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Garden Gate:  OMG, What Have I Just Gone & Done: Part 2  |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 19 2009 : 4:02:15 PM
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Wow, Lisa! Now I'm hungry like Nikki! And I'm wondering if you make apricot brandy? And figs are good dehydrated. Have you thought of that? Girl, you need to post us some pics of your garden and orchard! And does fennel like sandy soil? I planted some, but it hasn't done very well. I'm wondering if I need to put it in a pot? And you have a rainbow of tomatoes! Please, please post some pics!
~~Cherry~~
http://cherrymedarlin.blogspot.com
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Jun 20 2009 : 02:33:13 AM
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Hey, Lisa! Wow! You garden and orchard sound scrumptious! I second Cherry on the need for photos! Sorry that there aren't any farmgirls in your area. Do they not sell MaryJanesFarm magazine anywhere around there? Cause if they did, that would change!
I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend of tending yummy plants and loving on naughty goats and sharing strawberries with loved ones, and selling to very grateful customers! I'm going on a short adventure and will be back Sunday to tell all about it!
Farmgirl Sister #554
http://alabamaheartofdixie.blogspot.com/ |
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LisaLu
True Blue Farmgirl
126 Posts
Lisa
Wildomar
Ca
USA
126 Posts |
Posted - Jun 20 2009 : 09:02:09 AM
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If I could figure out how to post photos I would! I've been keeping a "photo diary" of the garden so in future years I can look back and plan better. It's so inspiring in January to look at all the vegetation. I often forget how big things grow and end up with too much to handle!
We just got done planting 250 5-gallon plants that roll up our driveway! Things are really starting to take shape. Just 3 years ago this was nothing but weeds....I just love living on property. I came from San Francisco, not much farming there!
LisaLu
Happiness is homemade... |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jun 20 2009 : 10:50:57 AM
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Hey Lisa. Every time I've tried to post here the last few days my computer blacks out. So glad your back and your garden sounds great.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Jun 21 2009 : 07:26:05 AM
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Oh, Lisa, it's easy to post pics. Let me help you. First, have your pics loaded on your computer. Second, set-up an account on Photobucket (www.photobucket.com). Third, upload your pics from your computer to Photobucket. You can even create different albums on Photobucket to keep your pics organized. Once you have your pics loaded, move your cursor over the pic and a drop-down will appear below your pic. Copy the last choice and then you just paste it into the Reply box on here. Wah-lah! You've just posted a picture! Let me know if you need help on Photobucket.
What are your 5-gallon plants?
Kris, do you know what's wrong with your computer? I'm sorry it's dealing you fits!
Wonder where lil Miss Nikki has made off to this week-end and if it involves gators?!
~~Cherry~~
http://cherrymedarlin.blogspot.com
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jun 21 2009 : 6:34:26 PM
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Hey ya'll. I'm going to try this again. I called a computer place Friday and she said it sounds like it might be overheating. I might need to have it checked and it might need a new fan in the modem. If that happens I'll be gone awhile.
I had to water my cabbage, tomatoes and several other things. They are all so droopy. I lost a few tomatoes. I hope my well holds up. We need rain. I can't believe I said that. But we need it bad.
I hope everyone had a great father's day.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jun 21 2009 : 7:10:02 PM
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I do not know, Alee. This is our first well. We've been here almost 5 years and a few years ago we thought the well went dry. We tried everything short of having a professional come out. We just thought it dried up. We kept waiting for it to fill back up but it never did work. Then last year my step dad did something to it and it started working again. Last night after watering hundreds of plants it started to slow down and I got scared. But this afternoon it's back to normal. It's the coldest water ever, too. I love to get my legs and arms wet after working outside. It cools me down fast. Sometimes I'll get a bucket full and soak my feet.
It's supposed to be a really deep well, so I hope it keeps going.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Jun 21 2009 : 8:10:48 PM
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Oh, I love, love, love our well water!!! Ours isn't too deep, so we have to be smart about using it. We have a system like you're talking about, Alee, but still, you can't take a shower, run the dishwasher, AND wash a load of clothes. And we can't run a sprinkler. BUT it is the clearest, cleanest, coldest water you can imagine! The health department couldn't believe our water has nearly zero contaminants. And all of our neighbors have much deeper wells but have either sulphur or iron in their water. We've thought of having a 2nd well dug just for outdoor watering, but everytime we have the extra to do that, it's gone somewhere else.
But we need rain, too, and I can't believe I'm saying it either. My squash leaves are turning yellow. They aren't slowing down, but getting close to wilting. This 90+ heat is starting to take it's toll!
Kris, I hope you don't have to go without your computer! I sure will miss you on here!
