Wednesday Hodgepodge #320…

Hello again!  I hope this first Wednesday of September finds you doing well, and ready for another Hodgepodge.  As always, thanks to our hostess, Joyce, for this mid-week bit of fun!

1. When you think about your future what do you fear most?

When I think about the future I think about getting older, and how life is eventually going to change from the way Ed and I know it now.  In fact, at ages 65 and 68, the change is already well into motion.  I fear  us growing older, weaker, and one of us having to say goodbye to the other, eventually.  Most of all, I fear being the one left alone.  What depressing thoughts… Let’s change the subject, shall we?

Hope for the most?

I hope to have the longest, healthiest life possible, with Ed and the rest of the family by my side.  I hope to see our grandchildren grow into adults, and maybe even see them have children of their own.  I hope to always have joy in my heart, in spite of growing older and the changes it will bring.

2. September is National Chicken Month. How often is chicken on the menu at your house?

Chicken is on the menu at least twice a week, but don’t tell any of “my girls”, they wouldn’t like that!

“Dixie Chick”

What’s a favorite dish made with chicken?

Fried chicken is my favorite dish made with chicken, but we try not to have that very often.  My next favorite dish is chicken casserole or barbequed chicken.

What’s something you’re a ‘chicken’ about doing or trying?

Flying in an airplane.

3. What are three things you don’t own but wish you did?

At the moment, the only thing that’s crossing my mind is a generator!  We swore we were going to buy one after hurricane Matthew, but we never did.  Now we’re watching hurricane Irma, and wondering where she is going to go (we live in southeastern GA).  I also wouldn’t mind having a condo at the beach–but not during hurricane season!  Other than that, I’m good.

4. Would you rather be a jack of all trades or a master of one? Elaborate. If you answered one, which one?

I’d rather be a jack of all trades, like my husband, Ed.  He can do a little of everything, which has come in very handy over the years!  He’s saved us a ton of money on repairs and building projects.  Me?  Not so much.

5. Ketchup or mustard? On what?

I prefer ketchup over mustard.  I like ketchup on chicken tenders, hamburgers, fries, and steak, among other things.  I like mustard on hot dogs (along with ketchup), and that’s about it.

Random:

Ed, lighting the candles on my cake

I had a wonderful time celebrating my birthday, last week, with cards, gifts, flowers, cake/ice cream, and cupcakes…right up until Friday night’s family celebration…when I tripped on a cord and fell head first into our bathtub!  It’s a long story, but I was walking through the bathroom, headed for the laundry room.  I had a dutch oven (pot) in one hand and a large plastic tub in the other.  My foot got caught up in a cord dangling on the floor and down I went!  My right cheek hit the side of the pot, which landed in the bathtub first.  The front of my face and glasses then hit the back end of the bathtub, while my right thigh hit the side of the tub as I fell.  Thankfully, nothing was broken, (not even my glasses, although they got bent as they pressed hard into my nose) but I’ve been very sore and bruised for the past few days.  The dutch oven (pot) went from being round  to being oval, after I did my face plant on it, but I feel very blessed not to have been hurt worse than I was.  I guess you could say…my 63rd year has started with a bang!

Tales From A Simple Woman’s Daybook…

For Today…

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Looking out my window… 

I can see our azaleas still blooming.  They’re not quite as pretty as they were before the recent rain, but still worth noting.  I also see tiny leaves beginning to sprout on the Sycamore tree, even though it was bare, last week. Most of our Maple trees are sprouting leaves, as well. Spring is just around the corner, although the current temperatures don’t feel like it.

I am thinking…

last weekend’s time change is going to kill me!  Every time the time changes, it takes me at least a couple of weeks to adjust to the new schedule.

I am thankful…

that Ed and I made the decision to move back to his family’s farm, all those years ago.  This Friday, on St. Patrick’s Day, we’ll celebrate the 40th anniversary of moving from the city.  It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.

One of my favorite things…

is taking a long hot bath, at the end of the day.  I often enjoy reading while I soak.

I am [still] creating…

 some crocheted covers for some throw pillows.  It’s a slow process, because I don’t work on them regularly.

I am wearing…

a red/green plaid nightgown and a red robe, my Christmas attire.

I am reading…

Dolly Pardon’s autobiography which is entitled, Dolly, My Life and Other Unfinished Business.  This book has made me laugh out loud on several occasions.  It’s that funny!

I am watching…

a couple of new action shows on television.  The first one is called The Blacklist: Redemption, and the other is called Taken.  Both have a little more violence than I prefer, but they’re good action shows.

