Ketchin' Up...

I'm still here!  Really, I am.  Just been SO busy this past couple of weeks!  Adam came home one week, Hayley came home for spring break the next week, my sister came up a couple of days, trying to get my garden in, work....AND  Finally....

Dum da da Dummmmm!  We're building my chicken coop and pen!!!  Yea!  After 3 years of waiting and waiting for the right time, I guess the time is NOW!

Tony and my dad got the posts set Saturday and later this week after our deluge for the next couple of days, we're going to begin work on the coop.  I'm so excited I could jump up and down!  My whole family thinks I'm completely bonkers but I don't care. I've always wanted chickens and now I finally get my chance! I'd like to find some older pullets that are about ready to lay.  They are just SO hard to find this time of year. Most everyone has chicks - I need instant gratification - I've been waiting all this time!  Hopefully, in a week or two it'll be done - depending on the weather of course.

Tony got my garden all tilled up and I started planting Sunday afternoon.  I got 4 rows of purple hull peas done, BUT the next 2 1/2 days it's going to be storming THEY say, so I didn't plant any more.  If it comes a frog strangler, it'll wash all my seeds away, and I'd sorta like to keep 'em planted.  So, the rest will have to wait til later on this week.  I have two raised beds planted with onions, and haven't decided what to put in the other 5 yet.  But I'll figure it out!

The bluebirds are picking out their nests for the year...

The martins have returned and are deciding about living arrangements, too...

The "Mrs" is undecided and she fluttered around for quite awhile until she decided which floor she wanted for her babies...

The turtle family comes out to sun themselves, but if they see us, they'll scatter into the water silently.

Can you believe how GREEN it is already this year???  We've been having 80's during the day.  The azaleas will be spent soon - hopefully, they won't be gone before the end of the Azalea Trails here!

There is a pair of bald eagles nesting in a tree on the lake that belongs to some friends of my parents.  They are so majestic. We watched them for quite awhile - they're very private and secretive.  My sister was here for a couple of days and she takes photos of birds.  So this is one of her beautiful photos. 

Here's what it looks like around here right now.  I just love it - it's my FAVORITE time of year!  Spring!

I hope your week is fabulous, dahlings!

Keep your dress down!

Hints of Spring

The daffodils are out all over town, the tulip trees are blooming (I'll try to get some photos of that soon, too) and I can tell that spring is right around the corner here in East Texas.  Sure didn't feel like spring today tho.

Plum and peach trees budding...

Iris coming out...

Tail-end of my pansies...

Tiger lilies coming up...

We had a quick blast of cold last night.  Rain, 24 degrees Saturday night, 30 degrees last night, and strong winds.  That's about the extent of it for now.  By Wednesday we're supposed to have temps in the 70's again.  I sure hope so - I need to start getting things outside cleaned up around here.  Flower beds need new mulch and weeds pulled.  You know all that little spring green rye and purple flowery thingies?  They are coming up every where.  Tony already mowed once!

Garden is plowed and ready to go!

See what I scored in the dumpster at my office?  YES!  One can always use another birdbath!

Gypsy came a runnin' when I went outside.  She was sopping wet, and of course her being an Aussie mix, she had to "lean" all over me.  My jeans were muddy and wet, but I guess I knew that before I went outside.  She's a sweetie.  She had to roll over for a (wet and muddy) belly rub...

Tomorrow promises to be beautiful and clear - too bad I have to work.  I've gotta get my square foot garden beds constructed - Dad's gonna help me - just a few and then my row crops. I've already got my onion starts.  Dad's already set his out.

Ok, well that's all for today.  Keep yer dress down!

What's Going On ...

Good morning, my friends out there!  Sorry I've been so busy this week.  Big son, Adam from Nashville, is home for a week or so.  He hasn't been home since the end of April and I have SURELY missed him!  I think he's getting a bit tired of me huggin' on him, but too bad!  Sunday was his birthday and we had 4 of us together minus the girl child in nursing school.  We had cake and we got him a nice gift that he'd been wanting for a long time.  We had grilled hamburgers and all the trimmings and enjoyed ourselves immensely!

