By the sweat of thy brow...

It has been in the high 90s the past couple of weeks (May is our hottest month) as we wait for the rainy season with its cooler but more humid weather to start. So this is the sweaty harvest time for our garden. We've been eating lots of blueberries and wild blackberries (their season is Mother's Day to Father's Day). We've eaten at least 60 of our papayas (They make great smoothies). We know lots of new recipes for cabbage (You can cut them in 1 inch slices and cook them in the oven like steaks smothered in lemon/garlic butter and topped with cheese). Now it's time for fried green tomatoes for the impatient who can't wait for them to ripen, green beans, egg plant (when diced they make great substitutes for mushrooms in spaghetti sauce) and we just harvested our first time try at  growing potatoes.

Take a look: (Looks like I should have washed the dust off the eggplant before I took the picture.)

Handle bars?

Does our new cow have handle bars like a bike or motorcycle so you can steer it when you ride?

May The Fourth Be With You!

If you get married on May 4th, you have to have something about Star Wars as a theme (May the fourth (force) be with you!). So it was when Aurelia and Nick were married in the Orlando Temple with a reception later at our house.

Getting Ready for a Wedding Reception.

We are hosting the wedding reception for the marriage of our first grandchild. She loves the beauty of our log cabin  and the gazebo out back so wants to hold it here after her marriage in the Orlando Temple.  Of course we have to spiff up the appearance of the back side with its jungle of weeds.

Here is the work in progress, including growing the rocks Florida or Disney style (pouring concrete in molds since we have mostly sand rather than natural rocks) and creating a new stairway for the guests as they go out to the gazebo. Of course you can see that this was done by hand, pioneer style in keeping with the log cabin motif. Doing everything by hand keeps us healthy and young mentally and physically. Remember to click on the pictures for a closer look.

This coming week I hope to have everything complete and ready for the reception.

Ride'em Cowgirl!

When the kids and grandkids come to visit, of course, they have to ride in the new horse riding arena. This time they convinced grandma to ride too. One decided to relive our adventures in Mexico 35 years ago by riding our donkey.

Steak TIme?

The grandkids say there is a rumor going around that if you can walk on your hands, grandpa will feed you a steak. Am I going to go broke?

Chicken Fever!

What do you do when the grandkids visit, go to Cracker Days, participate in the chicken chase and earn money by catching a chicken and at least part of a chicken tail?

You repaint the chicken coop and buy some baby chicks for grandma and grandpa to raise.

More Fences

I've just fenced off the drain field to keep the horses off when we turn them loose to "mow" the lawn for us. We're planting wild flowers on the mound so visitors will have a pleasant sight when they come to our place.  We'll post another picture when they are blooming a month from now.

New Riding Rink

With a bunch of grandkids coming to visit for Spring Break, we decided to make a riding rink so they would have a larger controlled space to develop their horse rising skills, The round pen was too confining and the full 30 acres left too much space for young riders just learning to control their horse.

Here I am putting up the new fence just beyond the garden. You can see that the horses love the new area.