I am listening to…

a couple of new instrumental worship cd’s that I bought from Hobby Lobby. One is entitled Church in the Wildwood, and the other is entitled Standing on the Promises.  It’s good, relaxing music.

I am hoping…

our sick hen will recover and be able to rejoin the flock, soon.  I hate keeping her in isolation.  She’s currently receiving medication in her drinking water.  Chickens are social creatures, and don’t enjoy being alone.  I cheated a bit, last night, and let her sleep with the other hens.  It was too cold to be sleeping alone (31 degrees).

I am learning…

things aren’t always as they seem.

In my kitchen…

Ed and I made strawberry jam for the first time, last week.  We started out with seventeen pounds of strawberries, freshly picked by Ed. Our neighbor has a strawberry field, which made access to the berries easy.

they tasted as good as they look

When all was said and done, we ended up with 26 pints of delicious strawberry jam, and it’s delicious.

our last two batches of jam

In my garden…

onions, potatoes, radishes, and carrots are growing.  We had to replant our garden peas and they haven’t sprouted, yet.  We have some tomato, lettuce, and cabbage seedlings growing in cups on our front porch, but I’ve had to temporarily bring them inside due to cooler temperatures.  I hope these cooler temperatures don’t hurt our potatoes in the garden.

Shared Quote…

“A little more kindness, a little less hurry.  A little more laughter, a little less worry.”  (isn’t that the truth?!)

A moment from my day…

Ed and I, posing beside the azaleas, last week

 

Closing Notes…

Thank goodness, this week has been less busy than last week!  Last week, Ed and I both had dentist appointments (on different days), had an appointment with our insurance agent, plus we made two trips, out-of-town, for shopping purposes.  I guess you could say, we’ve gotten spoiled to the slower pace of ‘retirement living’, and we like it:)

Thanks to Peggy Hostetler for hosting The Simple Woman’s Daybook.

Miscellaneous Monday…

When I last blogged, last week,  it was the day after Ed and I visited a neighboring county’s fair.  It had been YEARS since just the two of us had been to a fair, and we really enjoyed ourselves.  We ate a pancake/sausage supper, watched some pigs race, admired various breeds of poultry on exhibit, visited the old farm equipment exhibit, toured a very old log house, filled with antiques, and even watched syrup making and cornmeal grinding in progress.  It was a nostalgic look back at a much simpler time.  I think, if the truth be told, those were much happier times, too.

Ed and I were in the process of trying to take each other’s picture, at the fair, when a sweet student nurse stopped and offered to take this picture of us together.Bless her heart, it’s good to know there are still kind people among us.  The picture is a little blurry, but, at least, she captured the memory.

Ed and I were able to literally experience God’s protecting hand upon us on the way home from the fair.  We were about three miles, or so, from our home, when we noticed something odd in the road just ahead of us.  Apparently a car accident had just happened, and before we could even process what was going on, and slow down properly, suddenly there was an entire wheel (suspension still attached, but no car) looming in the lane in front of us, while the wrecked was car in the lane beside us.  Thanks to Ed’s quick reaction,  we were able to swerve off the edge of the road, without losing control, and avoid hitting the wheel.  I shudder to think what might have happened if our little PT Cruiser had hit that large wheel in the road!  I’m so thankful we were not involved in the first accident, or in a second accident caused by the debris of the first accident. Praise the Lord!  The whole incident shook us up pretty good, though.  You just never know…  After the fair trip, the rest of our week was ‘fairly’ uneventful (pun intended!).

Ed began the tedious work of cutting up one of the pecan trees we lost in hurricane Matthew.  It was a good-sized tree, so it’s been a pretty good job for one person.  It hasn’t helped matters that our chain saw isn’t being agreeable. He’s almost finished with tree #1, but a second tree is still awaiting his attention.  The chain saw is still acting up.

My poor hens are still molting, and they still look awful.  Egg production has stopped, and their appetite is small, these days.  I actually had to buy a dozen eggs, last week!  I certainly can’t complain, though, because this little flock of nine hens has laid over 3,000 eggs!   I’ve decided to keep ‘the girls’ penned up and give them some medication for a few days, in hopes it will help them get back to normal.  They’ll [eventually] continue to lay more eggs, but their best laying days are behind them, since their ages range from 4 1/2 to 2 years old.

