Sometimes you just have to laugh. 

I asked Blake to take this picture of us as we headed off to church. I am actually rather bitter my car is having to be parked at the bottom of our hill. During the dry months it has a hard time making the steep rocky climb. The rocks just roll and it beats my car to death. I broke the connector from the battery to the car a few weeks ago during the jostling climb. So I decided to save the car and park at the bottom. The four-wheeler is our transport back and forth. Fun (funny) for now, but it's getting old very quickly. 

Evans Cemetery Decoration

The Evans Cemetery is tucked away up here. So far that the county has to be called out most years just before decoration to smooth the road so cars can cross the creek. I think it is a jewel. 

Decoration is every 4^th Sunday in June (or last Sunday, I can’t ever get this straight) and it has become an important part of our summer.

Decoration, called Homecoming in Texas, is both titles rolled into one. A time for friends and family to gather together, remember loved ones, eat, decorate graves, and eat, wait… did I say that already?

Savannah and 1/2 of the twins.

Savannah, Nieces, and the cutest/only red-headed twins you've ever seen.

Silas before the crowd arrived.

Silas after the cemetery filled with people.

Tooter's Tombstone

Telling stories and showing off scars.

I hope to be laid to rest here. 

How do mountain men entertain themselves on a summer Saturday afternoon?

 With spitting contests,

yanking out root balls, rocks and anything that the wrench can wrap itself around, and cooling off in the creek.

 This past year of school had me functioning at full capacity. Therefore, I am taking full advantage of our swimming hole this summer. If "Therapy Hole" wasn't already a name of another swimming hole on the Little Mulberry I'd claim it for ours. 

 On a completely different note: Rising gas prices have us all considering other transportation methods and we must take into consideration the many miles of dirt road. My brother's solution is a dual-purpose bike. He brought it home today and the kids had a ride. Their first on a 2 wheeler. 

What Did You Do On Labor Day?

The guys grilled steaks.

Lola enjoyed being indoors. She is going into heat and we are keeping a close eye on her.

Blake played with the fire.

Granna showed the girls how to make corn husk dolls.

Speaking of Granna. She never slowed. I prescribed her 20 minutes of relaxation. She never took it.

But because of her determination the cabin now has covered walls. Thanks to the hard work of Rex and Grandpa too.

There Was an Old Spider Who Lived in a...

Here are my mowing, gardening, mud, just don't give a darn shoes. 

They've sat here on the porch railing for just a few days, drying out from my last heavy use.

Just a few days. That's all it took for a spider to take up residence.

I removed the web, unlaced the shoe and slowly stuck my hand down into the shoe. Not really. I'm not that tough. I stuck a metal file instead but came up empty. There was a small space I couldn't see at the very tip of the toe. I decided to leave it out on the railing overnight and see if my spider would rebuild it's home. I mowed barefoot instead. Not really.

Poop!

You can always find them by the poo they leave behind. It's big!

These dudes can annihilate several plants over night.

But because of their size they are easy to find.

Tomato Hornworm

Dipping in the Little Mulberry

We do this every day during the summer.

 And as best as I can remember, the kids never tire of our daily, sometimes twice daily dips. It just can’t get much better than a cool, clear swimming hole that requires no cleaning or chlorinating. 

Today we found a little friend sharing our swim.

He was stinky and after a few minutes starting snapping, true to his name. So we let him go. Someday maybe we'll see him again. Only next time he may look like the other snapping turtle we found on our way down to the creek.

Thankfully he wasn't snapping, but then again we weren't holding him. 

The Fun Never Ends

Everyday brings new excitement around here. Our baby chicks are doing good. Except that we lost one last night. I found it in the nest, but another must have hatched overnight and there are two at this moment pecking their way into the world. I picked up one of the cracked eggs and it peeped at me. We should be up to 8 babies by this afternoon. Walking back from the chicken house I noticed something black wrapped around the post of my garden. My first thought was something Rex had put there, but the closer I got I noticed it was a snake. He watched me carefully. Commander patiently waited for his breakfast while I took pictures.

We Have Babies!

We have one chicken who has gone broody. We've been putting eggs under her for the past several weeks and wondering if she would keep them warm enough to hatch. She did! Our first baby chick.

Wheelerpool

During these hard economic times it's important to wheelerpool whenever possible.

"Can't Swim Here"

Blake and I headed out yesterday afternoon about 4:30. The thermometer read 95.9F. We hit the first garden just as the row of green beans was safely within the boundary of the shade. We picked and weeded and worked up a pretty good sweat. Two rows of okra were waiting to be weeded at our other garden spot, but first we had to cool off. So we rode to the swimming hole just past the garden fence. It's a nice part of the Little Mulberry. Where the creek slows and widens and tall trees stand close to the bank on both sides casting shade and giving it a secluded feeling. The water was perfect. I didn't have the usual cringe when it rose up my body. But it just wasn't deep enough, coming just below my waist. So we started to wade up creek in search for deeper waters.

It is a habit of mine to keep my eyes on the banks while we swim. As a youth and an adult I've swam in waters that creatures call home. And I've seen my share of snakes. I know when the temperature rises and we head to the water to cool off, so do they. As I made another scan of the far bank near a group of roots I noticed one moving. I stood up for a better look. I could see two raised sections of her body behind her proudly raised head. I knew this wasn't the usual water snake we encounter. She was swimming swiftly back and forth out in front of the jumbled roots, protecting her home. Her body was thick and she rode on the water, head held high. She must have decided her presence wasn't threatening enough to deter her intruders because she changed course and turned towards me. That's a scary sight. Standing in high waist water and looking at the head of a snake straight on. Not a standing view from 5 feet, but from maybe 2. Her body flashing on one side and then the other. The lighter under skin of her head and body contrasting against the dark shaded water. Where was Blake you wonder? Between the snake and me. I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the other side of and me. Our closest retreat to land would have had us scrambling up the side of a bushy bank. I made a split second decision not to attempt that and began pushing through the water as fast as I could back down stream and toward where we first entered. As the water shallowed and I was able to move faster I looked back to find our pursuer. She wasn't there. She had gone back to her post and was again swimming back and forth in front of her home. She had succeeded. A momma protecting her home and babies, just like me.

As expected we weren't getting back in the water there. So we went to one of our usual swimming places, where the water is swifter and has frequent visitors.

Then on to garden #2. Art helped us hoe our two rows of okra. We worked up another good sweat. We stopped in the creek again on our way home to rinse off.

After talking with my brother and doing a little research on snakes, I confirmed my origianl identification of our snake. A water moccasin. They ride high in the water and are known to stand their ground.

It Has Begun

For months you prepare. Tilling, planting, building fences. You think about the day when the little seeds you are dropping in the dirt will be producing food you can eat. You check the progress daily: "The corn is comin' up", "There's blooms on the green beans", "We have two baby squash!" You can hardly contain your excitement. Your friends and family who don't garden grow tired of hearing about the progress. And before you know it...

Saturday: Pick green beans, cucumbers, squash
Sunday: Pick green beans, can green beans, pickle cucumbers
Monday: Pick green beans, cucumbers, squash
Tuesday: Pick green beans, can green beans, pickle cucumbers
Wednesday: Pick green beans, cucumbers, squash
Thursday: Pick green beans, can green beans...Who's idea was this anyway?!?