Lt Dan returns

We hadn't seen Lt Dan in about a week.  I was beginning to wonder if he was still at Brambly Pines....BUT...Chuck was sitting in the chair in the living room early this morning and glanced out the window and there he was!  In his same spot eating the Mimosa tree at the end of the drive way.  We watched him for a long time and he started walking into the grass of the side yard.  He took his time, stopping and looking at us every once in awhile.  When he got to the front yard, where Chuck had the sprinkler running, he wasn't too sure about it and walked down the garden path.  I'm pretty sure we will see him off and on.  I think he likes it here at Brambly Pines....with good reason.

One day's pickings

Going down to the garden every day is a surprise.  I didn't expect to find enough green beans for the night's dinner.  I had enough to put in my summer time oil/vinegar potato salad to go along with our hamburgers.  Sure was good!  Of course, we have 5 to 6 eggs a day to pick from the nests in the " girl's mansion".   Yesterday, after lunch, Chuck and I went "blackberry picking" again.  We ended up with another quart of berries.  Only one more quart to go and I can make my blackberry jelly.  ....maybe this weekend.  :-)

Indian marker tree?



Indian marker tree

Billy and Linda White live across the street from the BNOE.  On one of the corners of their land, there is a tree that has a funny bend in it.  The Indians used to do this to trees to mark certain areas.  We think this is one of those trees because it's in the line of the road that leads to the Indian Mounds not far from our house.  The people from " Wild South" have been cataloging all these trees that people have found so we went over to Billy's to take pictures of it for them.  Since it's out in the pasture where Billy keeps his goats....we had the pleasure of having their company.  They are so dang cute!  Every time I see them, I want to bring one home with me.  Billy says I can have one of his babies if I want, but we don't have any place to keep it.  I KNOW!  You're saying...WHAT? ..you have 22 acres and no place to keep a goat?  Well, Chuck would have to cut more trees down and fence in the area.  Maybe some day, but not right now.  We have too many other projects to get done around here first.  When I get the hankering for the fun of watching goats play, I will just go over and visit Billy's. Speaking of goats.....I have sad news for everyone who read on the blog about Bush Hog, the BNOE goat .  Bush Hog went to " goat heaven" this winter. ...right after the big snow we had.  I just found out that this happened about a month ago. ( Charlotte forgot to tell me)  RIP Bush Hog.   

Garden Time



squash




Kentucky Wonder bush beans




lettuce, red and white radishes and tomatoes

The garden is coming along very nicely.  You name it....I have planted it! ..lol.  Tomatoes,( several kinds) cabbage, lettuce, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, okra, cucumbers, fennel, yellow squash, zucchini, bush beans, rattle snake beans, radishes ( red and white) sugar snap peas, spinach , acorn squash, butternut squash, rhubarb, green onions, carrots, turnips, scarlet red runner beans, watermelon, cantaloupe and corn.  I also planted lots of sunflowers, zinnias and asters along the inside of the edge of the fence.  It's so much fun being able to have such a big garden.  It's really awarding when you can eat what you have grown and know you are eating healthy.  It won't be long before we are going down to the garden to pick, every day.  I finally got the pumpkin patch planted and the seeds are up, turning into vines.  Here's to hoping we have pumpkins for Halloween!

Summer Time!

I just love summer up here!  Even though it's HOT during the day, it cools down into the 60's at night and that is why you can have a veggie garden and grow pretty flowers.  You know it's summer when the peaches are ripe and the blackberries are ready for picking.  A couple of days ago, I was walking by the barn and I saw this big black....blackberry!  I walked over, picked it and popped it in my mouth.  Then, I looked up!! and there were TONS of blackberries ready to pick.  I went into the barn and grabbed a basket and started picking.  I had to get Chuck to help me get a ladder because the vine had grown so high in the trees.   After lunch that day, I decided to go down where I had seen a big patch of berries on the way to the garden.  I hit the jack pot!  The vines were loaded.  As I picked, I scared a little brown bunny out of the middle of the thicket.  After Chuck came down to help me pick, we walked all over the land to check if there were more berries any where.  We found so many that will be ripe in about a week.  I don't think we're going to have a problem finding enough for me to make "blackberry jelly" this year.  We ended up picking a quart of berries, which I put in the freezer.
    All of the produce stands have peaches  now and they are way cheaper and taste a lot better than what you can buy in the stores in Florida.  Alabama and Georgia are the states for peaches.  I have already put up one batch in the freezer ( and we made peach ice cream a couple of nights ago).  We bought our second batch when we went down to Cullman on Saturday.  These are the juiciest peaches EVER!  The juice runs down your arm when you bite into them.  Yes, it's summer time and the living is good! 

George Lee Peterson

It's official!! We now have THREE kitties in our family!  I know....I wasn't going to do this but I just can't help it when it comes to skinny, hungry kitties that need some love.  Since George decided to stick around and he lived on our front porch all winter, I decided that it was time to have " his ears fixed".  lol.  That is what my mother used to tell me when I was little and  she would take our male cats to be " fixed".  For some reason, I never asked her what was wrong with his ears.  ..silly me.  When Shell was little and we took our male cat, I told her that he was going to have an operation that would make him "stay home" more.  After keeping him in on the back porch for three days, I let him out.  Shell came running in yelling ..." It didn't work!...it didn't work!....Casper went over to the neighbors!!!"...lol.    The vet that we took George too, is a little country place and the people were so nice to us and George.  When the lady asked what my cat's name was and I said George, she laughed and said " George huh?".  When we went back in the afternoon to pick him up, I said I was there to pick up our cat, George Peterson and she laughed again and said " oh yeah....George! "  Maybe they haven't ever had a kitty named George as a patient before...lol.   She reported that George was a very good boy and that they didn't have any trouble out of him at all.  I'm just glad that having his "ears fixed" and getting his rabies shot is all over for George AND me.  Welcome home George! We'll see if he stays home now...ha. 

Lt. Dan

Well, not only have we seen Lt. Dan ( that's what I named him...Forrest would be so happy) but we see him two or three times a day now.  I think Lt. Dan is new to Brambly Pines or we would have seen him long before now.  He's so cute!  I wish I could tame him like I did George kitty.  I sure hope he stays around because he will be safe here at Brambly Pines.  It would be fun to watch him grow up.  Chuck says he's going to get a LOT bigger.  To me, he's big already but his antlers are little and they still have the velvet ( I guess that's what ya call it) on them.  The pictures were taken out of Chuck's bedroom window.  I'm hoping one day to get a good shot of him from outside.  Welcome to Brambly Pines, Lt. Dan.....welcome home.