Trying my hand..

Made my first small batch of peach jam..the no-cook kind. Just followed simple directions on back of pkg of Ball brand fruit pectin. Real easy, and good. My eldest son gave me about 12 peaches from his tree so I thought I'd try my hand at freezer/refrigerator jam. After peeled, cut and mashed they only made three cups rather than four that the recipe called for, so I ended up with four jars rather than five. It called for 1 1/2 cups sugar, but I would have gagged at that much (not a big sweets person), so reduced it to just a little less than 1 cup and it worked great..that really let the flavor of peach come thru without the over-bearing sweetness of the sugar. Yum! I brought him and wife over a jar to sample and came home with a bunch more peaches! Maybe a cobbler or pie this time?

Gobble gobble..

(Image from Google)

Turkey's out front..

Sitting on porch (yes, again..love it) with morning coffee, catching up with email, and caught site of a rafter of turkeys (five in this group..we've seen 12 this past winter) taking a stroll, stopping to munch, along side the side of the house down to the dirt road, then into the woods. Looks like a tom, a gobbler (he had the "beard", the long breast feather hanging from his chest), with his harem of females following behind. They often stop for the seed on the ground below the feeders. We see them quite often, and it never stops giving me a thrill each time I do! Don't see that in suburbia! I feel so lucky :)

Breezing along..

So tickled my new ceiling fan is up and giving off additional cool breezes in my kitchen.."foodie' that I am, I LIVE in the kitchen, and as open as it is, even with AC, it can still get too warm for my liking. My eldest son and his wife gave it as a Mother's Day gift and it's finally installed. We waited till most of house was set up and major unpacking out of the way. It replaced the two very ugly, very bright, shop-like fluorescent lights that I despised (you can see evidence of the unpainted part of ceiling after taking one down on right of pic). Much nicer ambient light. My son put it up himself while my sweetie was at work, a nice surprise for him to come home and find it up and running. Love it!

Steamy..

Whoo-wee! It's 4 pm and 101.3 freaking degrees out here with a heat index of 117 degrees (no doubt!)! Dang.. it's been consistently, brutally, hot and the high humidity adds to the misery. I headed outside this morning to give the poor young fruit trees a much needed drink, and by 8:30 a.m. it was already 91! I worked outside for four hours, getting some chores taken care of (I had to be nuts); then stripped out of my totally drenched clothes, showered, did a few chores inside, then in to town for some groceries/supplies. Back now and unloaded, I officially call it... It's "beer:30", as my sons like to say, whenever it's time to open a cold one. Sitting on front porch swing, sweating, but chilling out, and though not a big beer person, there's nothing like tossing back an ice cold brew when the temperature rises to help cool ya down!..ah, yeah.. starting my weekend right.! Cheers!

Little helper..

Abby, granddaughter #2, spent the night Sunday..the first of the grand kids to do so in our new house. We had a blast. I kept her busy doing chores. We refilled the hummer feeders, fed the birds, made more homemade laundry soap, did dishes, washed and hung clothes ("this is fun!") on the line, and when her Mom, sister and brother came to visit and pick her up, we all made two blueberry pies (one for Pop Pop, one to take home) from the gallon bucket of berries (from our one bush) I had frozen. My grand kids know when they spend the night we have quality/learning and hands on time..I don't feel required to whisk them off to the mall to shop, or take them to the playground so they have something to do, or let them sit idly in front of the TV or computer for hours..no, no. We do, and we talk, and we have fun while doing. I'm looking forward to many more fun memories and sleep-overs with them here in the new house :)

Rant..

What started out as a nice early morning walk found me gritting my teeth. More litter found strewn alongside our dirt road. Can't even take a nice walk without seeing someone's leavings! Who do these people think pick up their litter when they toss it out the car window?? Schmucks like me, I guess, cause that's just what I do when I see it along our road..I don't want to look at it trashing up our pretty little country setting, or the environment. People who litter are such slobs. They need to have someone slap 'em upside the head and teach them right. Grrr....

Fly away..