In other news, our oldest grandchild, and only granddaughter, celebrated her tenth birthday, over the weekend.  She’s grown up so much this year!  She’s growing into quite a lovely young lady, and we’re so proud of her.  Her family celebrated with a party, on Saturday, which all of the guests enjoyed.

Speaking of celebrating, tonight will mark the one-year anniversary of Ed’s heart attack.  I’m SO thankful he’s alive and well to celebrate!  It’s been a very special year, and we’ve treasured every day of it.  A good friend, and former co-worker of mine, buried her husband, just yesterday.  But for the grace of God, I could be celebrating the one-year anniversary of Ed’s death, today.

Speaking of God, Ed and I traveled to a different church, yesterday, to hear our son speak, there, for the first time.  It was about a thirty minute drive to this little church, located on a little country road at the other end of our county.  The church building was simple, the congregation was small, but the service was so sweet.  It took me back in time, to the little country churches of my youth.  Ed and I both agree, we enjoyed visiting there.

The Sunday evening service took us back to a church we had visited last Sunday evening.  It turned out they were having a special prayer service for the upcoming election.  Again, it was another sweet service.  They invited us to join them, next week, for their 5th Sunday night sing.

I’m running a bit behind with getting this blog post written and posted, so I should stop right here, for today.  Ed and I began today by having blood work done, and getting our yearly flu shot.  What a way to start the week, but it’s a way of life, at our age!  I’m just thankful we’ve lived to see another day, together.  Amen!

Have a happy Monday!

 

Random Thoughts On Monday…

Let me begin the week by wishing someone special a very happy birthday! Our youngest son, Brad, was born, thirty-one years ago, today. Brad was a very welcomed surprise addition to the family, and our family wouldn’t be the same without him.  Delivering Brad proved to be difficult (10 lbs, 9 oz. natural childbirth), but raising Brad was easy. He was a delightful, easy-going, baby and child, always willing to go along with whatever his siblings wanted to do.

Brad made good grades in school (except for the year he refused to do a required project, and had to repeat the class), and worked his way through high school and college, at a local bank, paying most of his tuition costs, himself. Brad’s easy-going personality kicked into overdrive during adolescence, and he got along well with everyone.   My chief complaints with Brad, as a teen, were these: his room was always a mess, he was tardy to high school a lot, and he was [and still is] a procrastinator.

The years have flown by, and now our baby boy is a grown man with a family of his own. In fact, we took note, this weekend, when we celebrated his birthday a little early, that, on this birthday, Brad is [almost] one-half as old as his mama!  I celebrated my 31st birthday, shortly after giving birth to him.

Happy Birthday, Brad!

In other news, I’m happy to report that Ed mowed down most of our garden over the weekend! I don’t know which one of us was the happiest to see it go, but it’s gone.  The last of our tomatoes are in the kitchen, still waiting to be canned, but, after that, we’re done!  Look out beach, here we come–as soon as I am able to travel!  I haven’t been feeling my best, lately.

Man, this summer heat is really oppressive!  Being outside is miserable, unless you go out first thing every morning, which I do.  Once I finish with my chores, I just stay inside until late in the afternoons.  Ed spends more time outside than I do, but the heat doesn’t seem to bother him as much as it does me.  I’m hoping the temperatures will be a little milder under our favorite oak tree at St. Simon’s Island, when I get there.  The highs are supposed to be in the upper 90’s all of this week.

We’ve had a couple of news worthy incidents happen in our area, lately.  First of all, a few days ago, our oldest son spotted a rattle snake crossing the road beside his house.  He ran over the snake with his car, but it didn’t kill it.  So he called our son-in-law, who went down and shot it.  This makes me nervous, because this is the same road I walk on for exercise!  I’m always vigilant, but I’ll need to be extra vigilant from now on!

Late one afternoon, last week, a freak storm blew up.  The wind was so gusty, it blew our grandsons’ trampoline out of their yard, and across the road! (the same road with the snake crossing)  The trampoline flew up on its way out of the yard, hit the roof of the back porch, and did a little damage there, too.  Fortunately, our oldest son was driving his wife’s car that day, or her car would have been parked in the path of the flying trampoline, as well.

Fortunately, the trampoline looked worse than it actually turned out to be. It’s been repaired, and is still usable, thank goodness.

Today has started off with a bang–literally!  A family of squirrels recently moved into the pine trees above my windmill/flower garden.  They’ve been making quite a mess, while feasting on pine cones each day!  This morning, Ed declared war on them by shooting up among the trees with his shotgun–at 7:30 in the morning!  Would you believe two of the squirrels actually had the nerve to stay in place after being shot at?  They vacated following the second shot, but I’m sure they’ll be back. I got a look at them, and they looked mighty fat and happy!

