The Garden

GREETINGS!


One day last week we planted our "garden". There are 9 tomato plants of various varieties and 4 kale plants. The tomatoes are Lemon Boy, Beefsteak, Early Girl (I think) and a Cherokee Heirloom. I can't wait for the Cherokee one to mature; the fruit is a deep purple / black when ripe. Should be a real taste treat.

The reason we have so may tomato plants is we are hoping at least 2 or 3 make it through the wind and rain storms, not to mention through the wild critters. Last year we think an Armadillo dug up one of our plants! I've never grown kale, so am anxious to see how that goes. I love it - way better than spinach!

Since Saturday we have had about 15+ inches of rain and more is forecast for the next couple of days. The thunder and lightening and rain and wind is unreal. I'm amazed that the plants have survived it so far. Keep my maters in your prayers! :)


These two following pictures are of the paddle cactus we found kind of out in the brush in the back/side yard. I cleared out around them some and was amazed to see all the new starts coming along the edges. I'm hoping to build some kind of a rock garden around them and put in some other succulents. Lord knows we have plenty of rocks, boulders, etc.!!






That's all for tonight. I hope this finds you all well, and drier than we are! We can't even get to town for the flooding roads. Our gravel road has washed completely out where the "creek" crosses it. We are waiting for the county to come and repair it. But I guess we should count our blessings in that we have avoided a tornado; thank you for that Lord.

Until next time, take care and God Bless.

Good Friday 2010

GREETINGS!

I hate to admit this, but Easter/Resurrection Day really sneaked up on me this year. I think it was this past Monday - the 18th - when I discovered when Easter was! Shame on me. Maybe it's because it is really late this year. At any rate, it is one of my favorite religious holidays. Where would we be without God sacrificing His only Son for us, and forgiving us all our sins. I love it. My favorite greeting on Easter Sunday is "He is Risen!" and to hear in response, "He is Risen indeed!"

And maybe because of this holy season, I decided to do devotionals during the week from 10:00 to 10:30 a.m. I started in the book of James around Ch.18 or so, and read the crucifixtion story -- again. What a great place to start.


Now, what do these pictures have to do with Easter you ask? Well, on Palm Sunday Jesus rode a donkey into town. So the story goes. So I thought you might like to see my donkeys again! :)


This is - left to right- me, Eyeore and Jenny

 

This is Eyeore getting his treat - either peppermint or apple.

 

Eyeore is trying to tell me it's a curry comb in my hand, and he'd really like to have a combing! Providing I can figure out what to do with it.

 

And this is Jenny getting her treat. She is still kind of skittish, but getting better.

 

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I hope that each and every one of you have a Blessed Easter. And before the eggs and rabbits and candy (if you tolerate that stuff) take time to give praise to our God and His son, Jesus Christ. Enjoy your holiday meal.

Until next time, take care and God Bless.

Our Sunday Drive

GREETINGS!

Yesterday we took a Sunday drive; something we used to do quite often, but hadn't in a while. It was so good to get out and see some surrounding countryside. We did over 160 miles!

These first few pictures are of Lake Eufaula, which is really a big resort and private lake homes area here in Oklahoma. The lake has 600 miles of shore line and 102,000 surface acres. It is on the Canadian River; it is the largest lake in Oklahoma and the 15th largest lake in the U.S.A.


This picture - above- is on the "Dam Road" and was just before we crossed the dam. That is the river area.


This picture -above- is in front of the dam. And what I could see (and the picture) is just the tip of the iceberg so to speak!


This picture -above- is one part of the lake separated by a one lane bridge going in to a little "town" called Porum Landing. The one below is the other side of the bridge.



The following pictures I took out the window of the van as we were traveling along. The road offered a beautiful view of the hills and trees of the surrounding area.









We stopped along the way in the "big city" of McAlester and had lunch at Wendy's. Also went to Lowe's and bought some paint to do the shower walls in the guest bathroom as they were all yellow from the old water. And got a big bag of planting dirt so we can get some tomatoes in the ground - or pots! All in all, it was a great afternoon. I hope we do it more often, but that depends on gas prices!!

Be sure to thank the Lord for your blessings. Until next time take care and God Bless you.

TA DA!! WATER IS HERE

GREETINGS!

It's official! As of 5:53 p.m. yesterday evening we were hooked up to, and using, "city" water. It took awhile to get the old salty well water out of the pipes and hot water tank, but we are good to go today! There is lots more pressure and the morning shower was divine. I've been busy scrubbing faucets and sinks and shining stuff up; emptying the water cooler on the counter and getting some badly needed counter space. Life is good.



And this is a picture of the New Orleans Gumbo I made this past week. I've never made or eaten gumbo before, so it was a fun project. I loved it! The recipe was in the Feb/Mar issue of my Simply Delicious magazine and used chicken, kielbasa and shrimp, along with canned tomatoes and seasonings. I even used the Cayanne pepper and it was very good. I used instant wild rice for the rice and with the onions, celery and garlic it was delicious! I will definitely make it again.

That's all I have for today. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Until next time, take care and God Bless.

Fort Gibson, Oklahoma

GREETINGS!

I am finally getting around to sharing my pictures of Fort Gibson, OK. If you are at all interested in history I think you will enjoy them and hopefully will search for other sites to learn more.

