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! :)