In other morning excitement, for the second day in a row, we had to give another one of our hens a cold-water bath! (Yes, we bathed a hen before attending church, yesterday!)  Actually, in this heat, that cold water felt pretty good to me. Once caught, Mrs. Hen didn’t put up much of a fight while in the cold water, so she may have felt the same way!  Hopefully, the second cold bath will be enough to break Mrs. Broody Hen out of her cycle of wanting to sit on eggs.  Ah, we live such an adventurous life, don’t we?!  With that thought in mind, I’ll close by saying…

Have a great Monday!

Hello Again, Monday…

I don’t know how we managed to be so blessed, here in Gooseneck, but we have experienced two beautiful weekends in a row–during the month of February, no less!  That’s practically unheard of, but we’ve enjoyed both weekends–a lot!  Sunny skies and mild temperatures were ours for the taking, so we took advantage of both.

Ed and I kick-started the weekend, on Friday, with a visit to the hospital where Ed used to be employed, only because it was time for my yearly mammogram.  Actually, it was three months past time for my exam, but I had other problems to deal with back in December, such as basal cell carcinoma and Moh’s surgery.

Anyway, Ed visited with some of his former coworkers, at the hospital, while I went to  the torture chamber  have my mammogram done.  I always get a bit uneasy at mammogram time, because of my past experiences with them. I’ve had to go back and have spot magnification films done two different years, and was even sent to a surgeon for a consultation a few years back. Apparently, I have a tendency to have something called “calcifications”, which sometimes require a closer look.

While we were out and about, on Friday, Ed and I decided we’d go ahead and vote early for Tuesday’s primary.  Sadly, I can’t say there’s any candidate I feel 100% confident about electing to lead our country, but I voted for the person I think is the best [of what’s available].  Sigh.

After voting, Ed and I drove out to the cemetery and picked up the Christmas arrangements from our parents’ graves.  Yes, I’m sad to say, Christmas arrangements were still on the graves of our loved ones, at the end of February, but we replaced them with new spring arrangements, I made myself!

While visiting the cemetery, Ed and I marveled about his parents being buried right in the middle of a bunch of family and friends.  Seriously, there’s family or close friends buried all around them.  We wonder if this was a planned thing, or just coincidence.  My family is buried a good distance away from Ed’s family, but in the same cemetery.

Our oldest son, and his family came over on Friday night, as well as our daughter and her family. Due to sickness, we hadn’t seen our oldest son in two whole weeks!  It was good to catch up with everyone again.  The grandchildren had a good time playing together, and even made some awesome castles/towers out of building blocks.  It’s always great to see kids being kids.  There’s a picture of one, below, but it really doesn’t show the great details.

Ed spent most of the weekend working on a new project.  He bought me three [real] gourd birdhouses, as one of my Christmas gifts, because I like gourd birdhouses.  However, after Christmas, we discovered we needed more than three gourd houses to start a “purple martin community”.  I wasn’t able to find anymore reasonably priced ‘real’ gourd birdhouses, so I bought six plastic gourds from eBay.  We decided to make a pole [for the gourds] out of an old clothesline post that used to belong to Ed’s mama.  It turned out to be a lot of work!

Ed built the dwelling, the question is, “Will any purple martins come?” (those are decoys on top of the pole) I’m skeptical, because of where we had to locate our pole (near our pear tree), but I’m thinking some kind of little bird will take advantage of these “high rise” dwellings.  My ‘real’ gourds still remain in the Christmas bag.  I’m not sure what we’ll do with those, yet.

About three-fourths of the garden seeds we planted, last weekend, have sprouted.  It’s SO exciting to see something growing again!  Our plans, for this week, are to try to get some potatoes and garden peas planted.  Our onions look rather lonely, growing in the garden, all by themselves.

Our chickens have gone crazy laying eggs again.  We’ve been getting five or six eggs daily.  Some days we even get seven.  Our chickens have also gone crazy in other ways, too…

I wish I had a picture of what I saw, on Sunday afternoon!  I’d left the baby gate down, and when I came around the house, and up the steps to the front porch…there sat a large red hen, stretched out, sunning herself on the rug right in front of our door!  It was such a funny sight to see!  I did manage to find a picture [courtesy of Google] of a rooster sunning himself in the yard, just so you could get an idea of what I saw…

I’ll leave you with that image in your head!  We have some strange happenings around our house, sometimes!  Have a great Monday, everyone!