Ever CAN'T find a good box for a present???

Enter Ch*rrios box - family size!  Works great!  AND I wrapped it in Sponge B*b Square P*nts paper!

Since I have my guys here this week, some long-needed projects that need man muscles and know-how were scheduled to be completed at Mom's request.  I've been wanting running water out to the  garden shed for a couple of years now - much easier to water that side of the garden AND water any chickens or livestock in the future.  It will eventually run out to the tractor barn which is another 100 yards or so but for now at least I won't be dragging 200 feet of garden hose around to water.  That sucker gets heavy!

A trench was dug out to the garden shed from the tap in the back yard and PVC pipe was laid.  Also, they ran the line up directly to the garden shed  porch and put a spigot there so I can have my old washtub right under it and wash veggies.  The drain run-off will have a short hose attached to direct it back to the garden or a small flower bed beside the garden shed. Fabulous!

Covering up the ditch with our trusty steed...

We were also needing a larger compost container. We had a little makeshift one for a couple of years but it was coming apart and we  noticed that some little varmints were getting in there and strewing some of the ingredients around outside.  My guys built this much nicer, much stronger, and much bigger compost container.  One side of it comes completely off - they fixed it where it would slide out the top somehow and we can get the tractor bucket in there to pick up loads of compost to put in the garden.  Ingenius!  Don't you think?  It's about 4'x8' in size and about 3.5' to 4' high on the sides.  I'm wondering if we need to put a top on it?  Doesn't it break down quicker? I think I read that somewhere - will have to do some checking on that...

My husband at first thought it was kind of unnecessary to have a compost bin, but after he saw how cool it was to have all that luscious broken-down good stuff to put in the garden, he really got into it.  He's always out there turning it and "going out to check on the compost", he says.  He's totally with the program now!

Now I'll have to really stay on top of collecting things from the kitchen, etc., to put in the compost. I sometimes forget and toss something in the trash or think it's something too small to worry about, but I'll be more watchful now.  I wanna have lotsa good compost to put in the garden next year. Oh, it's not big enough to do the whole garden area, but it'll sure help.  I'm thinking of adding a few raised garden beds next year and see if I like them as opposed to rows of continuous crops like I've been doing.  Cuts out a lot of weeds and easier to water and walk around.  We'll see...

Well, that's all I've got today.  We've got big plans all week long.  There's always so much to cram into the time that we have with our kids when they come home.  Fishing, shooting, cooking out on the grill, family get-togethers, golf for the sons --- speaking of,  I just LOVE when both my sons are here and they "hang out" and do "guy stuff" and all the male bonding.  My husband is with them as much as possible, but I love to see my two sons are spending precious time just with each other.  All of us who're moms and dads love that I'm sure!  I'm off to take some pics of my boys shooting! 

Keep your dress down!

HEY THERE, ARE Y'ALL STILL THERE??? I AM ...

I'm still here!  I'm still alive!  I got over my "crud" finally.  (thank you Vee for checking on me...) I'm just busy-busy with the house, the wedding AND...

Hubby's mom fell AGAIN, and broke the same leg/hip that she broke in April of last year!  Bless her heart, with her memory problems, she forgets or refuses to use her walker and she fell last Thursday in her bathroom at the Alz. care home and now is in the hospital.  They did major surgery to repair her leg/hip and had to replace the pin with another longer pin and screws and cables - Oh, I don't know what all.  I hate it so badly for her!  It's hard to help her understand what's going on and why she's hurting.  I think she'll be in a nursing home for a couple of months while healing and we'll see what to do from there.  They've got her on pain meds right now, so she's groggy, but I'm hoping that she'll be feeling better soon.

