I'll Spare You the Tears

We’ve hung our flag outside - off our front porch - despite all the rain.  Nothing can stop me on this day - when I want to find even the least bit way to send a “ Thank You - I’m thinking of you. “

Hubby had to work this holiday - of course.  Hence - I’ve remained at home with the pups.  Yet - I refused to let this weekend go by without reaching out to find current members of our military and make sure they know that I appreciate their personal decision to - literally - commit their life to serving in protecting my own.

One of the negative aspects I’m discovering while going through therapy at this time is that mountains of compressed pain are beginning to - flake loose - from deep inside me.  I kid you not - there are television commercials that can even break the dam wide open.  And there I go - floating in tears - " dog-paddling " for tissue.

This makes it difficult for me to even say - “ Hello ! “ - even more frustrating - having the fun I guess I’ll always wish I could do - with randomly walking up and just hugging every military member that enters my eyesight when I’m out in public.

Oh - I have made numerous attempts.  It’s backfired - in one way or another.  I’ve pissed off wives standing next to - or - nearby.  Or - the worst - I’ve broken down into some sobbing freak that looks like she’s having a complete meltdown.

I have family members that served in the military.  And truth is - I wouldn’t even be capable of  sharing a dry and pleasant greeting full of smiles and hugs with them today.  Isn’t that just pitiful!!

You’d think I could - at the very least - muster up a little bit of emotion.

I know!  It’s scary!  And I feel so horrible for everyone - especially my poor husband.  He loves me.  He has to stand there in support of me - while I purge all this embarrassment down his throat!

So for the sake of everyone -

Every current member of our military - AND their families -
For every surviving Veteran of our Armed Forces - AND their families -
And every surviving family member of each and every single fallen military hero ever having served for this country -

I want to just tell everyone of you - right here and now…

It could never be enough to simply say - “ Thank You. “  It will never be enough - but - “ Thank You. “

Please know that- as the family of this household goes on with chaos and mayhem reigning our daily lives - thoughts of you - and gratitude for you - are woven right in with the mix.

You are just as much a part of our family.  And you are loved. 

Grow Baby Grow!

Attempted to go out and clean up some weeds in my garden during Saturday.  Got as far as grooming my tomato plants.

The soil was too wet for weeding.

We’re dealing with mid-day thunderstorms developing all around us - daily.

You’d think Mother Nature would cut us a break by waiting until after this holiday weekend.

But then again - I can understand her being quite hormonal - going through a serious crying jag - after all the destruction BP has done to her excruciating efforts to keep the food chain healthy down in the Gulf Coast.

Those boys need a switch across their bare butts - after standing up out of a bathtub full of water!

An extra 12 hours per day, Please?

Oh, gosh.   I’m exhausted.  I’m sure Hubby went to work this morning feeling grateful for the relief he’ll get from being there.  How odd it can be - The difference between wearing out your brains - versus - wearing out your body.



Today is a day of domestic chores that will have my full attention.  And how weird it feels - for me to actually look so forward to what is - usually - my most despised mundane aggravation in my daily life.

However - Mother Nature’s requirements for owning the clock in the spring season have given me the fight of all fights in getting bits ‘n pieces done at a time.

I’ve been trying to prepare myself for a serious change in schedules around here - getting some kind of mental ‘list’ together for how to handle all this stuff around here as efficient as possible.  And - still - there is only one answer.

Cut out sleeping - period.  But if anybody can come up with a clone to help me - hey, I’m game.

Here, Fishy... Fishy

We had to get one more day of fishing in before Hubby heads back to work.  He gets a final round on Day shift before we switch to graveyard shift - once again.

The gorgeous day we've had today began with Mother Nature sharing some beautiful scenery!  This is the first time I’ve seen wild Rhododendrons that were pink.  Usually - you find white blooms.  So - this was a nice surprise!

Isn’t  he gorgeous!  It was so cool watching him fly to that rock.  He has a beard of feathers that hang like a curtain - much prettier than you find on a male Turkey.  He sat there with the most incredible amount of patience.  I’ll bet time passed beyond an hour when - all of a sudden - he darted for the center of the water and headed back to the rock - with a shad in his beak.

