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Garden Gate:  OMG, What Have I Just Gone & Done: Part 2  |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 26 2009 : 2:03:21 PM
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Oh, no, Kris! I hope that you are alright! I'm sorry that you fell! Not fun. But I did laugh when you said that you "did a Cherry"! Cherry, I hope you don't mind!
Farmgirl Sister #554
http://alabamaheartofdixie.blogspot.com/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2009 : 6:37:02 PM
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Well I have been harvest a handful of peas from the garden each day. I should leave it alone for a couple of days so I can get a bigger harvest in- but I can't seem to help myself! I dug up one of my onions hoping it would have a little size on it- but it was still only about the size of a marble. I am hoping it was one of the really small starts, but it was still really good as green onions instead. I will be planting more onions when I get back from Farm Fair.
There is something so awesome about having food growing outside your back door. It feels so great. I told Doug that next year we would be digging up more of the lawn and explanding the garden. I would honestly love to see the garden area that I have right now turn into a tomato patch, have another patch the same size for peas, and so on. I figure our yard is 99% weeds anyway- if I have a nice productive garden there instead then when we know we will be leaving the next year, we can plant grass in the fall so they have a nice yard. Nice rich wormy soil has got to be better than what is in the yard right now. You ladies would not believe the garbage I pick out of the soil. Broken glass, screws and nails, plastic- you name it- it has been there- even old paving stones for an old timey driveway!
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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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2009 : 08:15:39 AM
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Oh, no, Nikki, I laughed out loud, too! Poor Kris! Doing a Cherry means doing it up right and too much pain! I'm so sorry! I hope you take it easy for the next few days and tend to yourself!
I was chatting away on the phone with Brian the other morning and he asked me what I was doing. I told him I was cutting back my jasmine. He said, "Well, let me go then. I don't want you to get distracted by talking to me and cut yourself and then I'll have to leave work. I really can't leave work right now." Jeez, Louise! I guess I am that bad!
Oops, computer batteries about to die! I'll be back!
~~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 27 2009 : 6:03:57 PM
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It RAINED!!!! I was so happy to see it. I know I have cursed us all because I said earlier when we were getting way too much rain that I'd be happy if I didn't see rain for a long time. I guess God heard me. That's not good. So I promise I will not say anything like that again!
I hope everyone has had a great Saturday. I have felt like it was Sunday all day.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2009 : 6:05:32 PM
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Oh, and someone is coming early next week to fix this computer. I was on the phone with Dell for hours yesterday. So they finally said they would send someone out here. It's still under warrenty, thank goodness.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Julia
True Blue Farmgirl
1949 Posts
Julia
Shelton
WA
USA
1949 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2009 : 8:24:38 PM
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Well, I can't wait to get gardening in my own yard again. With my move and staying with sister, my garden has been in pots brought with me from my old house. But Thank you Jesus, I put an offer on a house yesterday,it was excepted! I have a house again! The gal who lives there gardens like I do, with plants I love, and it is beautiful! She has 3 small raised beds in the back yard with veggies, and one of raspberries. I can't wait to get my fingers in the dirt and make it my own.
For tomorrow and its needs I do not pray, but keep me, guide me, love me, Lord just for today.
St. Augustine
#440 |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2009 : 06:03:08 AM
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Julia, it sounds like that house was made just for you! I am so happy for you. I hope the offer goes through and you get moved in soon enuf to get a garden going.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2009 : 4:17:54 PM
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How wonderful, Julia! I pray everything goes through smoothly for you on the closing and that you have your fingers in your "new" dirt ASAP!
How you feelin', Kris? Not too sore, I hope!
I spent most of the morning in my sad, little garden, hoeing around all my still viable plants! This heat has been a scorcher! I had to pull up all my pinto plants cause they had literally shriveled up. I checked the National gardener's website and saw that I can still plant up until mid-July, so I'll try, try again! But, THANKFULLY we had a bit of rain earlier today and we're under a severe thunderstorm warning right now. Judging from the radar, we should get hit with a substantial amount of rain. Right now it feels absolutely WONDERFUL outside!!! That wonderful, wonderful pre-thunderstorm wind! I bet the temp's dropped 15 degrees!
