlic. They were good but they had sat too long and were cold. I think I would have really enjoyed these if they were fresh and hot from the oven.
I did have some fried green tomatoes that were superbly cooked and seasoned! Then, on the breakfast buffet they served the fried green tomatoes with a poached egg and hollandaise (sp?) sauce on top. Now that looked really good but they took too long bringing out fresh ones so I was already full by the time they were ready. Wally and Aunt Karen both had them and said they were really, really good. I wished I had saved room!
I would eat there again because it was convenient and I know now what to select. I guess I just had my hopes too high with the Paula Dean name and all that. Maybe I will write to her...she probably has no idea.
We play slots rather than cards or any of the other stuff. For me, it's just easier and I'm not all that concerned with a big win. I like the little wins you get from the slot machines and I like the sounds they make when you hit something good. They throw enough money back at you to keep you playing like they know just when you're about to get up and leave...lol!
A new slot machine feature that we all enjoyed was a beverage menu on the machine. You press a button on the touch screen and you can get a slot machine attendant, a cocktail waitress, emergency aid, etc. It was pretty cool. It used to be that you sat there forever waiting on a drink but not at Tunica. Those girls are fast on their feet and since it's computerized, they know right where to deliver the drinks. It was so much more organized than the old way - VEGAS could take a lesson from them on that note. It even remembers what you order throughout your trip so you can go to the "my menu" feature and select the same thing over again. It's fast and efficient - I liked that.
Well you win some, you lose some, as they say. We did okay. After we counted what we had left, we figured out that we both played on about twenty bucks each the whole time. Sometimes we were down and sometimes we were up. That's just the way it is, right? You can't go there hoping to bring all your money back or you'll be sorely disappointed LOL In all it was a fun trip. We enjoyed seeing Aunt Karen & Uncle Dee and of course, we're making plans to meet up again soon. If all else fails, I hope to get them here during hunting season. I can hunt with a pro and when the hunting is done, I can cook with a pro lol the best of both worlds for me!
On the way home, Wally wanted to take me to the Rendezvous for ribs. It's a famous place in Memphis and I was looking forward to it. We drove into downtown and I was quickly reminded of New Orleans. It was very similar in the look and feel of things though no where near as big. Just a few streets of activity and those few were very busy with tourists and people headed to the baseball field. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed on Sunday. Darn!
Since BBQ was no longer an option, we found a place called Huey's and as it turned out, it was voted #1 hamburger in Memphis for years and years gone by. You know me! I'm always up for a good hamburger so in we went. It was packed with people, it was not air conditioned very well, it smelled of frying food and blues music was blaring from the speakers. It was perfect :) We ordered cheeseburgers and beer and sat there enjoying the music, people watching and checking out the memorabilia on the walls. Our burgers were cooked perfectly, they were big and juicy and loaded with pickles, lettuce and tomatoes....mmmm mmmmm GOOD! They served fresh, hot steak fries on the side that we didn't know we were going to get and they didn't disappoint either. We were full but not stuffed and ready to go home.
We hit the interstate and never looked back. The farm it seems has way of calling us home. Perhaps it was the cabin or the animals or a combination of all of it and even though it was only one night, we were missing it badly. I thought about the old Jon Denver song, "Hey it's good, to be back home again....sometimes this old farm feels like a long lost friend yes, and hey it's good to be back home again."
We pulled up to the cabin and the puppies were jumping up and down and turning circles in their excitement. They've never been a night without us except for when they ran off. The big dogs came out from under the back porch and slowly made their way round to see us. The roosters started in making their garble sounds (I don't know how else to describe it if you've never heard it) and followed us wherever we went. We even saw that the horses had come up to the top of the hill to see us.
We let the puppies go free, gave the old dogs their aspirin and then everyone, roosters included, headed over to the horse pen. The old dogs stayed on the porch - it's just too much for them to make the trip and they've made it for so many years that they only go now on occasion. Wally petted Rebel while I tried to get Smokey to come over to me. He wasn't having anything to do with it.
We got their buckets filled and that's when Smokey came over. He leaned his head in and I scratched up under his halter. That's about all he was interested in but it's the one thing he and I see eye to eye on. He likes it, he knows I'm no threat and I feel like he has at least a smidge of trust to let me get close to his face like that. They ate their sweet feed while we walked back to the garden and checked out the peas. Oh they grew alright! lol
We made our trip over to Dizzy's apt. and I got the roosters some scratch feed. I threw it up on a pile of leaves where the new walkway is. We're hoping they'll do their scratching thing and clear a nice little path for us. So far, so good! They really are good at clearing a path - you have to see it from start to finish to believe it. Well, unless you've seen roosters in action before lol! So as I was throwing out the scratch, here come the puppies, running full speed ahead and bound for the roosters! They got those roosters cock-a-doodle-doing over and over and running around like chickens with their heads cut off....LOL!! oh sorry - I just couldn't resist! hahahahahaha
When the herding was over, the roosters had been scattered all about. One was over by the horses, two were behind Dizzy's apt. and the other one was on the hitching post. They were not the least bit happy with Colt and Ruger! I always worry that one of the roosters will get caught at some point but they don't really try to catch them, they just run them around like they're really herding them. The puppies love it and it's in their nature so they think they're doing a good thing. On the other hand, the roosters seem to be thoroughly annoyed with it.