This - became comical.  All we wanted to do was sit in some shade and catch crappie.  ( And yes - you are seeing some of the hook through that 'see-through' mouth. )

Apparently - it was too much to ask for.

Dwayne had a pole baited for the bottom.  And wouldn’t ya’ know it.  The spot was taken - with a very hungry nest full of babies.

( And Butt-Ugly babies that only their mother could love, too.  Just sayin'... )

After catching the seventh of two different kinds of species - which Hubby calls ‘Kissin’ Cousins’ - we finally headed for another spot.

( Don't know why anybody would wanna kiss these brats.  They've got teeth. )

Carlie insisted on volunteering to help me demonstrate the reason why I have to stop wearing my flip-flops when I go fishing - already.

Actually - both of us got toasted today - besides catching a few nice crappie.  And besides me losing a nice smallmouth bass - AND - a monstrous black crappie.  Dangit.  But I still had fun!

My Kind of War Between the North and The South

About last night - it was - well - a full night!

Last night - I drove my husband plum nuts.  And - I can’t say it was in such a - good way - that I would - otherwise impose.

We went out on what men would consider to be - a Chick Date - I guess.  I say that because of the following.

Unlike the pissing and moaning I could have done - like - when we went fishing at Reelfoot Lake - and my kidneys ended up bruised from sitting in a John Boat for a few days - in the middle of a 12 foot deep shallow lake - that maintained white caps - the whole time - I discovered my husband is one of those men that piss and moan over the petty little snags that can happen during - Chick Dates.

It’s just different - as far as they’re concerned - when it doesn’t include fishing hooks - stink bait - gunpowder - or - Camo.

Actually - to an extent - it did include gunpowder.  But first - we had to make a little drive to get there.  For everybody familiar with the Texas Gulf Coast area - it was like driving from Galveston - to Spring - in the middle of the afternoon commute.

And we had to park way in the back - and walk.  I wore heels.

And we - both - had to go pee when we got there.  Oh, C'mon - everybody does that!  Even all the hoards of people herding into the joint!  But - I compromised.  I was fair.  I kept our place in line and let him go first.

Yep!  We hit Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee!

And I don’t care what complaints my husband may have - I have no qualms about telling on him.  He did a lot of smiling - laughing - oooohing - and aaaahing.  Okay - well - maybe not the oooohing and  aaaahing.  More like - “ That was pretty cool ! “

There are signs that say not to use cameras.  The flash on cameras can/will cause nightmares.

Do the math - 1096 human beings eating dinner with their fingers - livestock animals - loud speakers - fireworks.  Put all that together with one more thing - like - cameras flashing all around the joint.

Smart people go ahead and use their cameras - because they know how to use them - and they shut off the flash!

And thank God!  Because tails even come up for - special events - without cameras flashing.  Even while human beings are eating - with their fingers.

There was so much going on - while we ate.  The entire show was packed full of furious fun and entertainment!

I was lucky to get any shots - period.  I mean - my hands were dealing with Creamy Vegetable Soup - Roasted Cornish Game Hen - Smoked Pork Tenderloin - Biscuit - Corn on the Cob - Baked Potato Half with Herbs - and iced tea in a canning jar - most of the time!  My most favorite was the fried Apple pies - made with Philo pastry!!

But don’t feel sorry for me.  I got to eat my dinner while it was hot - unlike a few others.

Feel sorry for these grown adults - on stick horses - some from the North - some from the South - refreshing minds about the war between the North and the South.

And the kids that were yanked out of their seats to chase chickens in a race. ( But they did get something else really - really special - from Dolly!  Books - from her Imagination Library Program ! )

Oh, there was the young lady that kept disappearing out of barrels on wagons that were running around - like the shell game.  She was afraid of horses.  But she managed to jump from one wagon to another so fast that I couldn’t even get a blurry picture of her!

There was so much competition - and it was fun!  I didn't even manage to catch half of it all in photos.  Believe it or not - the South won most of the races and competition on this particular night!

