Last post of the year.

Wow. This year went by so quickly! It didn't seem that way weeding the garden this summer, but tomorrow is New Year's Eve.

Our trip to NC went well. Too fast, but well. The house there is empty, so we stopped by to look at it. The company that is handling the rental said this is the worst market they've seen in 36 years! That's what happens when it's a military economy and the military is being given pink slips.
We'll just have to hope for the best.

We took two days to get there. Rented a U-haul. Left it at son's apartment to load. We went to eat dinner at a favorite restaurant in New Bern, and found it had closed. However, a similar restaurant, Osaka Express Grill in James City (called New Bern also) was open so we decided to eat there. The meal was excellent.

On the way home we drove through because there was a really bad thunderstorm going through from Texas, to Louisiana and Mississippi. We were fortunate that it was mostly just rain when it hit Alabama and Georgia. Five people were killed in Mississippi.
We were blessed. Our youngest boy was home alone with the three cats. He messaged us several times about the rain and wind. We told him to stay inside. We had received a tornado warning; but didn't tell him that as he would have freaked out.

The power went out about ten PM that night. The impetus for us to consume mass quantities of caffeine and get home as soon as possible.
At one point the youngest boy told us he could smell smoke. Fortunately it was not our house.
The power came on about an hour before we drove in the driveway.
No internet as the modem had fried.

Turns out lightning had hit an oak tree in the pasture.

Very grateful it hit the oak tree and not a pecan. A house about a mile from us had a pecan tree hit by lightning and pieces of the tree went through their windows and into the next yard as it exploded. Hubby told me oak trees are very hard wood.
We've got two oak trees in the pasture close to the house. The one most recently hit is about 70 feet from the house. The other one I'm pretty sure that's been hit, is about 150 feet from the house.
Very thankful it was the oak tree.

We bought a new modem.
Middle son is settling in. Took him to the VA hospital to get him in the system. Took him to the VA office downtown to get paperwork started for hearing loss, and possible PTSD from his two tours in Iraq. He commented after being here only a day that he saw more help wanted signs in town than there were businesses in Havelock where we left.

We've talked about all the work he can help us with and right now he is more than willing to do it.

We're looking at rain most of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. All this rain usually comes more in February. We'll see.
It's nice to be home.

Hope you all have a safe New Year's Eve and a wonderful, blessed New Year. ♥

P.S. Pecans are up to seventy cents a pound. Life is good.

Merry Christmas!

Or happy whatever you celebrate.

I haven't been keeping up with blogs, sorry. Don't know if it's the time of year or what, but I just haven't. I try, but there you have it.

We may be headed to North Carolina next week to bring boy number 2 here. No jobs where we left, and where he lives; and a part time job with about 10 hours a week if he's lucky.
The job market is better here, so hopefully between that and/or college, he can get back on his feet.
It will be a quick trip. No side stops. Will make it a bit harder and boring; but that's what it will be. Still probably a five day trip. We'll see.

Been getting a lot of rain, which slows down pecan picking. We need some good days or they'll stop buying them. If pecans sit in wet for too long, they start to split or fungus. Or both.

Hope you all have a safe, wonderful, holiday weekend. Tax time soon. Yuck!
God bless. ♥

P.S. That stupid Obamacare/Affordable health care or whatever is a bunch of crap. You can't even GET the insurance if you don't meet the minimum income/poverty level. Make less? Tough. CAN'T GET IT. I THOUGHT IT WAS FOR PEOPLE WHO COULDN'T AFFORD HEALTH CARE!

Sorry. End of rant. Remember to thank the Good Lord for all you have. :-)

Shrike cache

Shrew kabob anyone?

Wonderful day here. Have a blessed Sunday.

Wow. Two days into December.

Time for a little update, I guess.

Been picking a few pecans. Price is 60 cents a pound this year, and they aren't buying the little ones. Go figure. Back in '94 they paid more for the little ones, now they don't want them.
There are still pecans on some of the trees;

We have a tree in the center of the pasture with a lot of... little divot holes around it.

A dozen or so of them. Hubby speculates an armadillo has been finding some good eats in the holes.

Hubby is doing well, pacemaker wise. However, he's had to have two root canals and his back and feet are bothering him more. We are feeling really blessed though.

A road from the past...