 

 

A Kind And Thoughtful Hodgepodge…

I simply can’t believe it’s already Wednesday, again!  The days are flying by so fast, my brain can hardly keep up.  I’m ready for a mid-week break, and there’s no better place to spend it than here, with my “Hodgepodge Friends”.  Thanks so much to our gracious hostess, Joyce, for providing the questions and a “gathering place” on  From This Side Of The Pond.

Here are today’s questions, along with my answers:

1. February 17th is National Random Acts of Kindness Day. It lands on the calendar one day after National Do Something for a Grouch Day (February 16) which somehow feels related. Perhaps the 16th inspired the 17th?

Tell about a time you performed a random act of kindness or were the recipient of one. Will you make an effort to perform a random act of kindness on the 17th? Share details if you’re so inclined, and if you have something specific in mind.

The last random act of kindness I did was to pick up our grandson, Chase, yesterday, from preschool, so his mama wouldn’t have to make the extra trip to town. It’s a small thing, but it helps her out on group [home school] meeting days, when she would normally have to make three [14 mile] round trips to town, plus the trip over to the meeting.

I don’t have any plans to perform a random act of kindness, today, but I’ll try to come up with something, now that you’ve mentioned it!  Spontaneous acts are best, anyway.

2.What’s the most uplifting or encouraging thing you see happening in the world right now? You may have to dig deep for this one.

I’ve been SO impressed by the tremendous amount of love and support shown to the singing country duo, Joey + Rory during their difficult journey with Joey’s terminal cancer.  I’ve been following Joey’s battle for almost four months, through her husband, Rory’s, blog.  The outpouring of prayers, love, and support from their family, friends, and fans has been, and remains, phenomenal!   This has renewed some of my faith in mankind.

3. Black olives, black currants, black grapes, black beans, blackberries, Oreos…your favorite food the color of night? Your least favorite on the list?

Oreos are my favorite, while black olives are probably my least favorite.  I don’t think I’ve ever tasted black currants.

4. A while back I read (here) a list of twelve things you should do before you turn 50. They were-

travel when you have the chance, take care of your skin, learn a foreign language, make exercise a habit, leave a toxic situation, stop caring what others think about you, stop worrying, volunteer, spend time with your grandparents, pledge to work less, learn to cook an amazing dish, and seize an opportunity as it arises

What do you think of the list? What would you add or remove and why? If you’re over 50, have you done all 12? If you’re not yet 50, have you done any at all? What’s on the list that you haven’t done, but would like to do?

Some things on the list are okay, others no so much.  I’d remove learning the foreign language (because English is the only language I care about speaking, anyway).  I’d remove stop caring what others think about you (because I believe caring what others think is a good thing).  I’d never worry about learning to cook an amazing dish (because I don’t even like to cook, these days).  I haven’t had any grandparents since I was 32, so  I’d add spend more time with your parents and children, to the list, too.

I’m  well-over 50, but I did some of the things on this list around or before my 50th birthday.  I did some volunteer work and tried to make exercise a habit, for a while.  I also seized a couple of opportunities that came my way.  We did our fair share of traveling, too, we just didn’t go very far.  I have started trying to take better care of my skin–a little late, but “better late than never”, I say.  Last, but not least, I have removed myself from a toxic situation, when I resigned from a job [I dearly loved] due to certain circumstances in the classroom.

5. Besides the classic Christmas flicks, what’s your favorite film where winter plays a part in the setting?

There was a movie about a team of sled dogs who got left behind in a very cold, barren place (Antarctica maybe?) when their research team was forced to leave without them.  The movie chronicles the survival of those dogs, alone in the ice, while their owner fights to get permission to go back and rescue them. It was a nail-biting, tear jerking movie!  Thanks to Google, I discovered the name of the movie is Eight Below.

6.When did you last feel helpless, and what did you do about it?

The last [and only] time I’ve really felt helpless was when I took Ed to the emergency room, in October, and the attending physician told me Ed  had suffered a heart attack, and would need to be transported [by ambulance] to a larger facility, 50 miles away.  I had no idea what lay ahead of us, or if Ed would even survive the trip. I was somewhat in shock, and had to rely on our daughter to drive me to the hospital.  Thankfully, she stayed with me all night, and most of the next day, until Ed was stable.

7. Share a favorite proverb.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Remembering these words helped keep me sane, at times, while our sons were transitioning into the respectable men they are today.

