Wow! Time is flying by-Again!

We got to work again on the greenhouse today-yeah! Jeff got it framed in and Curtis, Jr came by before dark and they got the glass put in! It's looking good. We've got to go get the plastic for the roof now and decide what we will put at the bottom below the glass pieces.

I spent part of Tuesday afternoon trying to get this tomato plant up and back into the cage-it is loaded with tomatoes and blooms! It-and a few others-survived our HOT summer and are now blooming and making tomatoes like crazy! We have 2 other ones that look very much like this-one I've been able to work a little on-the other I haven't gotten close to as of yet. This one will be inside the greenhouse-so hopefully it will keep producing through the winter.
The rest of the garden is doing wonderful-I need to take some pictures of it as well-but my camera isn't taking very good pictures these days. I've asked Santa for a new one already! ;) All the pics I take with it are just fuzzy and it has a very low zoom on it-I can't get close ups like I want too. Anyway-the broccoli has finally taken off-along with the cabbage. The brussel sprouts are still a little slow-the carrots are doing well and the jalapeno peppers just won't stop-they are still blooming as well. The beets never did come up and the lettuce is a little spotty-but they were all old seed-so anything from them was good. We've gotten a little rain almost once a week this last month and you can really begin to see the difference in things. Our first cold front hit Thursday-if you want to call it that-and we lit the first fire in the wood heater last night. I love to watch it burning!

The cows are doing well-I just wish we had more grass for them! We keep rotating pastures and give them a roll of hay every now and then-but it just isn't enough somedays. They love to see me working in the garden-cause they know I'm gonna throw the grass over the fence to them and will stand there and hollar at me to give them more-they are SO spoiled. Glory is due to have her calf around Thanksgiving-I need to check for a more precise date. Oreo is growing like a weed and I can't wait for her to have a buddy to run and play with-they can be SO cute! The 2 rabbits are bred-and have been busy building their nests-they are due to kindle in the next day or 2. This will be the first litters since summer began because of the heat. The pair of turkeys are growing nicely and the kids just love to hear the tom gobble. The one we hatched in the incubator is growing very fast as well-we moved her (hopefully!) into a cage next to the older ones so they can start becoming aquainted and won't fight when we add her to the flock! We did finally get 3 more Aracauna hens 4 weeks ago-but no eggs yet. Actually, we haven't really been getting any to speak of-be glad when they start laying again. It's almost time to start all that holiday baking!

The youth group at church is going well. We had our first big outing and they all had a ball. One of our parents took a bad fall from a horse today and had to be Life Flighted into Herman in Houston-but she's gonna be OK-has 5 broken ribs. Please keep Paige in your prayers-Korey told me tonight that her Mom might get to come home tomorrow.

Jeff is hoping to get the hayfield cut this next week-it has gotten enough rain over the last few weeks to really make it come on and grow!! Hopefully it'll make more than the 11 1/2 rolls that it did earlier in the Spring. I think we only have 1 more roll from our half of the cutting. Shorty still has several-but since he sold all his cows-I don't know why he is holding on to it. Guess he's waiting to buy more cows. We still would like to get the milk cow-but until it rains a little more-and I guess we get rid of a cow-we really don't have the pasture for one. Diesel will be going to the locker plant after the first of the year-but we'll have 2 more calves with the one due in a few weeks. I don't know-we'll just see what happens!

Beach Vacation!

Kaytlynn with her treasures from the beach this morning-lots of small shells and a few clams.

Jordan & Kaytlynn at the boat ramp at the campground-he's bound and determined to catch himself some bait in the dip net.

Our little piece of Paradice for the week-this is a really nice place to camp so far-but it is awfully hot! We brought Jordan & Kaytlynn with us and Ricky, Alana & Kylie came later in the afternoon. We spent a little time at the beach right at dark last night-it was just TOO hot to get the baby out!

But- this is Kylie and Alana this morning-her second time on the beach! She slept through this morning's trip though!

Last night's trip though-she was wide awake and trying to process it all! She slept well overnight-Alana said she only woke up once-and we never heard a peep out of anyone-Jordan & Kaytlynn were completely worn out!

Well-we finally made it-After ANOTHER flat tire-we had one on the camper bring it home from Mom's-and having to turn around and go back into Winnie for another tire-Ended up having to buy 4 brand new ones! It rained on us close to half of the way down-and Alana said that we got a really good rain at the house! YEAH! We finally-well almost-finished the fence around the new pasture and got the cows moved over there on Friday evening-boy were they enjoying the grass! I meant to take a picture of them-but with all the packing and getting ready to leave-I just forgot! Ricky is going to feed for us while we are here-they've already left for home. We lost 3 or 4 hens on Saturday to a neighbors dog-so they will have to be kept penned up until the problem is solved-that leaves us with only 5 or 6 left-so I'll be looking for some replacements when we get back. I hope to find some Araucaunas-we miss the green eggs! We let the horse into the pasture with the sheep so he can have some grass-A man Jeff used to work with is coming to get the horse on Wednesday-no one is riding him anymore and feed is just costing us too much-so he has to go.

We've fished a few times already-here in the canal and at the beach. I caught a small croaker and Jeff caught a hard head at the beach-hopefully we'll get into some bigger/better catches some time this week. Today is Jeff's birthday-so I really wish he'd hang something great! He just came in from walking Rascal and said it's just roasting out there-guess we'll have to wait til it cools off to try some more!

"B" Things-1 good-1 BAD!!