I know I've posted about this before, but I felt like doing it again anyway.
The whole driveway used to be paved like this. And paths to the out buildings were made of the same bricks. As we speculated when we put the water line in, most of the bricks have sunk down. The ground is soft (except when you want to dig a hole!) from the higher water level. And before the levies were built, the farm used to flood.
This section, another smaller section closer to the cattle gap, are all that's left of the driveway and walkways. The rest will be left for future excavators to find...

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Have a wonderful, safe December. ♥

Random Things

We went fishing on Fort Polk last Thursday. They have a small lake there. We only caught a couple small bream, which we tossed back; but apparently there is a small herd of wild horses there. We saw them in the woods, and while we were fishing, they came out to feed on the grass at the park.

The horses are a reminder of Fort Polk's calvary past. Apparently the numbers in the herd go up and down and people on the base get upset when the government tries to get rid of them altogether.

There are a lot of 'mushroom villages' around the property. Last month they looked like this.

Now, they look like this.

Larger, and darker. As you can see in the second photo, fire ants have taken over one of the 'townhouses'.

It's pecan season.

The collection is mediocre. Partly because we are doing better financially this year, so we don't need to sell them to make it until the end of the month; and partly because hubby is still not 100%. So I spend more time in the house watching out for him.
There are a lot that still need to ripen and fall, too.

Hubby makes a great peach pie! This from a person who didn't like peach pie until he started making them.

Hope you all have a blessed week! ♥

Curious

This morning when I was doing dishes, I had two half bottles of dish sop, so I decided I'd combine the two. That was eight hours ago.
This is what the bottle looks like right now.

It just doesn't seem right that the Dawn has not mixed with the Palmolive. At. All.

The other night, our son came into the room. We had been watching TV. He said, "You can't hear that kitten? Jessi is outside. She might be chasing it."

I never heard anything. It must have been in my tinnitus range. Hubby heard it though. Anyway, after a couple hours of calling and putting food out, and trying really hard, son managed to catch the kitten.
The day before son's birthday. I told youngest son that the kitten must be his birthday present. He's been wanting a cat to take the place of the one that has health problems, when it decides to travel the rainbow bridge.

Anyway, here is the newest family member.

Smudge. :-)

Had my first curious visit with the VA yesterday. We went in to contest a small bill that they sent after I fell in the parking lot and hurt my wrist.
The curious part was if I was a civilian employee, they would not have sent the bill; but because I was a veteran, I was expected to pay the fee for the medicine. We contested it for about an hour and they finally canceled the bill.

Weird.

Anyway, Thursday we are traveling a little over an hour to shop at the nearest military commissary. And maybe go fishing. Hope you all have a great day.

God bless. ♥

Question for those of you who have chickens

I get my eggs from someone with chickens a few miles from the house. This morning while fixing breakfast, I found this when I cracked one of the eggs.

Neither of these photos really shows the deepness of the reddish-pink of the egg white.

Not sure if the egg was safe to eat or not. I saved it to show the gentleman. He said he'd never seen anything like it, either. He insisted I take two eggs to replace the one; and said if I ever had problems with any of the eggs, to please let him know.

So, how about it? Any ideas? Anyone else seen anything like this?

Take care. ♥

Apparently the local Ag Newsletter

Also reads Fresh Eggs Daily as I got this reminder in my email yesterday.

So yes, if you live here in the U.S., it is that time again. Congress was so stupid when they mandated this to 'give us extra daylight'.
Sorry, but there is only one person who can do that and the Good Lord has it well in hand.

Have a blessed weekend!

No Halloween here

Just a post about carrots. I pulled some carrots yesterday. We grew them in a small 'tire pyramid' by the house. Just two tires with some store bought dirt and dirt from the old chicken coop area.
We had mixed results and I was hoping that perhaps those of you who have carrot knowledge may be able to answer a question.

The first carrots I pulled looked like this.

Now I did some research, and it seems that carrots like these are caused by some sort of nematode? Does this mean that the towers should be dismantled and the dirt used elsewhere? Can the dirt be safely used for flowers? I am thinking of filling it with marigolds or pansy's or both. I think marigolds are supposed to be good for getting rid of things like nematodes? All these carrots went into the compost, or should I pull them out and burn them?

The rest of the carrots I pulled, from the other side of the same area, looked like this.

