We had a fun time celebrating Memorial Day!

      There were hamburgers and hotdogs cooked on the grill, baked beans, deviled eggs, chips, and our favorite, HOMEMADE ICE CREAM! Oh yea, and a strawberry pie with strawberry pie filling I made last year. Talking about 'piggin out,' well, I don't eat like that everyday or I would be a pig! The girls were here and had a blast! They got in the pool for the first time and LOVED it! The water was a bit cool, but they didn't mind! Win didn't get out of the pool until 7! She spent the night and kept talking in her sleep, "Help me Randy, help!" It was so funny cause I know she was dreaming about the pool! The next day she took a two-hour nap! I couldn't believe it since she only takes an hour or less nap, usually. 

      I didn't get my hair hennaed yet, but hopefully that's the plan for tomorrow. Win will probably spend the night again, so maybe Saturday, I'll get to get in the pool! We just have to avoid the heat of the day since she is so fair complected. There's plenty to do inside anyway, with all these toys! We could go to Riverfest this weekend, but I don't like large crowds of people. Kenny Rogers is supposed to be there Saturday. I really liked him, back in the day! Friday night, Styx is performing! It's really a nice festival, but somewhat costly with only vendors of food during the day. The concerts are included in the ticket price, but you have to wait all day for the concert. One year, we went out on a pontoon and took it all in from the river that runs next to the festival. That was fun! But it was cold going back late at night, and scary in the dark! 

      It's funny how the celebrations seem to come in a row! Next week we celebrate Yasmine's birthday and my Mom's too! Yasmine's is the third, my Mom's the fifth. We will go to a pizza place for Yasmine's birthday, and Red Lobster for my Mom's. That's why I'm drinking so much green juice lately! It fills me up and is so good for me! Hopefully, I'll loose some weight, since we are eating more than usual. Or at least, I hope not to gain any weight! I'm trying to use self control! But if there's a bag of something crunchy and salty in my sight, look out! I'm on it! Therefore, I DON'T buy chips and such! Except this week, we have Nacho chips for the guys taco salad. I just eat the chips, that's healthier, right? 

      Well, my seedlings didn't make it. Not because of the weather or rain, no! I made some organic chicken feed for the chickens. Turned out, the geese liked it and kept the chickens from eating it. That would be all well and good, but the geese don't lay eggs! So, we put the geese in the garden. Their water pail was right next to where the seedlings were hardening off. Have you ever watched geese drink water? For some reason, they like to scoop up dirt in their mouth and go to the pail. When I looked at my seedlings the other day, they were all scattered, like something had dug into them! The water in the pail was full of the dirt, seedlings, and peat pots! The geese had scooped up the dirt, seedlings and all, and put them into the pail of water! I managed to save two seedlings! Thank goodness I got two nice sized tomato plants and one pepper plant at Whole Foods, this past weekend, for only $1.99 each! I wished I'd known they were going to sell those; I'd just saved my time and bought a bunch! I already sowed seeds in the beds, but it's too soon to know if they are going to make it! I still love gardening, in spite of setbacks! I hope your garden is coming along nicely! Ya'll have a good weekend! Oh, sorry I had to turn on the word verification! I was having constant spammers! Maybe I can turn it off soon. Blessings from Bama!

Two of my sweet babies!

Win and her Mom.

Getting ready to add on the super! That's where our honey will go. The neighbor's horses are curious.

Rubi on guard in the background.

Our bees are calm bees compared to some bees. I'm standing pretty close and they don't ever bother me!

Carefully placing the box on so as not to squish a bee.

Now all they have to do is fill it with honey!

Delicious baked beans!

Yasmine, Layla, and Amber.

Eden is looking over the side.

My Dad with his metal detector.

The girls love to hold Riley! 

My uncle scooping out some delicious ice cream!

The sun makes this photo white. Randy and all the girls!

The first daylily of the season about to open.

The clematis almost doesn't look real!

I was so excited to find this bloom yesterday and today it's turned brown!

Here's a bloom that will open tomorrow. You need to smell this thing! This is a magnolia tree, if you don't know. All Southerners should have one of these in their yard!

The Easter Lily is almost as tall as me! It will open soon.

Some more about to open.

Has it turned Summer where you live?

      It definitely has here! We have been experiencing very warm temps this week, mid to upper 80's! Tonight however, it's supposed to be in the fifties! That will feel cold compared to the warmer temps. Must be a cold front passing through! I decided to direct-sow the seeds into the ground, instead of planting them in little peat pots. There is a voluntary tomato plant that came up, just like in years past, so I think they'll do fine. We'll just have veggies later than others. I always think I'm going to direct-sow the seeds instead of planting them early, so now is my chance! I just wished I'd done it sooner! How is your garden growing?

      Have you ever been summonsed for jury duty? I have, and unfortunately I was chosen as a juror! That was two years ago, and I just received another summons for June! I hope I don't get chosen this time! I don't even want to talk about the one I served on cause it was so terrible!

      I've had a pretty quiet week so far, so I've gotten a lot accomplished! That may change tomorrow, if I get my hair hennaed. We are planning a cook-out for Memorial Day. Hotdogs, hamburgers, baked beans, etc. I'm getting hungry just writing about it! Are you planning on a Memorial Day celebration?