(Image from Google)

Aww..sadly just finished burying my first little wild critter since we've been here..a pretty little mourning dove found lying near the front of the house. Didn't appear injured or attacked by something. Wondering if it was the same little dove I saw sitting off by itself in one spot for quite a long time yesterday, feathers fluffed (not a good sign, it's not cold out), motionless. Poor little thing. I hate to see any critter die, I just love animals so much. Since I'd not yet established a good burial area yet for those in need, I chose a spot on the opposite side of our property from the well (a good thing, I guess), along the tree line. I know it won't be the last I put to rest while living here. Spread you wings towards heaven, little one.

Hot diggity damn..

Plans are now wrapped up for my sis from Seattle to visit us for five days here, mid Aug., then we'll hop the overnight Amtrak train from Birmingham (we've got a small "roomette" for sleeping) to NY (30 mi. north of NYC) for home to visit with our folks (it will be their 60th, we'll celebrate while there) and our three brother's and their families. So excited! This will be year three that she and I have done this and it works out great. She then flies out of NY after a 10 day visit, and I hang for a few weeks, after which Pete drives up for a week's visit, gathers me up and we drive home together. I'm especially excited to have my sis here (we're so tight anyway) since she's not been to our new home yet, has just seen the outside. So many things to share and new memories to make with her, I can't wait!! Yahoo and hot diggity damn!!

Motivation, or lack of..

(Finished, with more Lantana plants added)

Trying to find some energy to get my butt up and outside to finish mulching the flower bed out back that I created. Also need to get the clothes off the line that got rained on yesterday afternoon, and go turn over the compost pile I've recently started before today's predicted 60% chance of rain sneaks up on me. I look at several boxes still sitting in each room needing unpacked..losing my motivation. Maybe if it rains and I have to take it inside I'll get to them.
Coffee..more coffee!!

Hats off...

Watching the free Jimmy Buffet concert from our own Alabama Gulf Shores on TV (a commercial free broadcast) while waiting on my roasted chicken in the oven. Daughter and family are down there at the beach this wkend, and were hoping to attend. Wish I could be there, too! Looks like a fun, very large, supportive crowd, raising awareness for the gulf. Tho in a disastrous situation, the folks who live & make their living in the area all need our support. Alabama's gulf (and neighboring states along the gulf) is hurting with this oil spill. Bravo to CMT (Country Music Television) and Jimmy Buffet and his love for the gulf in generating tourist revenue and re-newing the spirit of the area!

Lexi; Birthday kitty..

Happy 15th Birthday to my little Lexi kitty!! What a sweet girl you are. You came to us at two years old, a little squirt. You had found your niche within our pet family and have seen the passing of Kit (17 yr's), Tater bunny (10 yr's) and Cooper kitty (7 yr's). You have shared your life with them all, always the sweet, docile girl that you are. Mama can't tell you how special you are. Happy Birthday, little girl! I wish you many more!

'Round to it..

Propane guy came with his truck and pumped in some fuel. Hot dog. Last time we got some was in March, three months ago. Now that we're living here, we'll be able to gauge usage a little better; was sporadic when we'd come here in the evenings and weekends to do work on the house. I feel rich, like I do when I fill up my car's gas tank now and then! We got to talking about the weather. He told me, in his deep southern drawl, that he heard on the TV that if we don't have rain by end of this week, it's predicted it might be a spell before we get any more. I countered how I hated using all that well water to keep my new fruit trees going. I wondered if this was typical country folk talk, and smiled inside.

Finally made a dent this afternoon in unpacking boxes and putting stuff away in our bedroom, the only room that I hadn't made much headway with. I mean, we have clean linens, clean clothes and unders and furniture in place; all the other miscellaneous crapola had been put on the back burner. Feels good to have most of the boxes outta there and enjoying that new livable space! As I unpacked, I found myself still weeding unwanted stuff out, a good thing. So much STUFF. I did enjoy, tho, taking some time to read thru some love letters, look at some old photo's and miscellaneous items from days gone by. Had to remind myself to press on and save the rest for a rainy day! So much still to do!

How in the world..

I always wanted a front porch..better yet, big enuff to have a swing. When we thought of building on our seven acres, I only looked at floor plans with porches. It was a prerequisite. Now, at this place, I not only have one large porch, but TWO..one out front, and one in back, and EACH with a swing. How lucky am I?? Question is, how in the world will I ever get anything done?!

Front Porch

Back Porch