A Wedding and a Birthday Party!

      This past weekend, we went to Randy's brother's wedding! It was a very nice wedding held at their home. The bride was so pretty! She held photos of her Dad who passed away years ago, instead of a bouquet. I thought that was a nice sentiment. We enjoyed barbecue pork and chicken the groom cooked. They even have a small garden in their backyard! I should have gotten some photos of those big, green tomatoes! There were lots of family members we enjoyed spending time with, as making a few new friends. One couple fascinated me because the man was 91 and looked about late seventies! I missed them dancing but Randy said it was great! I'm sharing some wedding photos here since I'm having a hard time sending them via email. If you have any advice how to do that, please share.

      The next day, we went to Yasmine's fifth birthday. I can't believe she's five already! The weather was overcast so it was quite humid! The sun shone too, so lots of sunburns that day! The reason for the sunburns is because we pushed the kids in swings a lot! But we endured since it will be August before we get to spend time with Yasmine and Layla! I miss them already as they are in Morocco! I'm sure they are having a great time with their family there!

      The garden is coming in a handful of cucumbers, green beans, and raspberries at a time! Before I know it, I'll have enough cucumbers to pickle! That is if I quit eating them. I love them! The squash isn't quite big enough to harvest but when it is, there should be quite a lot! I hope I haven't found out too late about DE being good to deter squash borers! The vine looks kind of yellow at the ground. I bought some today and when I finish writing, I'm putting the Diatomaceous earth on the base of the vine. Every year I loose squash plants no matter where I plant them! Lets hope this works!

      The weather has been quite hot and humid with a thunderstorm almost daily! The winds gusted up enough to cause a walnut tree to fall on the goat girl's fence. I didn't even know it had happened as there wasn't any sound. They must not have known it either cause they didn't escape. Kind of scary to have damaging winds and not even hear them! Everything else is o.k. 

      I'm loving this time of year with everything growing and producing! I hope ya'lls gardens are growing nicely! Have a nice day! Blessings from Bama!

The cake was so pretty and delicious too!

Left to right: Randy's Dad, the Bride, the Groom, and Randy's brother.

The  Bride and Groom and Randy's Mom and Dad. Of course, it's the groom's Mom and Dad too!

Almost all the gang!

The Bride and Groom and her Mom, sister and family.

Congratulations to the Bride and Groom!

Nice photo of them cutting the cake.

We were entertained by a live band. Here, the groom is singing "Drift Away" after the ceremony.

Another brother playing drums. He's good at it!

The Thompson's. He's 91. Incredible!

Randy swinging all four of them.

Little Lulu!

Our first 'mess' of green beans.

Our first cucumbers.

Nice red day lily.

My two guys and one of my 'babies'.

Look at Yasmine go!

Riley's happy in the swing!

Lovely day lilies!

How do you like this color?

Randy is taking care of the tree that fell on the fence. The girls didn't mind.

      

Graduation, Garden, Girls, and a Snake!

      Well it's about time I let ya'll know what's been happening on the homestead! Skylar graduated from high school May 29th! I was so filled with emotions: joy, sadness, apprehension! I'm just glad it's over with now and our lives have taken on a new routine! With Skylar learning the a/c and heating business, it's full blown summer here and he and his Dad are working overtime! It is a very stressful season for them as there are too many calls and not enough hours in the day to get to all of them. I wished I could help them, but I have NO desire to learn that kind of work. So I just clean and cook and take care of things for them here. But I don't mow! Especially after hurting my ankle while mowing when I fell backwards over some boards! Mowing is just not my 'thing'! I tried at least. 

      We are celebrating birthdays this week! Yasmine turned 5 Tuesday and my Mom's birthday is today! It's so hard to believe Yasmine is five already! She is getting so tall! And she's so inquisitive about things! We will have her birthday party Sunday at the Falls. That's Noccalula Falls, for those of you who might read this and not know what that is. It's our area's tourist attraction. They have a nice playground and pavilions so the children can have birthday parties and play. Then, Yasmine, Layla, Amber, and Betif are taking off for Morocco! They will be gone all summer! I will miss those girls! Then they will start school when they return and I won't get to see them as much. So I'm visiting with them as much as possible now. Did I say I was going to miss them?

      The other day when I went to get the eggs, I opened the door and caught a snake in the process of swallowing an egg! It was a sight to see! I actually got a good photo! Skylar came out and shot it with his air rifle, so at least I won't have to deal with that snake again! The hens aren't laying as much lately and I can hardly blame them! I would like for them to get back to the amount they were laying before because I need them to cook for the girls! I may actually have to buy some eggs! Gag! The price of eggs has gone up close to two dollars a dozen here! I used to pay that for organic eggs, back in the day!

      The garden looks better than I've ever seen it! There are blooms on the squash, beans, and potatoes! Some tomatoes are finally blooming, too. It has been raining quite often, but not so much as to wash everything out. The nectarines and peaches are still looking good. Last year, there was so much rain the fruit rotted on the trees! Here's hoping that won't happen this year! Since rain is predicted this week on some days, we are experiencing quite muggy conditions! The heat or humidity, I should say, is almost unbearable at times. Yesterday I walked on our road while it was cloudy, and the humidity was high, I felt so tired afterward! The humidity really drains the body! I usually enjoy my walk, but now it's almost a drudgery. Even carrying hay and a bucket of water down the hill to the boys is a drain! Am I getting wimpy?

      And yet, I'm thankful to God for blessing us with this season! So much going on, and so little time to get it all done! Is it like that on your homestead? Have a nice day! Blessings from Bama!

Walking across the stage to get his diploma!

My handsome young graduate!

Skylar and Nanny.

My sweet family!

Oma, Skylar, and Poppa.

My Mom and Dad and Skylar.

April, Amber, and Skylar.

Snaggle-tooth and the gang.

Almost all my babies!

A new to me bread machine Amber gave me. I made roll dough with it.

Randy loves using his tiller/cultivator.

Squash blossoms.

Green bean blooms.

Baby cucumber.

After excitedly purchasing these muscadine vines....

I found these growing on our property, and they have baby grapes on them! Talk about really being excited!

Caught in the action! I'm so glad I got this shot!

Skylar shooting the snake.

Randy holding the dead snake.

Plants to be set out soon.

The day lilies are blooming.

Last year, these lilies got knocked down by Rubi.

A pretty Easter lily.

These day lilies grow wild around here.

They love playing in this pool!

Lulu's having fun!

They're all here, for now.