We weren't starving but we were a little bit hungry so we skewered up some bacon wrapped shrimp and seasoned it with bbq rub. We loaded the skewers on the grill and in no time, they were hot and ready to eat. We watched the race from Saturday night that we had recorded but were too tired to make it to the end. It was barely dark when we went to bed.
As I lay there thinking about the weekend I realized that sometimes you have to leave your home just long enough to get the urge to get back to it as soon as you possibly can. Like Dorothy always says, "there's no place like home..." That such a great line!
How was your weekend? Did you plant anything? Did you harvest anything? Did you water your flowers and pull out the weeds? I hope no matter what you did, you had as great a time as I did.
Tonight - if all goes well, my beans will go into the ground! It's all tilled and waiting for them :) :) :) waiting for me actually! lol
"There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling." ~Mirabel Osler
Friday, April 8, 2011
GUESS WHAT I HAVE????????????????????????
HAHAHAHAHA - Yes, it's true....drum roll please....
I HAVE PEAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo!! Yippee!! Hoorah!!
Oh the joy of seeing those little green sprouts pop up from the ground :) They're only about an inch tall but they are huge in my eyes! It seems I will be rewarded for all my hard work after all :) Were you ever in doubt? lol I sure was...but only for a minute or two...hahaha
I have to begin by saying that our driveway is so beautiful right now that I find myself stopping along the way just to look out the window and gaze upon the hundreds of bright, white dogwood trees blooming to beat the band. There are so many that the woods appear to be engulfed in a white cloud of those soft, little petals.
The dogwood isn't a very tall tree nor is it big around but it puts out a tremendous amount of blooms - so many that you're deceived into thinking that there is one solitary humongous tree out there. Indeed a sight to behold and I behold it every day, morning and afternoon, as often as I can for the dogwood blooming time is short. You must enjoy it, savor it as you would a piece of dark chocolate, catch as much of it as you can with your camera and appreciate what the tree has to offer before it rolls up the blooming carpet and hides it away until next spring :)
So yesterday being no exception, I traveled slowly down the drive admiring what nature designed. I talk to myself (who doesn't? really?) and tell myself that I am the luckiest person in the world to be seeing what I'm seeing and living where I'm living. I know that this is right where I've always been meant to be. I see something new in the woods every day - sometimes it's just a leaf blowing in the breeze, sometimes it's a squirrel racing up a tree with his cheeks fully rounded by acorns. Soon enough there will be flowers aplenty to fill this farm with color.
I unloaded my groceries and visited with the old dogs as they warmed themselves in the sun on the porch. I petted the little, rambunctious, mongrels and then headed to Dizzy's Apt. to get the scratch feed for the roosters. Sure they've been doing a great job pecking around and eating all the ticks, grubs and whatever else they can find there but they deserve a treat and scratch is their favorite!
As I'm walking down the drive, I hear Wally coming up from the holler on the 4 wheeler. He rides over to where I am and we share the highlights of our day. He worked in the barn organizing and cleaning up things. He burned a bunch of cardboard and old mail that we don't want to put in the household trash bin and he worked on the list of parts we'll need to finish the bronco. As for me, well, I worked at work and then left to go to the doctors to see about my hands. Apparently I have carpal tunnel and it's been making my hands feel weird when I'm trying to sleep at night. The nice doctor gave me some braces for my hands and I was off to the grocery store.
Wally sat there on the 4 wheeler while I fed the roosters and then he said something along the lines of "oh, by the way, you got peas." I about flipped! He offered me a ride on the 4 wheeler so we could go to the garden and check them out. Sure enough the little buggers had sprung from the ground and were happily enjoying the afternoon sunshine as it warmed and nurtured them. What a simple thing to be so absolutely delighted about peas coming forth from the ground. That's life for me these days and it's so cool!! I told Kris "nothing can ruin the pea high" that I'm on today :) Can't you just feel my excitement? lol
You know I'll be like a mad woman tonight when I get home....I'll be looking for carrots, beets and onions with a determination untold before now...lol!!! Pictures will be downloaded come Monday for sure.
I'll come back down to earth for a while and tell you how the rest of the day went by... :)
Since we were already on the 4 wheeler, we rode down to the barn and Wally showed me all that he had done. We cleaned up a few more things, brought the bronco back inside, turned off the radio, closed up the doors and hopped on the 4 wheelers to head for the cabin. Food Lion had chuck eye steaks on sale so I bought a couple since I didn't have anything thawed out for dinner. While Wally started the grill, I seasoned the steaks and heated up a can of "Allen's Seasoned Butter Beans." I highly recommend them if you are a fan of the butter bean :)
He set Colt and Ruger free and they were busy terrorizing the roosters while the old dogs settled in behind the grill to catch the scent of grilling meat and hopefully a morsel or two. The roosters were so annoyed they started their "cock-a-doodle-doing" and didn't quit until the dogs finally left them be. They don't like disruptions in their world so the slightest change will get them going...lol it cracks me up and I love to hear them but of course I'm at work all day so I don't get to hear them as often as Wally does. He says they go at it all day long...lol! It likely drives him nuts...