Random:

Our original flock of “red sisters”, back in the day…

The “red sisters” celebrated a birthday this week! The remaining two hens, from our original flock of six red hens, recently turned four!  Those two rule the roost around here, and are doing well, although they do require an occasional wash of their rear ends from time to time.  They’re getting old, but ya’ still gotta’ love ’em.

These days, we let the old and new hens hang out together, and we let them free range most of the day. If we forget to put up our baby gate, this is what we see every day about 4 o’clock–

our ‘girls’, waiting impatiently for their afternoon snack of corn or bread!  Look who’s leading the way up the steps…a red sister!  Some are even bold enough to come up and peek through the glass in our front door!  They’re like a bunch of children begging for candy!!!

Saying Goodbye To July With A Hodgepodge…

1.  I recently read here about four secrets to happiness from around the world. They were-

Overcome your fears by facing them head on, allow yourself to relax and reset, work to live versus living to work, and find the good in life. Not sure if these are the actual secret to happiness, but which of the four do you struggle with most? Which one comes most easily to you?

I probably struggle most with overcoming my fears and facing them head on.  I’m somewhat of an introvert, and am not adventurous at all.  I also tend to be anxious.  In the end, I usually overcome my fears, but sometimes it’s not an easy journey. Remember, I’m the one who didn’t get her driver’s license until she was 26.

As far as what comes easiest to me, it’s allowing myself to relax and reset.  I was forced to learn how to do this twenty years ago, when I came down with RA.  Since then, I’ve had to learn how to enjoy the good days, but relax and reset on the bad ones–sometimes hard to do when you have things planned for those days.

2. How would you spend a found $20 bill today?

I think I’d save it for gas money…so I could go back to the beach again! (see #3)

3. Ego trip, power trip, guilt trip, round trip, trip the light fantastic, or trip over your own two feet…which ‘trip’ have you experienced or dealt with most recently? Explain.

My answer would have to be “round trip”, as in we made a round trip to St. Simon’s Island, this past Sunday.

4. If you could master any physical skill in the world what would it be, and how would you use that skill?

If I could master any physical skill, I’d learn how to do construction work.  Then I’d put my new skills to work by building a shed to keep Ed’s lawn mower in.  We desperately need one, and Ed keeps procrastinating on this project.

5. As July draws to a close, let’s take inventory of our summer fun. Since the official first day of (North American) summer (June 20th) have you…been swimming? enjoyed an ice cream cone? seen a summer blockbuster? camped? eaten corn on the cob? gardened? deliberately unplugged? watched a ballgame? picked fruit off the vine? taken a road trip? read a book?  Are any of these activities on your must-do-before-summer-ends list?

These are the summer activities I’ve participated in, so far:  Enjoyed an ice cream cone, eaten corn on the cob, deliberately unplugged, picked fruit off the vine, and taken a [short] road trip.  I need to get busy and read a book, soon.

6. The Republican Presidential candidates will debate on August 6th. What’s your question?

Can you ‘undo’ the damage the present administration has done to our country?

7. What’s your most listened to song so far this summer?

I’m not sure I have a “most listened to” song, but I always enjoy playing my collection of “summer tunes” on my MP3 player.  There’s some Jimmy Buffet (It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere, Margaritaville) on there, some Zac Brown Band (Toes, Knee Deep), and Kenny Chesney (Key Lime Pie, When the Sun Goes Down, Flip Flop Summer), among others.  Here’s one of my favorites, Key’s In the Conch Shell ( by Kenney Chesney)  from YouTube: (some of the pictures are blurry, but the video is still pretty)

Random:

Today, I thought I’d share a photo of the signs I bought to decorate our chickens’ coop.

I like for ‘my girls’ to have nice living quarters.  They have their own wind chimes, too 🙂  You know what they say, “Happy chickens lay better eggs.”  Our egg count since January?  1106 and counting–and they’re delicious.

Miscellaneous Monday…

Lately, it seems to take me more time to do less things, so there’s been less time for blogging.  Dear Blog, I’m so sorry for neglecting you.  If it makes you feel any better, Facebook is feeling neglected, too…

After I visited the neurologist, on last Tuesday, I began my ‘home physical therapy program’, on Friday.  My friend, Diane, [who also suffers with back problems] loaned me this fantastic book entitled Treat Your Own Back.  Diane had been given this book by her physical therapist.  I’m currently doing the exercises in that book, and following the other advice given throughout the book, as well, such as correcting bad posture and using a lumbar support pillow when sitting.  It’s a little too early to tell if the program is working, yet, but I’m hoping and praying it will.  The book says it will take about two weeks to feel results.  It takes that long to add all of the exercises to the sessions.

