This 'N That...

Oh JOY!  We've been having scattered showers for the last few days, and let me tell you - right here near the middle of July, it's been WONDERFUL!!!  Thank you, Lord!  After last year's drought conditions and 100+ temps for 2 months, it's been such a blessing!  It's been a bit cooler the last few days, too...

I love in the afternoons and evenings to see these big thunderheads building up - they are so beautiful!

The evening sky last night was so pretty after the rain!

This was our sunset!

Boy howdy, are y'all in for a real treat.  Not only do I have a video of my chickens but you get to hear my East Texas accent!  You think Arkansans are bad, just wait til you hear this (sorry, Arkansas)!  We had divested the tomato plants of some horn-worms awhile back and one of my Black Stars had swindled it away from the other chickens...  (besides, everybody else does little videos of their chickens so why can't I?)  Just a little over a minute - that's all, can you stand it for a little over a minute?  I watched this first and though, "eh, it's not so interesting," til I got to nearly the end and heard myself talking.  Then I thought, "WHOA - my peeps might like a good laugh!"

Ooooweeee!  Is that accent bad or what!  I hate to hear myself on audio!  (scratching my foot - fire ant bites...)  Don't these chicks have a nice place to live?  Dad did such a good job on my coop and run!

Josh has missed his chihuahua, Bug!  He loves this little pooch.  Lindsey just shakes her head.  But she's got a kitty-cat, Alice, that she is crazy about so I guess they're even (remember Alice? She used to live here with me...).  Bug was so glad to see Josh, too!  I was really hoping that nothing would happen to her before they got home from New Zealand.  She's about 13 now and is having problems getting around.  

Bug was so excited to see Josh, too!

Well, y'all have a great Thursday - I've got some more tomatoes to process into spaghetti sauce today, and a few more pickles to make before the cucumbers turn to mush.  Take it easy on yourself!  Sending you all a BIG HUG from BUG!

BACK TO THE FUTURE! Josh & Lindsey are HOME!

THE KIWIS HAVE LANDED!!!

Our Kiwi Kids, Josh and Lindsey, are home safe and sound after a 22 hour journey from Wellington, New Zealand.  Thank the Lord they had a safe trip and are fine and dandy!  We picked them up from DFW last night and probably everyone got to bed around 1:30 or 2:00 a.m.  

We couldn't stop kissing and hugging them!  They were probably thinking, "OK, that's good - 'nuff hugs and kisses for now..." 

"Back to the Future" - they left New Zealand on Tuesday and arrived in Texas on Tuesday - they went back across the International Date Line and got here on Tuesday!  Isn't that wild???

They were exhausted after that long trip, but all smiles and happy, and there were lots of tears from both sets of parents.  Lindsey was a little teary, too, tho - she was tired and SO happy to see her family!

And happy tears are the BEST!

Lindsey's sweet sister and her two little precious boys, and her parents were thrilled to see their "baby girl"!

Her mom had American flags and red/white/blue leis for the kids and we all welcomed them back to the good ole U S of A (and especially to the Great State of TEXAS :)!!!

I imagine they'll be sleeping and resting today (and maybe tomorrow!), but I know that we'll be spending some fun times together here in the next few days.  We've got LOTS of catching up to do!

(and more hugging and kissing!)

And seeing what's next on the radar for Josh and Lindey's next Big Adventure!

Keep yer dress down!

My Week Past...

Welllll....., as you can see, I am in the egg production business now.  Seven of my 9 hens are now officially laying - some eggs smaller than others, but nevertheless, laying.  We are excited!  Well, I am, my husband just looks at me and rolls his eyes and smiles!  He just won't admit it!  We're getting 5-6 eggs a day from those seven pullets - they're about 6-7 mos old now... Mom and Dad are happily accepting eggs from us, and I imagine I'll have even a few more to give away or sell.  