And the wedding... well, lots of you know what we're dealing with here.  April 30 is coming up very soon, and as usual, I'm running behind, and still have lots to do for the rehearsal dinner, etc.  It's coming together and it's going to be beautiful. I can't wait!  I could have searched the world over and I couldn't have found a better match for my son - well, of course, you dummy!  God brought them together so I had nothing to do with it!  If you knew our lives you'd know this is a "God" thing!  I love this sweet young lady SO much!

I DID find another gal to help at my office so that's a HUGE relief for me.  I hope she likes it here.  She's really doing well, and I hope to keep her for a long time.  She's young with two little girls (but her mom keeps them for her). Normally, I wouldn't want to hire someone with kids cuz they're always calling in sick, but since they stay with their grandmother, it's a little different.  We'll see what happens!

I'm SO anxious to get out in my garden!  There just hasn't been much time. I was hoping to get out there and get some seed beds in last weekend, but life happens, and family comes first so...  maybe in another week or two.  It's still early to some of you, but I'm chompin' at the bit here.  I usually already have my potatoes in, already have my onions in, and beginning to get peas and beans in the ground.  My fruit trees have already flowered and are leafing out as well as the rose bushes.  The daffodils are fading away, and believe it or not - we've already seen the crane flies and a few mosquitos on the muggy nights. 

We have a huge old oak tree that spreads out over our deck and back yard and the birds have eaten all the little berries off of it and have pooped seeds all over the deck.  Problem is, they stick like glue and I may have to get the power washer out to get all those seeds off.  They're stuck all over the metal chairs, too! Besides, the mistletoe just falls and drops pieces of itself all over the place, too. So messy!  The clovery grasses are coming up everywhere with little purple flowery thingies and the lawnmower is in the shop! Our yards need a haircut already!

I found a little bitty turtle in my hydrangea bed, but went back later and it was dead. I wondered if the crows brought it over there or something. I thoroughly detest the crows.  Do you know they can take the lid off a garbage can and rummage through the trash and make a big ole mess on the ground!!!  I sat and watched 'em do a while back and they disappeared about the time I appeared with my son's pellet gun.  Shoot!

All this to say that SPRING IS WELL ON ITS WAY here at Sand Flat Farm!  And I'm smilin' and so happy about it!  Now if I could just find some time to get out in the garden...

PS - I've read several good blog posts on all the tragedies happening across the Pacific Ocean from us in Japan.  It's so sad.  If you haven't been by her blog, Debbie at Of His Pasture had a great post today about Japan, a wonderful book about a brave Christian woman, and letting God watch over her kids while they are in Japan.  Stop by there and check out this post.  After you do that, jump over to my other Debbie's blog, Wisdom, and read her post about not panicking in these troubled times and that what happened in Japan is just History in the Making.  We are to put our trust and faith in the Lord.  His children do not have to worry about these things.  Both of these posts today helped me put into words what we should be doing and what we should be praying about.  I am so thankful to have met so many Christian women friends in blogland that I can count on to lift me up daily.  These gals are just two of them.  Thank you one and all for your encouragement and your prayers.  I thank God for you all.  Have a great week, my lovelies!

Palaverin' on and on about nothing in particular...

Well, let's see here.... .... what shall we talk about today???  Hmmmm.... I'm sorry I've been so out of it lately, blogging, I mean.  I've been in a funk, I guess - not enough time, too much to do.  Got alot of things on my plate right now with the wedding coming up and getting our house ready to put on the market - along with everybody else's.  Yeah, right - wish us luck with that one.  The painting is finished, the final clean-up begins.  Gotta get a storage unit or two from my office and stash some stuff in there.  Got tons to donate, throw away, and burn. 20+ years of stuff to do something with.