(Google image)

In other news, we finally discovered that the meter that’s been measuring the humidity underneath our house is wrong!  We suspected this, after continued high readings, but actually confirmed it by testing with another meter.  Our meter is ‘off’ by over 20%!  Apparently our meter has a faulty sensor, but that’s actually good news for us.  When we thought the humidity levels were at 97%, they were actually 75%, or so.

In other house news, the exterminator came back to do the 90 day check (it’s hard to believe 90 days has already passed!) on the termite traps he’d set around the perimeter of our house.  Two of the twelve traps had signs of termite activity.  He baited them with poison, which the termites will carry back to their colonies.  I’m so glad we had this baiting system installed, in addition to having our house treated underneath. It would be great to cut the little buggers off before they actually reach our house, since we apparently are living in termite territory.

termite bait system 

Ed and I took our weekly shopping trip, on Thursday, and ended up bringing home more than groceries.  We ended up purchasing a new chair for me.  Every since I developed sciatica, I have trouble finding a comfortable place to sit.  I avoid our reclining sofas like the plague!  I borrowed a chair from Ed’s mom’s house, which worked for a while, but soon became uncomfortable, as well.  I needed something firm!  I found a small glider rocker/recliner at Big Lots that seems to meet my needs.  The chair is small, about the size of a computer chair, and has memory foam in the seat.  So far, so good.  The chair doesn’t match a thing in the living room, but who cares?  I have a chair I can sit in (for short periods of time) without so much discomfort!   We had a time fitting that chair and the ottoman in the PT Cruiser, but we did it.  I [still] love that car, and I love my new chair, too!

Ed boiled some of his ‘home grown’ peanuts and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs on Friday night.  All of our grown off spring and their families gathered with us to ‘kick start’ the weekend.  I served hot fudge cake for dessert which everyone seemed to enjoy.  It’s so nice to finally be able to get the entire family together again, without waiting for a holiday or special occasion.  At times like these, I wish we’d built our house just a little larger though.  Twelve of us pretty much fill up the kitchen space, and mine is a lot larger than most.

Ed and I ran away to St. Simon’s Island, again, on Sunday.  The trip wasn’t planned, but the weather finally gave us a break from the oppressive heat and humidity, so we took advantage of it!  This time, we packed a picnic lunch, so we didn’t have to buy a thing except enough gas to get us back home.  We discovered it doesn’t matter what you’re eating, it tastes better beside the ocean, and, best of all, we only spent about twenty dollars!  It felt so good to get away–and the view wasn’t half bad either…

 

The two ‘oldest girls’, aka known as my little red hens, have forgotten where they are supposed to lay their eggs, again. Their latest nesting spot has been under our car port (in addition to underneath Ed’s lawnmower).  As a result of this, ‘the girls’ are spending mornings in their coop, which they are not too happy about!  One of them fusses and makes a noise similar to a child crying.  I refer to this noise as “chicken crying”.  Every now and then they just need a reminder of where “home” is… The other day, I found an egg beside a tree in our yard!

My back is telling me it’s time to get up and stretch, and the breakfast dishes aren’t washing themselves either,  so I should end this blog post.  Have a great Monday, everyone!

Another Hot Hot Hodgepodge…

We’re still dealing with  some hot July temperatures,  a few afternoon thunder storms, some back aches, and having our mailbox obliterated by an out-of -control truck, on Monday.  So what’s new at your house?

Thankfully, it’s Wednesday and this means it’s time for my favorite form of ‘escape’, aka “The Wednesday Hodgepodge”.  Thanks so much to our hostess, Joyce, for continuing this fun mid-week tradition!  Let’s get started, shall we?

1.July 15th is National Give Something Away Day.  What can you give away? Will you?

We could stand to give away a few dozen eggs, at the moment.  We currently have about ten dozen in our refrigerator.  I just gave away two dozen, and would give away even more if I knew someone else who needed them.

2. Do you have a mantra? Please share with the class if you feel comfortable doing so.

We have a saying in our family.  Whenever things don’t go according to plan we say, “It’s that Bacon luck, again.”  Often, it seems like whatever can go wrong for us does go wrong for us.

3. Who does the grocery shopping in your house? How many times a week do you shop? Do you make a list or pray for inspiration in the produce aisle?

