So Much For Nice Weather...

THAT didn't last long...lol! As of Sunday night we have had rain, rain, rain and more rain. Here it is Tuesday and the rain is expected to last until Friday...only a 20% chance on Friday. Hey, I can't complain, it saves me from having to water the garden :)

I went to Tenesha's graduation at the Hickman County High School Gymnasium. Her graduating class was 150 students! How cute. I'll tell you what though - it's a big, big deal here. There were so many people that they were having to stand on the sidelines because the gym didn't have enough seats for everyone. There were so many people that they had school buses providing a shuttle service - LOL

There was a very touching moment that I'll tell you about just because it was so cool. I went to the graduation with Claudia. Her husband serves in the military and other members of his family do as well. Of their two nephews, one is already in the service and the other one was graduating from high school in this ceremony.

The graduate stood in line with his schoolmates and when his name was called he walked across the stage. Claudia mentioned to me that he was her nephew and they were all very proud of him. When he reached the other side of the stage, his older brother, the one in the military, walked into the gym through a back door and tapped him on the shoulder as he was walking away. What a surprise!! He had no idea his older brother was going to be there. The older brother is currently stationed in Texas and was trying to get leave to be there but no one told the younger brother. It was so cool! The older brother in full dress uniform, the younger brother in his graduation cap & gown stood there hugging like there was no tomorrow.

When they broke apart, they shook hands and the graduate returned to his seat. The soldier went to sit with their parents. The whole gymnasium gave him a standing ovation that rocked the entire place and probably half of Centerville! If there was a dry eye in the place, I would have been very surprised.

The rest of the graduation went as they all do with music from the band - it had all of 15 members in it - speeches from the honor students and "most likely to succeed" students. Little kids were running all around, grandparents were dressed in their Sunday best and proud parents were snapping pictures left and right. It was fun even if I knew only 4 people in the whole place. Indeed they all knew each other...Centerville is truly a small town like Mayberry. Claudia knew 10 of the kids who were graduating that day but then again, she's lived here 20 years.

Once we saw Tenesha walk across the stage and get her diploma, I asked Claudia if she was ready to leave so we could beat the crowd. There was sure to be some traffic issues when all those people left the gym. She was ready so we went back outside and caught the shuttle school bus back to my truck. From there we headed over to Kurt and Beverly's house where they had planned a big graduation party in Tenesha's honor.

Darryl was there cooking 12 boston butts and 9 whole chickens. He had probably 20 ears of fresh corn on the grill and it was all smelling wonderful. I was hungry and we still had two more hours until the food was ready!! We took our chairs out of the truck and set them up under a tree so we could have some shade. It was predicted to be 86 degrees and clearly, that temperature was on its way! lol

Claudia and I went inside to help Beverly get things set up, brought out, wrapped up or whatever else needed to be done. You know how it is when you're having a big party - there's always plenty to do and not enough people to help do it. We got baked beans going in the oven, appetizers pulled from the refrigerator, ice poured into coolers and water bottles stuffed into the ice.

We set out styrofoam plates, napkins, plastic forks and red solo cups. We visited with the new comers and relaxed in the shade until time to put out all the rest of the food. There was karaoke going on, horseshoes being played and folks coming and going throughout the day to congratulate Tenesha on her big accomplishment.

When finally the time came, everyone pitched in and made trips into the house to bring out food. You name it, it was there - banana pudding, two different potato salads, homemade whole wheat bread (still warm!), baked beans, deviled eggs, cake, fresh sliced tomatoes, cole slaw, chips and dip, and all kinds of other stuff. If you went away hungry from this shin-dig, you had problems!

As the sun was beginning to set, I bid my farewells and packed up my chair to head home. Saying good-bye took another 15 minutes because you always end up talking to someone again...but soon I was on my way, in my big, red truck, driving on the two lane back roads of TN to our cabin in the woods. I had been gone since 8:30 that morning and it was 7:30 in the evening. I couldn't wait to get home. I drove down the driveway and up to the cabin just as the sun was setting in the back yard. Perfect day, perfect food, perfect timing :) I slept really good.