You got those dolls made yet, Alee? I can't wait until you post pics! (Hint! hint!)
~~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 28 2009 : 7:46:08 PM
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Cherry, we got rain here, so I'm sure it passed you first,
Kris, i picked 14 pickeling cucumbers today, I have canned 12 jars already, I guess I will busy doing more, I have enough for 2 more batches!! |
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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 29 2009 : 03:14:37 AM
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Oh, Kris! I don't think you cursed us by wishing that the rain would hold off for awhile! We did get an likely amount of it for a long time. It became a little disturbing. LOL! Did y'all get rain yesterday? I kept hearing thunder, but it all skirted by us, so I had to go out and water the tomatoes. My nasturtiums have bleached out from a dark green to pale yellow. Sad. So sad.
Cherry, I went to the sale at Petals from the Past on Saturday! OH, I love that place! All I bought was a big glazed pot to put my one lone house plant in; I didn't feel up to taking on more plants. Seeing them limp along outside, suffering from sporadic care is just too depressing. I want God to take care of them. HA! - I hope that you can get more pinto beans going!
Alee, what an awesome plan for more garden space! I know that you will do it up right! - About finding treasure. My dad has a 1920's bungalow. It was built on what used to be the dump and he has dug many whole glass bottles out of his yard. It's cool. Ya never know what you are going to find. He has a gorgeous rose bush that buds profusely even though he never does anything to help it along. He says that he is a afraid there must be a body buried under there. LOL!
Julia, how wonderful! A ready-made garden! And raspberries! I hope that you can get in there very, very soon!
Oh, Kelly, I know you must feel so proud with all of those jars of pickles lined up! I hope to can my very first ever batch of anything tomorrow - peaches. Kris, I got a whole basket down in Clanton! And nectarines! But I don't think the peaches are free-stone, even though the lady said they were. They seem to be pretty stuck on that pit!
We went to the farm in Selma this weekend and I got to do everything that I have wanted to do down there, except go to church. I drove around for over an hour photographing all the historic homes that attracted me. There are so many gorgeous crumbling structures down there. I found one that I love so much with a beautiful staircase and it is rooting into the ground. Makes me sick. It is only times like those that I fervently wish that I was rich so that I could do something about it!
Lovin' Man had planted corn and sorghum and it was up. The baby mice that Oakley and I saved from destruction while they were still pitifully blind and hairless have grown up. Lovin' Man didn't warn me before he yanked out the top drawer of the desk and mice scattered in every direction. I reacted in the international sign for "lady startled by running mice" with screams and jumping on a chair. It was fun!
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 29 2009 : 08:25:48 AM
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Alee, I believe every home has it's own energy. Weird, I know, but because I'm a realtor, I've been in quite a few houses that just give off a very negative vibe or a positive one. Maybe I'm just sensitive to that kind of thing. So I'm very happy that you're changing the energy of your home from one of neglect to one of nurturing care! I bet your home is happy, too!
Nikki, you are too funny! You don't think Lovin' Man did that on purpose, do you?! They do love for us to act all girly! Makes them feel more like manly-men! And he's planted sorghum? Interesting....educate me, please, on that whole process. How do you get it from the stalk to the jar?
I can't wait to see your pics! Don't you wonder at the living that took place in those old houses? I see a crumbling old house and that's when I wish, wish, wish I could time-travel, wishing I could just stand in that same spot and watch as the house was being built, the comings-and-goings, the people who loved and lived and died there.
I so wanted to go to the sale! But I didn't have two very much needed items; time and money. Don't you just love it there! I would so love to have a business like that. I love the little gift shop and that they have work-shops throught-out the year. When Brian and I stopped there, I told him as we were leaving that that was my dream, to have a business like that. He seemed surprised by that. This wasn't long after we'd gotten back together and I realized, well, he and I both realized based on our talk on the way back home, that through-out our entire marriage, it'd always been about his dreams and what he wanted to do. Even though I've done nothing to realize that dream, it was enough for me to be able to show him what I'd love to have. It meant so much to me that he acknowledged that I have viable dreams myself!
