SKY WATCH FRIDAY AT MAMA'S




Well I haven't ever participated in Mama's Sky Watch and I've never used Mr. Linky so this is a pure TRIAL & ERROR THING FOR ME!!!! In September my parents-n-law rented a condo on Tybee Island. It's near Savannah, Georgia and the fishing is really great there......they say. I HATE SALT WATER FISHING and will get out of it if at all possible. (I love freshwater fishing!) So as soon as the sun started to go down that day, I tried to capture the show. It was sooooo beautiful! How can anyone question GOD'S existence after seeing something like this!!

Well we are getting closer to the end of the pecan harvest. You can see what one truck load of nuts looks like. We are guesstimating a 30,000 pound total. We will know for sure at the end of the week. The pictures show Danny picking up the nuts with the harvester. When the hopper is full, he dumps them into a wagon where they are carried to the building. Then we clean, grade, bag, & load. In about 2 more years we will eliminate the use of our trailers and have the buyer send his transfer trucks out to get them. That will be nice! When the buyer can get 40,000 pounds or more, he sends his own trucks out. Since we have a young farm, an increase in production is expected. The last picture shows part of the orchard after harvesting. CLEAN AS A WHISTLE! We are keeping our fingers crossed on prices.....farming is a heck of a gamble and one I don't enjoy!! That's whats been going on here. This is what we work for all year long. GOD has been good to us no matter what the market holds.

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!