And Like A Good Neighbor...

Our little town has changed so much in the past ten years. Being born and raised in this area, I can tell you that it has gone from a small, quaint little community where everyone knew everyone (well almost) to a place where I can be uptown all day and never see a person I know! This can be somewhat depressing to me and some days I really dislike where we live and I allow myself to become discouraged.

Now let me clarify, I absolutely love where the Lord has allowed us to raise our children, out in the country (well, as much "out in the country" as one can get in our town) with lots of room to let four boys roam. This home has truly been a blessing and answer to prayer for us. If I could just pick up my house and move it somewhere that is so far out that, as my dear friend, Kay, would say, " you have to pump sunshine in" that would be the place for me!

Well, one particular morning a few days ago, I was out doing my morning chores and thinking about how things have changed so around here. I was trying to be content but at the same time I was daydreaming about going out to feed our farm animals and then working in my vegetable garden in perfect 72 degree weather while seeing our cows grazing contentedly on the rolling hills of our "property". After being outside a FEW minutes and wiping sweat from my forehead in the humid 95 degree weather, I noticed that I kept hearing someone yelling "Hey, Hey!". The calling would stop and then a few minutes later I would hear it again. I didn't think much of it and just dismissed it as the road crew that had been working out on the highway in front of our house several days earlier. I just assumed that they were back.

While I was in the goat pen, my dear husband suddenly appeared. He was talking on his phone and promptly let the person on the other end know that I was okay. He then explained to me that our neighbor that lives across the pasture that is behind our house (it is probably 4 or 5 acres across) heard someone yelling and called my hubby to make sure that we were okay. See the tin roof in the middle of this picture? That is his barn. He had pulled his truck all the way up to the edge of the pond that is in his backyard and had his binoculars out looking to make sure we were all safe. That is when I felt the Lord gently reminding me that He had provided this place for us and that He is still in control. I was feeling pretty humbled when suddenly I remembered our other precious neighbor, a.k.a. the gardening guru. He is an elderly gentleman and like a second grandfather to my boys. He lives next door to us and Monroe has seen him fall out in his garden and rescued him on more than one occasion. This is where he lives. Note the rows of corn..beautiful garden ;-)

"Quick, call Mr. Willie's house and make sure he has not fallen out in the garden!" I said. My hubby didn't wait to make a call but ran down the fenceline and through the little gate we put in for visiting. He went down the garden rows looking but thankfully, our dear neighbor was inside his house.

Next, Monroe called our neighbor across the highway. They have a farm with many animals and citrus groves. After talking to this neighbor our mystery voice was solved and no one was needing help. It turns out that this neighbor was yelling at his hunting dogs! I'm not sure what he was trying to get them to do, or not do, but he had stirred up all of his neighbors in the process!

Now this may seem like an unimportant story to you but for me it was huge! I felt like the Lord knew I needed to be reminded of His perfect will and peace. It is not unusual for us to hear police sirens going by in front of our house day and night several times a week, sometimes several times a day. This is not the same neighborhood!

However, I am keeping my trust in Him. I love Psalm 91! It is about God's protection over His own. Yep, been reading that over and over lately!!

I just had to share one more picture. Each morning when I go out to feed the goats all of our cows are standing outside the goat pen with a pitiful look on their faces. They stand around patiently waiting. Then when they hear the grain hitting the bottom of the goat's feed bucket they can take it no longer! This is what I see almost every morning. A big snout sticking through the fence and this long tongue just barely able to reach a few pieces of grain, but oh how delicious it must be. So, I must assume that not only is the grass greener on the other side of the fence but the feed must be better too! What a hoot!! Have a blessed day!!

To Lighten Your Day

How to know when your 14 year-old son has skinned out too many deer: He walks into the kitchen pointing to his torso and says, "Mom, my tenderloins are hurting!"

Boys! You just gotta love 'em!
Have a great day!

Guess Who Turned One Year Old?

I'll give you one clue: All I saw in my house was Pink! Yes, our Little Reesie Pie is one year old. I can hardly believe it has already been a year since I held the first little girl to be born in our family in 27 years. And she has definitely been worth the wait! She is such a girly-girl already, however she gets pretty feisty with her brothers and can hold her own ground!