We went to my beautiful niece's wedding this past weekend. An outside wedding, it was only 95 degrees and the same number humidity. Why, oh why, do people wanna get married OUTSIDE in the middle of the summer in TEXAS!!!  We were dripping wet (including my underwear!) within being there about 15 minutes.   BUT, I have to say, the bride and groom did a short service and it was so sweet, totally worth the few minutes in the heat - it was lovely!  And we wouldn't have missed it for the world!  I loved that they printed the programs on little old-timey looking hand fans for all the guests - and you can bet your booty there was some fannin' goin' on! The reception was outside, too, but it was a bit cooler and later in the evening.  My sister and her husband threw a good old Texas barbecue with all the trimmings for the reception and dancing for the kids, no alcohol, and a great time was had by all!

My nephew, Clay, was able to come home for the wedding - wow, has he grown up.  He'll be getting out of the Navy in the spring - four years... it went by fast.  He's been all over the world in the Navy - probably some places we don't even know about.  They were stationed in the Persian gulf at times, but it's so good to have him stateside now.  One more short voyage and then he'll be out.  He plans on continuing his education here in Texas at an as yet to be determined university.  I love this kid, um young man - we be buddies!  Here, he escorts his mama, my sister, down the aisle... She looks beautiful...

  My beautiful red-headed niece and her proud daddy...

Me, my sister and my mama at the wedding.  These are such precious people in my life.  My sister is my bestest friend in the whole world, and my mama is, too!  We can really get into some trouble when we hang out together!

Here's a little picture of my crooked flag-pole and my bunting that I put out for July 4th.  I think it looked purdy.   It's gotten so hot in Texas now, the grass is getting crunchy and my flowers are suffering.  We had several pretty good rains early on, but now it's getting summer's usual dry days with the grasshoppers eating everything in sight and the locusts humming in the stillness.  My yard has turned to sugar sand, the grassburrs are popping up everywhere and if you walk across the yard, you might break your ankle if you step in a mole run.  Summer in East Texas... The bahia grass is knee-high, too - why, oh, why did Texas A&M think bahia grass was such a great thing...

I'm doing alot of moaning today, aren't I?  Why, oh why...

Well, guess that's all for now.  I hope you're all enjoying your summer days.  I could sure use some days on the beach... with cool water just a few feet away... and not a care in the world.....

Keep your dress down.

"We Hold These Truths..."

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, remember this day...remember this country, the forefathers that fought and died for our independence, and PRAY that God STILL may bless AMERICA.

 Find a copy of the Declaration of Independence online and read every single word...

...And fall to your knees and give thanks that we live in the most wonderful country in the world and pray that the hearts of Americans will turn to the Lord, ask for forgiveness, and once again be

ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.

(courtesy photos unknown)

FARM Update...

Canning is winding down (thank goodness, but thank you, Lord, for all the bounty this year!).  I came up with 15 quart freezer bags of purple hull peas, 8 bags of pinto beans, 11 freezer bags of green beans, 3 gallon freezer bags of plum juice (to make more jelly later... I decided to make and sell some... my church friends are buying it up PRONTO!), one gallon bag of grape juice (which I'll probably start making that jelly this afternoon) and about 8 gallons of frozen tomatoes for soups,  sauces or more salsa AND 6 gallon freezer bags of fresh G-90 sweet corn.  I've got two dozen quarts of pickles, 3 dozen half pints of blackberry and plum jelly and 1 1/2 dozen pints of salsa.  I chopped onions and put in the freezer to get out later as needed, as well as bell peppers.  I've still got jalapenos out the wazoo (whoa - that would burn...  ;)    so I may be pickling them at some point...My freezer is full up!

OK, here's a question.  I told you about my rogue white ghost pumpkin vines that came up in the garden from the compost from last year.  Well, the vines are huge and taking over the rest of the garden and there are white pumpkins everywhere. They've grown into the corn stalks - it's impossible to get them out at this point.  I'm going to let the pumpkins stay there and grow til September.  OK, really - here's the question:

Will the pumpkins last til September or October?  If I leave them on the vine, will they?  Because if they're going to ruin and rot on the ground before using them for decoration in the fall, then I want to go ahead and pull those babies up and get rid of them.  Need help on this people!  Guess I could call one of the nurseries or get on the internet.  Hey Kathleen, don't you raise pumpkins?  I need to get ahold of her...

