Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

Well, our weekend didn't turn out quite the way I expected. Not that it was bad or anything just different from my expectations. Michael needed some time to relax and play. I on the other hand had a "honey do list" the size of Texas. As you can imagine, each of our wants and desires were on the opposite ends of the spectrum. I decided to submit to my husband's wants and needs and just go with the flow. We had a nice weekend with some production accomplished. We did not extract honey, but Michael did glance at the hives. He was very encouraged with what he saw. The front porches of the hives were covered in bees. This is a good sign. The honey extraction can wait a little longer. In fact, it may be good to let it wait a while.

I did get some canning done. I canned 6 more pints and 1 more quart of tomato sauce. Plus I tried a new recipe for Pickled Green Tomatoes. It is a side dish served with fish or beans. I am looking forward to trying it. My mom said they were wonderful so I figured if we don't like them then I could package the rest up as part of her Christmas present!

We picked green beans this weekend which was the big surprise for me. I didn't think they would be ready quite yet. That is the fun thing about gardening...you just never know what to expect. Our peppers are coming out of our ears. I have been busy freezing these for winter time use. We picked all of our watermelons today. They taste wonderful, but they are smaller than I expected. The okra is coming on strong. Yesterday we had chicken strips, mashed potatoes and gravy, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, and homemade biscuits for supper. And yes, we all washed it down with sweet tea! (Maybe that's why I am always walking the loop and never losing any weight)!

I weeded the bed of peas with our son. We had a nice time chatting while getting chores done. My big disappointment for the garden this weekend was that I wanted to till up the beds that we were done with so I could start planting fall crops. I also had wanted to transplant my baby seed/plants into bigger pots in the basement greenhouse. I guess I can move that all to next weekend. It really wasn't that pressing just something I had hoped to get done.

We ended up going back to the mountain stream for a playtime on Saturday afternoon. This was Michael's idea and you can well imagine that the children were thrilled. We had a wonderful time, and I enjoyed getting back up into the mountains very much.

On Friday evening, our second born son decided that he and a friend would go camping on our neighbor's farm. They asked permission from our neighbor and were granted permission. They quickly got their gear ready. I asked them what they were taking. From my perspective, it didn't look like much. I asked about the tent. I was informed by these two 13 year old boys that men didn't need to sleep in a tent. I then asked about sleeping bags...again real men didn't need sleeping bags. They were going to pile some pine branches up and make a bed. (I was thrilled that I wasn't camping with these "real men". I asked about food. They informed me that they would be catching their supper and cooking it over the fire. (Now, I was REALLY glad I wasn't camping with them)! They set off with Michael's sea bag filled with a tarp. (There wasn't any rain in the forecast. I personally would have chosen the sleeping bag over the tarp, but again I am not a "real man"). About 10:30 p.m., the phone rang. Joshua announced that they were headed home. I asked what was wrong. At this point, I was afraid that the real men had set the neighbor's woods on fire. They assured me all was well, but "it was H-A-R-D roughing it"!! They were hungry, tired, and wanted a bed. They came back home, ate a bite, and went to our pond to frog gig instead. Then they tucked themselves into a nice soft bed in the nice cool house. My new names for these two boys are Boone and Crockett. By the end of the weekend, they were responding to their new names well!

grace and peace,
julie