The afternoon was warm and windy and the puppies ran and rolled and frolicked out there in the front yard until they had no more left in them and they came back to us ready to rest. The roosters forgave them their annoyance and pecked their way back to where I had thrown the scratch feed earlier. The old dogs growled, bared their teeth and barked at those little fellows until they too were finally left alone. Like little children, Colt and Ruger think all the attention should be on them all the time.
I brought the steaks inside while Wally put the puppies back on their chains. I dished out some beans and added a couple thick, juicy, slices of tomato and we sat down at the table to eat. The sun was shining in the back porch windows, the breeze was blowing through the open front door. Our dinner was everything a steak dinner should be with the steaks cooked perfectly, the outside of them crunchy - the inside juicy and warm. The beans were tender and vidalia onions gave them a slightly sweet taste. The tomato slices were thick and sprinkled with salt and reminded me that I still had some planting to do before the end of next week :)
We watched Two and A Half Men and a couple episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond and called it a night. We called it a Good Night, of course, for the peas had finally entered our world! LOL
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you...while I was on vacation, I was talking to Dizzy Debbie one morning and as I looked out the spare bedroom window towards where the horses come up, I saw about 7 deer right along the edge of the woods. They were eating the fresh, new, spring grass and enjoying the warmth of the morning sun. While I do love watching them, on this particular day I got an extra treat...there was a baby in the group!She was only about 2 feet tall and with her gangly legs she worked at keeping up with her mama. Mama had hit on a big patch of grass and was busily working her way through it. They were easily within about 10 feet of the cabin. My camera? Dead battery! Dang it!
The deer were dangerously close to my onion garden and as I watched, I noticed that they did indeed avoid that area. I don't know if it's because they know there are onions in the ground or if it's just because there is no grass... c'mon, let me think that my "onion smell" theory is correct...lol! It's the little things that make me happy :)
Tonight Wally is putting new shocks on my car. I don't know how often a car needs new shocks but he says it's time and since he's the mechanic, I'm going with that. From work I'll just drive straight to the barn/garage so he can replace them. They say there's a 50/50 chance of rain and from the looks of things outside, "they" might actually be right this time. Hopefully by the time I leave work, it will have passed.
Food Lion had ground beef on sale for, get this - $1.39 a pound. So here it is April, 2011 and a full pound of ground beef is now two dollars and twenty cents cheaper than a gallon of gasoline. That's a pretty sad state of affairs. If I had my druthers, I'druther stay on the farm, raise cattle and chickens, grow wheat, barley and all manner of vegetables instead of driving to work every day. Oh to have been born in the days of my Great Grandparents...
I hope your garden grows with all the seeds you've planted be they fruits or vegetables or flowers :) You're welcome to come see mine anytime you please....
"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides." ~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show
I HAVE PEAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo!! Yippee!! Hoorah!!
Oh the joy of seeing those little green sprouts pop up from the ground :) They're only about an inch tall but they are huge in my eyes! It seems I will be rewarded for all my hard work after all :) Were you ever in doubt? lol I sure was...but only for a minute or two...hahaha
I have to begin by saying that our driveway is so beautiful right now that I find myself stopping along the way just to look out the window and gaze upon the hundreds of bright, white dogwood trees blooming to beat the band. There are so many that the woods appear to be engulfed in a white cloud of those soft, little petals.
The dogwood isn't a very tall tree nor is it big around but it puts out a tremendous amount of blooms - so many that you're deceived into thinking that there is one solitary humongous tree out there. Indeed a sight to behold and I behold it every day, morning and afternoon, as often as I can for the dogwood blooming time is short. You must enjoy it, savor it as you would a piece of dark chocolate, catch as much of it as you can with your camera and appreciate what the tree has to offer before it rolls up the blooming carpet and hides it away until next spring :)
So yesterday being no exception, I traveled slowly down the drive admiring what nature designed. I talk to myself (who doesn't? really?) and tell myself that I am the luckiest person in the world to be seeing what I'm seeing and living where I'm living. I know that this is right where I've always been meant to be. I see something new in the woods every day - sometimes it's just a leaf blowing in the breeze, sometimes it's a squirrel racing up a tree with his cheeks fully rounded by acorns. Soon enough there will be flowers aplenty to fill this farm with color.
I unloaded my groceries and visited with the old dogs as they warmed themselves in the sun on the porch. I petted the little, rambunctious, mongrels and then headed to Dizzy's Apt. to get the scratch feed for the roosters. Sure they've been doing a great job pecking around and eating all the ticks, grubs and whatever else they can find there but they deserve a treat and scratch is their favorite!
As I'm walking down the drive, I hear Wally coming up from the holler on the 4 wheeler. He rides over to where I am and we share the highlights of our day. He worked in the barn organizing and cleaning up things. He burned a bunch of cardboard and old mail that we don't want to put in the household trash bin and he worked on the list of parts we'll need to finish the bronco. As for me, well, I worked at work and then left to go to the doctors to see about my hands. Apparently I have carpal tunnel and it's been making my hands feel weird when I'm trying to sleep at night. The nice doctor gave me some braces for my hands and I was off to the grocery store.
