California, Here We Come! (rather - There We Went!)

 

 Hello from Sunny California!  Actually, we got back Monday night from San Luis Obispo in central Cali along the coast.  My nephew got married on the beach at Avila Golf Resort.  It was a beautiful place and lovely setting for a wedding!  My sister, Lisa, and her husband, my parents and Tony and I went to help celebrate this happy occasion!  The weather was perfect, and it was SO nice to get away from the Texas heatwave!  I know why people love living in California!

We got to Cali a day early and our plane flew into Santa Barbara so we took in the beautiful mission while we were passing through.  Here's me, Lisa and mom...

 

If you've never been there, the grounds are beautiful and there is a wonderful rose garden across the front of the property.  Many different kinds and colors of roses, but MY favorite is always The Yellow Rose of Texas!

 

Avila Beach Golf Resort is near San Luis Obispo so that's where we decided to stay - it's a pretty little town and has its own mission, too, which I'll show you in another post.  I just love the landscape out there with the mountains and eucalyptus trees.  It was quite dry this time of year and the grass was brown and crunchy, but it was nice to see something different...

 At the wedding, here's my nephew walking his mom, my sister Lisa, down the aisle.  It was a beautiful and informal wedding.  The bride chose lime green and black as her colors and it was gorgeous!  Isn't Lisa pretty! 

 My nephew's bride was stunning.  She's a beautiful young lady and they will make a handsome couple (and cute babies!)  And the best part is, they are moving home to Texas!  My nephew has been in the Navy and he put in for a transfer to Texas!  I'm So thrilled that he's going to be closer to his mom!

After the wedding festivities were over, we stayed a few extra days to have some R & R.  Took the family to the beach and  played...  Whatever we felt like doing!  Aren't vacations wonderful!

 

On one of our beach excursions, we spotted these lazy things laying on the beach - sea lions.  (sometimes I feel like this after a big meal, too!)  There were a couple of big males out in the water scuffling and making horrible noises with those big snouts of theirs.

 Well, so as not to make this post too picture-heavy, I'll close for now and post some more pics next time.  We visited the Hearst castle again with the family and I think the flowers were even more beautiful this visit!  Thanks to all of you who stopped by to say hi and let me know you're still my blogging buddy!  :)

This and That...

THE ONIONS ARE IN THE GROUND.

(Please do not tell Tony I took a picture of him in his baggy shorts.  He said it was too warm for jeans, so he put on his saggy shorts.  He's got others but these are the ones he wanted.  He says it's his farm and he can do whatever he wants on his farm.    Tony's tilling, and Dad's raking some weeds out.  It was GORGEOUS day!  I helped Dad a bit with the weeds, and then...

...Dad poked holes for me in the ground so I could plant the onions in them.  He made this little "poker" so make several at a time instead of just one at a time.  Then he backs up and goes inbetween the first holes.  Onions don't take much room...

This does hurt his back a bit, but not as much as the actual planting, so I did that. (and boy am I sore today!)  Another thing we did was move my garden boxes to an area closer to the house. Of course, I'll still have my rows of bigger items, but I thought it'd be nice to have the boxes alittle closer, so I could do salad/patio tomatoes and some smaller items that'd be convenient to the kitchen... maybe some herbs, flowers, etc...

We put old hay on the ground, a double layer of landscape cloth, and I will fill the boxes with compost, peat moss, vermiculite, etc.  I don't think grass is going to grow up through that.  Last year, I bought some cheap landscape cloth trying to save money, and all it did was promote the bermuda!  It thrived on that luscious mixture and the cheapo cloth. This year, I went to the nursery and paid the extra for nursery grade cloth.  I think in the long run, it'll be worth it.  Some things you get what you pay for... 

Thought I might even do a box of some lettuces and cool weather things before it got too warm. Most of the other crops won't go into the big garden until sometime in March after the danger of frost is past.

Here's a coupla pics of my onion starts in the ground. I put out 5 rows of about 97 each.  Some white Noondays, yellow granex, white super-sweet and a bundle of candy red onions.  I think we'll have plenty!

