The First October Hodgepodge…

October is always a busy month for our family, and things are already underway!  One birthday celebration down, two more to go.  Of course, there’s always time for The Hodgepodge, so here I am.  As always, thanks so much to our gracious hostess, Joyce.

1. Have you ever spent time on a farm?  Yes, I’ve spent a lot of time on a farm.  In fact, we live on [ part of] what used to be Ed’s family’s farm.

Tell us a little bit about it.  When I was a child, my maternal grandfather was a farmer, and I lived with my grandparents for quite a while.  Grandaddy grew cotton, tobacco, and pecans for the market, plus he grew vegetables for eating and canning.  He also raised cows, hogs, and chickens.  I loved farm life, except when it came time to send the animals to market.  That part of farming made me sad!  I’ve picked some cotton, and taken cured tobacco off the sticks, after it had been removed from the barn.  I always wanted to string green tobacco, for curing, but wasn’t old enough, at the time.  By the way, picking cotton, by hand, is hard, back-breaking, work that’s also tough on your hands.

When I met Ed, my future husband, I discovered his parents lived on a farm, too.  Ed’s daddy raised goats, cows, and, occasionally, chickens.  He still grew vegetables for eating/canning, but, by then, he’d begun to lease out the bulk of his farm land to a neighbor.  The neighbor farmer grew corn, soybeans, or cotton on the family farm until Ed’s mama passed away about four years ago.  Ed and I grow a garden every year.

Me, in the last field of cotton grown on the farm

Have you ever grown your own pumpkin?  Ed and I have tried to grow pumpkins in our garden on a couple of different occasions.  We weren’t successful.  The vines grew, but the pumpkins did not!

Been on a hayride?  Yes, a few times, usually with a grandchild. Driven a tractor?  Yes, a few times.  (I have a very old picture of myself on my father-in-law’s tractor, but it hasn’t been scanned to the computer yet.) Milked a cow? I tried, but wasn’t successful.

2. What’s something younger you would like about you now?  I think she’d like the fact that I’ve been able to live the life she used to dream about while growing up.  That dream was all about becoming a good wife and mother, having a stable, uncomplicated family life, and always being able to keep the bills paid on time.  Thanks to the good Lord and a good husband, my dream came true!

3. What are three things you’d like to do more often? Three things you’d like to do less often?  I’d like to be able travel a little more often, visit with friends/family more often, and have the energy to deep clean my house.  I wish I’d get sick/tired less often, have to go to the dentist/doctor less often, and I wish I’d get hungry a little less often!

4. What’s on your nachos?

Sometimes, only cheese.  Other times, I’ll make a taco salad on top of them or cover them with taco soup.

5. What’s the most random thing in your purse or wallet?   The most random thing in my purse is probably a miniature screwdriver.

Does it need to stay there?  Yes, it does need to stay there in case one of the legs of my glasses gets loose or falls off.

Random:

I’m trying to rest and get over a very busy weekend.  Ed and I went to play Bingo  on Friday night, along with some of our family.

 3 generations, playing Bingo together

Then on Saturday morning we helped with our church’s “Feed the Sheep” ministry, went on a brief out-of-time shopping trip, afterward, then celebrated our daughter’s 39th birthday with family, on Saturday evening.

our birthday girl  

Sunday morning we went back to church for a fellowship breakfast before the morning worship service, and back to church on Sunday night for evening services.

On Monday we went out-of-town, again, to visit our long-time friends, Herman and Diane.  Herman will be having the second of two neck surgeries, this morning.  The recovery process of the first surgery has been very difficult for him.  I’m praying this second one will be easier.

Living In High Cotton…

Standing in the cotton field

 

Yep, you could say that we are currently living in “high cotton”!  No, we are not rich–the term”high cotton” is sometimes used in the south to describe a “well to do person”.   Instead,  we are living behind one of the largest fields of cotton that I have ever seen in my life!  I am telling you–this cotton is huge! 

Originally, the family farm consisted of a house, about an acre of yard, and 29 acres of farmland.  Over the years, several members of the family have taken small pieces of the field and established our homes on them.  The bulk of the field is still located in the middle of all of our residences.  My husband and I, hubby’s brother and his wife, and our daughter and her family all live on the back side of the field.  My mother-in-law’s house, and my oldest son’s residence are located on the front side of the property. 

Ed’s daddy originally farmed the land for many years.  Eventually, he began to lease the land out for farming.  Through the years we’ve had a variety of farm crops grown in front of us.  Back in the day, corn used to be the crop of choice, then later rye and soybeans took its place.  Last year the farmer planted peanuts–for the first time since we’ve been living here (33 years).  This year we are experiencing another first time crop–cotton!  

a young cotton blossom

 

a more mature cotton blossom

 

 I was thrilled when I discovered that cotton was growing in front of us!  If you have to look at something the entire summer, it helps if you like the crop.  The bushes are very pretty, and they are covered with two different colors of blossoms!  Even the leaves are shaped pretty.  Later, when the bush withers and dies, it will still be covered with those beautiful white bolls of cotton.  I think fields of cotton are beautiful in autumn, so I will be eagerly anticipating the fall!  It’s been years since I’ve picked a boll of cotton, I think I’ll have to go out and pick one to keep.  This may well be the last year that anything is grown in the field.  Sadly, things are changing here on the family farm.. 

 

In addition to my regular post, I am linking up with Java at http://www.nevergrowingold.blogspot.com for ‘Meet Me On Monday”.  It’s a chance for  bloggers to get to know one another a little bit better. 

1. What is your favorite kind of doughnut?  My regular readers probably already know the answer to this question…I love those large, bakery-fresh doughnuts that my hubby brings home from work–the ones covered with chocolate and nuts!
  

2. How often do you pray? I don’t pray nearly as often as I ought to, but I try to pray at least once daily.
  

3. What is your favorite kind of music?  I love all kinds of music, excluding rap (which I don’t consider music), but I generally listen to country music most of the time.
  

4. What do you order when you eat Chinese food?  I don’t care for Chinese food, I’ve only eaten it twice.
  

5. Would you rather snowboard in the winter or swim in the summer?  Well, since I live deep in the south, I’d have to say swim in the summer.  I’ve never experienced much snow…and I don’t think I could or would snowboard in winter, even if we had enough snow.