And some of that competition was real - these guys were current logger competitors from around the country!

They helped with the part about when the west was won - later - down the road in history.

And this guy - Skeeter - he was all over the place!  And he was hilarious!

It was so awesome!  It was educational!  It was entertaining - exciting - and included interaction with all of us while we were eating dinner!

And even before all of that…

Guess who came to say hello and sing a song for us during the Pre-Show!

This was a special weekend for Dolly Parton.  All the proceeds collected this weekend from The Dixie Stampede - Splash Country - and Dollywood are being donated to help flood victims from the storms that hit Tennessee during the first week of this month!

I was so overwhelmed!  I got to enjoy spending a few minutes sitting in the same room with Dolly Parton - listening to her sing.  I love to listen to her sing!!!

And for the very last photo - I’m gonna pull a stunt.

GO!  Make plans and - Just DO IT!

Flowers - Dolly - Standing on Promises

We have been so swamped around here.  Both of us went to bed last night feeling like somebody beat the tar out of us.

Hubby got the tractor running and had a little fun yesterday evening.  Boys and their toys!  He used the Bush Hog to go around the hay field and cut my trail.  After that - he used the box blade to clean up the drive way.  Feels so much better - now that all the rock is no longer spilling out onto the road.

Besides running a bunch of errands in Lenoir City - I brought home four more bags of potting mix.

I love Cyclamen.  I have two of these galvanized buckets - so I planted both of them this way - and set them up on our front porch.

However - the effort is proving to be more of an experiment.  The potting soil was soaking wet - as were the plants.

I’m hoping our temps will allow all to dry fairly enough to avoid root rot.

I also caved in and brought home a French Lavender plant and one Anaheim Pepper plant.

We liked Jaimie Oliver’s idea of using that pepper - rather than Jalapeno - in his Pico De’ Gallo recipe.  Figured I’d go ahead and grow my own.

And for the first time ever - I’m gonna try growing “ Bird House Gourds “ out in the veggie garden.  I have absolutely no idea which gourds they’re talking about!  But that’s the exact description they gave!  They’ll be allowed to grow on the fence.  And I think it’ll be fun to see what happens - period!

I managed to find more Florence Fennel, too.  Made the mistake of trusting Carlie - too much - when I put the first one on my patio table.  You’d think a gopher had ripped me off.  Only the pot and dirt were left by the time she finished destroying the poor thing!

I bought this Miniature Red Rose plant at a grocery store - the year before we bought this place.  Stuck it in the ground last year.  It didn’t seem too happy at the time.  It still looks funny.  But it’s kicking out blooms left and right!

The Azalea bush is blooming absolutely beautifully.  I am so surprised!  It must be one tough bush - considering it put up with Dwayne digging holes in the middle of its claimed area for rooting.

The roof is finished on the “ Chicken Hotel ” and ready for interior construction!  But Hubby and I have plans today for taking off to help Dolly Parton with her efforts to raise funds for flood victims from the storms that hit a few weeks ago.

I really don’t think people quite understand the impact and the damage that’s been done.  And a lot of that may come from the fact that folks in the " Volunteer State " tend to play it up low-key when it comes to their own trials and tribulations.

But - to sum things up in one sentence and compare the situation is fair to say it this way.

All the damage done during Hurricane Katrina - is equal to what happened in Tennessee - within less than 24 hours - without any warning.

It was an event of destruction that nobody expected.  And I pray that God brings healing and restoration to those that lost so much because of the storms - especially those that lost loved ones.

I love this song in the video I'm posting!  It fits.  Alan Jackson does a wonderful job - of course!  But this is one of the songs that remind me of heartfelt memories treasured from Sundays spent at Friends Church in Texas City, Texas - a wonderful little Quaker church that a handful of folks once enjoyed!   Brother Selleck and his wife - Edith.  Mrs. Selleck was my Sunday School teacher!

Help Nashville Flood Victims

Eggs for Highway " Idjits " - Coming Up!