I also rotate my plantings every year to help the soil out and to prevent nematodes.  Look that up cuz it'd hard to explain.

I was out feeding the chickens some stale tortillas yesterday, just tearing them up and throwing them out in front of me.  They'll also come and take food out of my hand.  Gypsy wanders up, wags her tail, whines, and asks me politely for a tortilla.  Gypsy smiles, did you know that?  She "talks" to me, too, with all kinds of whimpers and sounds - if you heard her you'd understand. We can carry on quite a conversation.

Anyway, I asked her if she wanted a tortilla, and she answered that Yes, she did please.  She flopped on the ground and rolls over on her back and said, "see how cute I am?  I really need a tortilla".  So I gave her one.

Now, I don't know if she was actually hungry or not - she does have a little winter padding.  But she laid on the ground, on her back, with her tortilla for awhile just enjoying the sun.  Then, she laid it down and just lay there grinning at me and watching the chickens.

Well, the chickens noticed that she laid it down.  They looked on with interest and kept inching a teeny bit closer humming a little bit.  Step by step, and Gypsy watching them but playing like she didn't care.  Then, the chickens decided to have a go at the tortilla, so the chickens AND Gypsy charged the tortilla all at the same time!  Gyp grabbed up her tortilla and promptly moved to a different location and ate it, looking up to smile at the chickens every few minutes.  Oh this was well thought out, let me tell you!

OK, you chicken people.  Tell me if you have any idea what's wrong with this chicken's eyes.  She has been this way since late last spring.  The red skin in front of both eyes has swelled and remained so.  Sometimes her eyes seem watery and sometimes not.  I have isolated her a couple of different times and given her antibiotics by mouth and drops in her eyes.  Nothing has helped.  I wondered if she might be allergic to something like the bedding or could just be something in the air at our farm.

I don't know if it hurts her - she eats and sleeps and poops and lays eggs and does everything all the other chickens do, shakes her head sometimes, seems to scratch with a toe sometimes.  I don't know what else to do.  She seems otherwise healthy.

My question is:  Should I let her live like this even tho she might be itchy or bothered by her eyes OR should she be culled?  I would think if she felt bad all the time, she wouldn't eat or would gradually weaken, or something!  None of the other chickens have this problem so that's why I'm thinking allergies.  If y'all have any ideas, please let me know.  I don't know if she's suffering or not, and it pains me to have to think about culling, but chicken raisers sometimes won't fool with a problem chicken. They cull immediately.  I'm not really a chicken farmer, but I wanna do the right thing by her.

Gotta run - we're off to a superbowl party!  I don't care who wins, just getting together with friends that we don't get to see often is fun - the men will be in front of the tube, and the ladies will be in the kitchen catching up!  Isn't that the way it goes?????

Keep your dress down!

This 'N That...

Doncha just HATE fire ants?  I DO!  I was picking blueberries off my 6 bushes the other day when I felt fire enveloping my left leg.  I knew immediately what it was.  I looked down and my leg was covered with the little boogers and I instantly began swatting and brushing them off.  DAD-gum!  It's like they sneakily swarm on you, and then one of them gives the command and they all sting at once!  I know it's true - how many times does it happen!  At least once a week or so!  Ran the water hose on my leg but it burned for awhile and then started itching.  Now I look like I have chicken pox all over my left calf and ankle - looked real purdy going to church this morning... and they'll leave pink scars for a long, long time.  Yuck.  And I just won't put fire ant killer anywhere around our garden areas that we're going to be eatin' from.

Still packing up the house. We DID get a contract on the house, and Lord willing, that'll go well so we can get moved out to the farm permanently.  I'm so tired of the back and forth.  Princess came home this weekend so she could help me pack.  I swear she's the most organized thang you'd ever meet.  She saves EVERYTHING, but it's all neatly organized and labeled.  She packed up lots of plastic crates with her stuff.  She probably didn't want me trying to do it cuz it would not be organized.