Eh! Gotta stop there or I'll get on a roll!!
Good luck to you, Nikki, on your canning! I'm still hoping I'll be able to get some canning done myself this summer. I was gonna get everything ready to can tomato sauce this week, but Grandmother's off traipsing around Mobile right now and I do not have the confidence to make that attempt without her in my kitchen!
We didn't get anymore rain yesterday. So, I'll be "soaking" my corn and tomatoes today. But the lower humidity is a wonderful gift! I may even wash my car today!
Kris, I hope you're feeling okay. And I hope they get your computer fixed ASAP!
Alee, think about us Southern girls while you're kicking it up with all the other farmgirls! We'll miss you, too!
Oh, I just had to pass this along, too! (I may go over and post it under the "You might be a farmgirl..." thread.) On my subdivision duty travels Friday, I kept passing this house having a yard sale. The sign that they had up by the road listed all these things, like furniture, kids toys, etc. but there was a 2nd sign tacked up that said they also had animals; goats, chickens, puppies, kittens, etc. That cracked me up!! If I wasn't working, I'd have stopped just to check that out!
~~Cherry~~
http://cherrymedarlin.blogspot.com
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
Posted - Jun 29 2009 : 10:02:42 AM
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Oh my gosh Cherry I totally know what you mean. The last house we lived at both my husband and I were EXTREMELY uncomfortable in for MONTHS. We found out that the last people that has lived there had had the cops called for domestic abuse quite often and the guy was in jail at the time! Once we knew what had happened we found physical evidence- door locks damaged, those hood and eye things you can put on doors ripped out of the wood work, dents in the plaster. Yeah it was not nice. It took a while but eventually it wasn't so creepy any more.
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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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Jun 30 2009 : 05:59:55 AM
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This is a photo of the beautiful sunset that we had yesterday evening. I just happened to look out the window and WOW! Oakley and I had to go down to the lake, dip our feet in the extremely warm water all the time thanking God that we don't have to worry about alligators, and watch that beautiful golden pink light glow across the water. It was fantastic! Then we went on a twilight bike ride and had to be careful to keep our mouths shut so we wouldn't catch bugs. It was just a great summer feeling. I hope y'all are all having great summer moments and summer joys. I want to get back to that summer feeling of childhood. Let's make all the summer memories that we can!
Oh, I love it! A yard sale that includes live farm animals! How fun! When I see something like that I turn to whatever companion I am with, slowly shake my head back and forth, and say, "Only in Alabama." But that doesn't mean that I am condemning it; on the contrary, I have deep love for the oddities that make us unique.
That is why I love old houses, too, Cherry! That history and past-life adds character that nothing new can duplicate. And old structures do have a presence. That house on my blog saw some happy times. I am sure of it. And now it is just so lonely.
Y'all I didn't get to can yesterday because I forgot to buy lemon juice and I didn't want to can any ugly brown peaches, but I did make pesto out of my very own grown basil and it was YUMMY! I just had some for breakfast with bow tie pasta and tonight I am going to make grilled chicken and pesto pizza! Just call me Barbara. Ha!
Cherry, that would be so neat for you to have a business like PFTP! We need something like that up here! People would flock to it, just as they do there. My grandmother used to take me to Aldridge's in Homewood and it was nothing like PFTP, but people came from all over the city to it, then they built a Walgreen's there. That one in Trussville was turned into a car dealership. Where do people go around here to get beautiful plants and expert advice on gardening? There is a definitely a hole in the market that needs filling.
Farmgirl Sister #554
http://alabamaheartofdixie.blogspot.com/ |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Jun 30 2009 : 06:04:27 AM
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A quick note about that photo. On most photos I will try to fix them in Photoshop by sharpening, adjusting the levels and messing with the saturation, but I didn't do anything to that photo above. I did try every action that I thought would enhance it on a duplicate and nothing looked better than the original. That is straight out of the camera; although, I shrank it. That color was just like it was last night. Isn't it beautiful!?!