This little darling has been such a blessing to our entire family. But she holds a special place in my heart. Not just because I finally get to have my little girl to enjoy. You see, Reese has always looked just like her mommy did. I mean from the moment she was born I told Brooke, "Oh my goodness, she looks JUST LIKE you!" Not only does Reese look like Brooke but she feels like Brooke felt when I hold her. I made that comment to someone the other day and they looked at me funny and told me all babies feel the same. Oh, no they do not. All of my babies felt different in my arms. Do any of you other mothers out there know what I mean?

Well, I of course have to share the pictures from Reese's first birthday party. Doesn't she look like she is "Queen For A Day?"
I love this shot. There hasn't been a baby doll in our house in years. Parker and Luke look as if they are not sure what to do with this baby!

Here Reese, you take care of this baby!

Having two photographers in the family can be a bit trying at times. While we were decorating for the party Brooke kept saying she wanted the food table here, the gift table there, etc. Then she would say, "I know you are going to roll your eyes at me Mom but the lighting is going to be so much better here (or there) for pictures."

Well. I didn't let her see me roll my eyes, I just smiled and moved stuff from here to there...but maybe I was rolling my eyes in my mind...just a little bit ;-)

As it turned out, though, she was right. The pictures look like they are straight from "Martha Stewart Living".

By the way, all the pictures in this blog were taken by Brent. Brooke did all of the decorating. They work pretty good together. They have done photography for a few weddings together. Who knew?

The ice cream cones you see in the background here are actually pieces of paper twisted into the shape of a cone and filled with cotton candy. The stand for the cones is simply a cardboard box wrapped in gift wrap with holes cut in it for the cones. It was so pretty and Brooke said it cost approximately $3.00! Note to self (and anyone interested): Do not put cotton candy in cones until ready to eat...it evaporates!!

Reese is a natural born mommy already. That amazes me! God puts those instincts in little girls to be nurturing but at one year old? Brooke told me that Reese now has about six baby dolls and she tries to carry them around throughout the day, keeping them all together and feeding them with her little bottle.

She also called me one day to say that Reese was so mad she was screaming/growling! Her brothers had taken her baby dolls, stripped them of their clothes and wouldn't give them back to her. They were playing pirates. Brooke-please do not share the rest of this story. It is too gruesome!

Finally, the pirates...errr...brothers get a turn to open a gift.

Time for some birthday cake!!
A girl doesn't have to eat like a lady on her birthday does she?

This picture says it all!
End of the party and time to get cleaned up! Did I mention that Reese looks like Brooke? This picture is a perfect example! Spittin' image!

Happy Birthday Reesie-pie, Cuppy, Reesie Cup, Cupcake, Princess...

Spring Garden

I love a spring garden!! The bugs are not bad yet so the maintenance is easier and we always enjoy the baby lettuces from our first harvest. This picture is a couple of weeks old but it was from my picking one morning. I have red romaine, oakleaf, green romaine and buttercrunch lettuces planted and they are all so delicious!!
I only wish our cucumbers were ready to go along with this tasty salad. The summer squash is coming in faster than we can eat it! This is just one day's picking and we gather it every day most days. If we wait 2 days the squash gets too big and hard. We have done nothing but water and weed the garden. No chemicals and no fertilizer has been used! While shopping at Publix just the other day I noticed their organic summer squash. It comes shrink wrapped in PLASTIC and guess how much just ONE squash cost???? $2.99!!!! With a family the size of mine that is unthinkable!

We have had so much squash we have been giving it away to friends and family along with the lettuces. I have also been blanching and freezing the squash. Here are some bags ready to vacuum seal. Have any of you ever used the Foodsaver type bags and have you ever had problems with the liquid being vacuumed up to the top of the bag so it breaks the seal? I have and I had just about given up on using my Foodsaver until I read on one of my favorite websites (www.pickyourown.org) that if you freeze the vegetables/fruits with the bag open as shown below and then used the vacuum seal you shouldn't have any problems. What a great idea! I wish there were some alternative to freezing with plastic but I know of none.

If you enjoy fresh produce, you should visit the website I mentioned. I have found it to be so very helpful for many different things. You simply type in the area you live in and it gives u-pick farms, detailed canning and freezing instructions with pictures, and where to purchase all equipment needed for your task at hand. I love it!