Wally sat there on the 4 wheeler while I fed the roosters and then he said something along the lines of "oh, by the way, you got peas." I about flipped! He offered me a ride on the 4 wheeler so we could go to the garden and check them out. Sure enough the little buggers had sprung from the ground and were happily enjoying the afternoon sunshine as it warmed and nurtured them. What a simple thing to be so absolutely delighted about peas coming forth from the ground. That's life for me these days and it's so cool!! I told Kris "nothing can ruin the pea high" that I'm on today :) Can't you just feel my excitement? lol
You know I'll be like a mad woman tonight when I get home....I'll be looking for carrots, beets and onions with a determination untold before now...lol!!! Pictures will be downloaded come Monday for sure.
I'll come back down to earth for a while and tell you how the rest of the day went by... :)
Since we were already on the 4 wheeler, we rode down to the barn and Wally showed me all that he had done. We cleaned up a few more things, brought the bronco back inside, turned off the radio, closed up the doors and hopped on the 4 wheelers to head for the cabin. Food Lion had chuck eye steaks on sale so I bought a couple since I didn't have anything thawed out for dinner. While Wally started the grill, I seasoned the steaks and heated up a can of "Allen's Seasoned Butter Beans." I highly recommend them if you are a fan of the butter bean :)
He set Colt and Ruger free and they were busy terrorizing the roosters while the old dogs settled in behind the grill to catch the scent of grilling meat and hopefully a morsel or two. The roosters were so annoyed they started their "cock-a-doodle-doing" and didn't quit until the dogs finally left them be. They don't like disruptions in their world so the slightest change will get them going...lol it cracks me up and I love to hear them but of course I'm at work all day so I don't get to hear them as often as Wally does. He says they go at it all day long...lol! It likely drives him nuts...
The afternoon was warm and windy and the puppies ran and rolled and frolicked out there in the front yard until they had no more left in them and they came back to us ready to rest. The roosters forgave them their annoyance and pecked their way back to where I had thrown the scratch feed earlier. The old dogs growled, bared their teeth and barked at those little fellows until they too were finally left alone. Like little children, Colt and Ruger think all the attention should be on them all the time.
I brought the steaks inside while Wally put the puppies back on their chains. I dished out some beans and added a couple thick, juicy, slices of tomato and we sat down at the table to eat. The sun was shining in the back porch windows, the breeze was blowing through the open front door. Our dinner was everything a steak dinner should be with the steaks cooked perfectly, the outside of them crunchy - the inside juicy and warm. The beans were tender and vidalia onions gave them a slightly sweet taste. The tomato slices were thick and sprinkled with salt and reminded me that I still had some planting to do before the end of next week :)
We watched Two and A Half Men and a couple episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond and called it a night. We called it a Good Night, of course, for the peas had finally entered our world! LOL
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you...while I was on vacation, I was talking to Dizzy Debbie one morning and as I looked out the spare bedroom window towards where the horses come up, I saw about 7 deer right along the edge of the woods. They were eating the fresh, new, spring grass and enjoying the warmth of the morning sun. While I do love watching them, on this particular day I got an extra treat...there was a baby in the group!She was only about 2 feet tall and with her gangly legs she worked at keeping up with her mama. Mama had hit on a big patch of grass and was busily working her way through it. They were easily within about 10 feet of the cabin. My camera? Dead battery! Dang it!
The deer were dangerously close to my onion garden and as I watched, I noticed that they did indeed avoid that area. I don't know if it's because they know there are onions in the ground or if it's just because there is no grass... c'mon, let me think that my "onion smell" theory is correct...lol! It's the little things that make me happy :)
Tonight Wally is putting new shocks on my car. I don't know how often a car needs new shocks but he says it's time and since he's the mechanic, I'm going with that. From work I'll just drive straight to the barn/garage so he can replace them. They say there's a 50/50 chance of rain and from the looks of things outside, "they" might actually be right this time. Hopefully by the time I leave work, it will have passed.
Food Lion had ground beef on sale for, get this - $1.39 a pound. So here it is April, 2011 and a full pound of ground beef is now two dollars and twenty cents cheaper than a gallon of gasoline. That's a pretty sad state of affairs. If I had my druthers, I'druther stay on the farm, raise cattle and chickens, grow wheat, barley and all manner of vegetables instead of driving to work every day. Oh to have been born in the days of my Great Grandparents...
I hope your garden grows with all the seeds you've planted be they fruits or vegetables or flowers :) You're welcome to come see mine anytime you please....
"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides." ~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Sorry about the posting...
I thought I had posted it right away but apparently there was some difficulty with it...it's there now so please enjoy :)
I'll have another one for you tomorrow and in the mean time, there are pictures of the Dogwood trees blooming on the farm if you go to the flickr site :)
I'll have another one for you tomorrow and in the mean time, there are pictures of the Dogwood trees blooming on the farm if you go to the flickr site :)
Welcome Back, Grab Your Coffee and We'll Get Started...
Vacation was wonderful and there are many stories to tell. I hear from some of you that the blog is too long and from others that the blog is too short. I don't plan for it to be either way, I just write what comes to mind. It has been suggested that I start a food/recipe/cookbook blog separate from this one... please let me know which way the wind blows for you on this subject. For now, I'll keep it all here. When the votes are counted I'll let you know the outcome.
So here we go...