Not sure why the one looked more like a parsnip, but as you can see, they are all more normal. We cleaned these up and had them for dinner. They were quite yummy!

Anyway, that is all I have today. IF you do Halloween, please be safe. Hope you all have a wonderful, blessed day. I am thinking of friends who have lost loved family members recently. You have my condolences.
*hugs* ♥

Going to make myself post.

Haven't felt like sharing much, plain and simple. I've tried to keep up with you all; but as most of you know, that hasn't worked either.
Such is life.
Too much craziness in the world.

Anyway. We are mostly over our colds, but they keep hanging on.

Hubby went to the dentist Thursday. A few weeks ago, he broke a tooth on an ice cream cone! A plain, old fashioned ice cream cone. I still don't understand that one; but he did. It caused the tooth next to it to break, too. The reason is he has a partial upper denture plate and these were the teeth that held it in place.
As you know, he just recently got a pacemaker. Going to the dentist is now an adventure that his cardiologist has to approve. For a while he made do without and was doing well. But he could tell he was starting to get an infection. Very not good. So after many antibiotics, Thursday he saw an Oral Surgeon, to be more specific. That dentist removed the two broken teeth and did the required root canals. Now hubby has another weeks worth of antibiotics to be sure this does not affect his pacemaker.

I don't worry. Much. I pray a lot though.

It's pecan season. As soon as the dew dries, I need to get out there and get busy. No side tracks today. Got rain coming later in the week. They're forty cents a pound right now. Every little bit helps.
Not feeling the holidays. More anxious and annoyed than anything.

Well Wayne, I surprised myself and made a meatloaf. As I posted here (ages ago, I know, sorry); that my brother gave me our Granny's cookbook. I thought the first thing might be to try baking bread with it; but I barely have time to make jerky. And anyone who knows us, knows how much I (my family, more to the point!) like making jerky. Heck, we just went fishing for the first time in over six months. I actually can't remember. Last year sometime.
But I sidetrack, sorry.

Anyway, I found a meatloaf recipe. This one.

I substituted mushroom soup for the vegetable soup; because mushroom soup is like bacon for hubby. And we didn't have any corn flakes, so I used Chicken-in-a-biscuit crackers as that was the only crackers I had. (Hubby and youngest boy like those, too.)

Here it is in the pan. Hubby's artwork. ;-)

I like the meatloaf more domed, he likes it more loaf. At any rate, it turned out great! Very flavorful. A bit crumbly, as the bottom was a little too moist. I should have used more crumbs maybe. We will definitely try it again. Oh, I left out the salt and pepper. Everyone seasons as they like. And I didn't baste it, either.

I did remember a picture before it all got eaten.

We haven't been able to find anyone to work on the roof for us, so we need to get another tarp back up there. Looks like a few days of rain coming next week, if the weatherman is right.

I'll try to post more often, but no promises. You all know how that goes. Take care and have a blessed Sunday. ♥

Well

Sorry. Haven't posted lately. Not much to post. We've all been sick. Youngest is still sick. We needed to go see the SIL in FL, and the boys in NC.
I think I am finally on the mend. Hubby had a bit of a relapse today. Hoping it was only temporary.
We are actually taking our time this trip. I'm glad. Keep us from wearing ourselves out.
Hubby is doing well after his surgery. Now it's his back again.
Bad weather in the forecast tomorrow, so not sure if we will make it home tomorrow or not. Will catch up when I can.
Have a blessed week!

A jungle

of Spider Lilies...

:-D

Hubby tried using his tractor today. He is disappointed he could only ride it for a little bit. It is too jarring on his shoulder right now...

Have a safe, blessed week, all! ♥

What a wonderful gift.

My brother surprised me last week with an email. He is downsizing in expectation of retiring in a year or so, and emailed me to ask if I would like our Granny's Norge Cookbook!
She was a nurse at the Norge factory when it was there, and my Mom thinks that is when she acquired it.
I got the cookbook today. I think it weighs about five pounds!
Here are a few pictures, courtesy of my brother.

What a wonderful gift. A great cookbook for a house built in the late 1800's!
Thank you, Wayne!

Finally!