Garden's going well.  All you're getting today is some random shots of the farm. DISCLAIMER - You'll have to excuse the photo quality.  These pictures came off the cellphone. 

Dad came over to make plum jelly with me.  We had so much fun!  It's such a hoot when we get to do "garden stuff" together, cuz my sweet mom is just not into this stuff.  She'll do some freezing, but she will not can, doesn't want to, has no interest.  So that's me and Daddy's play time.  Sometimes my sister will come up and do it with me.  We put up 3 dozen small jars, and I still have another batch to go.  Oh yeah, here's a batch of green beans.  I think I put up about 10 quart bags of beans in the freezer.  I've got to get out there and pick my pintos, too.  They're ready...

One thing that I have really enjoyed growing at the farm, something fun just for me - is giant sunflowers!  I absolutely love them to death.  They're so big and sunny and cheery.  They make me smile!    The birds moved the seeds all over the garden from where I planted them.  They came up in random spots and I just left them where they came up.

Baby mockingbirds under my kitchen window.  There were 4 of them, just like last year, and all 4 of them probably won't make it this year either unless I guard the nest 24/7.  And I can't.  Too many cats around.  They are stretching and hopping on the side of the nest now so it won't be much longer before they are hopping out to their death.  Maybe tomorrow they'll start.  Sad, but true...

Just some more garden pics - corn and tomatoes and my watermelon vines.  I even planted  pumpkins this year just for fun.  There are several small ones forming. Maybe I won't need to buy some during the fall!

My grapevines did well this year.  They have several clusters on eath of them.  This year, we wrapped our fruit trees and the grapevines in bird netting and it HAS helped alot.

Below - my plum tree before I picked all the plums off...

AND, my morning glories are finally starting to bloom!  They've been a long time in coming. Don't know why.  I've tried them in different places around the farm to see where they did the best.  I got this piece of iron fence from Margo cuz I thought it would be good to grow something on it!

AND...................a parting shot of some of my day-lilies.  I hope you all have a wonderful week with your families and that God blesses each and every one of you richly with His grace and love!  Catch ya later!

Keep your dress down!

Meanwhile, Back at the Farm...

First off, I just want to add my condolences, well wishes and prayers for all those folks that have suffered loss of life and property in the wake of the tornado up in Joplin, Mo.  As I sit and watch the devastation on the TV and hear of the mounting casualties, it just breaks my heart for those people.  It's hard to imagine. The wreckage that I see in the pictures is some of the worst I've ever seen from a tornado. Every time I think about them and hear about the rising loss of life I could just sit down and cry.  I know we all have some blog friends from that area AND from the Alabama area that was also hit hard.  Let's all continue to lift them all up in prayer now and in the days and weeks to come...

Second of all - Vee is having a giveaway!  YEA!  She's giving away a copy of Mennonite Girls Can Cook and I want to direct you over to her blog and enter - WOW, what a treat to win that book!  Those gals can really cook!  Check in at Vee's place, A Haven for Vee, and also go by and visit the Mennonite Girls! They have some great recipes that we all would  appreciate! 

Here's a quick picture of the beautiful flowers my oldest son sent me from Nashville on Mother's Day.  He NEVER forgets his mama on special days.  He's so thoughtful.  (don't look at my Christmas mat...)

My Princess's boyfriend, "the beast" (her words, not mine) football player, happens to be quite handy with power tools.  She had him make her a thingie to put on the wall in her closet to hang her necklaces and such on. (I know you don't end a sentence in a preposition...)  But that's the way we talk down here in Texas.  I guess that rule doesn't apply here... You know there are alot of rules that don't apply  in Texas.  It's like we are our own country or something (she says proudly...)   He also built her a nice heavy desk that she distressed and painted and it looks great!  He lives in a second story apartment and his closet is full of power tools and such. He ran an extension cord down to the parking lot and they worked on the desk all of one or two days.  It may last til kingdom come.  It may also have to double as a dining table in her tiny apartment that she just moved into (another preposition).