Tuesday was nice and warm with plenty of sunshine and a nice breeze blowing. We loaded up in the camaro and headed for Nashville. Not downtown Nashville but more in the business district. Wally showed me where my new doctor's offices are located and he showed me the best way to get there from my work. After that, we went to a place called Harbor Freight. This place has a little bit of everything. Some things are cheap and other things, well, not so much....tools, gardening equipment, windmills, scrapers and blades, hoses, work gloves, etc. You get the picture.
We bought some more solar lights to line the other side of the driveway, we bought a mat for Wally to use so he doesn't scratch the paint when he's working on cars/trucks, etc. We bought a deer hanger (that's what I call it) for hanging up the deer once they've been "harvested." This piece of equipment makes the job of dressing the deer much easier as it keeps it completely off the ground. (Kat, "dressing" it doesn't mean putting a suit on it...sorry!) We bought a few other things that we couldn't live without although at this point, I don't remember it all. It's kind of far to go to Harbor Freight but what a treat it was for me. I found things on every aisle but restrained from buying all of it...I like to know there's something left for my next visit....:) It didn't feel so much like shopping because it wasn't crowded, it was mostly cheap and it was mostly all stuff I might want at some point.
We loaded up our goodies and hit the interstate. We wanted to get back on our side of town before the afternoon Nashville traffic started up. In the camaro this is a cool way to go. Everyone beeps their horn at us or gives us the thumbs up. At the gas station, two people asked to take pictures of it. Fuel prices are getting ridiculous...we paid $3.35 one day and a few days later, at the same station, it was $3.49. What the heck????
We stopped at the Diner and got ourselves some cheeseburgers, fries/onion rings and a couple of cold beers. In all it was a nice way to spend the day :) It was a good thing too because Wednesday morning brought cold temperatures, clouds and plenty of rain to wash it all down with. I couldn't work in the garden or the yard so we gathered up a bunch of stuff and headed to the barn. Wally worked on the bronco while I watched the weather outside. I got so relaxed I thought I was going to drift off to sleep but the wind and rain and cold temperatures kept me from doing so... brrrrr Thank goodness Wally got hot and gave me his jacket! I had my jacket for my upper body and his for the lower half! Still it was cold.
I made beef tips with gravy over whole wheat macaroni noodles. The beef was from the meat man and after it browned I added some beef stock, mushrooms, onions and some seasonings. While the beef cooked, we petted the dogs, fed the horses and then got hot showers to warm us up. I made garlic bread to sop up that brown gravy. We had to go to Pee Wee's to pull our race numbers.
Pee Wee's was busy as Pee Wee's Place goes. I guess there were maybe 10-15 people there, us included. Wally got the number 6 and I got the number 3. Neither of them won but we still had fun playing. While we were there, Darryl gave me a bag (like a brown, paper lunch bag) of red onion sets for my garden. I hadn't planned on onions but he was nice enough to donate them so into the ground they went. I planted just one row but plan to plant more as a border around the plot. The hope is that the onions will smell so strong that the rabbits and deer will leave the beans alone that will planted in the middle of the plot. I know - hope against hope on that score but it's worth a try...
In that plot I now have the scallions that Mom sent me and the red onion sets that Darryl gave me. I should think it would be onion-ey enough to keep anything away but we'll see. I have the seeds for the bean plants but according to the almanac, they don't go into the ground until tomorrow or Wednesday.
I check my rows every day and so far...nothing has come up. No carrots, no peas, no beets, no scallions...not even any of the flower seeds have sprouted...
Nothing? Nothing.... what's the deal? The bag that the peas came in said 5-7 days to germination. It's been 12. I planted another row of peas on Saturday...maybe they will fare better? The carrot bag said 7 days to germination, it's been 11...what the heck? I'm not too worried about the beets because that bag said 10-21 days for germination - they still have some time to appear. Okay, so does germination mean that's when they should come out of the ground? I don't know... it's frustrating to do all that work and not see anything after two weeks! But still I continue to dig out the rocks and plant the seeds...time will tell. Wally says it will be any day now. I guess it's like the watched pot never boiling - perhaps a watched garden never sprouts... :(
Now I'm not one much for moving watching but Thursday turned out to be a movie day. We watched a movie called "Scent of a Woman." Wally had seen it before but not me. I'm so far behind on movies that there's no catching up at this point and that's okay with me. Rarely do I see one worth watching so why bother? This one turned out to be pretty darn good. I don't know who the guy was that played the main part but he was obnoxious, funny, and in the end, caring and helpful. I didn't even shed a tear...probably why I liked it so much! hahaha It was a good way to blow off doing any work for a couple hours and that's exactly what we did... :)
Well you can't spend your whole vacation running round not getting anything done but seed planting so I did clean house. I did the floors in the bathroom - whew - what a chore! I do believe that hairspray is dedicated to staying where it lands as it took some heavy scrubbing to get that stuff up. lol I gathered up the rugs, shook them out off the back porch (cough, cough, sneeze, sneeze) and then washed them all and started on the kitchen floors. Oh my...I thought they got bad fast in the wintertime. Springtime takes the cake! I swept up all manner of garden dirt - that I thought stayed in the garden, hello? I swept up dust bunnies from down the hall and bits of food that fell while I was cooking or scraping leftovers into the dog food pans. It gets dirty fast is all I can say!