We had a really good Father's Day. I had to work, but was able to go see Mama and Daddy and eat supper with them. Their little house just keeps shrinking and shrinking!! Our little family is up to 13 now and we are jam-packed in their little 800 sq. ft. house! Mama keeps saying she needs a bigger kitchen table since we can't all fit around it anymore and the boys always reply that she'll have to get a bigger kitchen first! And Daddy just sits there at the head of the table, with a struttin' rooster grin on his face, surveyin' his brood! I got so tickled at him tonight. He was sitting in his chair and Cambree Rayne, the 9 month old, was crawling all over him and she'd go to pull his glasses off and he'd keep talking and just pull her little hand away and then she'd reach in his shirt pocket and try to pull something out and he'd keep talking and pull her little hand away and she'd go to pull his ear and he'd keep talking and pull her little hand away and this just kept going on and on and he never once lost his patience with her or his train of thought! It was hilarious! He didn't say anything until my brother went to put Braden, the 8 month old, in his lap, too! Daddy said, "Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?!" It was funny!
Wonder what Nikki got into this week-end?
~~Cherry~~
http://cherrymedarlin.blogspot.com
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Jun 22 2009 : 05:44:58 AM
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Oh, Cherry! That is so cute about your Daddy and the grandbabies! With one he could handle all that was dished out, but with two? He knew his limitations!
Kris! I am sorry about your computer and the well. Yeah, I can't believe that we are saying how we need the rain! I will bring you some peaches when we come! They are out now and I hope that we will get down to the farm on the weekend before we visit you. I got some freestone peaches at a farmer's market the other day and I didn't know what to expect because they were so hard when I squeezed them, but YUM! They were very tasty. So much so, that Oakley ate them all up within a day! I can't believe that girl didn't get a tummy ache!
Lisa, I hope you can post some photos!
Kelly, I hope you and Abby can come to Kris's when we do!
Alee, I hope that you can get everything in order at home so that you can have an awesome, guilt-free, kickin' up your heels time at the BBB!
And I hope all of you had a great Father's Day! We went up to the lake to escape the heat. The water was so warm, I told the girls that I bet a thousand people had peed in it that day. It grossed 'em out but didn't keep them out of it. Ha!
My adventure this weekend didn't have anything to do with alligators, sadly. Oakley and I went to Tennessee to learn how to build with cob (kind of another word for adobe). I am interested in building an outdoor oven so that I can bake bread and pizza like Barbara Kingsolver in AVM and wanted to find out if cob was for me. We met a bunch of really neat people and I took a ton of photos. I am going to be bogged down processing them for a while, then I will post some on my blog. But, y'all, it was so hot and I sweated so much. I was just standing there and I could feel it rolling down my back and dripping down the side of my face. I know that I could do it, but dang, it would have to be in the spring or fall only. That humidity and heat just melted me!
It was awesome to finally see a house made of cob in person! I have been interested in that sort of building structure since I read about it in The Simple Living Journal by Janet Luhrs. Using cob to build is like sculpting a clay building. It is so warm and inviting after being plastered over. You just can't help touching it. You will see what cool things that can be done with it! Here is a link to my instructor, Christina Ott's, profile. http://www.artisanbuilderscollective.org/bio-christina.html
The photos at the bottom are of her cottage.
I have to water my tomatoes, too. Oh! I hope all of y'alls gardens don't shrivel up!
Farmgirl Sister #554
http://alabamaheartofdixie.blogspot.com/ |
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KellyWall
True Blue Farmgirl
336 Posts
Kelly
Apison
Tn
USA
336 Posts |
Posted - Jun 22 2009 : 07:58:35 AM
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| I am trying to keep my garden watered, it seems to be ok, still yielding LOTS! Abby and I picked a gallon size bucket of green beans, I think I will freeze them today, I finally have enough pickling cucumbers to start pickles Tuesday, I love my small garden and all it produces! A cob oven sounds interesting, Where in Tn did you go Nikki? Alee, I am so jealous you get to go to the BBB, I hope you have the best time, I would love to go sometime!! |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jun 22 2009 : 09:15:15 AM
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Nikki, there is a place near here called Sequatchie Valley Institute that teaches all kinds of neat things like that. They are having alot of good things coming up. Even Sandor Katz is going to be there. He's the fermentation guy. I would love to go hear him. Also Sequatchie Valley Farms is having a week long sustainable living workshop all over. I think Sandor will be at that one also.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
Edited by - kristin sherrill on Jun 22 2009 09:16:06 AM |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Jun 23 2009 : 03:25:48 AM
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Kelly, making pickles! So awesome! What kind - dill or sweet? - I went to Woodbury, about 30 minutes away from Manchester.