Meanwhile, back at the farm, the garden is going good (Texas license to talk thataway).  I was wondering if I was going to have any time at all to get it in this year, what with the wedding and all.  But get it in I did.  I planted some grapevines last year and this year they are doing great and even have grapes on them.  If the crows don't get 'em before we do, I hope they'll be great.  We did go buy some bird netting to cover the blueberries, the grapes and the plum tree.  I hope to have enough to cover the peach tree, too.  Cuz they're all going to ripen about the same time.

Sorry about the quality of the pictures - I took them with my IPhone and they're not as sharp as with my camera.

See this here?  You know what it is?  Chicken litter - no, not chicken little - CHICKEN LITTER.  It stinks to high heaven.  Our hay man is fertilizing the hay pastures with it.  I also confiscated a few bucket loads to mix in my compost and put in the garden and a little in some of my flower beds. Last Saturday, the hay man was applying that stuff and the wind was blowing and it really stirred up a brown cloud of chicken poop. I'm sure all the neighbors were happy.  Smells like money to me.  A different guy last year did the hay and he used commercial fertilizers and weed killers - chemicals - and they did great, but part of me is glad that THIS new guy is doing it naturally.  You know, the cows and such eat the hay, and then we eat them - are we getting all those chemicals?  I don't want to think about it!  So I feel good about this process and I don't mind the stink so much.

Thought I'd slip this in, too.  Daddy's birthday was Sunday and we all went out to eat to help him celebrate.  I'm so thankful to God in heaven for my parents and that they've stayed healthy for the most part and they're still kickin' around in their 5th wheel camper every month, and they're still keeping the road hot with all their running around they do.  Thank ya, Lord!

A few random shots of my garden... This year I planted 'maters, peas, beans, onions corn, watermelon, squash, cukes and a couple of pumpkin plants from seed I had leftover last year from the pumkins I bought. Oh yes, and jalapenos - I'm planning on lots more homemade salsa this year!  We're already pickin' beans and have cooked up several batches.  I've got a couple of bags in the fridge right now that have to be snapped and blanched and put in the freezer.  The cukes are about ready, the plums are ready (I'll be making jelly come thursday - daddy's going to help me - he helped me do pickles last year. We had a blast!) and the corn ain't too far behind.  We've been eatin' on the onions for awhile now...June is usually the busiest month for the garden produce around here.

This mornin' about 7:30 before I left for work...

Now, early this spring I planted some sunflower seeds in an area in the back by the watermelons.  Can you see where they came up?  I'm guessing the crows moved them or something.  They've come up in random places all in the garden - mostly in the onion patch. Wierd.  I just left them alone. They look kinda cool sticking up in different places.  I imagine some people may think they look like big huge weeds, but it's just nature doing its thing.  So I left it alone.

Just a little quick shot of my garden shed which I love immensely.  I had some morning glories planted along this little rickety piece of fence last year, but didn't get them in soon enough this year.  Hmmm, maybe some clematis would be good.  I'm trying to get perrenials planted everywhere and just do a few annuals to fill in so I won't have to keep spending so much money on new plants every year.

Plum jelly making is in store for Thursday, so I better round up all my jars this evening and get 'em washed and ready to sterilize.  Friday we load up a sofa and loveseat and drive it out to the Princess's apartment 4 hrs away.  Glad to have "the beast" to help us move some stuff... Last night we went and helped the newlyweds clean out Lindsey's duplex and get everything over to Josh's house.  They guys moved and me and Linds cleaned.  I know that was hanging over their heads to get done so now they can quit worrying about it.

Well, I'm gonna take off - allergy season is here in full force (and has been for me for the last 3 months) and I'm fixing to lay my head down on my desk here at work and take a little nap.  JK!  Wish I could - that Benadryl really knocks me out!  I haven't had much luck with Claritin, etc.  Ya'll take care - I'll be back soon, good talkin' to ya this mornin'.  I've missed ya!

Keep your dress down!

Ok, Hold On...