With the floors and rugs shiny clean I got a little particular about us wiping our feet when we come through the door. Once they're dirty again, it won't matter but for a few days I was like a crazy woman watching for any little spot to appear. At one point, I had the back door open to let the breeze blow through and Ruger thought he was going to come inside. I don't think so mister! They've never even tried to come in and I was very surprised to see him up that close and trying. Maybe it was the smell of bacon frying that tempted him beyond his limits??? LOL I had to forgive him that...bacon tempts even the strongest of us at some point in our lives.
We have started letting them off their chains for an hour or so every day. They love it!! They run all over the place chasing each other, rolling around playing together and terrorizing the old dogs and roosters. It's fun to watch them and when they get a little too far from us, all we have to do is call their names and they come running quick as can be! Tails wagging, tongues lolling and ears laid back, they run at top speed and don't slow down until they just about pile into you! So cute. They wear themselves out and then dig holes in the dirt to lay and rest where it's cool and damp. This is usually right out by the grill where we're cooking of course.
They get the roosters in such a tizzy that they make a funny, garbled sound for 20 minutes or so. Sometimes they annoy the roosters so much so that they begin to "cock-a-doodle-do" when it's not even time for it. It doesn't take much to get the roosters going - they like their routine and they prefer you not interrupt it. They'll certainly let you know when you have...
We're still debating on whether to get some laying hens or some guinnea hens. The laying hens will provide eggs and the roosters will enjoy their company but then we have to build a place for them to lay and we risk losing them to bigger animals since the puppies can't be trusted off the line over night yet. Chickens, after all, are on the bottom of the farm food chain, like it or not.
The guinneas will wander around eating all the bugs off the ground, which is very beneficial but the roosters won't enjoy their company and they make a lot of noise - from what I hear anyway. No eggs can be eaten should they lay them.
I'll keep you posted on the final decision. Many thanks to Kris for sending the craigs list entry showing 5 chickens for sale for $25.00...we may just have to look into that :)
Then there's Colt, or Houdini as I like to call him. He got himself free Sunday morning so I tied him back up. Then this morning when I left for work, there he was again. Running around playing at 5:00 in the morning. hmmm he's figured out that choke chain and it no longer phases him to get free of it. At least he doesn't run off anymore :) Neither of them do. In fact, after being off their chains for a while, when we call them to go back on, they don't even mind it. They drink from their water bucket and then settle in for about a 2 hour nap. Lazy boys!
So what is blooming besides what I've planted you ask? Well, the red bud trees are in full bloom and I hope to get more pictures of them before they're done. The tree itself is kind of scraggly but when those red, purple or pink blooms appear, they transform into a real beauty. They seem to grow wild here as I'm sure Wally didn't plant them and there are so many! It would be nice to have a few planted along the driveway but close enough in the woods to not have to mow around them.
The dogwoods are showing yellow right now but within a day or so they will be full on bright, spactacular white! Wally said I could tie a ribbon around the ones I want to move. They are without a doubt a show stopper when in bloom and I can just imagine them paired with the red buds...Oh what a show that will be!!! Moving trees is no easy task and the bull dozer will have to be employed for the job. It's not a top priority but getting the ribbons tied on them definitely is top priority :)
Our schedule? Well, April is booking up quickly. Here's how it looks...
April 9th we're meeting up with Aunt Karen and Uncle Dee in Tunica for just an over-nighter...we'll have dinner with them, do some gambling and then come home on Sunday. It'll be good to see them and visit no matter where we end up.
April 14th - 17th Paul and Missy Goodman are coming to visit. It's Paul's birthday and we're planning an over-nighter in Nashville so he and Missy can go honky-tonking at the little bars all along Broadway. If you've never done it, it is kind of fun. For me though, it's more fun to stay on the farm with Wally and the animals and the garden. This is the weekend that tomatoes are to go in the ground so partying in Nashville will have to be kept to a minimum for me. I have to be able to get outside on Sunday and do some digging!
April 23rd is Easter weekend and while we don't have anyone coming to visit, we will take the time to get things caught up around the farm. Me especially - by then I hope to have a thriving garden that needs my tending...I'll be pretty disappointed otherwise! lol Of course, you're still welcome to come visit us. I'll be taking care of the garden either way :)
April 26th brings Dizzy Debbie to town for a few days. We plan to take her to Pee Wee's Place and maybe even get Darryl over to cook out and have a little party. We'll see. She's leaving on Friday so there's not much time for us to spend together. We have to make the moments count :)
The last weekend of the month is open but I imagine we'll be resting up from Debbie's visit...lol hope so anyway :) Feel free to plan a visit whenever you like but don't be surprised if I drag you out to the garden to lend a hand or just hang out while I pull weeds, check on the peas and look for stink bugs on the tomato plants :) :) lol Make you want to just jump in the car and head on over, doesn't it? lol!
From the almanac for April comes this:
"HAIL, APRIL. WITH HER SMILING FACE HAS COME TO CHEER THE PLAIN;
THE GRASS IS SEEN TO START APACE, AS DOES THE NEEDFUL GRAIN."
Yes, I'm back at work but as you know 4 days off makes for lots of catching up so another posting may be a little delayed in coming. I'll do what I can as soon as I can :) for too many of you are now dependent on my ramblings...LOL just kidding :) You keep reading it - I'll keep writing it!
So here we go...
