My Garden

A couple of weeks ago my Dad, Joe and Dr. Wesley came and prepared my garden for me. They brought my Dad's tiller and tilled the spot we had picked for our garden. We also got some ceder posts that use to be part of the fence line at my parents' house. A few days after that our family went outside to put the posts in the ground. We also bought some garden fencing with 2"x4" openings. Joe and Bubba got the fencing on the posts and last week the boys and I got the seeds and plants planted. Now we have a garden!

A bee pollinating our yellow squash

Last night after we came home from eating with the family we went to look at and water the garden. I was amazed how much it has grown in a week! We saw the watermelon, zucchini, green beans, black beans, and corn had all sprouted. The yellow squash and sweet potatoes were growing well, too. I cannot wait until the plants bear the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor.

My watermelon plants

Green beans

Funny Quote

As we turn into the Krispy Kreme Donuts the other evening:

Bubba: You know the only thing better than Krispy Kreme Doughnuts?

Us: No, what?

Bubba: Hot Krispy Kreme Doughnuts!

Otter's 1st Birthday

Today we celebrated Otter's 1st birthday! It is so hard to believe that she is a year old already! She has grown into a beautiful little girl and so funny. She put her hands right in the icing on her cake and started eating (after Grandmomma put her hand to her mouth so she could taste it). It was also funny when I turned around and she had pushed it off her highchair, of course Icing side down. Oh well! She enjoyed it while she had it! We enjoyed spending time with family.

Butch showing her her toy

Eating her cake. Yummy, yummy!

What Have We Here?

Tomatoes! I was checking on our eight, yes, eight tomato plants yesterday and saw not just one tomato growing, but three! You see I had bought two different varieties of tomato plants a couple of months ago. We also purchased one of those upside down Tomato tree planters which holds three plants. The others I planted in pots on our back porch. We were going to see which grew better.

Our plants were blooming really well and I was hoping that they would actually have some fruit. When I was watering our Tomato Tree planter last Saturday I noticed the first actual tomato. I was so excited! Well, last night I was checking on the other plants in planters on the back porch. These are currently unstaked, but are growing well. That is when I saw them! There was not one, but two tomatoes growing on one of those plants. I had to show Joe this evening. He is looking forward to eating these yummy tomatoes!

Clay Deux

This is Larry the Pirate from the Veggie Tales
"Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" song.

What Were They Thinking?

Driving down the interstate the other day we saw an amazing thing. How to explain this... I am not sure. I thought it was a car, but then...no it looked so weird. I could not help but laugh at this contraption as we drove. Luckily for us I had my camera in my bag and I quickly passed it back to Bubba. He took a few pictures as we drove. This is what we saw. Can you explain this? Only a Texan would think of this! Identities have been protected, even though they feel fine with driving this out in public! ;)


Notice the shag carpet fully covering this car, and the trunk is a literal trunk with the turn signals being the vertical lines on the back.

Clay Day

Bubba has always loved arts. Drawing, sculpting, coloring, painting, he tries it and likes it. Last year in Art class he used some clay and when he came home he begged us to buy him some! Well, we did and lately he has been going nuts with it. So I thought I would start posting pictures of his creations.

Local Farmers Market

For those of us who enjoy getting fresh veggies and other homemade products, here is something for you. To find a local Farmers Market you can go to the state agricultural website (link) where they list them by counties. I have been to the market held at First Baptist Church in Seymour. It is open from June till August on Saturdays from 7:30a-10:30a. There is also a Farmers Market that opens in April through November in Market Square in Knoxville. It is only open on Wednesdays 11a-2p and Saturdays 9a-2p.

School's Out For Summer

Today, roughly in 12 hours, is the last day of this school year. It is hard to believe that it has come and gone. My how time flies! I am excited about the more relaxed mornings (the guys waking at 6am all happy and ready to go, which never happens during the school year). I am not sure if we have any specific plans or if we will just see what happens. So, now I need to get some rest because it will be in short supply until August. Here is the project for the guys this summer. Now they can work on their lumberjack skills, hammering skills, nunchuck skills, etc.