Fort Gibson was built/opened in 1824. It's purpose was to keep peace between the newly arrived Western Cherokees and the established Osage Indians. The fort was an ending destination for 1000's in the Trail of Tears. In 1861 the Confederate troops evacuated the fort and it became a Union headquarters until 1865. In 1890 the fort was closed.

The above is a very short synopsis of the history. For more pertinent information google Fort Gibson, OK.

This is of course the official marker of Fort Gibson.










This is an outside view of the back of one of the "barracks". Of interest to me was the tower at the end -- just like the sets you see in movies, etc.




This is a cannon out in the middle of the "parade grounds", which I'm sure in the 1800's was all dirt, not grass.




This is either a well or a cistern, located outside the only two-story building in the square. There are 4 buildings forming the square enclosure of the Fort, with the center being the "parade" grounds.




These next two pictures show one of the three (3) barracks. One being just a view of one of the rooms in the one barrack. The rooms were set up for from 2 to 4 soldiers with a desk besides the bunks. Very interesting.




I think there were 8 or 10 "separate" rooms in each barrack. You can take a tour and go in all 90 (I think it was) rooms of the Fort. I did not do that!


So, history lesson completed. It was very interesting to me. I hope it peaks your interest and you have fun with it. Until next time, take care and God bless.

Water is Almost Within Reach

GREETINGS!

Here it comes! Ronnie on the big backhoe digging the ditch and Tom on the tractor covering up the ditch after the pipe is laid. In this picture Ronnie is coming towards the house from across the field.









I think at this point the ditch splits and goes down to Tom's house and over to our place. So there is some kind of valve to direct the water - when it comes - to both houses.





More of the same. It's hard to believe that in the not too far future you won't be able to tell how this was all dug up. The total feet of ditches is over 2000. That's coming from up the road, down along our neighbors property line and then on this property to the houses.



We were supposed to have "city" water by this Friday, but after the big thunder and lightening and hail/rain storm Sunday night, it will be a little later. The ditches have to dry out some I guess, and we have to wait for the city to come turn the main valve and do whatever else they have to do. Seems strange to me that the guys are doing it themselves with no help from the city - except for 500 feet of pipe. I guess that's country living for you!



Here is where it will come into our house. I'm so anxious for this: no more salty showers, salt collecting on my scalp, spots on my dishes, my whites turning yellow, the bathroom fixtures staining yellow/brown/gold, etc. It'll be just like uptown!

So cross your fingers and say a prayer that it stays halfway dry and there are no problems and we get hooked up soon. This will be a red letter day I tell ya! The donkeys will be happier too.

Until next time, take care and God Bless.

Another Week Gone

GREETINGS!

Well, the calendar says that Spring is here; and the weather today was more like summer! It is now 82 outside and it is 8:00 p.m. Tomorrow is going to be another very warm, humid day as well. But back to Spring: The time for planting tomatoes. Ronnie just had to have one of these topsy turvy tomato planters so I obliged him and bought one. He got a tomato plant and a pepper plant and proceeded to "plant" them and hang the contraption on the corner of the front porch. If you look carefully, you might see a half dead tomato plant coming out the bottom, and the dead? pepper plant on the side. He says he probably over-watered them. I say the darned things don't work no matter what! I'm going to plant my heirloom tomato in the raised bed with a cage around it to keep the Armadillo's out! :)


Some time back I wrote about trying to fix my electric golf cart and get it back in to running order. Well, I found it needed at least one new battery (at over $100 ea.) so I gave up on that. We took it to a place that sells carts and they gave us $75 for it; which was better than nothing, besides getting rid of it. I then started looking for a riding lawn mower without the blade deck. And lo and behold, I found one on Craigs List. This is it, in all its red glory.

It's a Troy Bilt, so I assumed it was a good brand. The young man wanted $150 and I offered $125 and we had a deal. It has a 22 amp motor (or some such) which is quite big for a mower I'm told. Anyway, Ronnie got it running just great and I was putting all over the yard; down to my brother's new place, out to the donkeys, pulling the little trailer for hauling branches, etc. Loved it. Then it got very low on gas and Ronnie filled it up; which was a horrendous mistake! Something sucked that whole tank of gas up through the engine and out the front. Now it will still run, but it sends out smoke like it's on fire! I'm beginning to think I'm not meant to have ground transportation up here in the Oklahoma hills! :) Maybe at some point when Ronnie has nothing to do, he will take it apart and see if he can fix it. I can only hope.

The other thing I wanted to share was how I used to just hate to cook/fix dinner. Seemed I couldn't think of things to make, and didn't really have any ambition to cook. Well, then I was reading a blog - Homemaking on the Homestead - and saw where she posted her menu for the month. I decided that was a great idea and proceeded to make a monthly menu too. I used some of her ideas and recipes, some from my Simply Delicious magazine and some from the Better Homes & Gardens magazine and some from my old cookbook that I hadn't made in years. I'm telling you, it surely makes a difference! I enjoy cooking now, grocery shopping seems easier and even Ronnie likes the idea! So if you are having similar trouble, try the menu idea.

Now, I think I'm all caught up with the stuff I've been doing for about the last 2 months. I've still got my trip to the Fort to share though; will get to it soon. I hope you all have a blessed weekend. Until next time, take care and God bless.
P.S. If the blue characters still show up I'm sorry. Don't know what I do wrong.