A Summer Re-cap

Summertime always seems to fly by too quickly for me. Before I know it, it is time to hit the books again with my boys. This summer was no different. We worked, we played and we visited friends. We were not able to have a family vacation but we did manage to take a couple of weekend get aways and day trips.

So here is a quick look at some of the highlights of our busy summer.

We bought a pregnant Saanen dairy goat the first of this year and by late spring we had two does born! There is nothing quite like having baby goats. They are so much fun. They can be just as much a pet as a farm animal. Just look at these two! We named them Sugar and Spice. We chose the right name for Spice because she does have a "spicy" attitude ;-)

We learned how to milk a goat, how to prepare the milk and I was very busy finding ways to use all of the wonderful milk we were able to get! I began to hear complaints every time someone opened the refrigerator. "I can't find anything in here for all this milk!" was a common remark.

So I began making yogurt, shown below, and a yummy soft cheese, sour cream, buttermilk and ricotta cheese. Talk about busy!! It was very rewarding though.
I was fortunate to make a trip to the farmer's market with a dear friend. She suggested going along with me for my first "buying experience" and I am so glad she did! It can be very overwhelming. There are so many vendors and they will negotiate with you on their prices! What fun! I bought this box of tomatoes for only $5.00!!! Aren't they beautiful? I had planned to can them but we ended up eating them all fresh. They were so delicious.

I also bought corn from the farmer's market. This was my first attempt at freezing corn. Brooke went in on halves with me so she came over and together we put up creamed corn....whew.....sore fingers and a messy kitchen was our sacrifice. Speaking of messy kitchen, even now, months later, every once in a while a speck of something will catch my eye in the most unusual place in my kitchen and I will wonder, "What in the world is that? Oh, of course, CORN!" Next year this will be a back porch job!!

Our summer garden didn't produce as much as I would have liked but we were able to get a few good pickings of peas. We did get lots of okra. It seems every year we have a good crop of okra that continues producing through the entire summer.

Here is our pea sheller. What a time saver!

There was time for a little R & R. Brooke and I had girls' night out with a couple of friends and we went to see Mary Poppins at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. We really enjoyed ourselves and this was something that no one else in my family envied me for going to see. This was most definitely a "girl thing" to do, according to all my guys!!

How was your summer?

Date Night

Lately every evening just before dusk, when it cools off outside a little, my hubby and I have been slipping off to a blackberry patch in the pasture behind our house. It has been a nice and quiet time together as we pick and talk. Sometimes, okay most of the time, it is NOT nice and quiet around our home. I love the noise and busyness in our home but if Monroe and I want to have a private conversation it must be planned. I think that is what we found so enjoyable about the blackberry picking. Of course, the extra reward was all the delicious blackberries we got to take home! It wasn't long before our secret getaway was discovered, however. Each evening we would be gone about 30 minutes and then in the distance we could hear a motor getting closer and closer. We would just laugh. It was usually Bryce coming out on the four-wheeler to "help pick".

Notice the beekeeper's gloves. A dear friend told me to use them when blackberry picking and they work perfectly for keeping your arms and hands from being scratched. So, even if you don't keep bees but you go blackberry picking, get yourself a pair of these gloves!

On this particular evening we looked up to find the boys coming out to us on the swamp buggy. This is about how far they got when they bogged down in the mud. It had been raining every day which caused it to get really mucky out back.

Dad to the rescue! They can't fool me though. I know every one of those males love getting stuck and having to get pulled out. I hear them talk of it later. Oh, the excitement in their voices as they relate the story to some other male. It must be a guy-thing! In my opinion, as my boys would say,...."whatev....!" And this is what they got stuck in.

We were also being watched by a small gator. Can you see his head? It is the little dot right in the middle of the picture. We estimated him to be approximately 4 or 5 feet long.