Tuesday was nice and warm with plenty of sunshine and a nice breeze blowing. We loaded up in the camaro and headed for Nashville. Not downtown Nashville but more in the business district. Wally showed me where my new doctor's offices are located and he showed me the best way to get there from my work. After that, we went to a place called Harbor Freight. This place has a little bit of everything. Some things are cheap and other things, well, not so much....tools, gardening equipment, windmills, scrapers and blades, hoses, work gloves, etc. You get the picture.
We bought some more solar lights to line the other side of the driveway, we bought a mat for Wally to use so he doesn't scratch the paint when he's working on cars/trucks, etc. We bought a deer hanger (that's what I call it) for hanging up the deer once they've been "harvested." This piece of equipment makes the job of dressing the deer much easier as it keeps it completely off the ground. (Kat, "dressing" it doesn't mean putting a suit on it...sorry!) We bought a few other things that we couldn't live without although at this point, I don't remember it all. It's kind of far to go to Harbor Freight but what a treat it was for me. I found things on every aisle but restrained from buying all of it...I like to know there's something left for my next visit....:) It didn't feel so much like shopping because it wasn't crowded, it was mostly cheap and it was mostly all stuff I might want at some point.
We loaded up our goodies and hit the interstate. We wanted to get back on our side of town before the afternoon Nashville traffic started up. In the camaro this is a cool way to go. Everyone beeps their horn at us or gives us the thumbs up. At the gas station, two people asked to take pictures of it. Fuel prices are getting ridiculous...we paid $3.35 one day and a few days later, at the same station, it was $3.49. What the heck????
We stopped at the Diner and got ourselves some cheeseburgers, fries/onion rings and a couple of cold beers. In all it was a nice way to spend the day :) It was a good thing too because Wednesday morning brought cold temperatures, clouds and plenty of rain to wash it all down with. I couldn't work in the garden or the yard so we gathered up a bunch of stuff and headed to the barn. Wally worked on the bronco while I watched the weather outside. I got so relaxed I thought I was going to drift off to sleep but the wind and rain and cold temperatures kept me from doing so... brrrrr Thank goodness Wally got hot and gave me his jacket! I had my jacket for my upper body and his for the lower half! Still it was cold.
I made beef tips with gravy over whole wheat macaroni noodles. The beef was from the meat man and after it browned I added some beef stock, mushrooms, onions and some seasonings. While the beef cooked, we petted the dogs, fed the horses and then got hot showers to warm us up. I made garlic bread to sop up that brown gravy. We had to go to Pee Wee's to pull our race numbers.
Pee Wee's was busy as Pee Wee's Place goes. I guess there were maybe 10-15 people there, us included. Wally got the number 6 and I got the number 3. Neither of them won but we still had fun playing. While we were there, Darryl gave me a bag (like a brown, paper lunch bag) of red onion sets for my garden. I hadn't planned on onions but he was nice enough to donate them so into the ground they went. I planted just one row but plan to plant more as a border around the plot. The hope is that the onions will smell so strong that the rabbits and deer will leave the beans alone that will planted in the middle of the plot. I know - hope against hope on that score but it's worth a try...
In that plot I now have the scallions that Mom sent me and the red onion sets that Darryl gave me. I should think it would be onion-ey enough to keep anything away but we'll see. I have the seeds for the bean plants but according to the almanac, they don't go into the ground until tomorrow or Wednesday.
I check my rows every day and so far...nothing has come up. No carrots, no peas, no beets, no scallions...not even any of the flower seeds have sprouted...
Nothing? Nothing.... what's the deal? The bag that the peas came in said 5-7 days to germination. It's been 12. I planted another row of peas on Saturday...maybe they will fare better? The carrot bag said 7 days to germination, it's been 11...what the heck? I'm not too worried about the beets because that bag said 10-21 days for germination - they still have some time to appear. Okay, so does germination mean that's when they should come out of the ground? I don't know... it's frustrating to do all that work and not see anything after two weeks! But still I continue to dig out the rocks and plant the seeds...time will tell. Wally says it will be any day now. I guess it's like the watched pot never boiling - perhaps a watched garden never sprouts... :(
Now I'm not one much for moving watching but Thursday turned out to be a movie day. We watched a movie called "Scent of a Woman." Wally had seen it before but not me. I'm so far behind on movies that there's no catching up at this point and that's okay with me. Rarely do I see one worth watching so why bother? This one turned out to be pretty darn good. I don't know who the guy was that played the main part but he was obnoxious, funny, and in the end, caring and helpful. I didn't even shed a tear...probably why I liked it so much! hahaha It was a good way to blow off doing any work for a couple hours and that's exactly what we did... :)
Well you can't spend your whole vacation running round not getting anything done but seed planting so I did clean house. I did the floors in the bathroom - whew - what a chore! I do believe that hairspray is dedicated to staying where it lands as it took some heavy scrubbing to get that stuff up. lol I gathered up the rugs, shook them out off the back porch (cough, cough, sneeze, sneeze) and then washed them all and started on the kitchen floors. Oh my...I thought they got bad fast in the wintertime. Springtime takes the cake! I swept up all manner of garden dirt - that I thought stayed in the garden, hello? I swept up dust bunnies from down the hall and bits of food that fell while I was cooking or scraping leftovers into the dog food pans. It gets dirty fast is all I can say!
