Gardening, Summer Vacation, And 24th Wedding Anniversary!

      As I said in the last post, it's a busy season! Thus the reason I haven't written! You wouldn't believe the heat unless you live in the South! I'm sitting here sweating as I write this! AND the air conditioner is on! What a drastic change in the weather in just a few short weeks! We went from somewhat mild and rain to heat and drought! I would sure like to get some of that rain they are getting in the west and along the coast! At least some clouds would be nice! When I get up at 7, it's already 70+ with about 50% humidity. Then the temps climb into the 90's! Today it's supposed to get to 98 but probably much higher. My body is so sore and drained! I can't even walk my regular walk! All I've done is work in the garden. I love it, but it's so hard! I'm hoeing all the grass and putting down mulch, so hopefully I won't have to hoe much the rest of the summer. If I had been smart, I would've gotten the mulch in when we planted. Randy seemed to think he could keep it tilled. He wants to till and I want no till! I think he finally agrees, since his job is keeping him so hot and busy! He comes home literally soaked from sweat every day! And I'm talking blue jeans! Poor guy! I think our summers are as extreme as Wisconsin winters! What do you think, Jacky? 

      We got to go to the beach a couple of weeks ago and it was so nice! It wasn't too hot and it didn't rain but a little. We had one cloudy day, but still went to the beach. My Mom and Dad, Amber and the girls all went. We stayed in the camper and they rented a house close to the state park. It was convienient for them and us. The girls had a blast! The trip was not without incident however. We had a blowout on the trailer along the Florida State line. Thank goodness it wasn't far from a rest stop! It didn't take Randy and Skylar long to fix it and we were back on the road. Then Skylar got food poisoning or something he ate made him terribly sick for a couple of days. Then he felt better again and was able to participate in all the fun. We played putt-putt on Yasmine's birthday that night and my Mom fell and dislocated her little pinky. It went backwards and you could see the ligament poking through the skin on the front! Needless to say, we spent most of the early morning hours in an emergency room. She's much better now and had the stitches removed. It will take some time to heal since it was a rather serious injury. An hour before we got home, the neighbor called and said our beloved collie of 12 years died in their garage. Randy and Skylar her buried down the hill behind our house as soon as we got in. I was so sad! I miss her so much! She was my daily companion and watched me every where I went outside. I have a hard time when I walk through the back door where she always layed. She was the most faithful and sweetest dog we ever had!

      This past Sunday, Randy and I celebrated 24 years of wedded bliss! We went to the local Thai restaurant where Skylar treated us to dinner! He's such a thoughtful young man! He's been working hard too! He rarely gets home before 9:00 P.M.! Well, I think I've caught ya'll up on all the happenings here on the homestead! Just more heat and no rain predicted for the next week! I hope we do have a shower! The extreme heat is not good to go on without one! People will start to get sick in this heat if they're not careful! I hope ya'll stay cool and dry! Thanks for reading and commenting! Blessings from Bama!

The beautiful water and sand!

Little LuLu playing in the white sand.

View from the back of the camper.

Me and Randy with the girls on the Sea Dragon ship. We took them for a cruise along with their Mom for Yasmine's 6th birthday.

The girls wanted a pic with the pirates.

The night and place where my Mom fell.

Can you believe the size of this ship?

Even I enjoyed staying under here!

Such pretty water to have such danger lurking below! Two days in a row, we saw sting rays swim by!

We enjoy staying in here even though it gets a little cramped at times.

First harvest. I've harvested more since this photo.

Homemade chicken nuggets with homemade ketchup. Better than McD's! That's homemade chicken noodle soup, creamy style. Yum!

I made enough for eating and to freeze.

Homemade bread with homegrown eggs and homegrown squash inside!

The girls planted birdseed while the weather was still cold. These are what they turned into!

The sun is so bright, it makes the dirt look white. It is very dusty.

Finally got this section done!

There's a lot more grass than what you can see here. It is very thick and deep so I will let Randy till this.

The path down the side was tilled awhile back. We just failed to remove the grass so it grew back.

Even the chicks know to stay out of the sun in this heat!