Ice Cream for Breakfast

Ice Cream for Breakfast!!..why not?



Genavive turns!



Shell turns



Oona turns



Papa turns

Shell's request was for us to make "homemade ice cream" while they were here.  Our tradition is to make it on July 4th, but since we weren't together this July 4th, we did it while the girls were here.  We used some of the peaches we got from the farmer's market.  The only thing was, we were out of ice cream salt.  Chuck ran into town to our little grocery store, but they were out of ice cream salt. How can a grocery store be out of ice cream salt?  Everyone up here makes homemade ice cream during the summer so I guess it makes sense.  So, he bought kosher salt.  I told him I didn't think it would work and guess what!  It didn't.  We all took our turns turning.  Shell and Chuck turned the most.  When the ice cream should have been frozen...it wasn't.  This is the first time in 42 years that we have had the ice cream freezer, the ice cream didn't freeze.  So, I poured it into a container and I put it in the refrigerator freezer and let it freeze over night.  We had homemade peach ice cream for breakfast the next day!  Sure was good.  Hey, it will just add to the memory that Genavive will have at Oona and Papa's...having homemade ice cream for breakfast!

Slip Sliding Away

Waiting for people to slide down the Falls.

On the way through the forest going home, we stopped at Kinlock Falls for Kerri and Adam to see it and there were tons and tons of people there.  It WAS the weekend and it was HOT!  We had heard that people slide down the falls in the summer.  Sure enough!  There was a crowd of people trying to slide down...as we watched one guy slip and fall.  He hit his head on the rocks and people went to his rescue. He seemed to be OK ...just a little blood.   They actually ease down the Falls on their butt until the last part and then they slide into the water .  We were talking to one lady who had done it and she said it's not icky.  The rocks are covered in a soft moss.  Shell has always wanted to do this ever since the first time she had seen the Falls.  Her Daddy keeps telling her " no way!!".  Even though she is 33 years old, her Daddy has a say so in what she does when she is around us.  Especially when she could get hurt doing what ever. 

Summer Swim Tradition

Caney Creek Falls



Adam and Kerri



Shell and Kerri



Early Sunday morning, Kerri and Adam came from Huntsville to visit with Shell and to experience the forest with us.  Kerri and Adam live in Nashville but Adam rode his bike ( 100 miles) from Nashville to Huntsville while Kerri drove their car on Saturday.  They stayed in a motel and then drove on to Brambly Pines Sunday morning.  It took Adam around eight hours to reach Huntsville on his bike.  We all packed up sandwiches and pack backs and took off to the forest.  It's summer time so that meant it was time to hike to Caney Creek Falls and go swimming.  This is the third summer Shell and Genavive have swam in the falls.  I guess that makes it a "tradition".   Looking forward to next summer's swim. 

Meat Loaf 101



A funky cucumber smile



I held "making meat loaf class 101" for Genavive and Shell for our dinner on Saturday night.  My mom has been gone for 18 years now and it took me 16 of those years to finally figure out how to make meat loaf that tasted like hers.  Shell wanted to learn, so the girls dawned their aprons and class began.  The meat loaf turned out great!  Shell cut up a couple of cucumbers ( the regular kind) and three or four tomatoes.  I made mashed potatoes and we heated up some green beans.  We had a dinner of comfort food.  A really nice way to end a fun day of shopping for treasures.   

July Fun!

They finally got here!



Seeing the Chickens all grown up.



Funky Cucumber!



It's "HEAVY"!!!!!



Aunt Shell tires.





Too early to pick carrots...but they are cute!

Friday was a really lonnnnnng day!  For Chuck and I and for the girls.  Even though I stayed really busy with mowing the yard, behind the barn and the garden area, cooking and cleaning all day, it felt like the girls were never going to get here.  They finally did though.  The first thing Genavive wanted to do, was go see the chickens.  The last time she saw them, they were baby peeps that she held in her hand.  Now, we are waiting for them to start laying eggs any day now.  The next thing Genavive wanted to do, was go down to the garden. She was amazed at the funky, long cucumbers and loved the baby carrots.  I decided it was time to pick my big, heavy watermelon.  Genavive tried to pick it up and couldn't.  Shell tried and finally got it.  We let Papa carry it back to the house.  I sure hope it's ripe when we cut it.  I have a feeling it's going to be a "yellow meat".  That will be a really great surprise if it is.  I did plant some but had forgotten about what seeds I planted where.  All the fun continued on Saturday.  Us girls spent the day "shopping"...and shopping we did!  From 10:00 am until 5:00 pm.  There are just to many fun, bargain places to go to up here and Shell wants to hit them all when she comes.  The explorer was loaded with our treasures.  What a fun day that was!!

An Afternoon of Laughs

Our Wedding Invitation

Can you believe that I'm STILL finding things in the barn that needs to be brought up to the house!  Yesterday, Chuck brought up a tub that had family pictures ( three generations), my teenage scrap books, our Wedding Album and my Baby Book.  Also in the tub was the silver frame, (which was black) that had our Wedding Invitation in it.  I had Chuck take it a part and I got out the silver polish.  It's hard for me to believe that it's 42 years old.  I decided it needed a special place in our new home.  It looks pretty on Auntie Barbara's antique table that is in the dining room. 

As I went through the tub, I looked at all the pictures and laughed my head off as I went through my teenage scrap books.  Oh my gosh!  I saved everything back then.  Guess what was in there!  The movie ticket from Chuck's and my first date on July 3, 1968.  There were a lot of treasures from our High School days so Chuck had a fun time looking through things too.  Yes, I'm keeping it all.  Ya never know when we might want an afternoon of laughter again. 

Brick Creek Flows!

After not having rain for over a month and 105 degrees days, we FINALLY got some rain...and rain it did!!! In two days, we got over 6 inches.  You didn't hear any one complaining about it though.  Everyone thought it was wonderful.  It just came to late for the poor farmers though.  As you drive by all the corn fields, they are all yellow.  Dried up!  Ours didn't dry up...just the lovely,little raccoons have attacked it.  I'm about to give up on growing corn here at Brambly Pines.  I guess I can't expect anything different when I live in a forest of animals.  We had so much rain at once, that Brick Creek actually had water flowing down it, with even a few small waterfalls.  I wish it always had water.  It would be nice to have a flowing creek going down the middle of Brambly Pines.