Construction on the chicken coop has resumed over the past couple of days.  I’ve come to the conclusion - it looks more like a  - Chicken Hotel.

This was the area we chose for placement.

This is the base of the structure - which we had to leave as is - until we got the Veggie garden planted.

The framing had already been constructed.  But we’d had to keep it stored in the basement until Dwayne could continue working on it.

He’ll be making the door.  Windows have been set into the framing.  However - we’re waiting to cut them out until we get a few more bucks under our belt.

UPS had to deliver a couple packages to the house yesterday.  This would be the vision of $1,150.00 worth of parts.

One for the tractor - one for the pickup.  The tractor only ate up about $150.00 - of course.  The other would be the fuel injection pump - no thanks to the jerk in front of us - that decided to try stopping traffic on the highway - during our return from Georgia with the tractor/trailer behind us.

Noooo... it wasn't the first " Idjit " - it was the second one.

And so - our plate is full at the moment.  Alright - like it always is.

We’re trying to get two vehicles up and running - without worries.

Have a chicken coop to finish.

The daily routine out in the garden is calling - and of course - Mother Nature laughs - while she spreads out monstrous thunderstorms with no fair time in between for drying out the soil.

I’ve - yet - been able to make it to my Blackberry patch to finish weeding that poor puppy.

Compost needs to be spread under our Red Dogwood tree.

The mowing has picked up to - every day we get a chance with having the grass being able to dry out by mid-afternoon.  I could really fall in love with the new tractor.  So could the - much smaller - John Deere Tractor Mower.

The dogs are already due for the next bath.  We now go through six ( 6 ) towels for two dogs.  But we did buy that Furminator - for Carlie.  We love it!  Can’t speak for Carlie.  But - we love it!

And the latest - " Da Ta Daaaa ! " - it’s time to buy chicks.

I’ll be making a trip to Wally World after my appointment with my therapist in the morning.  Among a few other supplies - two plastic kiddie pools will be coming home with me.

One for the chicks - one for Carlie.  Ta!

Maybe - just maybe - it’ll help her cool her jets down a little - and bring some calm to the hyper wench!

I know.  But I can hope - can’t I?

And We Shall Eat - Squatters!

Things around our place are coming along.  The garden is doing okay.  Of course - once the vegetable plants begin growing really well - the weeds follow.

( The lighter green would be - carrots. )

And when there’s a bunch of rain - weeds seem to enjoy racing the plants.  I think they know that their butt is covered.

( Squash - I think this one is Butternut squash. )

They know we’re not gonna get out there and mess with ‘em - because we’ll tear up the soil.

The tomatoes have reminded me that I need to order the clips for supporting them on the wire.  They’re doing well enough that we’re needing to run another row of wire between all the poles.

Our pole beans are preparing their first stretch for grabbing hold and climbing!

The potatoes seem to be as tough and bull-headed as Carlie. No matter how much dirt you cover the plants with - they rise above and shine like this within a couple of days!

The bush beans - I planted them closer to each other in their rows this year - according to directions.  I’m hoping they’ll all be able to offer more support for each other.  Last year - they were spread out further - fewer plants - and became top heavy.  They were already falling over the sides of the hills before the blooms even appeared.

The onions seem to be perfectly happy!  We do have a couple of them that had their tops cut off by something.  I’ve gone ahead and hilled more dirt over them.  If we get lucky - they’ll go ahead and form new tops - and keep growing.

Now this mess.  This was my compost bin - last year.  This year - I had squatters move in and take over!

Look closely.  Volunteer tomato plants sprouted.  They’re already over a foot tall.  Considering the fact that they’ve shown up in the middle of the very type of wire I have always begged Hubby to let me use for tomatoes - I blew off using the spot for compost.  We’ll just see what happens!

These would be - sunflowers.  I grew two different kinds last year.  So - I have no idea which ones they will turn out to be.

It's said - “ When life hands you lemons - make lemonade. “

In this case - I consider this as getting back at Mother Nature.  I’ll have tomatoes - and I didn’t have to do a damn thing to make it happen!