Back to business! Monroe found a clever way to get the berries that were too high to reach. He let down the tailgate of the jeep and backed up into the bushes. This was a great idea and I got a lot of nice, big berries. However, the next evening we went back to the same spot and just before he backed the jeep up into the bushes he spotted a black snake...a big black snake!!...curled around some branches way up high....right where we had been picking!! I thought I was safe being up in the back of a vehicle but noooo! I always watched for snakes down on the ground but never up high until now!!

We have been enjoying blackberry buckle. It is so good with a cup of coffee!

And this blackberry cobbler didn't last long. I almost didn't get a picture of it in time.

I was able to put several bags of berries in the freezer as well. Last summer I made blackberry jam. We still had a few jars left so I decided to just freeze this year's picking. My boys don't like the seeds in the jam so next time I will make jelly with them.

I have had such a busy summer! I have so much more to blog but I always run out of hours in my day. I will try to be more diligent.

Camping at the Springs

We took a long weekend and went to the local springs for camping and swimming. This is a favorite camping spot for our family. Isn't the water beautiful? In winter months you can come here and see the manatee. This spring is a refuge for them.


This is what I love about camping. Getting away from the phones, tvs, etc. See what happens? I looked out the camper window and Brandon had made himself a bow and arrow. I am not so sure he could provide the family with dinner from that bow and arrow but it did shoot!

Roasted marshamallows are so delicious when you cook them over an open flame. Personally, I like mine burnt!

Don't they look like they belong on the show, Survivor?

A rare photo moment!

Swimming at the spring. Actually, this swimming area is a little ways down from the spring. We swam up river to the spring and the guys loved diving down to see the open spring below. I watched nervously from the surface (with my trusty raft) as they got braver and deeper with each dive. There was a huge fallen tree covering the spring and they would dive down and swim under the tree!!

We had a visit from Brooke and family on Saturday! Of course, I was so excited to see them.....okay to see my grandbabies! Here is the famous Lukie face. Such a cutie! I love it when he makes this face.

Reese's first outing at a state park. She seems to be taking it all in stride. By the way, she looks EXACTLY like Brooke's baby pictures in this shot!

Parker is enjoying the remaining honeydew from lunch.

Just relaxing and enjoying each other.

Poppa and Parker taking a walk to find wild grapes they saw earlier. They were very TART!

Well, we had a great summer! Now back to the daily routine of school, work and university life.

God is so good!

A New Favorite Hobby

With summer coming rapidly to an end, I began to reflect on the activities our family didn't get an opportunity to enjoy during our summer vacation. Honestly, I don't know when the long summers days slipped by me! It seems like it was just last week we started summer break! So, the last couple of weeks around our house has been crammed with last minute fun.


This school year Brad will start college which means I will have two of my guys attending college. This is a bittersweet feeling for me. I am excited for them as they take another step into their independence and future. It is certainly keeping this mom on her knees!

With all this in mind it sounded like a good time to have a fun day at the beach. We decided the night before to pack our lunch and head for the coast the next morning. It was a decision we didn't regret.
We had so much fun. The guys rented surf boards and spent the WHOLE day in the water. They came out only to grab a sandwich and headed right back for the waves. In all our years of going to the beach I don't know why we never thought to rent surfboards before this trip.

Here is Bradley "catching a wave".

Then we have surfer dude Brent.

All four of my beach bums enjoying the beautiful day.

The boys really amazed me at how easily it was for them to master the surfboard. They said it was from all the practice they have had at home. At home? Huh? Then they reminded me of the times they had taken the four-wheeler out in the back pasture and pulled each other in the canal on a skimboard!! The four-wheeler ran along the bank of the canal. They are hilarious!

I'll save that material for another post as I recall that I do have some pictures of them skimboarding in the canal! You just gotta love boys!!

Here comes my baby. Can I still call him that?

And here is my baby too. I guess they will always be my baby!

Brandon lending Bryceton a helping hand. I loved watching them. Brandon was very patient with his little brother and let him borrow his surfboard for a very long time considering the surfboard rental was coming out of his own money!