AND, to top it all off, the girl I hired to work the other three days besides my three days - well, let's just say I had to let her go and leave it at that.  So, I'm swamped again at work.  I don't need this right now. I've been interviewing some people this week, but so far -- nothing.  I had one real sweet little lady that might, might, might could do this job. She has to be only 98 lbs soaking wet, and I don't know if she could do any of the manual labor involved, cleaning out the occasional storage unit, driving the golf cart, hauling trash and junk to the dumpster - even getting these old storage doors up and down would be a stretch for her - they are heavy.  She's nearly 70, quick minded & spry - which isn't old (and getting younger to me everyday!) and she could do the office work, just not sure about the other part. Help!!!

Our church is throwing a big bridal shower for my son and his bride this Sunday afternoon, so I'm looking forward to that. What would we do without our church families!!!  So they'll be off to a great start!

I cannot believe what all is going on with all the protesting and hoopla up there in Wisconsin and Illinois and what was the other state???  Hey, some of you folks up in them parts - Tell us the REAL story!  Enquiring minds want to hear from someone OTHER THAN THE LIBERAL MEDIA!!!  Send us some links that tell what's going on!  I don't believe anything that I hear and see on the news anymore.  You can't depend on getting the unbiased truth from our media anymore!  It's such a shame to see what's going on all over the world right now.  Everybody's gone absolutely CRAZY!  Maybe it's the END-TIMES, people.  I'm ready, my family's ready - Lord, please come quickly!

Off on another tangent here - talking about end times... I was doing some blog-hopping last night late, and I ran across this website.  Now, one of the blogs I was reading had linked up to this website, and I wish I could give credit, but I don't know which one it was, so sorry.  http://www.backyardfoodproduction.com/  Have y'all ever seen this?  On YouTube, also, Marjory Wildcraft from central Texas does a 4 part video all about growing your own food.  She and her family raise their own food.  She talkes about gardening, composting, stocking up, how our grocery bills may double in 2011, how the food prices usually run concurrently with the oil prices, the weather's effects on agriculture (not global-warming, y'all), etc.  It was SO informative, so timely.  Not to scare anybody, not a doomsdayer, just good information that we can all use.  It was SO good, and you can sign up for her newsletter.  I don't usually go for these things, but I made an exception here.  Check it out - listen to the videos - very interesting and very easy to understand.

OK, on a more personal note - my little chihuahua is aging.  She's 12, and while little dogs usually live longer than big ones, she's beginning to show some signs of age.  She's been the jumpin'est little thing you've every seen.  She jumps on the couches (I know some of you are cringing) and even our high beds to snuggle or sleep with us.  To watch TV, I usually sit on the left end of the couch.  There's a little space about 4-5" wide between me and the arm of the couch.  Bug will jump up there, put it into reverse, and back into that little space and park it until I get ready to go to bed.  Can't you just hear  the "beep, beep, beep" as she backs it up?  I usually make that sound for her as she's reversing her caboose into her little warm hole there by me. If she thinks I'm too close and she doesn't have enough room, she'll push on me til I move over...

ANYWAY, got sidetracked there...  She can't jump anymore.  She waits by the couch or the bed and looks at us pitifully for some help up.  She doesn't understand.  The vet says she's got a bit of hip dysplasia.  Didn't know little dogs could get that, but I guess they can.  She's not putting much weight on that leg, just steadies herself with that back left foot.  When she runs around to potty, she runs on 3 legs.  And she's doing okay but I just hate to see that.  The vet gave me some anti-inflamatories, and they help, but it's not going to go away.  It'll come and go for awhile, maybe for a long while, but it won't go away.  Sad.  A couple of her teeth have had to be pulled, too.  Makes it harder for her to chew. I love me some Bug.

I ran across this photo below at Sand Flat Farm in late summer just remembering the warmth and the sunshine and looking forward to it again soon.  Makes me so happy!!! 

And, another beautiful sunset here at the farm and another lovely ending to a wonderful day here in Texas.  I feel so blessed.  Thank you Lord for eyes to behold your glorious and magnificent handiwork!!!!

Y'all have a great day, and as always ~~~

Keep your dress down!

Goodbye Garden!