My Sunday breakfast was bacon, whole wheat toast, sliced tomatoes and two fried farm eggs (in bacon fat, no less). You can see the picture on flickr. It was so yummy smelling and I knew it was going to be tasty but it just wasn't the same without Wally there. :( I ate it nonetheless! lol

I fed the dogs a couple scraps so they had their morning medicine then I got into the truck and headed to the dollar store. I needed potting soil and another hummingbird feeder and a couple planters. I was in and out in less than 15 minutes and down the road to the little Value Plus Food Store in Lyles. It's about 10 miles down the road from the dollar store I guess. Anyway, I picked up some green peppers and a big container of strawberries ($3.99) and made my way back home.

I let the puppies off their chains and watched and laughed as they ran around nipping at each other's feet and ears and rolled in the grass. They walked down to the flag pole with me and then back to the cabin again. They were very well behaved so I gave them both a doggie biscuit upon our return. Colt didn't want his - he wanted to be petted instead. Too bad for him, Ruger found it and gobbled it right up. Aw poor little fella...I went and got him another one of course!

So after they ran for about and hour and a half, I put them back on their chains. They were happy to get a drink of fresh water from their bucket and dig back in under the doghouse where the dirt is cool and damp.
Within about 10 minutes they were sound asleep! LOL

I got on the 4 wheeler and rode down to the trailer to cut the roses. I ended up missing out on two of them but there were two others just starting to open so I clipped them off, wrapped them in a wet paper towel and stuck them in a baggie. I dug up two pieces of forsythia (blooms bright yellow in the spring) and stuck them in my bucket and headed back home.

I got the roses in the mason jar and then gathered up my purchases and headed for the front porch. I have a makeshift potting bench out there until Wally gets my real one set up in the garden. I transplanted the forsythia into the pots and since they already had roots I'm ever so hopeful that they'll take. I'd love to see that blast of yellow color on either side of where the gate used to be come next spring. From what I can tell this shrub will get about 5 feet tall and just as big around. That'll be so pretty when we come out of the winter season.

I filled my new hummingbird feeder with sugar water and stuck into the ground the shepherd's pole on which it will hang. Those little birdies can't resist and have been wearing out the feeders since they finally arrived on Saturday in full force. There's a picture of one of them on the flickr site. The "whirr" of their wings sounds like a huge bumble bee only louder. It's pretty neat to watch them hang there and drink from the feeders...won't you come join me?

I took some pictures of the turkey (I call her turkey girl) that was crossing the front yard. She started out eating ever so peacefully when out of nowhere the dogs started barking. She lifted her head, heard them, sensed disaster and took off in the other direction. When they got really loud, she took flight and flew off into the woods by the horse pen. Can you believe I got that picture??? LOL

As you can see wild turkeys don't look anything like the big, white, bird sold around Thanksgiving time. Not by any means whatsoever. This bird is tan and brown and she blends so well into the surrounding woods that once she's in there - you would be hard-pressed to find her. Wild turkey meat tastes different too. You know you're eating turkey but it's different. It's good, oh it's really good, but different. It's also nice to know that it hasn't been fed hormones and antibiotics all its life. Just like nature intended, it survives on bugs, grubs and worms and whatever else it picks up off the ground. Turkey season is over up here but we may still harvest one for Thanksgiving...you never know :)

Either Friday or Saturday evening as I was getting ready to go to bed, I looked out the living room window at the front yard and there stood 5 deer not 20 feet from me. I swear they all looked pregnant - they are so incredibly FAT! They stood there eating while I watched them for about 20 minutes and then they just sort of moved off down behind Dizzy's apartment and into the woods. They were all a light brown color which I've noticed changes to a grayish color when winter sets in. They looked pretty content and certainly comfortable with their surroundings. No, I didn't consider shooting one of them...jeez. That doesn't come until hunting season starts! lol

All day Sunday I worked in the garden. I transplanted the "volunteer" tomato plants that came up from last year so that they are in a nice neat row instead of all scattered about the garden area. I found that I need 5 more cages and that doesn't include cages for the tomatoes that Claudia is supposed to be giving me. I should have plenty of tomatoes for canning this year. I'll make more bloody mary mix and spaghetti sauce and the rest will be good old tomatoes with just a little salt in the jar. You can just pluck them from the canning jar and eat them as they come out of it. You can cook with them, make salsa with them, anything you would use a canned tomato for - these fit the bill. I may even try tomato gravy this year. mmm mmm thank you Ernie for the know-how :)

I was able to get just one load of laundry dried on the line before the storm moved in. Thankfully it was the white clothes so my towels are nice and itchy-scratchy when I dry off with them - it's the best back scratcher when Wally's not around - love that! The dark clothes and the red clothes had to be dried in the dryer. That actually worked out well this time because, little did I know, chilly weather and stormy skies were slowly moving my way.

