Mother's Day, Flowers, and Gardening!

      Was it the best Mother's Day you ever had? It was quite the weekend for us! In fact, it was quite a week last week! Sorry I didn't get to write a post, but ya'll know how it is with these warm temps and gardening! My days are filled with housework; divided by cooking and gardening=no time left for much else! But I sure do love this busy season! I can hardly wait for the wonderful veggies to be harvested! Just this morning, I planted sweet corn. It takes 80 days to produce, but will be worth the wait! We have pretty much gone from Spring to Summer and very muggy weather! I don't know about ya'll, but I prefer this much better over cold weather and winds!

      The girls were here this weekend and one had a little accident. I didn't get the accident on film, but she is O.K. Randy always rides them in the golf cart. This time he attached the riding toys to it and pulled them around the yard. They loved it so much! Winterlynn and her wildness got a little carried away with the steering; getting cattywonkers with it, and turned herself over! Right on the pavement! Talk about road rash! Wow! Her poor lips looked like someone gave her a wallop! It just couldn't have happened on the grass! Too bad it didn't; she might not be all skinned up! I think she won't do that again!

      Our bee mentor Guy, came and separated our hive. I have never seen so MANY BEES! I was so into what he was doing, I didn't pay much attention to the ones swarming around me. He was running out of smoke and the bees got really upset with their hive being opened up like that! All of a sudden, kamikazes were after me! I tried to get them off, but one got me anyway! It HURT SO BAD! My first sting of all the years we've had bees! They didn't stop there! They chased me all around the garden, making me trip over the raised bed and hurt my ankle! I had to run inside; and they were at the door, hitting the glass! An hour or two later, Randy got home from work and went outside. They got on him! He too had to come inside! They waited on us at the door but we didn't go out again until the next morning. They were O.K. by then, as if nothing had ever happened. If you ever deal with bees, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PLENTY OF SMOKE! I don't like getting stung! 

      I hope that is the end of getting hurt on our homestead! But one must always be careful! Now we have to watch for snakes! I think they get my eggs sometimes! I'm thankful for my exciting farm life! Thanks for stopping by and reading! Leave a comment if you wish! Have a great week! Blessings from Bama!

I love everything about this peony!

Black iris.

Chocolate swirl bundt cake with thick chocolate glaze! I ate more of this than I should.

Guy with the frames.

The bees are coming out to see what's going on.

He's scraping off the excess wax so the frames will fit in there better.

I was standing where he is in front of the greenhouse when I got stung. This photo was after.

Very agitated bees!

Riley is starting to loose her baby look.

She's trying to turn on the t.v. while the others get piled on the mini tramp.

Randy has them strapped in with a seat belt.

A lovely, fragrant rose.

White peony.

Candy striped amaryllis

The clematis almost looks fake!

I love these fragrant cabbage roses!

Turning around at the road.

They love this!

They're having so much fun!

Winterlynn insisted on going to swing right after her accident. See her bloody nose and lip?

Poor baby!

She looks better in this photo.

Lovely New Dawn rose.

This miniature rose has climbed all on the fence!

The bees are much calmer now. I'm wondering about the nuc. I haven't seen much activity from it. I will let you know if it makes it.

The tomato plants are growing.

As well as the pepper plants and eggplants.

The three rows of beans look good.

Cucumber plants

Potato plants. I dug this up while digging the potato trenches. Someone used this property for a dump, I believe.

My soon to be graduate!

Skylar gave me this for Mother's Day! It's my new favorite cookbook!

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.

Gardening in the breeze...

      Is so nice! We have had some rain here these past few days and along with that is a nice breeze! Clouds and a breeze, what could be nicer in the humid, warm South? As I was meandering around the garden with camera in hand, I discovered some surprises. At least I was surprised to see some of the seeds that I thought weren't going to come up, come up! I was so excited and glad I had the camera! I have many photos in this post, so I'm giving you a warning now! The breeze felt nice as I was walking today, as well. I try to get a walk in almost everyday. I'm so glad I haven't come across a Copperhead or Timber Rattler yet! Hopefully, I won't since they will bite and are poisonous! The dogs walk with me so maybe they help keep them scared away. Plus, there are many other dogs who bark at us as we go by. Some neighbors have Alpacas, and lately when I walk, they've been close to the road. They are an unusual looking animal; I guess being shaved contributes to that.


       We were gone all day yesterday and didn't get home until dark! We enjoyed ourselves though! It rained some but not constantly, so we were able to go outside for awhile at times. The guys cooked on the grill and us gals, worked in the kitchen. It was nice to spend time with family. I hope you all had a pleasant Mother's Day! Hope to talk to ya'll again later this week! Blessings from Bama!

Ms. Maddie with chocolate all over her face, clothes, and shoes! Playing in the chicken run!

! 

I love capturing the bees in flight!

The area after the tractor smoothed it. Going to have to add fill dirt next.

Pulling her on the merry-go-round.

He has as much fun as she does!

Like my tan line?

Do these look like apples or pears? I thought they were apples but was informed that they are pears.

A tiered garden with a picturesque view! The pear tree is in the back ground.

Close up of a stallion? These are the views my sister has.

Skylar playing pool on our old pool table.

With my niece April.

His favorite thing to do at cookouts!

My Mom and Dad.

Winterlynn just got up from her nap but she sure can ride that thing!

And this thing!

Can you guess what's in the jar? Well I'll tell you: scrambled eggs, peppers, onions, grape tomatoes, and mushrooms that have been sauteed, and cheese. I put some of this on a tortilla that was spread with dijon mustard and it tasted gourmet! All was purchased at Aldi's at very low prices! (Except the eggs)

Our first blooms this year of the Butterfly Bush. A cardinal has built her nest in here where you can't even see it!

A darker version of a butterfly bloom.

I love the ruffles, the color, and the tinge of pink.

I like this red one too!

A little fuzzy but you can see the ruffles and the darker inside.

Strikingly beautiful!

A bloom on the Early Girl I bought for fifty cents!

I need to make friends with the lady down the road. She is an herbalist. I need to identify this before the weedeater gets it! It might be beneficial!

My Early Girl grown from seed is dwarfed by the surrounding tomatoes! The plant to the right is a volunteer from the chickens. The plant in the back is a Celebrity that I purchased.

My basil grown from seed.

Basil plant I purchased.

Celebrity with blooms! Won't be long before we get tomatoes!

Finally a pumpkin sprout! I think it's a Big Max.

I hope this tomato plant makes it, it has the sweetest, small orange tomatoes I've ever tasted! The chickens love them!

Yay! The beans came up!

Another row of beans.

Finally, a cucumber plant came up!

More cucumber sprouts.

Still more cucumbers!

Fuzzy black raspberries.

A mystery plant that has a small veggie on it. I think it's a gourd leftover from a couple years ago. They are hard to kill! It could be a squash, though.

The viburnum used to have white flowers, now they are red!