Well, summer in Texas is here.  We've begun our 100+ days now with almost no breeze, but we were blessed with milder temps for most of May and June.  At least we got most of the garden in before the heat wave hit. Another blessing! The humidity levels are almost as bad as the temps right now, and you can walk outside for a few minutes and feel the sweat immediately cover your upper lip and forehead.  If you stay for a moment more, you start to feel it trickle down your back (and beyond and behind) and any longer than that, you are drenched in sweat from head to toe.  I've had to take 2-3 showers a day if I venture outside at all.

The chickens are doing good. I've heard that they tolerate cold better than heat, so I've been trying to be innovative in keeping them cool.  I'm going to freeze some milk jugs of water and put in a big shallow dish so they'll have cool water most of the day.  Who knew (except the chicken people) - They LOVE for me to spray water in their run and cool the dirt off so they can dig a hole and lay in it - just like the dogs! So, I go out from time to time and spray their run and make them some puddles. I also save them cold watermelon rind and such.  It's going to be a long summer for those birds.

My dog, Gypsy, is staying close to the pond right now - she hates for me to spray her down with water or try to give her a bath, but she'll go swimming in the pond with no problem. I've got several clean water containers out for her and put cool water in them 3-4 times a day.  Going to start putting freezing jugs in her water dishes too - especially on the two days a week that I have to go to work and won't be home all day.  I put water in her big holes in the yard that she's dug under the trees. I'm not even going to worry about those holes until it cools off.  She's staying wet, nasty, and muddy right now, but if she's cool, then it's okay by me.

Speaking of chickens, I did go take my two roosters, the Brahma and the Buff, back to where I got one of them.  The lady let me take another Black Star pullet in  their place.  Do not want any roosters right now.  I want eggs only at this point.  I'd have to have another pen for broody hens and baby chicks and I don't care to add any more chores to my list right now.  My other pullets are beginning to lay now - how fun!  I am still excited to go outside and check the nests to see what we got every day!  About 4 eggs a day now!

See above the Buff on the left?  He's one of the roosters.  He's standing here oogling Puffy and Fluffy the Ameracaunas - they are both "bearded ladies" - maybe the Buff is kinda kinky or something...

I've begun hearing more and more about eggs not increasing one's cholesterol like was once thought.  I'm not sure how that all works scientifically, but we love eggs around here and I wanna be able to eat our eggs.  I've always thought to do "everything in moderation", and so that's how I'm going to look at eating eggs, too.  Any thoughts on that from you guys?  Here's my nest boxes... don't think I ever showed you those...

From the outside...

From the inside...

We put golf balls in the nests so they'd know where to lay - it's working!

See this silly Brahma roo?  He was bugging my barred rock hen while she was sitting on the nest trying to lay an egg and I was trying to take her picture.  I shoo-ed him away... 

Dad and I cut a hole in the side of the coop and hinged a little door on it so I could gather eggs from the outside and not have to get poop on my shoes unnecessarily.  It's funny to open the egg door at night and shine the flashlight into the coop and see the startled, sleepy silly hens sitting on their roost.  Is that considered chicken torture?  It's just fun to go look at them at night from time to time.   :)

My Barred Rock hen laying her egg...she's giving me the stink-eye for spying on her and taking her picture!

My Black Austrolorp is trying to get in the nest with her, too.  They all like the furthest nest in the corner!

With the 3 inch rain we got a couple of weeks ago, the hay took OFF.  We've got half our pastures in Tifton horse hay and the other half in coastal.  Our hay man square-baled the Tifton and rolled the coastal.  Of course, my allergies have been acting up with all the hay mowing, etc......

Square bales ready to be hauled to the barn...

My oldest son, Adam, from the 'Ville, is here for a few days.  He and Tony have been busy with the chain saw, the tractor, the brush hog, etc., doing guy stuff that needed doing around the farm.  Adam loves to come home and get away from Music City and relax and do regular hard work. Helps him unwind and clear his head.  Of course, I love for him to come home, too.  He butters me up and wants mom's home-cooked meals, too.  That's what us moms like to hear!  And it's so nice to hear him pick up his guitar and play songs and do some writing while he's here, too...

Well, take care my friends - I'm off to visit Kathleen and see what she says about pumpkins!

Keep yer dress down.