I pulled weeds and then pulled some more weeds and there are still more weeds to pull but I got through the whole row of carrots, the whole row of peas and all around the tomatoes. There are still a few rows to weed but since nothing is planted there - I figure I'm safe, for now. Feel free to join me in the weeding frenzy that occurs, oh, about every other day...lol!! Someone has got to do it!

As Sunday afternoon clouded over, I took the Bok Choy from my CSA basket and grabbed a few other things I would need to make my stir fry complete; red, green and yellow peppers and a big, juicy vidalia onion. I had thawed out a leftover smoked chicken and thought it sounded good to add in. I peeled and chopped up some ginger and garlic and got them going in the pan with some olive oil. I chopped up the vegetables and the chicken and added them to the skillet when the garlic started smelling like garlic :)

The whole dinner came together in about 20 minutes - it cooked for about another 20 minutes more and it was done and ready to eat. I spooned up a bowlful for myself and sat at the table eating it while the rain pattered gently on the tin roof. After working all day and playing with the dogs I felt like it must have been about 5:30 or 6:00. When I looked at the time, guess what? It was only 3:00 in the afternoon. LOL I already had my shower and had my dinner and was ready for bed.... :) Farming is lots of work!!

I simply couldn't justify going to bed that early so I grabbed my book and plopped down in Wally's recliner. Rarely do I ever sit there. Mostly because it's too big for me. My feet don't touch the floor. But also because I feel like I'm falling backwards. Sunday afternoon, that was okay by me. I reclined and sat there and read my book and watched a little tv until it really was time for bed... well, I made it to 6:30 anyway. Hey, that's not bad considering I started out at 3:30...!!!

Monday after work I drove to Centerville to get my vegetable basket and ended up getting stuck in a line of traffic (I know, right!) just before I got to town. Someone had driven their jeep off the road and into a ditch and it was so far down in there that the tow truck had trouble getting it out. I turned the truck off, grabbed my book again (lucky for me I carried it home from work) and started reading. If you are a reader, you know that anytime is a good time to pick up a good book and read. I was almost hoping that the tow truck didn't move for a while...lol but by the time it did, I was late getting to the basket delivery site.

I called Trish, the farmer, and she said to meet her at the laundromat in Centerville. It's just off the square across from the Shell station - not hard to find at all. Remember Trish and her husband, their two kids, their dog and their cat all live in a pull behind camper/motor home. They have no washer and dryer so once a week she carries all their dirty farm clothes to the laundromat and washes, dries and folds them before going back to the farm. Her laundry day is the same day as our deliveries since she is already in town. I know they'll be glad when their house is finally finished and she won't have to do that anymore. What a hard working family they are!

The basket was over-flowing again! This week I got Red Russian Kale, Skyphos Lettuce, radishes, micro-greens, lettuce spring mix and garlic scapes. For those of you unfamiliar with garlic scapes, they are the green skinny stalk that comes up from the garlic just before it is harvested. Typically you would cut them off before they bloom or as they are blooming. They are considerably milder than garlic cloves and go well in just about anything you would use regular garlic for - spaghetti, sauteing, etc. For me, I'll chop them up and saute them in some butter with a few mushrooms and spread them over my steak or pork chop. They would be just as good spread over a piece of toasted french bread :) :) I've never seen them in a store but they say you can get them in Asian markets?

Well that's quite a posting if I do say so myself. I hope you had a big lunch to eat while you read it, or in some cases an afternoon cup of coffee. Either way, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I always enjoy writing it! Until next time...

"Your hair may be brushed, but your mind's untidy. You've had about seven hours of sleep since Friday. No wonder you feel that lost sensation. You're sunk from a riot of relaxation." ~Ogden Nash