Well, another garden bites the dust (literally)!  Garden of 2010 is officiallly over.  Plowed up, scooped up, most of it dumped in the compost bin.  We started composting this year.  Burned the cornstalks and a little bit of other stuff.  Cornstalks take too long to break down and the cobs take FOREVER.  I'm thinking about a fall garden, but right now it's too blasted hot to even worry about it.  We'll see, when August or September rolls around.  Usually we have a nice long summer that runs into November sometimes.  At least, our temps take a long, long time to cool off.

This little patch of dirt produced enough cucumbers to make about 3.5 quarts of pickles (and I even gave some away), green beans and purple hull peas to keep frozen  for eatin' for awhile into the winter, onions and potatoes that we're still eatin' on, jalapeno peppers, bell peppers, and serranos and GOBS of tomatoes that were turned into gallons and gallons of hot salsa (along with our peppers &  onions).  It's been a good year for the garden and given me so much pleasure in taking care of.

This fall promises to be extra busy as we start renovations and cosmetic work to our home. Me, myself and moi will be handling most of that.  Once all done, we're putting it up for sale.  It's almost time to permanently move to the farm.  It's been about 3.5 years now since we got the farm and I'm so ready to get out there.

You know, I grow nostalgic thinking about selling our home. We've been in that home for 20+ years. Princess was a toddler when moved from our tiny little first home into this bigger house where we raised our kids.  Adam and Josh were still quite young, too.  I still see the scuff marks on the walls, the baseboards.  The fingernail polish that Princess spilled still stains the vanity in the bathroom - tiny dots, but there nonetheless. There once was a tussle over something, I forget what, and there is a bedroom door that has a crack in it where one of the boys put a fist through it... When I look at the living room, I see where our Christmas tree has stood for 20+ Christmases and the nails under the mantle where the kids hung their stockings.  And all the family pictures that are scattered throughout the house are still smiling back at me.

This house is going on 30 years old and it needs a little facelift.  We've painted and replaced carpet a couple of times, re-wallpapered, and all the usual things that folks do their homes. The carpet has some stains that the cleaners couldn't get out from our family nights when we all ate pizza in the living room and watched movies together... or the kids had friends over.  There's scratches on one of my kitchen walls where one of our dogs decided to find out what sheetrock did when you scratched at it... There is a hole banged in the laundry room wall where the doorstop finally gave out and the door knob started hitting the wall.

I can still see my boys in their bunk beds with their dinosaur bedspreads and my baby girl in her little rocking chair in her pink room rocking one of her baby dolls.  We had so much fun here!  We had a lot of great times here, me and the kids.  I stayed home with them until the boys were in highschool and Princess was in Jr. High.  I feel so fortunate to have been able to do that.  We had our fusses and our tears, but more than that, we have a close-knit family and no matter what happened, we always stuck together and supported each other.  

Our little pomeranian, Cookie, who we had for 13 years, is buried in a little wooden box in the backyard under the cedar tree.  The big old hackberry tree in the corner of the backyard is just about dead. Lightning struck it and it split, but I can see the 3 story treehouse that my boys built and played in, scaring me to death when they pulled the trampoline nearby and jumped from the top floor of the treehouse onto the trampoline! 

OUR house was where all the kids came to play, where the kids would invite their friends.  I was the cool mom and we always had so much fun!  Our grocery bill was enormous cuz I always had snacks and stuff for the kids.  We had sleepouts and sleepovers here, too.  The kids would drag all their sleeping bags out onto the trampoline and sleep out there.  When I'd get up in the morning, they'd usually all be in the house!  And Princess had to do whatever her big  brothers did!  They bounced her off the trampoline when she was about 7 or 8 and her arm got broken.  So it was off to the emergency room... 

Sooooo many memories.  It's going to be SO hard when we sell this house and close the front door for the last time.  I keep trying to tell myself that 'ITS JUST A HOUSE', but it's been our HOME.  But HOME is where the heart is and our hearts are moving on.  We'll be making new memories!