Kris, that is so neat about SVI. I am going to look it up. It seems like y'all have a lot of cool stuff going on up there. Which reminds me. Is that co-op with the stainless steel kitchen very near to you? I might want to pop in and check it out when we visit you if it isn't too far away. - I told Lovin' Man last night about our plans to visit you and he was startled. He calls y'all my "imaginary friends". I guess he has said that so much that he began to really believe that y'all were figments of my imagination. LOL!
Alee, you amaze me with all the stuff that you get done! You are the ultimate multitasker!
Oh, Cherry! How is your garden doing? Have you been able to water it? Lovin' Man watered my little garden last night and he got tore up by mosquitoes. That was so sweet of him! I thanked him for sacrificing his own blood for my tomatoes, especially since he doesn't even eat them.
Y'all, I came in late last night and everyone else had already scratched up something for themselves for dinner, so I sliced up a gorgeous tomato from a friend's garden, steamed broccoli from the same garden and spooned out some cool quinoa onto a plate. Then I lightly salted and peppered it and Y'ALL, IT WAS SO YUMMY AND REFRESHING! I wish that I could eat like that all of the time! I felt so AMVish. Ha!
Farmgirl Sister #554
http://alabamaheartofdixie.blogspot.com/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Jun 23 2009 : 09:18:58 AM
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Well, Alee, if it came down to sewing lots of pretties or cleaning the house, I'd have to say mine would be a disaster area! Life's too short to not do the fun things before the drudgery!
And watering the garden, Nikki? Brian brought home a soaker hose yesterday and it worked like a charm! It doesn't draw too much from the well at one time and I didn't have to lug 5 gallon buckets of water around! We just stretched it along a row, left it for about 20 minutes, then moved it to the next row! I took the time to do some weeding and didn't have a problem with mosquitoes, but got slap eat up with no-see-um's! I asked Brian what he thought the Indians did about no-see-um's and he said they probably smeared themselves with mud or some stinky concoction I'd be likely to come up with. Took me a minute to decide if that was a compliment or an insult. I decided that it was a compliment! :)
And, yes, we must stop in at the co-op! I am in awe of this place from everything you've told us, Kris!
Kelly, how many green bean plants did you plant? I'm only getting a handful every other day and I guess I have maybe 20? But my pinto beans are flowering like crazy! I hope to have a lot of them. I asked Grandmother, Kris, about how to store them and she said to cook them up and can them. So I'm really hoping to have enough to do just that. I may have to supplement my little garden with Farmer's Market produce if I want to can much of anything, though. About the only thing that's really going to town are my tomatoes. My corn's about waist high now. I've seen some that's already tasseling and now I'm worried about mine.
YUM, bread and butter pickles! Makes my mouth water just as much as your little supper last night, Nikki!
Nikki, that cracks me up about Lovin' Man!! I bet you got the same look I got when I informed Brian of our plans! He said, "You're going where? with who?" So, I patiently repeated myself. He raised that eyebrow at me and I asked, "What?" He said, "So, you're taking a little farming fieldtrip with you farming girlfriends?" I told him "yep!" He said, "Don't bring home any animals." Hah! Don't try me, bucko! I am wearing him down about the chickens, though. At least he's asking me questions about them now. OH, Nikki, the woman you bought your eggs from last was at the end of her drive-way the other day with a little stand set-up! I didn't have time to stop, but I wore a smile for several miles down the road, seeing that little stand!
~~Cherry~~
http://cherrymedarlin.blogspot.com
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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KellyWall
True Blue Farmgirl
336 Posts
Kelly
Apison
Tn
USA
336 Posts |
Posted - Jun 23 2009 : 1:09:51 PM
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| I am canning dill pickles with a kick of Jalapeno. I don't like pickles, but I must admit these are so good. My husband was the same way ya'll when I went to Miss Wilma's last fall, not only did I go, I took my 5 yr old daughter and rode up with Miss Dana, someone I met on the forum, I guess I was brave, he definatly had second thoughts, I guess maybe Dana was a "MAN" HAHA! Sweet of them to question Huh! Can't wait until we all meet! |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2009 : 05:28:30 AM
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Alee, isn't it sad that as far as women have come that we still feel that the state in the order of our house reflects our productivity? I have trouble assigning value to intangible accomplishments, but we need to recognize them. It is almost as if I measure my worth by the cleanliness of my house, and no one is putting that pressure on me, not my mother, not my husband, and heaven knows, not society. It is some kind of internal-worthiness-measuring-device, but I am aiming at breaking the needle off THAT meter! My first little rebellion is not folding towels anymore. No longer neat and square, they are shoved into a pile in the cabinets. Out of sight and out of mind. Freeing up those extra laundry-doing minutes for more important matters, like chatting to friends and processing photos! - Know that just being you, doing what you do is enough! - (I need to make that my mantra or at least print it on a t-shirt!). It is my hope that our girls will grow up with an understanding of their innate worth fixed in their minds so they will be free to fulfill the purpose for which they were created.....when they finally discover what that is. LOL!