      All of the girls got to go to the birthday party last weekend! The one's who had fevers got well quick! They had SO MUCH FUN! I'm glad they were well and got to go to the party! I almost wished I had one of those party slides here, almost! Hope ya'll have a safe and happy weekend! I'm remembering Moore OK, as I'm sure all of you are. Blessings from Bama!

Can you guess what this is?

It's a solar oven! It has banana nut bread in it. The temp was 350 when I put it in.

I really like this oven! It cooks great  even on partly cloudy, but warm days!

And here it is, the fully cooked banana nut bread, along with some green juice!

These pecans were left over from the banana nut bread so I toasted them in the toaster oven.

The girls enjoying the party!

Look at the cute owl cupcakes the Mom made!

Lots of candy came out of that pinata!

Yasmine had the best time EVER on this slide!

Win driving Kassie, the birthday girl.

She received lots of nice gifts.

Skylar with the birthday girl!

LuLu is small enough to ride the one-year-old toy!

Hope you all had a wonderful time with your family on Mother's Day!

      We sure did! We all got to eat at Red Lobster! That was a treat for me since I cook so much! It was a nice day to be outside because we had to wait so long. With all the children, the time went by quickly! We sure did enjoy that delicious food and fellowship!

      Win stayed with us from Sunday til Tuesday, so I've been occupied! She keeps me company so that I don't have time for much else! All the girls are coming today, but they all play together and keep each other occupied, if you know what I mean! If the rain doesn't mess everything up, they are supposed to go with us to a birthday party tomorrow. There will be  a slide, a jumpy thing and who knows what all! There's a 60% of rain tomorrow, so we'll see.

      I re-planted some squash and zucchini, since some of the seeds didn't come up. The beans are growing nicely, though. I also re-planted cucumbers since all but one of those didn't come up. I'm still learning about gardening! I should have transplanted my seedlings into larger pots; now I've still got seedlings to plant into the ground! I don't know why I didn't think to do that! I would really like a greenhouse, since I don't have a very good place to grow them inside. The dining table is a good place, but we use it occasionally and the seedlings have to be moved. I never moved them back. So, all that waiting on heirloom tomatoes may time even longer! I still enjoy it though, and will continue to plant seeds until I get that greenhouse!

      I feel like all my posts look alike, so that's why I haven't written much lately! I write about my home and what I do here, so there's not much else to see. I hope ya'll don't get tired of seeing the same old thing! But, it's my life! Enjoy your weekend! Blessings from Bama!

Mom, Skylar, and Dad, waiting in front of Red Lobster. Willie in back.

Randy feeding Riley a fry! She's getting so big!

Randy and his Mom.

Margo Coster rose, and the wild rose and goose in the background.

I can't capture the beauty of Sir Thomas Graham!

The irises finally opened! Aren't they beautiful?

Isn't this a pretty peony?

Win looks like a boy here, but I had to put that shirt on her to keep her arms from getting too sunburned!

I've got to do something with these bags of leaves! The rose's beauty is so hard to show up on film.

This might be a better view.

Rubi likes the Frisbee!

Skylar about to get the Frisbee from Rubi.

The rain has finally stopped!

      And the sun has come out again! The temps have warmed into the upper seventies, instead of the upper 40's! We were experiencing winter weather since I last blogged! At least for us it was! We had to wear jackets and long sleeves! Who would have thought that in May for Alabama? Our local river has passed flood stage and there's no telling what Nocallula Falls looks like!

      We went to Jemmison, Alabama Sunday, to a great garden center, Petals From the Past! I just knew it was going to rain, since it was very cloudy and raining in most areas. But we only experienced cold winds and clouds! It was cold, but I chose a couple of rosebushes  and muscadine vines anyway! We also got a beautiful yellow iris and some red verbena. I have gotten everything planted except the iris and the verbena. These were gifts to me for Mother's Day. Actually, Valentines as well since I wanted a rose bush instead of a bouquet of roses.

      Of course the girls were here this past weekend! They are so cute growing up! They never cease to amaze me with all the questions they ask! And some of the things they say are so cute! It's a whirlwind when they're here and I miss them when they're not here! I'm sure I'll get to see them a lot this weekend since it's Mother's Day and we all try to get together for that! Hope ya'll have a nice Mother's Day! Thanks for stopping by! Blessings from Bama!

Winterlynn trying to slide. Rubi is always around the children or me!

I like this photo of her!

We just finished breakfast and I think they'r watching Caillou. They love him! I won't let you see my bed-head!

Isn't this a beautiful peony? I just love the color!

Sir Thomas Tipton. This is one of the roses I got. Skylar is almost done with the mulch.

Ruth's Red, a climber. These roses are repeat bloomers. The red one has very full, beautiful red roses, when it blooms.

I'm not sure of the name of this yellow iris. It was given to me. These flowers are inside the chicken yard and are so full of blooms. The rose, in the middle, it's hard to tell, has lots of blooms about to open.

The wild, once-blooming rose bush has small flowers.

Concord grape. I hope it has grapes in less than three years!

The blackberries are so pretty in bloom!

One of the muscadines. Rubi likes the cool, wet dirt.

Another muscadine.

I can't get enough of this beautifully colored iris!

I believe this one is Black Beauty.

I also can't get enough of this beautiful peony!

I need to move this iris out of the weeds. It's a bit close to the woods, too.