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 30 2009 : 08:43:15 AM
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Nikki, I just checked in on your blog and ALL of your pictures are absolutely gorgeous! I felt so sad about the Victorian house in Selma! That staircase is amazing! I thought I saw a realtor sign out front, was it for sale? That house deserves to be restored to her former glory!
And your sunset picture is very beautiful! It's so peaceful and tranquil looking. I caught a glimpse of that cotton-candy sky through the window and went out on the front porch to savor it and offer up a little thanksgiving prayer, but I had a mountain ridge blocking most of it. So I appreciate you sharing with us!
Your pesto sounds delicious! Think you might pass along your recipe to us?
You know, there is Williams Orchard in Argo. Ronnie, the guy who runs it used to work for Brian and is married to the original owner's daughter, Carmen. I've talked to Ronnie a couple of times about PFTP. He knows of it, but has never been there. Williams Orchard has the potential to be more like PFTP, but that's not their vision, and I respect that. Still.....
I tried to convince Brian that we have a prime spot for something like PFTP. We never should have built a log cabin to live in, but it would make a perfect gift store. We have a ton of native plants growing up here and could have educational, nature trails. There are enough wild muscadine vines growing to have a vineyard instead of him bush-hogging them down twice a year. But he's determined to sell when the market turns around because selling means us being totally, completely debt-free. And I can't argue with that because I do want to retire to the beach some day! Hopefully sooner rather than later!
Well, I'm off to take a picture for you, Nikki! Be back shortly!
~~Cherry~~
http://cherrymedarlin.blogspot.com
"A thing is as simple or as complicated as you make it." --TT Murphy |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Jun 30 2009 : 09:02:34 AM
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So, Nikki, what does this make you think of?
~~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 30 2009 : 2:50:28 PM
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Oh my gosh! Cherry! You DO have an alligator in your backyard! How cool is that! I LOVE IT!
I forgot to say that the sorghum is not for human consumption. Most of the crops that Lovin' Man plants are for the birds. No, really. For the animals. He want them to get used to eating tasty treats at our place so they will come often and then he will hunt them down and kill them in cold blood so that we can gobble them up. Sounds really troll like. LOL! Oakley is standing behind me. She must have her computer time. I'll be back.
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 30 2009 : 3:43:42 PM
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| Beautiful pictures, I love the alligator! Nikki, growing crops for animals sounds like something my hubby would do. Fatten them up and hunt them, got your email the other day, I will be there! I'm staying inside tonight, this cold is killing me, I feel guilty as hubby builds the chicken pen with my son, I want to be there during every step, but the heat is rough, although it seems like less humidity today, I will get out tomorrow and paint the trim I suppose. Abby and I canned 12 more jars of pickles yesterday, running out of room in the fridge, good luck on the peaches, they sound yummy! The first time canning was the best for me! |
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NikkiBeaumont
True Blue Farmgirl
473 Posts
473 Posts |
Posted - Jul 01 2009 : 05:24:32 AM
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Oh, Kelly, I'm sorry that you have a cold. Having a cold in winter is crappy, but having one in the summer is absolutely heinous. - Glad that you will be in on our jaunt to Chickamauga! What a happy farmgirl gathering time!
Cherry, your ideas for a PFTP likeness up here would be wonderful. Alligator rock would be enough of a draw! LOL! I'm sorry that Brian wants to sell. It kind of makes you not want to invest so much of your sweat and blood when you know that you will be leaving soon. We want to retire to the beach, too. But Lovin' Man said something about "when we move to Selma" and I was like, "What? We are NOT moving to Selma!" His reasoning is that it would be closer to the beach. Now I like Selma a lot and it needs people who love it to restore it to its former glory, but I do not want to live at that farm. I probably could live in one of those little cottages in the historic district. I found an adorable one for $50,000, but dang, it needs at least another $50,000 just to make it livable and probably more.
The problem is that Dallas county has like a 18% unemployment rate. The economy is so depressed and there is very little opportunity. If you saw the state of the Wal-mart there on the first day of the month when welfare checks go out, you would understand what kind of needs are prevalent. It looks like locust have come through with bare shelves everywhere. Just imagine a Wal-mart with bare shelves! I bet you have never seen the like.