Like a lot of you, we have hummingbirds. Unlike a lot of you, I don't hang feeders because I know I might not keep them filled or properly cleaned. Better they eat somewhere else.
That said, they love morning glories! We have a lot of wild morning glories around here. Every fence line, many oak and pecan trees, the out buildings and by the house and garage.
Like this.

And this.

The last couple of days I've been watching them out the back door. In spite of all the flowers, they don't like to share. Not with each other, or with the bees. Bees like this love the morning glories, too.

There is one little female that I think has made the yard part of her territory. (Obviously I don't know this for sure); because the last couple days, I've watched her feed by the garage. She feeds some. Then sits on one of the bare grape vine branches for a bit, then feeds some more. I think she goes to all the flowers at least twice. Probably more.

Here she is feeding.

And here she is in her favorite resting spot.

I finally got a picture of one of our hummingbirds. :-)

Hope you all have a wonderful, safe, blessed weekend. ♥

Think I'm getting a cold

Found these cute, so I thought I would share them with you all.

Day 13 for hubby. I have slowly been letting him do things, all the while harping on him to be careful. So far, so good as near as we can tell.


Happy Wednesday and God bless. ♥

Men!

I was out mowing around the pecan trees in the pasture. I saw the youngest boy take the tractor over by the barn, so I went over to investigate.
Me: "What's up?"
YB: "Didn't you send me a text message?"
Me: "Nope. What's up?"
YB: "Must have been Dad then. I got a message telling me to hook up the rake."
Me: "Oh. Why?"
YB: "Just said hook up the rake."
Me: "I hope your dad isn't thinking of using the tractor..."
YB: "He better not!"
Me: "Exactly."

So, I went into the house. Hubby was in his chair, watching TV.

Me: "So what's going on?"
IH: (Innocent Hubby) "What?"
Me: "You asked youngest boy to put the rake on the tractor. Are you thinking of using it?"
IH: "Yes..."
Me: "I don't think so."
IH: "Darn."
Me: "I'll send youngest boy in, and you can tell him what you wanted to do."

Now hubby is miffed at me. Better him mad at me, than me mad at him because he ENDED UP BACK IN THE HOSPITAL FROM BEING STUBBORN!

Ugh.

Hope you are all having a wonderful, blessed, safe week so far! ♥

Surgery

Went mostly well.
Yup. Hubby got his pacemaker yesterday early afternoon.

The anesthetic did not do his job. I don't remember the name, but BIL said it is one that often makes people forget what happened.
Hubby was awake the whole time. Said it felt like a drill with a wire brush on it.
Doctor claims he got 8 cc? mg? of whatever it was, but hubby said it did nothing for the pain. He was talking to them during the whole procedure.
BIL said that this drug is often... faked? in the medical community. Apparently there is a... black market or some such? He's not saying the hospital was necessarily at fault; but based on the fact that hubby's medication did not work, it is quite possible he got a fake drug. :-|

Mostly the hospital staff did a good job. Seems like there was a lot of... uncertainty? for a place that does these procedures routinely.

They were good about the pain medicine after surgery though.

Doctor said hubby was supposed to get a home telemetry deal to keep track of his pacemaker, but no one on staff knew anything about it when we were being released to come home.

Ah well. There will be time enough for that. We are home now. Hubby is sleeping in his chair that we bought just for this procedure, as he can't use his left arm for a minimum of two weeks; though his doctor said it will probably be three weeks. Just to be certain the leads take in his heart and don't need to be reset.

The real trick will be keeping hubby to that after this weekend when he starts feeling better!

Hope you all have a wonderful, safe, blessed weekend. ♥

Saw this little critter

on the way to somewhere when we were doing some gardening a couple days ago. Don't know why it decided it had to cross IN FRONT of the mower...

Any ideas?



Can you believe it's already September? Before you know it, it'll be tax time! :-|

Hope you all have a great week! ♥

P.S.
Posting videos is such a pain. I'm sure there is something I'm missing.

P.P.S. As far as we know, hubby goes in at 0800 Thursday morning for his pacemaker. I'll let you know how it goes...

Never had a combine

But this struck me as pretty funny. :-)

Sorry I haven't been posting. Just haven't felt like sharing, I guess. Been following your blogs when I can though.
Take care!

And thank you, farmers, for all your hard work all year long! ♥

TGIF!

Have a wonderful, blessed weekend! ♥