Foods Kids Like

We have learned that Otter likes some strange foods. Well, not really strange, but strange for a baby. She loves black beans, most any bean for that matter, mac and cheese, shredded cheese, tomatoes, Laughing Cow cheese on Ritz crackers (also in cheerios), broccoli, sweet potatoes, and dried cranberries to name a few. Maybe we just never tried some of these with the boys. Who knows. I do know there is no baby food for this little girl!

Flowers Galore

I am so excited! I have been waiting to spruce up our yard with lots of plants and flowers since we got the house. I have started in the last few weeks getting some plants and clearing out areas to plant. From my earlier post (link) you can see that we have a naturally beautiful yard, especially when the crocus are in bloom. I am hoping that with the things that I am doing that I will be adding to the natural beauty of our home. My mom has been giving me lots of plants (as long as I come and dig them up for her). She has already given me wisteria, mock orange, flowering almond, iris, catnip, gladiolus, and daffodils. Today I got some peonies, roses, red hot pokers, iris, rose of sharon, lemon balm, mint as well as the spiderwort and lilies I had planted at her house.















I am also planning to plant a small food garden area (Wesley...a trip to my parents' house might be in order! ;) I have tomato plants, okra, spinach, watermelon, corn, and squash seeds.

More Hiking Pictures

Here are some of my pictures from yesterday's hike. I hope that you enjoy and have a Happy Mother's Day!

Special Hike

We went on a special hike today. Why was it special? We were taken to a location, that I will not name, to see some pink lady's slipper orchids. These are very few and are losing their natural habitat in most local areas due to the loss of the pine trees. Also they are sometimes dug up by some visitors.


We also saw another type of flower that I cannot remember the name at this moment. It was a kind of lily.


I also saw some sweet shrubs. I am adding a picture once I get them from Linda's camera (mine died so I borrowed hers!). This temporary is a picture I took on the Abrams Falls trail in April.

I Would Love This Hat

I was watching Sarah Plain and Tall: Winter's End and saw this cute little bonnet with an attached scarf. It is so cute! It looks like it was crocheted or knitted. I would love to find a pattern for this. I am not sure that I could figure one out myself, but I might try. If anyone knows or has seen this pattern please let me know. I could just see my little Otter in one of these!

Cades Cove Pictures

These are some of the wonderful views in Cades Cove. It is a wonderful place to visit. These are all pictures from this past weekend.

Weekend Camping

After a weekend of camping I am still tired. I have not unloaded the vehicle yet, so I will have to come back later and edit the post to give more information as well as some pictures. Hold your breathe and I will be back later with more morsels!

Update:

Friday we went up to Cades Cove for a weekend of camping with the Cub Scouts. We spent the evening setting up camp then sitting around the campfire. Our leader made a chocolate cherry cobbler. It was very good! It was also great when we went to sleep with the wind blowing through the trees. It was so relaxing.


On Saturday we woke and prepared for a hike to Abrams Falls. I strapped Otter to my back and we set off on our hike. We had been concerned about the thunder and gray clouds earlier in the morning, but it cleared away for a great day. We made several stops as they tracked the locations on the GPS, then we made it to the falls. It has been many years since I have seen the falls, so it was nice to see it again. On the trail we also saw three deer. They got as close as four feet from me (I was in the back end of the line).


Later that evening we went on a hayride through the loop. We were excited to see lots of wild turkey and over 70 deer (all the older kids around middle school age were counting). We were especially hoping to see a bear. Early on in the ride there was a large group of people standing in one area, some with binoculars, saying they had spotted a bear. None of us saw one. When we got to the other end of the loop from that location we saw another large crowd. This time we did see the bear! I did not get a clear picture, but I will share a picture anyway. Otter enjoyed her first hayride, but fell asleep towards the end.


