Wednesday, June 17, 2015

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!

8 comments:

  1. Hi Bama Girl! What a mix of awful/fun/beauty! How is your Mom's finger doing? Is Skylar doing OK?
    Your son is so kind and sweet to his wonderful parents to take them out to Thai on their anniversary!!!!
    Sting Rays! Yikes...even that close to shore???
    What a fun birthday present...a cruise and camping trip? Sorry you had so many difficulties, though! Hope all is going to be better for you now! Stay cool! Hugs, Cheeryshirley

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    1. Hi Cheeryshirley! Her finger is doing good, just sore and doesn't have feeling in the tip. She wears a support to keep it from getting bumped. Skylar recovered nicely and is doing great! He works all the time! Thank you Shirley! Yes to stay cool is nice in this heat! Blessings!

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  2. Wow, where to begin! You've had a lot going on. First off..... glad your mom is okay. My utmost sympathies to you over the loss of your beloved friend. I still miss my Sandy and she's been gone @3 years now. Lots of memories were made on this recent vacation for you guys. Your garden looks fantastic! We're having the heat here too with temps in mid-high 90s and heat indexes over 100 daily. Next week projected to be even hotter. Stay cool! Have a great weekend!

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    1. Hi Lisa! Yes, more than I care to think about at times! Thank you! My Mom is doing so much better! Yes, I miss my 'friend'! So many memories! The garden is doing well so far in spite of the heat! Same predictions here I believe! So hot already this morning! Thank you! You too! Blessings!

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  3. Yes, I would agree your heat and humidity is as bad as our cold and windchill. They named it "Polar Vortex" - what is your's called...we will have to make one up....

    I'm so sorry about your dog. I understand all too well! I've lost 3 dear dogs in our married life. Our Minnie is going to me 15 soon. She is so, blind, boney and gimpy. We give her vitamins with joint stuff - she just is old. I have 2 dear barn cats that are 16 - I have a feeling I might face several losses in a row.

    Your vacation looked fun, minus the broken finger and food poisioning. When I was reading you said the dangers that lurk below - I thought you were going to say shark - those attacks have been terrible! I'll take my chances with a bear or wolf up here. LOL

    Your garden is looking good. We have had lots of rain up here. While I was in Peru it actually froze 2 times. I need to replant my beans. I too have learned - the hard way mind you - to pick up the grass, weeds and throw them outside the fence of the garden or they just grow back. I know what you mean about weeding really goood early on - makes gardening so much more manageable. I keep telling myself this now any way. I lost like a week when I got back because I was sick - it was already weedy anyway. I've been out there early mornings all week for 4 hours before the biting bugs get bad.

    Congratulations on 24 years - Happy Anniversary!

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    1. Hi Jacky! I can only think of "Heat Wave"! But another name would be good! I think house dogs live longer than outside dogs. So sorry your dog has so many ailments! Wow! 16 is old for a cat! Yes, that would be hard to face! We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw them the first day! There were two then. The next day there were three! It was amazing to see them swim by, so close to swimmers unaware! I don't know about a wolf or bear! That sounds scary to me! Lots of rain? Wished we had some! Freeze? I think I'll take my heat, thank you very much! So sorry you were sick! Hope you're all better now! My garden is in the straight sun when I get up. I have to wait until it's in the shade. Then I get eat up with mosquitoes! I've never had them so bad! I'm making me some homemade bug spray today! Thank you! It's hard to believe we've been married that long! But it has passed so quickly! Blessings!

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  4. Hi Felecia, I envy your nicer weather in the winter but not for summer for sure! It gets plenty hot here to suit me! I hope you had a happy anniversary. Ours was this month too but we didn't do much but will celebrate later. Hubby just had arthroscopic surgery and I have not been feeling well. Sounds like you still accomplish a lot! Take care. Nancy

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    1. Hi Nancy! We did have a nice anniversary! And Happy Anniversary to ya'll! And I don't envy you your cold weather! Oh I hope you and hubby get well soon! Thank you! Blessings!

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