Happenings on the Homestead in the Appalachian Mountains

 

Weekend Coffee Share

Hello there Adventurous Friends & Family, greetings from Georgia. How you doing? The orange butterfly flowers are blooming in the backyard. The butterflies love them. We can see the flowers out the kitchen window. The bugs, rabbits & birds have been bad in the gardens this year. I made a version of that chia seed pudding I've seen going around on the internet. I topped mine with strawberries from out of the garden & drizzled it with chocolate. The drizzle was more of a blob. The strawberries are what gave it flavor. I ended up adding blackberries when the strawberries were gone. It was good & filling, I'll be making it again. I went swimming this week & ate birthday cake. Kevin went fishing & caught some good looking yellow perch. He cooked a mess for supper & the rest went into the freezer. He replaced the fuel pump in the side by side & we're ready to ride when I get back from the beach. Grab a coffee or your favorite beverage, we'll walk around in the gardens then we'll sit on the porch for a spell before it gets too hot. The temperatures are supposed to get in the upper 80s next week, maybe into the 90s here in north Georgia.

Ok, here we go. These are my
walking around out in the
yard shoes. 

The creek is running good. We've
had several good rains recently.
We have a little pump to pump
water from the creek to water
the gardens when needed.

    

The begonias & fern are pretty together. Moma
gave me a start of these. They are doing
good here beside the creek. They get morning
 sun then are in the shade most the
rest of the day.

Kevin picked up a couple packs of lily bulbs at the dollar store. They turned out quite beautiful here with the donkey. If you haven't heard the story behind the donkey yet, I'll tell the short version right quick. Kevin was given this rusty old donkey as somewhat of a joke. He cleaned it up, painted it & now it's quite the handsome fellow in the flower gardens.

Daisies

The swimming hole.

   

The tadpole pond. Kevin has a red clay
source. He just hasn't got around to
getting it yet, to see if we can get this
thing to hold water & be something
better to look at.

The different colors of daylilies
are blooming.

                

The phlox have been pretty. Iris doesn't
seem to be bothered that her kittens are gone.
  The new owners named the kittens Bobby &
Miss Maggie. I got the turtles as a retirement
 gift. I move them around for Grands to find.

I call this a snowball bush but
I think it's supposed to be 
hydrangea. Last year it was
 loaded with snowballs.

    

We're not sure if this pampas grass
 is going to make it or not. It looks
like it's only going to have 1 blade
 of grass this year. There is some of
this grass near the road going to
town, it's not doing any good this
year either.

Kevin scratched up this little
garden space on the edge of the 
property down by the creek.
Last year he planted broom corn
& it did good. This year he planted
 squash, pumpkins & tators. The
rabbits have ate most the plants.

        

The birds are eating the blueberries.

Kevin picked a bowl full. We made
muffins & the rest went in the
freezer.

The fenced raised bed garden is protected from the rabbits & deer but not the birds & bugs. The grape vines are loaded with tiny grape clusters just starting to grow.  The tomato & pepper plants are still looking good. The radishes are gone, we ate them up. We're still getting lettuce, spinach & onions. The onions are a little bigger now.

The bugs are eating on the okra.

Cherry tomatoes

The blackberries are starting to 
come in. Have some, if you see
any ripe ones. They are so sweet.
These are thornless blackberry
 bushes so we can pick without
getting all scratched up.

Look at that morning glory
bloom hiding back there. This 
is the tall stump flower bed in
front of the house. 

    

The summer garden flag is out.
We're celebrating the 4th of July
all summer long.

Every garden path leads back to the porch,
a place for pondering about finding 
joy in the simple things.

 

The little poinsettia from Christmas is
still surviving. A few years ago, I
kept one till May. This is a new
poinsettia PR for me.

Happy 5th Birthday to
Grand Gracie.

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how has your week been? Go out & have a wonderful weekend.

Yellow perch

Chia pudding

Happenings on the Homestead in the Appalachian Mountains

 

Weekend Coffee Share

Hello there Adventurous Friends & Family, greetings from Georgia. How you doing? The astilbes put on a show for us this week in the gardens. Congrats to all the graduates, best wishes for new adventures ahead. We went on a Jeep ride & ate at Taco Bell. I like their nachos bellgrande with lettuce added, though it has lots of carbs for me that is supposed to be eating low carb & low sugar. Kevin likes their regular burritos & tacos. I read that the crunchwrap supreme is their best-selling menu item nationwide. I might give it a try next time. We made another strawberry pie & should have blackberries here in a few days. I helped host a Summer Kickoff Splash Blast for Grands & Daycare Friends, celebrated Grand's birthday & went to the last baseball game of the season. Kevin had a little job this week replacing all the screws on a metal roof. He said it took right at 1000 screws. He got a deal at the hardware store on some hinges he needed for building a fold out nightstand in the camper. The 6 hinges rung up as $58.12. They were in the $1 bin, a clearance on discontinued hinges & pulls, so the actual cost was $6.48. They do penny rounding up, so the total was $6.50 a savings of $47.94 according to the receipt. Grab a coffee or your favorite beverage & I'll tell you what wildflowers we saw blooming this week, then I'm off to Grand's dance recital & Daycare Friend's birthday pool party this weekend.