Cherry, a soaker hose is a great idea! That was sweet of Brian to get you one. See. They really are more interested in farmgirl things than they thought. Oh, you will be getting chickens and Brian is going to LIKE IT! LOL about the stinky bug repelling concoction! In a historical novel about Native Americans called The Ransom of Mercy....they mentioned using bear grease to repel bugs. I thought that was interesting. Not something that I want to try though. HA! - I've got to visit the egg lady! Maybe tomorrow.
Kelly, yum! Pickles with a kick! Sounds very good. - Yep! You are right. Lovin' Man's first question was, "Are you sure that they are not men?" Now come on, I think that I would know it if I was talking to a man or not! Sure, some men have been able to write books with believable women characters, but they can't plumb the depth of the female experience or fake it for too long. So, uh, yeah. We are girls! LOL!
Talk about being brave or not. On the way out to the cob class I got lost on "roads" that were just winding gravel drives. I passed many a broken down shack, pitiful places where people had tried to scratch out a living in hollows between steep hills. I got out at a cute little house to ask for directions and was nearly attacked by a miniature Kugo. When we finally got to where we were going there were two paths going up into the woods and they were washed out so that I couldn't drive up them and didn't know which to take. I was near tears as we walked up that blind drive in the woods. The movie Deliverance and that tune were no longer funny to me! Thankfully, the birds were singing, the sun was shining, and there was wildflowers along the path, but I was fighting the urge to just turn around and go home. My bravado has bounds, people! It all turned out to be good, but I was definitely shaken by the experience.
My tomatoes are getting huge! But they haven't turned red yet. The hybrids are totally winning over the heirlooms, which really annoys me. One of my heirloom Mr. Stripeys rotted on the vine. I guess a bug got to it. The basil plants have flowers coming out of the tops. I know that I have said it before, but growing stuff is just miraculous!
Farmgirl Sister #554
http://alabamaheartofdixie.blogspot.com/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2009 : 06:48:39 AM
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Nikki- That is an awesome attitude to have, unfortunatly I love everything neat and tidy- it's my follow through that is broken LOL! I need to spend just like 1 hour on my house each day after Nora goes to sleep and I know it would be LOADS better. But I always find more fun things to do! LOL I guess I need to seek the balance between the fun side of me and the tidy side of me!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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LisaLu
True Blue Farmgirl
126 Posts
Lisa
Wildomar
Ca
USA
126 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2009 : 07:21:21 AM
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Cherry, thanks for the helpful hand. I wont have time until the weekend to figure things out. I have a photobucket acct....it's just been so long since I've used it.
Hope you all have a great week, talk to ya this weekend!
LisaLu
Happiness is homemade... |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 06:15:07 AM
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Hey ya'll. I have been in the garden and it's wearing me out! I went out yesterday morning and till ed for 1 1/2 hours then came in drenched with sweat to rest awhile. Then went out later and finished pounding the stakes in the ground so I cane rope up the tomatoes. They are getting bigger and really need it.
I didn't go to the FM yesterday because I only had a few beans and zuc. We really need rain.
There is a good article in Hobby Farms about 10 different tomato problems. Cherry, there is something about cracking tomatoe skins. The weather fluctuating, I think it said.
Anyway, I have to get this computer fixed. I am calling Dell today to see if they will send me a video card or some such thing.
So seel ya'll.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2009 : 06:41:16 AM
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Alee, that's right! It is all about balance. Why has it gotta be so hard to find? Ha!
Kris, I hope you get your computer fixed!
LisaLu, looking forward to your garden photos!
Cherry and Kelly, looking forward to our day trip to Kris's. I love having things to look forward to!
I'm in the middle of processing the photos from the cob class, trying to keep up with a dang blog, doing more detailed planning for the visit to my sister's house, covered up in laundry and irritable because there is not enough time in the day!
Farmgirl Sister #554
http://alabamaheartofdixie.blogspot.com/ |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2009 : 1:11:41 PM
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Hey ya'll. Hope eveyone is doing good. It's SO HOT! I don't want to go out there.
I did a Cherry this morning. I fell in my laundry room while up on a bucket trying to look at my electric fence box. It isn't working and some of the goats were out. Anyway, that hurts! I hate falling. Somehow I ended up with a huge knot and pretty bruise on my right leg, a bruise on my left butt and a rip in my right side. I need to put more ice on my leg now.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
Edited by - kristin sherrill on Jun 26 2009 1:12:42 PM |
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Garden Gate: OMG, What Have I Just Gone & Done: Part 2 |
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OMG, What Have I Just Gone & Done: Part 2
