Garden vegetables, mostly

I know, our garden is just a teeny tiny garden and that's why my dream of filling the pantry shelves with jars and jars of canned vegetables never works out.   But we have certainly enjoyed a bounty of fresh vegetables for the table this summer...

Why, last summer the eggplant and bell pepper plants refused to grow; not even one pepper or one eggplant did I harvest. But look this year. This is the fourth big beautiful eggplant off just two plants, and I've been slicing and freezing the bell peppers. Aren't eggplants pretty!

Have plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers too. Most days I have a tomato sandwich for lunch or maybe a salad of just tomato, onion, and cucumber with a little Ranch dressing. 

Wish I could take credit for growing the corn but afraid not. The farmer that sells watermelons up the road also has a cornfield. We bought three dozen ears to put in the freezer. Need to be working on that instead of on the computer. Needed a little break. :)

Oh, and the green beans have been simply delicious. Don't know why I didn't get a picture. Guess we couldn't wait to get to the table once the cornbread was done and taking a picture was the furtherest thing from my mind. 

but you can see how big and healthy the vines are...hardly a speck of the wattle fence shows. 

Have been meaning to show you...

Dear friends, do you remember Wilder, the wild rabbit I raised three or four years ago? Well, he is still here! I find it hard to believe that he has survived all these years but Poppy says, "Mel, no wild rabbit is going to hop right up to your feet. This is Wilder"! This rabbit watches for me and actually comes up to me.  He recognizes my feed bucket. Wilder loves apple peelings. Sure makes me feel good.

Just got to show you how tall our sweet Ellie is getting...

Still not as tall as our big Eli but she is beginning to fill out and gain some weight. 

Eli patiently waiting for us. We should have named him Job. Seriously, You can say to Eli, "wait here a minute" and he will stand there and wait. There will never be another Eli!

Two sweetie pies!

Well, for sure you're bored and tired of all this. Thank you, if you are still here. :) I will leave you with the most recent  (taken tonight) picture of Eli and his bear...

Love,

Henny

 

Watermelons, Georgia, and catching up

We put two of the watermelons on the wood pile then cut one for the refrigerator...

 The farmer who lives on Hwy. 39 about 10 miles from us opened his roadside stand on July 4th. We've waited all summer for this. He grows these watermelons in a field  behind his house. These are the best! Big heavy sweet watermelons!

Remember way back when country folks, during the summertime, would keep a watermelon or two laying on the ground under a shade tree? Several years back Poppy and I went way down in Georgia...never seen such long country dirt roads...so I could meet some of his kin folk. Poppy's brother Joe and some of Joe's family drove down too.

After driving for miles and miles down a dirt road, we pulled into the driveway of Poppy's Uncle Bob and Aunt Weeda's home. They were not expecting us, so we visited in the yard. After a while Aunt Weeda said, "there's a watermelon over there under that shade tree y'all can cut if you want to".

I looked through an old picture album and found these two pictures...

Uncle Bob, Aunt Weeda, and cousin Johnny. All three have passed on now. 

and their little farm house. We didn't visit with them long, but went on to other places. There were miles and miles of old country roads Poppy wanted me to see. Poppy and his brothers and sisters were born in this little section of Georgia and would probably still be there if his Dad had not been killed in a truck accident. Poppy was four years old when his Mother packed them up, all five kids, and moved back to North Carolina, into a small two bedroom house next to her parents. 

Time sure flies, doesn't it! and the days are so busy...I've had dreaded doctor appointments, the garden to look after, and the dogs...

one being a big overgrown puppy who loves to tear up socks but she is such a sweetie pie. We've had dry weather, then all of a sudden a storm that drops five inches of rain in just a few hours...

and did you know that Guineas do not have sense enough to get out of the rain? See them in the bottom left corner of the above picture and sitting on the fence below...

There are more than enough shelters for them to get under but they refuse.

Shelby and I enjoyed the Bee Jubliee held in June...think it was the 26th?? Anyhow, here we are...

Don't know how in the world Shelby keeps all these jams and jellies made...and there were boxes and boxes stored behind us, plus she brought the usual baked goods. Shelby's goods are always a success. 

It was lots of fun and the best part was spending the day with Shelby...so much to talk about and so many good laughs. 

Oh my gosh! Here it is 9:45. Poppy will be headed this way, yawning and cutting out lights. Guess I'd better end this. I will be around to visit and catch up. One of these days I'm going to blog the right way and stay caught up. 

Love,

Henny 

Oh, and the computer was in the shop for a couple of days this week! :)

A little catching up

Yay! Happy 4th of July everybody!! It sure is quiet down here in the woods...no fireworks, nothing, and here it after 9:00...almost bedtime.  Guess I should be thankful...

On our morning walk with Eli and Ellie I carried the camera. Here's how the teeny tiny garden looked as we passed by...

We are getting tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, and peppers so far. Tomorrow, there should be enough green beans to pick and cook.  Looking forward to that.

And we did have our first bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwich...made with a juicy red tomato from the garden. I know, most folks call them BLTs. I just can't bring myself to abbreviate anything. It's strange. :)

Should have fancied up the table a little before taking the picture and I can't believe the big jar of Duke's Mayonnaise is still in the refrigerator...and no napkins along side the plates...and no bread! Eli was in a hurry.

Caught Poppy fishing...

slipped up behind him and sat down on the picnic table...just in time to see hime catch a small one...

Seems like everything has been so green and lush lately...maybe because we finally got a little rain last Friday...

Kind of a ragged looking picture. Sometimes it feels like living in the rain forest. Why I don't have houseplants! Here's looking out the bedroom window...

Anyhow, Eli and Ellie, after a long walk...

and Smokey too...

Guess I could have looked under the sewing table and got a picture of Dumperoo. He sleeps on a big red pillow there most of the time.

Well friends, it is now bedtime and still no fireworks to be heard. 

Sorry I've been away so long. The days are busy...if there's any good thing about winter coming, it's the shorter days and more time at night. By the time I wash the supper dishes and close the chicken house door and dip the ice cream...why, it's 9:00!  Hope we are still friends. 

Love,

Henny

These two are getting closer. Ellie is a sweetie pie for sure.