We've been gradually cleaning things out, throwing away, and boxing up to move.  Most of our stuff is still here, but alot of it we've already disposed of.  I'm hoping we can be done with our fix-ups before the holiday season starts, but that may be a little premature.  Depends on the weather, schedules, etc.  Tony and I will be alone for the first time since the kids were born (and we ARE excited about that - my mom says it's like a second honeymoon!).  It's a sad time and a happy time!  We've had a little taste of no-kids for a bit, but it will be permanent after we move.  Tony and I are both looking forward to this big change in our lives, but I'm also a little sad.  We can't keep two places, and it's time to move on.

Well, this post certainly took a direction of its own, didn't it???  I was going to show you alot of pictures here, but sadly they'll have to wait.  One of 'em was a dead copperhead, so you probably don't wanna see that one anyway...  I've taken too much of your time just reminiscing this afternoon. Guess I'm in that kind of mood... 

Still haven't gotten to my peach cobbler yet.  Have you seen Debbie Wisdom's blog?  She had peach cobbler on there and a great recipe to try - I think you should pop on over to visit her!  Nothin' like a warm fresh peach cobbler with ice cream on it in the summer time!  I think that'll make me feel better! Don't you???

Summer Vacation

Blogger is not updating all of your posts this morning! What's going on? Some of them are fresh, but some of them are not! Anybody else having that problem?

courtesy - http://www.locogringo.com/research/ruins.html

Our best friends from church have a vacation home in Akumal, Mexico, and we have planned a family trip with them for the first week of August. All our kids grew up together, and nobody's married yet, so everyone is going! I'm really excited as we haven't been on a family vacation together where ALL are going in several years! We visited our friends' home on the beach in Mexico about 9 years ago and it was beautiful!! Here's a link ----> http://www.akumalmexico.com/suenos.html  AND here ---->  http://www.locogringo.com/akumal/casasuenos.html?name=Casa%20de%20los%20Suenos  . Check it out - you might wanna go stay there sometime! It sleeps 2 families - great place for a group to go. It's BEAUTIFUL! Can't wait!!!

Akumal is a little further south of Cancun and Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan. We fly into Cancun, rent a Suburban, drive to Playa, go to the grocery store, and then on south to Akumal. A little out of the tourist areas and quiet in a small lagoon with ocean views from every window. Most of us (except me and Hayley) are divers so Hayley and I will be snorkeling while the others are diving. The Mayan ruins at Tulum are nearby so I'm sure we'll be visiting there. It's the most beautiful, breathtaking place I've ever been.
(Lord willing, and we don't get a hurricane...)

We woke this morning to soft rumbling on the southern horizon. It later developed into a slow, soothing, soaking rain. It's noon now and it's gone on most of the morning. I sure hope it rained at the farm... We've harvested all the purple hulls peas and green beans. The watermelons are about ready (I'm hoping to have one for July 4) and the corn's about ready, too. The cucumbers are waning, the potatoes need to be dug as well as the remaining onions. We cut the peas back - dad said he did that a few years ago, and they came back and bloomed again and he got another crop. I'm gonna try that. I'm having a bumper crop of tomatoes & jalapenos and canning salsa is on the agenda again for this weekend. Altho we have a wedding at 3:00 on Saturday that we HAVE to attend. Good friends...so I imagine I'll be smellin' all onion-y and garlic-y for the festivities.

Just thought I'd post a few pics for ya - hope you're not gettin' tired of garden pics...not much going on right now except garden stuff and trying to stay cool. At least today is a little cooler because of the rain...

This is a baby scissortail in my garden. His momma and daddy were perched overhead in a tree and they kept fussing at me for taking his picture, but they never did swoop at me like the jays and mockingbirds do...

All for now, friends.  Hope you have a great rest of the week!  Keep your dress down!

RAIN!

IT'S RAINING TODAY!!!