The rain and bad weather held out until after we left on Sunday. We were blessed with a good time and good weather. The three of us had a wonderful time. I must say that if we all go camping together as a family we will defiantly need a bigger tent!

Soccer Practice

Ridiculous

I saw a news article that just had "ridiculous" written all over it! A Nashville paper covered a story from Baltimore. Here is the link. A nursing mother was summoned for jury duty. She wrote a letter asking to be excused because...duh, she is NURSING an infant child. She was denied her request and when she failed to show was held in contempt of court, looking at a possible fine and jail time. Are you kidding me? When did our society decided that mothers who are home taking care of children deserve such little respect.

I must say that luckily the only time I was called in for jury duty there was a judge with some common sense. I was also called into court to answer as to why I failed to respond to my summons. I had in fact written a letter to the judge explaining that I had two children (I believe they were between 1 to 3 yrs old), no one to care for them as well as a few other reasons. Evidently several letters had been misplaced around the same time in his office. There was a group of about 15 people called into a back room together where he questioned us all. When I went in I made sure that I took the guys in with me. I told him of my letter and stated "these are part of my reasons" and he excused me. I am not saying that I never would serve on jury duty, but I would hope that they would accommodate a stay at home mother to small children.

Also, I believe that there are some trials that should not have women jurors. Take for example a local case we have. There was a young couple who were kidnapped, tortured, raped and murdered. All of the details have not been released, partially for reasons of the disgusting and graphic nature. It was a horrible event that took place and something that I think that we should protect woman and children from seeing or hearing about. Some things are so detestable and immoral in nature that we should shield these horrors from women and children, not willingly expose them to it.

Survivor Follies

Last night was quite amusing as we sat and watched Survivor. Many weeks ago the immunity idol was found by Ozzy and he quickly made a fake idol to hide in it's place. Later another member found it and thought it was the real idol. Last night Eliza was at the tribal council knowing that she was the intended target. I was puzzled at her smugness in light of her knowledge (and even her attempts to try to sway others by stating that they should have learned from the past to keep the people you don't like to the end) until she mentioned ,in the diary style interview before the meeting, that Jason had given her the immunity idol! Joe and I could not contain our laughter. They truly believed that it was the real idol and she actually was foolish enough to play it! The look on her face when she learned the truth was so amusing! It made my evening!

Update On The River Rescue

We had a good day at the River Rescue on Saturday. Dreary, rainy weather was threatening all morning, but held off until after the cleanup was finished. We had thirteen people total from our group, 4 adults, 6 Boy Scouts, 2 Cub Scouts and 1 Otter. If you notice the large pile in the picture you will see we collected quite a bit of trash for our small section of waterfront. We were also filthy from the muddy conditions from our recent rains, but they were all proud of their work.

Sense and Sensibility

Ahh...finally! I was so pleased to see the 2008 version of Sense and Sensibility.

Although, it could expand further on a few characters, I was pleased to see several of the characters that were left out of earlier adaptations coming out of the woodworks. The casting seems to have been much better as well. I was glad to see that Elinor was no longer looking closer to her mother's age(40) than her 19 years (Emma Thompson who played the role in the 1995 version was 36 years old at the release of the film, hardly looking like the 19 year old Elinor should!)

There were several parts that I had quite forgotten about, but after doing some quick glances at the book found were indeed in the novel. I had forgot about Edward's visit to the cottage, Willoughby's visit to Allenham, and the duel. There were also some scenes added in, which is expected. The most troubling was the start of the film. It was to show the seduction of the ward of Col. Brandon's. Jane Austen alluded to the events, but never more than second hand accounts.

Overall I am quite pleased with this version. It follows more closely to the novel and does not pass over as much as earlier works. This is now added to the list of my favorite movies!