While I am patiently waiting for some delicious southern peas to be ready to pick along with okra, corn, watermelon, cantaloupe and greenbeans, I have high hopes for at least one tomato. Last year I had over 80 plants and not one tomato!! I have had many others tell me the same thing happened with their tomatoes last summer. Strange. Oh well, I guess that's what keeps gardening interesting!

Our Fingers Are Crossed

We have been waiting for quite some time for our Rhode Island Red hens to hatch some new chicks for us. Each spring we get excited because when we go out to gather eggs we will find a hen sitting on her eggs. Unfortunately, she would lose interest after about a week and we were left with rotten eggs. Brandon and Bryce always love this though. I mean what could be more fun than throwing rotten eggs??? They must throw them way out in the back pasture...Mom's rule!! We have hatched a few eggs on our own with an incubator but we must raise them until they are almost grown before we can put them in with the adult hens. If we put them in too soon the other hens will peck them to death. So, having a momma hen hatch her own chicks is the easiest way to raise a new batch.

This spring our hopes are high once again. We have a bantam hen sitting on a nest and she has been there for over two weeks now!!! Isn't she beautiful? I have tried to get some eggs in the nest next to her and she is NOT happy about me being near her nest. We decided to put a few Bantam hens in with our Reds because they are better "sitting hens". Our newly hatched chicks may not be full-blooded Rhode Island Reds but that is okay, we just want fresh eggs for eating!! Looks like our plan may be working!!!This hen is really in the mothering mood! She keeps stealing eggs in the other nests and hoarding them. She has so many eggs that she can't cover them all!
And the greatest and most interesting thing has happened. The "sitting fever" has caught on! Just look! We now have 3 hens that are serious about sitting....so far. The Rhode Island Red on the far left flew off shortly after I took this picture. She only had two eggs under her which I promptly removed before Mrs. Greedy took them!

According to my recordkeeping we should have some chicks hatching next week from the light colored hen. She was the first to start sitting. Hopefully, the other two will stay put until their eggs hatch too! In the meantime, we are rationing our egg eating. Once you get accustomed to fresh farm eggs the grocery store eggs are just not good, even the expensive, free-range ones. And who knows, if all these eggs hatch we may be in the egg selling business again!

A Special Mother's Day Wish

Our family has so much to be thankful for this Mother's Day. We have been blessed beyond measure with answered prayer!! My niece, Rhonda, was able to take her beautiful baby boy home from the hospital this week. I can't think of a better Mother's Day gift, can you? This little fellow entered the world 10 weeks early at a little over 2 lbs. He has had a tough battle but with a will to live, the prayers of many, and a mother's loving touch he has reached 4 lbs and 6 oz. Way to go Cameron!!

Here is a picture of Mommy and Cameron just prior to leaving the hospital. He has grown so much! I can't wait to hold that little guy and give him lots of kisses!!

An especially heart-felt Mother's Day wish goes out to you, "RhondaBerry"!! I love you dearly and I will continue to pray for Cameron to grow stronger each day!

What Would You Do??

I was alone outside one morning recently doing my chores. On my way out to feed the chickens everything was normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Now mind you I am ALWAYS on the look out for my two worst phobias....snakes and flying roaches. The roaches are the big brown ones that can be a couple of inches long and they ALWAYS want to fly on me!!!! EWWWWW!!! For those of you who do not live in Florida you may not know what I am talking about-be thankful!

So, after feeding the chickens I was on my way back up to the house and suddenly I froze in my tracks! This is what I saw! Now that guy was NOT there on my way out to the chicken pen. Hmmmm....... I quickly ran through my options in my head. Do I turn and run? Where would I run, back to the chicken pen? No, that won't work. I could run around the house to the front door but it would be locked. By the way, were my boys awake yet to help me???? I decided to begin yelling for some help while keeping my eyes fixed on this little beast in case my screams startled him and he decided to "spray". I had visions of sitting in tomato juice. Oh no, this just can't be happening!

Thankfully we had not turned on the house air-conditioning yet so my windows were open. Now if I could just get the boys to hear my cries for help.

It didn't take long for Brandon to come to my rescue. He was brave enough to walk right up to this skunk. And boy did we have a good laugh. Here is my "skunk". It actually IS a real skunk skin. It had been in the shed for quite some time and I had forgotten about it.

The boys have a new puppy and that mischievous little thing is always into something. Turns out she found this skunk hat while I was busy with my chores. She drug it out to play with and left it in the grass, right in my path. Whew. What a happy ending!