Just a few pictures of Chaslynn.
She is 7 weeks old now & becoming a little butterball.
Chaslynn & her Daddy Chad. (Yes he's a little dirty from helping with pecans but dirt cant get in the way of Daddy & daughter!)
The "Little Package" and her Papa.
The "Little Package" Cheezin in her Meme's arms.
Chaslynn and Mama Alyssa.
The "Little Package" napping on her grandparents bed.

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!! There just aint words!

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

Sister Three has sent me the cutest messages wondering where I have been. No I aint dead & NO I AINT VOTING FOR HILL-LUR-REE!!! LOL!This 4 pound & 9oz package came into my life on October the 5th. Chasalynn Deloris Stone. This is not Danny's first grand but it is mine. I tried to NOT become CRAZY over her.....but it happened anyway. I'm ate up with her!! She was born 5 weeks early but all is well. I took her & her mama to the doctor Thursday & now she weighs 6 pounds and 9 ounces!!! Good night! She spent her first night away from home friday with me & her Papa. Chad & Alyssa live in the next town from here, actually about 1\2 a mile from Danny's business. AND since Chad works with Danny, Danny goes to see her every day. All of the other grands & great-grands live there too so I have to fight to see the baby sometimes! So between doing pecans & having a new baby.....well I'm a little occupied. lol So that is what I have been doing...hehe. I miss all of yall.

A cool Fall morning.
Waning of the moon.
A field of dreams....a closer shot shows how I wish it would be for me next turkey season!
And we wonder what happened to the bees! Have you ever seen a spider like that before?

Been busy with the hospital move & now getting ready for pecan season. I haven't forgotten anyone! I'll drop by & see all my blog friends this week if all is well. MISS YALL!!

AUTUMN IS AROUND THE CORNER!


You cant get on the Internet or go shopping in any store without seeing FALL advertised. I'm not complaining! And for the first time since we've planted pecan trees....I AM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT HARVEST TIME! As you can see we are already harvesting grapes off the vine. Danny & I have already made one batch of the black grape jelly. Don't you love the color of the grapes! Now I am a person that doesn't like much change but I love how GOD is smarter and knows my needs better than me......why else would HE send the Seasons! I see HIS work in those grapes, the beauty of HIM. I don't know about you but that just excites me! GOD cared enough about me & Danny to give us such a pretty spot in HIS world and then confirms HIS love for us often. I see it all the time but it is just so evident to me when I look at the change in the Seasons....when I look at the beauty of the grapevine and it's produce.

MUCH HAPPENINGS here......
The pecan crop is coming on nicely but we are not counting our nuts until they are hatched....and bagged up! The pests & diseases have been a pain & a lot of work but maybe it will be a good crop in the end. This is considered an "ON" year for pecan growers so I am a little worried about prices. BUT we will rob that train when it gets here. In the mean time the hospital I work at is MIGHTY BUSY right now. For the past 2 years, construction has been going on for our new facility. On September the 22nd we will move in!! I spent most of the day Wednesday touring & inservicing there. It is beautiful!! You can see a picture of our old one story hospital & then a picture of our new FOUR STORY hospital!! BLING-BLING!! I am so excited! The equipment is really state of the art and the decorating is beautiful! We have outgrown our old hospital & it is very outdated. Now I am thrilled that the facility will match our care which I believe is FOUR STAR! Our community is very blessed with excellent health care workers & now a nice new updated facility.

HUMMERS

I took these pictures of the male that dominates this feeder on my porch. He occasionally allows a female to drink & I was able to get a picture of her too. The male sits on the same pine tree branch 35 feet directly behind the feeder. He dive bombs any other visitors & DOES NOT allow them to drink. They have to use the feeder way at the other end of the porch.

A VERY ODD DUCK!!!

This duck showed up here yesterday. He (I guess it is a he) is as big as my white ducks, actually a little longer. I've not heard him quack. He did fly a little bit. He is pretty friendly or at least is not scared of me. He has been following my other ducks around & has already had a fight with my rooster & I would say he won. Rooster does not like him at all. Danny believes I brought this duck home but I DID NOT! Of a matter of fact I have never seen a duck like this before in my life! He's not in my wild bird book so I really dont know what to think about the fella. Have any of yall out there ever seen a duck like this before?

Is there anyone out there in Blog Land that is not having 100 degree weather??!!!! Good Night it's hot! Mama agreed with me that it seems hoter than we have ever remembered. It was 100 degrees at one point today on my PORCH! I took these pictures at Laura Falls in the Smoky Mountains...oh how I wish I was there now! I know that water would be ice cold.
So how are yall beating the DOG DAYS of summer?