Historic Homes Tour

If you would like to take a tour of six historic homes in Knoxville, have I got something just for you! The tours are at 9am and 1pm and are three hours long. There are two tours you can take. The first is James White Fort, Ramsey House, and Marble Springs. The second is Blount Mansion, Mabry-Hazen House, and Crescent Bend. This is right up my alley, too bad I will be busy during this time tomorrow. If you would like more information you can go to the Knox Heritage website.

Ijam's River Rescue

Tomorrow we (our Boy Scout Troop) will be on the banks of the Tennessee River helping to clean the garbage that collects on the banks. This is an annual event hosted by Ijams Nature Center and many other sponsors. They take a 50 mile shoreline and section it up and assign each group to an area. This is a great way for the boys to see how the trash that is thrown out adds up. Most people think, "Oh, it is just a little bottle. It won't make much difference." It all adds up along with the huge things that are also found: ie. tires, barrels. If you would like to get involved come and join us!

Soccer Mom?

I had always thought that I would never have the label "Soccer Mom." I was around soccer fields as a young girl since my older brother played, but I never took to the sport very much. Well, this week that all changed in our family. Bubba was asked to fill in for the rest of the season for the school team, as one of their players was injured and would be unable to play until the season was over. He seemed very excited, so here I am now staying over after school for soccer practice and tonight is his first game. This will be interesting. So here we are entering the world of school sports. Where will we go from here?

Two Older Austen Movies

I have not commented on the last two Jane Austen adaptations, so I thought I would remedy that before tomorrow when the new Sense and Sensibility will start.

First was Pride and Prejudice (1995) with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. This is, in my opinion, the best film adaptation of an Austen novel I have ever seen. It follows more closely than any other P&P and if you want to watch it make sure you are prepared! This TV movie takes a whopping 5 hours (or 300 minutes). It is still amazing to me that in 1995 they went to such an extent, but with the new ones we got such short times (Mansfield Park: 88 minutes, Northanger Abbey: 93 minutes). Though I must say that I am not the biggest fan of Colin, he is very good in this movie. When I imagine Mr. Darcy I see Ioan Gruffudd...:big sigh:...anyway

Emma is good as well. The 1996 TV version with Kate Beckinsale and the 1996 Gwyneth Paltrow version are both good and I am not sure at 107 and 121 minutes respectively either can be extremely close to the novel, but I like them. I like that the characters are not cut out or given characteristics that Jane herself did not apply to them. As to which one is closer to the novel itself, I believe I will try to find that out and then I will get back to you.

Butch's Funnies

My second son is normally the funnier of the two guys and he was showing us why again tonight. We were in the van on the way to church when Butch started talking about one time he was "taking care" of Otter. "I was lullabying her to calm her down. I was singing Rocky Top to her."

Pirate Day

Ahoy! thar. This be one o' t' funniest pictures we have o' Otter. She has evidentially been over at Steeple again! I be needin' to put t' wee mate lock on t' keyboard again. Aaarrrrggg!

Kids Say The Funniest Things

Tonight we were talking with the in-laws about the ten commandments and how some people separate the commandments differently. Joe said that he lived by two commandments. Before he could answer what they were Butch said that they were sleeping and eating. How well that little guy knows his Dad!

Reading Level

I got this link from Joe as he posted his own site's reading level. I thought it would be interesting to see how I rank. I was sure that I would be under Joe's level, but I checked it out and...

(My crochet blog lists me as a genius!)

Would You Do This?

I was listening to our local newscast when they showed a story about a teenager in Florida that was being punished by holding a sign. What did he do, you may ask? He was stopped by police for driving 107 MPH in a 55 MPH zone. So for punishment his mother is having him stand outside his school every morning and afternoon to hold up a sign stating, "I was STUPID. I drove over 100 mph and got caught. Thank God! I could have killed me and my friends." If you want to read more here is a link for the story. There is also a video of the local report on the web page. Teenager Shamed Into Slowing Down