The first heads of broccoli-I put 1 quart bag in the freezer! And the other b-Jeff had to take me to the ER in Conroe Sunday evening-I have injured an old back problem that I didn't know I had! I just finished helping Jeff fill the wood rack on the back porch-in anticipation of today's cold weather. I sat down on the porch swing with 2 of the grandkids for about 20 minutes-then got up to go in the house and only made 3 steps-then couldn't walk any more-my back was killing me! I have never experianced pain like this before-it took me 20 minutes to just make it to my bed. I laid on the heating pad for an hour and got no relief. So we headed off to the ER. I have an old injury as I said earlier-a bulging disc-and I aggrevated it. I had done quite a bit this weekend-even rode Stormy a little bit-so I guess I over did it-You can bet that I'll take it easy and be much more aware of what I'm doing from now on! I stayed home from work yesterday and only worked half a day today. It is getting better-but it still hurts like crazy if I move the wrong way-I told Jeff that I really do know what he goes through now-and will probably be more protective of him-He's not having any of it!!

Boy is it COLD here! And will be for days to come-it's below 30 now and won't get much warmer through the week-and they are calling for SNOW Thursday night and Friday morning-up to 3 inches! That's alot for us-if we get any of it~

We got a pullet egg yesterday-the first egg a young hen lays-so that means they should all start laying really soon. But no eggs today-the cold change in weather might have messed them up!

Stay warm!!!

CATFISH!!!

Jeff & Randy put a trotline out in the lake yesterday and this was what they brought home today! Yummy!! They caught 21 nice catfish-about 50 lbs-so 7 bags went into the freezer and we're having grilled fillets for supper! Randy is having to do most of the work running the lines-it's too much for Jeff's back to handle.

Our weather has just been wonderful so far this week-we got some rain the other night. Parts of the garden are coming along nicely-the green beans look great! I've got some okra up-along with a few watermelons and cantaloupe Jeff planted. He butchered 5 fryers last week and they were picked up Monday for delivery-works real well!!

It is so hard to believe that April is almost over-it hasn't gotten warm enough yet to turn the A/C on -but it won't be long! The hens are still laying up a storm and I'm hoping that at least a few of the bitties will be hens-they are sure looking like little roosters right now! I lost my big Rhode Island Red rooster-he never really recovered from the coon attack-I've got several of his offspring crowing out there now. I would like to get an aracauna rooster again and some hens-the grandkids like to gather the green eggs!

Baby pigs!

See how big the bitties have gotten!!

Is this a look into the future for this pig??

Well-she finally had them on Monday-but only had 8!-But 4 have died. She built her nest right out in the rain and cold-with the shed right next to her!

Our weather has just been beautiful since Monday-a few degrees warmer each afternoon. We will more than likely get some if not most of the garden planted by the end of the weekend. The potato eyes are cut and ready to go!

The hens are laying like CRAZY! We are getting a dozen most days! We have 3 litters of bunnies-the oldest will be ready to wean in a week or so. The calves are growing and will be ready to go to the locker plant in about a month.

Still no answer from Social Security-They told Jeff last week we should hear something by the end of next week. My x-rays came back showing nothing wrong with my knee-so a mri has been scheduled for next Tuesday. It is staying swollen-the more I'm on it-the worse it gets.-I just want it to quit hurting-I have too much I want to do outside!

We're babysitting tonight-Julie & Hailey have gone to Houston to the Rodeo to see Kenny Chesney. We watched the girl's last Saturday, too, while she was at work.

Have a great weekend!

Big Red!!

Jeff & me went on down to the beach on Friday evening-Friday was just the most beautiful day!! Rain was due to start-but we needed to go down and check on things down there. The sun came up on Saturday morning with a beautiful sunrise-but the clouds quickly moved in. It never rained on us-but was cloudy and a little cool. And boy was it crowded down there this weekend! No one was on the beach-but you couldn't get in sideways at Rollover or any other of our favorite fishing spots! We ended up at the end of Tuna Drive-but weren't getting any bites. Jeff had one of his big fishing rods out and was fishing with a lure. Tim and Candy had come out and Candy and I were sitting and talking-when I saw Jeff's pole just take off! I hollered and took off after it-nearly slipping in the mud and falling down! I could hear Candy laughing behind me-I had to jump a small ditch before I could get to it-But I caught it! I have the bruises under my arm to prove it! I had to fight that big fish to even get him landed and then had to sit down-I was shaking from trying! A guy down there had a net-so Tim and Jeff helped get the fish out of the water-there are big rocks down there and we were scared he'd pull off against them. What Fun!! He was 32 inches long!!

The rain really seems to have set into a pattern here! We stayed home all day yesterday-we came home on Saturday-and worked in the house-the bedroom mostly. We have some remodeling that we never finished-from years back-so I started the cleaning process so we can get in there! The bathroom needs some electrical finished and the tub surround needs to be replaced. The bedroom needs major help-cleaning and the closet door needs to be hung-and not to mention that it needs to be cleaned!! We bought a new bed-in-a-bag and curtains-so it is looking a whole lot better! And we are going to take out the window that is on the deck and put a door there so we can come straight into the bedroom from the hot tub!

The hens are beginning to lay again-We were just about down to having to buy a dozen eggs-whew! I really didn't want to eat those sick looking eggs! They really do seem to be enjoying their new pen! And Jeff's camera picked up just some glowing eyes early yesterday morning-so we put fresh batteries in it last night-we'll check it again this afternoon-hopefully it's a deer! Have a great week!!