I’ve always been the one who does the grocery shopping for our household, but, now that Ed’s retired, we shop together.  Once a week we’ll go shopping for whatever we need.  I’ve always been a list maker, so I usually have some kind of a list with me whenever I shop.

4. Is there a TV show you’re embarrassed to say you watch? You’re going to tell us what it is, right?

Probably so. The latest is “Orange Is The New Black” (on Netflix)  The show is set in a woman’s prison, and some of the content has been a little on the embarrassing side, but it’s an interesting and entertaining show.

5. A recent article listed fifteen words we should eliminate from our (written) vocabulary in order to sound smarter-

that, went, honestly, absolutely, very, really, amazing, always, never, literally, just, maybe, stuff, things, and irregardless

Of the fifteen, which word is your most overused?

Of those fifteen words, I’d say “that” is my most overused word.

6. So apparently dying your hair gray (in your youth!) is a thing right now. It’s called ‘The Granny Hair’ trend. Your thoughts?

I haven’t heard of this new trend, but I say, enjoy your own youthful hair color while you still can.  There will be plenty of time for “Granny Hair” later in your future!

7. A while back Buzz Feed asked members to share the most beautiful sentence they’ve read in a piece of literature. A hard thing to narrow down, at least for me, but let’s try. What’s one of the most beautiful sentences you’ve ever read in a piece of literature?

Joyce, you have stumped me. I honestly have no idea, and nothing is coming to mind at the moment.

Random:

Feathered Friends

I just love watching how our two free ranging red hens seem to enjoy spending some time with their younger ‘sisters’, who still spend most of their days in the pen.  Late every afternoon, all of them get to free range together for a couple of hours, but the older and younger hens continue to sleep in two different chicken houses at night.  These nine hens have laid over 1000 eggs since the beginning of January!

Friday Fragments…

In an effort to get back into blogging on a more regular basis, I’m posting some Friday Fragments and linking them up @ Half-Past Kissin’ Time.  It feels good to get back into a ‘somewhat’ normal routine again.  Posting with a bad back and a retired hubby around is difficult, y’all!

I ventured out of the house on a short trip to the grocery store, with Ed, on Monday.  (I’ve been pretty much housebound since my back messed up.)  Never, in my wildest dreams, did I think I’d be so happy to visit the local grocery store!  Walking was still painful, so my visit was short, but it was great to get out and about a bit–and we have plenty of food in the house now!

I also helped cook supper on Monday night.  I had to sit in a kitchen chair to finish up, but, with Ed’s help, I made it. We cooked fresh squash from our garden, and, as always, they were so good!  Home-grown veggies always taste the best.

On Tuesday, we lost another one of our ‘original’ flock of six red hens.  Now we’re down to just two.  Sick sister, as I called her, had been ailing for a while. She’d get low, then she’d rally for a few days.  I’m not sure, but from what I’ve read, I think she may have been suffering from ovarian cancer, a disease her breed (Red Star) is known to have. I take comfort in knowing she had a good life.  She enjoyed the last several months of free ranging. We still have seven young hens in our new flock.  Our egg count topped 500, today–and that’s just since January!

On Tuesday night, we received some of the ‘typhoon-like’ weather that had been predicted for Wednesday.  The wind and rain woke me up during the night.  We woke up to find our house surrounded by water.  The garden was  surrounded, as well.  Fortunately, Ed had dug a long ditch at the end of the garden rows, so he was able to open up the rows, and drain the majority of the water out of the garden.  It’s too early to tell how much damage was done to the plants while they sat in water overnight.  We’ve gotten over six inches of rain during the past week!

On Wednesday, I drove my car for the first time in over three weeks.  I drove myself to the hair dresser’s.  It was time for a haircut, and I was more than ready!  I had over an inch cut off, in an effort to get rid of some of my old hair color, and to make my hair easier to take care of.  The salt and pepper look is quickly taking over my hair, but, you know, I kind of like it!

The weather turned unseasonably cool, on Wednesday.  I’d just thrown my flannel shirt in the dirty clothes hamper (I use it for a jacket when I do outside chores) because I thought I was finished with it until fall.  Surprise!  I had to dig it back out, on Wednesday morning–and turn the heat back on!  What is up with this weather???

After the crazy month of April, I’m more than happy to say hello to the month of May!  Hopefully, life here will soon settle back into a normal state–with no mold or termite issues, no dealing with government agencies, and no more back aches!  Normal sounds very good, right about now.

Happy May Day!