Bryce tried and tried but never quite got up on the board. Maybe next time.

The long ride back home. Can you tell they had an awesome day?

This picture is a rare sight. Brandon goes full speed every day until bedtime. Not this day!!

I am overhearing plans being made for the next break from school. I have a feeling we will be packing our lunch once again and heading for the beach. I love going to the beach too. However, as some of you may already know, I am an umbrella hugger and I still manage to get sunburned :-( Yes, even with sunscreen!

It doesn't stop me. I always have a great time when we go because it is so relaxing and I love watching my kids just being kids!

Sugar Babies

We have been enjoying a new variety of watermelon this summer. It is called Sugar Baby and it certainly lives up to it's name! These little melons are not much bigger than a cantaloupe which I love because they don't take up as much room in my refrigerator and if you are like me there is ALWAYS a shortage of space in my refrigerator. When I begin to get frustrated at trying to make leftovers and such "fit", it reminds me to stop and be thankful for the abundance the Lord has blessed us with. I just imagine how I would be feeling if all I had to put in my refrigerator was a melon??? Thank you Lord for this inconvenience. Anyway, back to these Sugar Baby melons. We have had so much success with these little beauties this year we haven't bought any watermelons from the grocery store! Also, the seeds from these melons are open-pollinated which means I should be able to replant the seeds next summer. That is my goal. One day I would like to only have to go to the grocery store once in a while for a few staples. I have a long way to go before reaching that goal but I am learning so much as I go. I love sitting down to a meal, looking over the dishes before us and realizing we either grew it, raised it here at home or it is venison that hubby/boys brought home!! It truly makes us thankful for the blessings the Lord has provided for our family!

Here is a satisfied seed-spittin', melon-eatin' boy! We like to gather in the kitchen after working outside in the hot, hot Florida summer weather and we start slicing these ice cold watermelons. They really hit the spot and quench our thirst!! Ahhh, one of the pleasures of summertime!

Hope you are enjoying your summer. It is passing so quickly!!

A Little R&R

A dear friend of mine, Brenda, invited us to her "getaway" home in South Alabama for a few days of R&R. The trip ended up being just moms and kids. I think everyone had a lot of fun!! The first day the kids wanted to fish, if you can honestly call it that. As soon as you put your hook in the water you get a bite! A fisherman's dream!! The catfish were so plentiful that the kids would see them swimming around the dock, run and get their net and scoop them up from the shore! Brandon is showing the largest catfish he caught (sorry it is not a very good picture). I am not sure how much it weighed but Brandon was straining holding the net up and he is a pretty strong guy. Here is the bass Brandon caught. Right about now his older brothers are wishing they would have gone along on this trip!!

We hardly saw the young'uns during the day unless Brenda and I went outside to watch them play. They always showed up for mealtime, however, starving from all the exercise and fun.

I can't believe we had a fire going in MAY in the south and it really felt good!! We moms sat around the fire while the kids played. Here they are coming by the fire to warm up too.

It rained every day we were there but that didn't slow anyone down. They played in the rain as long as there was no lightning and loved every minute of it.

This is one of my favorite shots! Doesn't that look like fun? Of course I wouldn't be able to move the next day if I were to try something like that!!

Bryce the muscle man! Oh yeah!

Brooke just looking cute!

One day the kids pretended to have expensive mud baths.

Here they are being silly.

Here is a view from the dock looking over the backyard and house. The previous owners had the long picnic tables built because they often had fish frys. I can see why with such successful fishing in this pond. I intended to get a picture of me and Brenda but I forgot. We all had such a great time. It was very peaceful and relaxing. A perfect way to kick off the summer!

Good-bye Alabama house :-( Great fun, great friends and great memories made here! Thank you Brenda and Brooke for the invitation!

By the way all you fishermen out there, this beautiful piece of property is for sale. If you are interested, just leave me a comment.