It's come a gully-washer!  A Frog-strangler!  The 8-10 inches that we were behind this year so far is ALL COMING DOWN TODAY!    My garden may float away, but I won't have to water for 3 hours this afternoon!  It's coming down so hard I cain't even see my car from my office!!!

Lotsa farmers 'round here needed it alot worse than me, but I'm so thankful!

Cain't nobody water a garden like the Lord!!!   THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Lord!

Pay It Forward 2

Hi folks!  Whatchy'all been doin'?  Me?  Well, lookie here what I got in the mail yesterday!

This gift is from Sunny at Sunny's Place.  She is doing a "Pay It Forward" giveaway. I'm participating, too.  Look at the lovely things she sent my way - a beautiful candle holder and votive, some handmade (by Sunny) candles from her real beeswax when she was raising bees (wait - I mean beekeeping), a little windchime that makes the sweetest sounds and this sweet book entitled His Princess, Love Letters From the King, which is just grand. I can't wait to read it. Short devotions that I will be able to share with my daughter about the love that our Heavenly Father has for his daughters in Christ.

Sunny, Thanks so much for this lovely gift.  I know I'm going to enjoy it immensely.  Now, I have 3 sweet friends that I am "paying it forward" to, so they will be getting something from me very soon!!!

Got WORMS???

Well, WE GOT 'EM! Hornworms that is - on the tomato plants. They are huge. They start out little bitty and in a day or two or three they've eaten enough of the plants that they are engorged and sure make a mess when you snip 'em in half with your garden shears.  They leave little poops everywhere, too. I wanted to just snip 'em, but Tony said he was gonna leave 'em in the metal pot in the sunshine... They've bitten holes in some of the tomatoes, too.  I've dusted with Sevin so we'll see...

Got baby birds?  Yes?  We do, too, baby mockingbirds.  The nest is in front of my kitchen window in the crepe myrtle tree.  I can do the dishes and watch the mama bird stuffing bugs down their throats. I'm keeping an eye on 'em to see when they jump out of the nest or fall out.  We've got cats all around.  I guess I should just let nature take its course.

Good night, friends.  I'm sleepy.  Take good care of yourselves and I'll see ya on the flipside!

Little Farm Cat Contest!

Howdy from Sand Flat Farm!  Ya know when you live in the country how your house always seems attract stray animals or drop-offs?  We had our stray chicken back at Christmas & New Year's if you'll remember. I've missed that chicken come running up to me when I'd come home to the farm.  Something got her - probably an owl or hawk.  And since we don't have any immediate neighbors around & she couldn't have traveled through the acres of hay by herself, I've got a feelin' that somebody dropped this little baby off at our farmhouse...

Yep, we now have a farm kitty.  I found her Monday.  When I got to the farm, she came running out from under the porch, crying her eyeballs out - she's teeny-tiny, can't be more'n 5-6 weeks old. Skinny-skinny, and it made her eyes look HUGE. (just look at the picture - looks like "space kitty")  Well, you know what happened.  Soft hearted me (I LOVE animals of all kinds) fed her and gave her water.  She ate till she had a big fat tummy and plopped herself back under the porch.  She's still a little scared, but she wants to eat more than she's scared. 

I did manage to scoop her up and turn her upside down to see what she was - pretty sure it's a girl - we'll know more in a few days maybe.  But her bobo is all black fuzz and it's hard to see right now.  Plus, she was panicked and trying to get away.  She's coming around now, tho, and letting us hold her.  I guess she's decided that we're not the mean people that dropped her off and we do have good catfood.  I hope she'll stay under the porch and out sight of the owl that lives in the sycamore tree until she gets a little bigger! Now, I'd almost like to have two kitties so they can keep each other company.  Will check into that more...

Who knows?  Maybe she'll be able to earn her keep by catchin' gophers and moles???  And the rat that's made a home in the garden shed...