LADY BUGS LADY BUGS!!

Danny ordered 72,000 lady bugs to release in the pecan orchard. They are called Beneficials because they eat the bugs that we DONT want...like them darn APHIDS! The 1st picture shows the bag full of ladys. Then we started putting them out by the handfuls at each tree. We had to start at dusk so they would be sure to crawl into the trees. We rode back through & you could see them going up the tree trunks. NEAT HUH!

And About Those Black Berries!

I think we had about 14 pounds of black berries. I froze 6 quarts for cobblers and the rest Danny & I made jelly with. Now...in case you don't know.....I DON'T LIKE FRUIT! I don't eat jelly or preserves so this project is performed WITH my husband FOR my husband....and he is the mastermind behind the jelly making anyway. My job is to fetch this & fetch that & wash this & OH WHAT A MESS DANNY MAKES!! I had to remind him that you DON'T BOIL YOUR JARS FOR 15 MINUTES AND WONDER WHY THEY CRACK! He learned that he doesn't like squeezing the fruit with cheese cloth or using a spoon to squish it down. (He bought a juicer yesterday so he would never have to do that again) Anyway it all turned out in the wash or AFTER the wash. We ended up with 16 pints (would have been 17 if the jar didn't crack) and a piece. Danny is ready to make grape jelly now by using the juicer. He has been wanting one for a while. I'll let you know in a month or so how it turns out.

It has been busy around here as usual. Danny has been spraying like crazy....almost everyday for more than 2 weeks. We have been battling aphids. These are little insects that can destroy your pecan crop if they are not put in check. Poor Danny has been wondering if it is worth it or not. With over $6000.00 in sprays & fertilizer....well I sure hope the crop will be good this year.
I haven't been laying around either. The wash is never done...that is if you are like me....I hate having dirty clothes in the hampers! I have also been able to use my kitchen some. My parents-n-law took me to a blue berry farm & I was able to get me a few messes to put up in the freezer. The farm also had black berrys planted too. I got more than a few messes of them & I will show you another day what Danny & I did with them. Any who.....that is SOME of what's happening here. School is starting here today. It just doesn't seem right. ITS TOO DARN HOT FOR SCHOOL!

What IS IT about graveyards? Either people really like them or they don't. This is a picture I took of a graveyard in Cataloochee Cove, North Carolina. It was a private cemetery with very few graves in it from long ago. I had to walk up a steep path to get to it. It was very peaceful & beautiful. Whoever picked the spot had a good eye. I hope that person got their wish of resting there. A place like that gives comfort when you visit a grave. So am I weird or do you see comfort in a pretty place like this?

It is so HOT that I am already dreaming of cooler weather! A weekend in the Smokies would be really nice.

Marci Here are some pictures of the corn creamer. Maybe you can tell where you put the corn cob. I found the video tape of who invented the thing & the number is on it. Let me know if you need more info.

I wanted to show you a few pictures of what's been keeping me busy. This is our building where we do our pecans, store our equipment & house the trucks & tractors. When Danny & his 2 partners opened up a full time starter & alternator shop they used our building here for about a year until they could find a better location. During that time our building got in a serious mess & has been in one since they moved out over 6 years ago. The old work benches were ripped out & rebuilt with better lighting and overhead storage. Peg board added for hanging up tools. The old office was torn down & in it's place...A NEW KITCHEN for me!! You can see the outside wall has been organized with all of Danny's hunting & fishing stuff. All of his rods & reels were hung on the wall, a place for all the cane poles, a cabinet for fishing tackle, peg board for hanging MORE fishing tackle, our tree climbers are hanging neatly on the wall & the fish scalier & oyster roaster are all in their on neat spot. On top of the kitchen is a large storage area. Our hunting buckets & coolers will go up there. Inside the kitchen will be everything I need to do all my canning in the summer & fall. My pea sheller & corn creamer have their place there & I will be able to bag up my pecans here after they have been cracked & blowed. Pecan season will be nice. NO one will be tracking in my house for meals or anything else. We already had a bathroom so we are good to go!

The catch here was that I thought all of this was for Danny....I didn't know I was getting a kitchen until I seen the stove! My parents-n-law & my husband had been LYING to me for the past two months! They have been coming over working like dogs Monday thru Friday for all this time & I was clueless!! Tomorrow they are coming to add some shelves in the kitchen & it will be finished. I'm gonna miss not seeing them so often. They have sure been a blessing to me! Now that is love!