But Selma has many attractive qualities to it. The history, the architectural gems, and many interesting festivals, gatherings and events. I just wish that they would spend more time trying to attract new industry and leverage their abundant resources to attract those vital tourism dollars. The butterfly project is a stroke of genius! That is a sign that someone down there is thinking in those terms!
Oh, well. I am getting carried away. But yes, that Victorian house is for sale! I should have paid more attention to those signs, but you can blow up the photo and get the phone number from it. I thought about calling, but Lovin' Man wouldn't even look at the photos of it. You see, I have fallen in love with other houses for sale in Selma. He just can't stand the competition. Ha!
Kris! I hope your Dell repairman has come through for you!
I have lemon juice and will attempt to can today. I'm scared!!!
Oh, and Cherry, cotton-candy is what we called the sky that evening, too! It was YUMMY!
Farmgirl Sister #554
http://alabamaheartofdixie.blogspot.com/ |
Edited by - NikkiBeaumont on Jul 01 2009 06:24:25 AM |
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CherryMeDarlin
True Blue Farmgirl
602 Posts
Cherry
Odenville
AL
USA
602 Posts |
Posted - Jul 01 2009 : 08:02:33 AM
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Lawd, I'm beginning to think that Lovin' Man and Brian are long-lost brothers! Brian talks about moving down south to Greene county. I'm like "what's in Greene county?" And he's like "land for a few hundred an acre and deer!" Geez, Louise! If I'm going south, I'm not stopping until I hit the Gulf of Mexico! If I'm gonna move away from my family, I'm gonna make it worth it! Being stuck in Greene county would be like being stuck half-way up the tree!
Selling is bittersweet. I absolutely love our land. It's meant so much to me over these past 10 years. But on the other hand is the debt-free living, even with building another house. And I'm a itchin' to build another one! That is so much fun! To build one or flip one! We love it!
I understand what you mean about Selma, Nikki. I thought about it and Demopolis when we went to Savannah and learned of how they turned the city around and brought it back. It just takes the right people in the right positions backed by the community. That's what we were told in Savannah anyway. Simple as that, huh?
We thought for the longest time that that rock looked like a canoe, but then Brian had to cut the tree down (it was dying in the top) and suddenly it looked like an alligator!
Kelly, I'm sorry about your cold, too! I have dratted sinus problems and it never fails that when we go to the beach, they clear right up, but when we get back they clog up worse than before we went! (Another argument of mine for moving to the beach!) So I sympathize with you! I'm so excited about our field trip, as Brian's calling it! We're gonna have so much fun!
Don't be scared about your canning, Nikki! It'll be alright! (This from the girl who won't even ATTEMPT it without her little, ol' grandmother with her!) Will you be using pressure or a bath? I can't wait to hear how it turns out!
~~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 - Jul 02 2009 : 03:52:27 AM
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Oh, Cherry, you make me laugh so much! Being stuck half-way up the tree! That was a good one.
I told Lovin' Man how much he had in common with Brian and how they were going to end up being BFF's and have a bromance and all that. He was like, "You see. That might be possible if he were real. But on that point, I beg to differ." He loves teasing me that y'all are all pretend people. He is in major denial. LOL!
I didn't can yesterday. I didn't have time for it and I won't have time today and I guess I am not making time to do it because I am frightened and maybe if I wait long enough the peaches will rot and then I won't have to. LOL!
Are y'alls tomatoes ripening on the vine? I have some huge green tomatoes. When are they going to turn red?
Farmgirl Sister #554
http://alabamaheartofdixie.blogspot.com/ |
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KellyWall
True Blue Farmgirl
336 Posts
Kelly
Apison
Tn
USA
336 Posts |
Posted - Jul 02 2009 : 08:20:53 AM
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Do update us on your canning! My tomatoes a big and green too, I bet they will ripen while I'm on vacation, it figures, all this waiting. I have squash coming out my ears, what am I going to do with it all? I guess freeze it! Next year I am only growing one plant! My cold is getting better just can't stand the drainage, it is much cooler this morning, low humidity I guess.
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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