Meet Oreo, one of the newest additions
to Grand's homeschool pet project. Oreo
is a guinea pig.

Waiting for game time. Football &
cheer have already started with
 signups & uniform fittings.

He ended up getting hit by
the ball & taking a base. 

The lady slippers surprised us
by blooming early this year, as
quickly as they arrived, their 
blooms are gone, a reminder
to slow down & appreciate
nature's beauty while it's here.

      

Fire Pinks

             

Spirea

             

      

Happy 19th Birthday to Grand Chandler.

 

12 years ago on his 7th birthday.

Lemonade popsicle drinks.

      

It feels like summer.

Splashing & laughing.

Grands caught tadpoles back
 in March. It takes 6 to 16 weeks
 for them to turn into frogs.

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how has your week been? Go out & have a wonderful weekend.

Happenings on the Homestead in the Appalachian Mountains

Weekend Coffee Share

Hello there Adventurous Friends & Family, greetings from Georgia. How you doing? Our Memorial Day weekend was mostly quiet. It rained on & off the whole weekend. The garden needed the water. Kevin got a turn with the stomach bug. I've been watching the Sweet Magnolias series again on Netflix. There's a new Season coming out in a couple weeks. Kevin is still waiting on the 02 sensor to put on the side by side. He worked in the garden a lot this week & made us several nice salads. The okra is coming up & we made a pie. Grab a coffee or your favorite beverage & tell me about your holiday weekend then I'm going to make June birthday cards & get ready for a Summer Kickoff Splash Blast. I'm making lists, gathering up stuff & need to go to the dollar store & the grocery store sometime this weekend.

Kevin's parents & 2 of our Grandbabies.

I met Daughter at the cemetery for 
decoration & a picnic. That's an AI
 data center being built down there.

  

Pretty colored orange &
purple flowers on Kevin's
grandparent's grave.

I took Grands to the lake, found this
at the water's edge.

  

The splash pad is open.

Cookies were made & lots
of the dough was eaten. 

  

America-opoly

The daylilies are blooming.

  

Kevin picked the strawberries & cut 
them up. I made the filling.

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how has your week been? Go out & have a wonderful weekend.

Happenings on the Homestead in the Appalachian Mountains

 

Weekend Coffee Share

Hello there Adventurous Friends & Family, greetings from Georgia. How you doing? Whooooo's ready for summer? We're having a rainy weekend, of course we are, the rodeo is in town. Grands scored in the 90s % on their homeschool nationally standardized achievement test, Yay!  My Nana Grandjoy Camp Run-A-Muk theme this summer is owls. I've been getting stuff together for Beach Vacation, Christmas in June. Kevin has been putting strawberries & fish in the freezer & working on the side by side. We had a good ride with Son-in-Law & Grands. I'm just getting over a 24 hour bug that's making it's rounds, suspected to be that norovirus. Daughter got a bad case of it all of a sudden, ambulance had to come check her out. It was a scary few minutes there for a time. They mentioned symptoms sometimes lasts for hours, sometimes for days. Grab a coffee or your favorite beverage & I'll tell you how many owlets Moma owl had & wishing everyone a happy Memorial Day weekend as we enjoy our time together, this weekend marking the start of summer, remembering the meaning of the holiday - honoring the fallen soldiers who sacrificed for our freedom, thanking them that their bravery will never be forgotten. Also, it's decoration at the cemetery & we'll be visiting graves, placing flowers & remembering loved ones.

It was our 1st time riding at Windrock. Son-in-Law has rode it several times, so he was the leader & tour guide. The ride was a little faster pace than I like to ride, though that is usually how it is riding with a group. We put in about 45 miles. There were a few spots that were rougher than I like. Kevin says those spots make a ride challenging, exciting & fun. I got out & took pictures & did not ride over those too scary for me big challenging fun rocks. There were a few mishaps during the day, that's all part of it sometimes. There were 3 flat tires including a trailer tire 1st thing in the morning on the way. One of the side by side tires had 10 plugs put in it's gash & it held.  There were a couple of broke axles. Both Grands fell/jumped off their 4 wheelers. They were both ok & it was a good little learning experience. One kid playing in the mud, had to be winched out twice. Our check engine light came on near the end of the ride & the side by side went into limp mode. Kevin stopped & restarted several times & we were able to finish the ride. It was a fun day! Kevin checked the error codes on our side by side & has parts ordered. He is going to replace the 02 sensor, ceiling fan switch & the fuel pump. He did some rewiring of the lights & ceiling fan to get those wires up higher out of the way of water splashes that could cause short outs.

Son-in-Law's rig, he made crawling
over this rock look so simple.

3 owlets

I've got fun learning activities about owls planned for the summer with Grands - reading, arts, puzzles, games, crafts & dissecting owl pellets. Also, since it's the 250th 4th of July celebration this year, we're doing activities about states. America-opoly is on the list of games to play.

  

Food art owl.

Take a road trip go fish card game.

I stopped by the Veterans Memorial with Grands in honor of Memorial Day. 

Date night for these 2.
Oldest Grand & Wife.

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how has your week been? Go out & have a wonderful weekend.