Oh, oh, get this!  Yesterday, I picked cucumbers again - about 2 dozen more.  Did you know crows like cucumbers? Perhaps they were just jabbing holes in them for fun and to irritate me.  I thought crows were just carion eating critters.  Well, I had to throw away about 10 of the cukes that had crow beak stab holes in 'em.  I knew it was crows cuz there was crow tracks all around my cucumber vines.  They also managed to scoot an already-exposed potato the rest of the way out of the ground and peck on it, too!  What are they doing? Playing soccer? We've got alot of crows.  I even have a big plastic owl on a pole above my garden.  Lotta good it's doin!  Guess I could set out there with a shotgun or my .22 and take pot shots at 'em, but that wouldn't work for long. Kill one, two more come back.  Dadgummit!  I'm gonna get me some aluminum pie pans and hang 'em all around my cukes. Hope that helps!!!  Daddy runs a radio 24/7 by his garden and his pecan trees to keep crows away.  I don't have electricity to my shed yet, unless I run a 200 ft extension cord out there so I can't really do that.  Got any ideas??

Ok, sorry for the interruption - back to the topic at hand. I'm open to suggestions for a name for the kitty - I'm partial to pet names myself - none of the Chloe or Zoe stuff. (My daughter's dog's name is Bella). Adam wants me to name her some cute little Spanish name.  If you have a cute name for this little black and white kitty, send me your suggestions!  Whichever one wins gets a prize!!!  Don't know what it'll be yet, but a prize just the same!!!  Start thinkin'!

Harvest Time!

The harvest season has begun!!! YEA! I have harvested ONE big juicy tomato - it's almost ready for me to slice and eat over the sink with juice running down my chin and hand, 2 dozen jalapenos, dill, onions (still got a bunch in the ground - just pulling 'em as we need 'em), 6 big yellow squash, 4 zucchinis, and about 2 dozen picklin' cucumbers!!! I know what I'm doin' on Memorial Day weekend!

I love this time of year. I put up 2 1/2 dozen quart jars of my spicy pickle recipe last summer and they were all gone before the end of the year 2009. We love 'em and so does everybody else. I did a post on making 'em last summer in June. If you're interested go to this link Pucker Up For Pickles! So hopefully I planted more this year and will make more than ever.

Jelly's still a ways off, but that's coming up, too. I also planted plenty of tomatoes and peppers so we can do some hot sauce. I can make a meal on hot sauce and chips (and do sometimes!) Monday evenin' I made some fried squarsh (haha). I never fry stuff except in the summer and except for fried squarsh or okra. That's about it. Wanna see it even tho all of you already know how to do it? Well, you're goin' too, anyway, as I'm hurtin' for blog fodder.

Ok, here we go.  I've got a bowl with about 2 parts flour to 1 part corn meal and I'll stir it with a fork til it's all mixed up.  I've got milk and eggs, too, and maybe a cup of vegetable oil in the skillet heatin' up.

I mix two eggs with about 1/2 cup milk and whip it up real good.

I've already got my yellow squarsh & zucchinis washed straight outta the garden and sliced up.  They get an egg bath now. Swish the slices around in the bowl and cover 'em real good and slimy.

Then, I take them out one or two at a time and salt & pepper them and put 'em in the flour/cornmeal bowl.  They get coated all over with this mixture and then...

...throw them babies into that hot grease & let 'em fry!  Not too hot, or that corn meal 'll burn before your squarsh is done.  I let 'em fry for a few minutes on each side til they start turnin; golden brown.

Here we go - see, they're lookin' purty good on one side there, flip 'em over and do the other side!

Ok, have ya a plate with some paper towels standin' by and when your squarsh is done take it out carefully (so you won't lose your crust) and lay them on your plate.  VOILA!!!

Now, don't they look great?  My mouth was waterin' way before these were done.  I love to get a little Ranch dressin' in a salsa bowl and go to town on fried squarsh.  I don't need anything else to go with this supper!  In a week or so, I'll have some fresh homegrown summer tomatoes to go with these! Or how 'bout an onion and tomato sandwich???  Love 'em!