Ok, I think I've got it at least partially right - may tweak later.  I'll be back later today hopefully to post some wedding pics!  Off to church and spending some time with my mom!

Happy Mother's Day, all you MOMS out there!

Giving Thanks November 19

I have given up trying to post Thanksgivings every single day.  That's what I had planned on doing, but life gets in the way!

I had to go back to work 8 years ago.  Before I went back to work, I usually spent a day a week with my parents, one or the other or both.  We'd just visit and have lunch, Dad and I would work on a project I needed help with, Mom and I would go shopping or just piddling around.  One of my goals since cutting back to 3 days of work a week was to go back to spending time with my parents while I still have them and while they're still in good health.

 
Today I did that.  I spent the entire day with my mom.  Daddy was busy getting something fixed on their 5th wheel, and so Mom and I went to town.  I even took her to the DPS office to renew her driver's license.  She told me I didn't have to go but I told her she'd be bored waiting if I didn't go with her.  She laughed and said Yes she would!  We did that, we went to the Christmas store ( I could spend all morning there!), we ate at Spring Creek BBQ, went to a Christmas bazaar at a local farm and finished up at Ross and Beall's.  I took her home around suppertime.  We just had the BEST DAY!

I'm just SO thankful to have my mother.  She's an angel, I do believe, and I've been so blessed to have her in my life.  She and dad have always tried to lead their kids and grandkids in the ways of the Lord and be good examples to us.  I'm also thankful to be able to have time to spend with them again.  We've got lots of catchin' up to do! They're getting older - heck, we all are!  I intend to do this quite often. Mother has missed me.  I'm their only kid close enough to do this with.  What a wonderful day.  I think it did more for me than it did for mother!  Thank you God for my mama and daddy!

Fishin' with the Folks

Daddy asked me if I wanted to go fishin' Tuesday evening.  Duh, YEAH.  I'm always up for fishin'!  Don't have to ask me twice!  We were going to one of Dad's buddys' private lake to go perch-jerkin'. SO much fun. Those perch really fight and they get hooked nearly every cast!  Usually it's just me and Dad, but this time Mom decided to come and do some fishin'!

It was a warm sunny afternoon, clear as a bell... We were using canned corn for bait and the perch were lovin' it!!  We also spent a good deal of time re-corning our hooks!

I have to say, Mom was haulin' 'em in right and left!  I guess she was holdin' her mouth right or somethin'... Look how cute she looks with her fish!  Dad had a big Atwood's bucket full of lake water that we tossed the perch in after we took 'em off the hook.  They kept floppin' and sometimes they'd flop out of the bucket.  Mom would squeal and she screamed one time when one flopped on her shoe!

THIS below is a really nice perch!  I wanted her picture holding it, but she wouldn't hold it - too stinky, slimy and she might get finned.  Dad and  I both did get finned taking the fish off the hook.  I have pics of my kids kissin' their fish, but I couldn't get her to do that!

Dad didn't have much time to fish while we were ketchin' fish. He was busy with the electric knife cleaning and fileting those little boogers.

We caught 17 perch in about 45 minutes, and I decided to get out the plastic worms and see if I could snag some bass.  My training has paid off!  Dad was so proud!  I caught several bass, and turned them loose as Dad and I both have a freezer full of bass.  But it was sure fun ketchin' 'em!

Mom slipped up on me and Daddy and got our picture.  I love this - me and Dad doin' what we love to do TOGETHER.  I would NOT  take anything in the world for the times that I get to spend with them.  I'm so blessed to still have both my parents! Thank you Lord!!!

Dad finally got a chance to sit down and do a little perch-jerkin' himself...

Above - a little thunderstorm blew up but went just west of us...  We got about 5 inches.......

..... in between raindrops!

Above, a beautiful rainbow came out when it passed... and below, you can see it's reflection in the water!

Oops!  I got these two photos reversed!!!

It was a wonderful afternoon spent with two of my favorite people in all the world!   Makin' memories!  I love you, Mom and Dad!!!