With the floors and rugs shiny clean I got a little particular about us wiping our feet when we come through the door. Once they're dirty again, it won't matter but for a few days I was like a crazy woman watching for any little spot to appear. At one point, I had the back door open to let the breeze blow through and Ruger thought he was going to come inside. I don't think so mister! They've never even tried to come in and I was very surprised to see him up that close and trying. Maybe it was the smell of bacon frying that tempted him beyond his limits??? LOL I had to forgive him that...bacon tempts even the strongest of us at some point in our lives.
We have started letting them off their chains for an hour or so every day. They love it!! They run all over the place chasing each other, rolling around playing together and terrorizing the old dogs and roosters. It's fun to watch them and when they get a little too far from us, all we have to do is call their names and they come running quick as can be! Tails wagging, tongues lolling and ears laid back, they run at top speed and don't slow down until they just about pile into you! So cute. They wear themselves out and then dig holes in the dirt to lay and rest where it's cool and damp. This is usually right out by the grill where we're cooking of course.
They get the roosters in such a tizzy that they make a funny, garbled sound for 20 minutes or so. Sometimes they annoy the roosters so much so that they begin to "cock-a-doodle-do" when it's not even time for it. It doesn't take much to get the roosters going - they like their routine and they prefer you not interrupt it. They'll certainly let you know when you have...
We're still debating on whether to get some laying hens or some guinnea hens. The laying hens will provide eggs and the roosters will enjoy their company but then we have to build a place for them to lay and we risk losing them to bigger animals since the puppies can't be trusted off the line over night yet. Chickens, after all, are on the bottom of the farm food chain, like it or not.
The guinneas will wander around eating all the bugs off the ground, which is very beneficial but the roosters won't enjoy their company and they make a lot of noise - from what I hear anyway. No eggs can be eaten should they lay them.
I'll keep you posted on the final decision. Many thanks to Kris for sending the craigs list entry showing 5 chickens for sale for $25.00...we may just have to look into that :)
Then there's Colt, or Houdini as I like to call him. He got himself free Sunday morning so I tied him back up. Then this morning when I left for work, there he was again. Running around playing at 5:00 in the morning. hmmm he's figured out that choke chain and it no longer phases him to get free of it. At least he doesn't run off anymore :) Neither of them do. In fact, after being off their chains for a while, when we call them to go back on, they don't even mind it. They drink from their water bucket and then settle in for about a 2 hour nap. Lazy boys!
So what is blooming besides what I've planted you ask? Well, the red bud trees are in full bloom and I hope to get more pictures of them before they're done. The tree itself is kind of scraggly but when those red, purple or pink blooms appear, they transform into a real beauty. They seem to grow wild here as I'm sure Wally didn't plant them and there are so many! It would be nice to have a few planted along the driveway but close enough in the woods to not have to mow around them.
The dogwoods are showing yellow right now but within a day or so they will be full on bright, spactacular white! Wally said I could tie a ribbon around the ones I want to move. They are without a doubt a show stopper when in bloom and I can just imagine them paired with the red buds...Oh what a show that will be!!! Moving trees is no easy task and the bull dozer will have to be employed for the job. It's not a top priority but getting the ribbons tied on them definitely is top priority :)
Our schedule? Well, April is booking up quickly. Here's how it looks...
April 9th we're meeting up with Aunt Karen and Uncle Dee in Tunica for just an over-nighter...we'll have dinner with them, do some gambling and then come home on Sunday. It'll be good to see them and visit no matter where we end up.
April 14th - 17th Paul and Missy Goodman are coming to visit. It's Paul's birthday and we're planning an over-nighter in Nashville so he and Missy can go honky-tonking at the little bars all along Broadway. If you've never done it, it is kind of fun. For me though, it's more fun to stay on the farm with Wally and the animals and the garden. This is the weekend that tomatoes are to go in the ground so partying in Nashville will have to be kept to a minimum for me. I have to be able to get outside on Sunday and do some digging!
April 23rd is Easter weekend and while we don't have anyone coming to visit, we will take the time to get things caught up around the farm. Me especially - by then I hope to have a thriving garden that needs my tending...I'll be pretty disappointed otherwise! lol Of course, you're still welcome to come visit us. I'll be taking care of the garden either way :)
April 26th brings Dizzy Debbie to town for a few days. We plan to take her to Pee Wee's Place and maybe even get Darryl over to cook out and have a little party. We'll see. She's leaving on Friday so there's not much time for us to spend together. We have to make the moments count :)
The last weekend of the month is open but I imagine we'll be resting up from Debbie's visit...lol hope so anyway :) Feel free to plan a visit whenever you like but don't be surprised if I drag you out to the garden to lend a hand or just hang out while I pull weeds, check on the peas and look for stink bugs on the tomato plants :) :) lol Make you want to just jump in the car and head on over, doesn't it? lol!
From the almanac for April comes this:
"HAIL, APRIL. WITH HER SMILING FACE HAS COME TO CHEER THE PLAIN;
THE GRASS IS SEEN TO START APACE, AS DOES THE NEEDFUL GRAIN."
Yes, I'm back at work but as you know 4 days off makes for lots of catching up so another posting may be a little delayed in coming. I'll do what I can as soon as I can :) for too many of you are now dependent on my ramblings...LOL just kidding :) You keep reading it - I'll keep writing it!
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