Share and share a like......

Chuck and I were down at the barn one morning and when we came back up to the TT, there was a huge bag of veggies sitting on the kitchen table. The BNOE's father grows a big garden every year and it supplies the family and friends with lots of fresh veggies all summer long. Charlotte sent Owen over with a big bag for us and when we weren't home, he just went in and put it on the table. What a nice surprise to come back to the TT, too. This time we were able to enjoy fresh corn, squash, egg plant and " zipper peas". I had never even heard of zipper peas but what fun they were to shell. I spent part of the morning, on the porch in the rocking chair, just unzipping peas. They don't really taste like " peas" but more like beans. When it was time to leave at the end of the week, we were loaded up with another big bag of veggies. This time, to take to Gene and George's. There was a big bag of okra in this batch and Gene, fried it for dinner one night. Now, I'm not a big fan of okra but dang....this was good and I ate two helpings. Just might have to grow some okra in the garden one summer. When we have our summer gardens, we plan on sharing with all the neighbors, as they do with us.

wet barn........

We had another mishap on this trip to the land. Since the grass was so high around the barn, when Chuck bush hogged, it collected heavy on the ground and the next morning, when it rained 3 inches, the cut grass dammed up the normal flow of the water away from the barn. When the rain let up for a little while, we decided to walk down to the barn to get out of the TT. Well, when Chuck opened the door, my heart just sunk! Most of our stuff was standing in water. We had put 2 x 4 wood on the floor and stacked most of our cardboard boxes on those, thinking it would keep them off of the cement floor. Not thinking, that wood soaks up water so the first layer of boxes got wet. I instantly started unpacking boxes and moving furniture out of the water. I swept the water out the doors of the barn with the push broom. Chuck went outside and started raking the cut grass away from the barn. ( with his bandaged, cut hand) With using the tractor and bush hog also, the water started flowing again. A few boxes of our books got ruined ( including our year books ) but I think most of the other stuff will be ok. We might lose three cabinets (made out of pressed board) but time will tell with those. I have all our holiday stuff in plastic tubs so I took all of those and made the first layer on the 2 x 4's with those and then stacked the card board boxes on top of those. Another problem we came across was "MICE". Yes, they have been in the barn! They left little droppings all over my nice chase. When I picked up the cushion on it, they even had started to build a nest. Another mistake we made was leaving birdseed in the barn. Will never do that again! So, I cleaned up my chase and we put it in the explorer and took it to the TT. Went to the store and bought lots more "decon". Hopefully I won't find a dead mouse in the middle of my chase like I did my bed this time. I talked to our BNOE last night and she said it had been raining a lot in the past three days so she is going over and check on things in the barn for us. Hopefully, everything will be nice and dry. She is also going to check on my little winter garden. Only a couple more months and it will be time to go up ourselves. Counting the days!

Winter Garden

Once we got the garden area all mowed and I used the weed eater around the trees and lean to, I decided to plant a small winter garden....just for the fun of it. The first step of course was bush hogging, then I had to rake up the mowed grass and weeds. Next was to bring the tiller down from the barn. ( Chuck puts it on top of the bush hog and brings it by tractor since it's such a long walk to the center of the land) After I tilled, I had to rake again to get the dirt even. Then, the final step was to plant the kale, spinach, lettuce, beets and cabbage. Oh, how I wish I was going to be there to watch it all grow and be able to enjoy eating it all. Maybe some day, we will be able to enjoy the fruits of the land. Some days, I just feel that it is never going to happen. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised some day.

Another breathtaking water fall.......

We always take one day that we are on the land to go explore the forest. This time we decided to try and find the Sougdaboagee falls in the Brushy Lake area. The roads in the forest are just beautifully lined in wild flowers. Every time I would see a different kind, I would have Chuck stop so I could pick a couple for my bud vase in the explorer. With back packs on and walking sticks in hand, we set out on our hike. Even though we were in the shade most of the hike, there wasn't a dry stitch on us. After about 1 1/2 miles, we decided to stop and eat lunch. We had found a nice camp site that someone had left, over looking the creek. After lunch, Chuck had me stay put for a few minutes and he went on ahead to see if the falls were any where close. He was back in ten minutes and said he had found them. ....so off we went. The hike was well worth it! The falls were breathtaking. The area behind the falls was solid ferns. We were able to walk along the rocks to one side and get behind them. The spray from the water hitting the rocks was a cool, refreshing treat. We had our first encounter with a snake. ....not just " a snake" but a " copperhead snake". Chuck had spotted him so we walked " waaaaaay" around him. We didn't bother him and he didn't bother us. The time was too short. It was time for us to turn around and hike back. Another hike under our belts and another wall fall to show Shell.