Summer Vacation

The kids have been out of school for a week now.
I've been shot in the head.
Not only that, I shot myself in the head.
It was NOT a suicide attempt
I promise.
It was a ricochet.
From my .38 special.
Yes, I am an idiot.
Yes, I was being safe. (or so I thought)
I was shooting at out home range, and as it turns out NO part of the target should have metal. (DUH!) the post were. *wince* I am fine. Truly. Only a scratch and a bump. My pride was hurt most of all.
I also managed to get a muzzle flash.
Our trip didn't go quite as planned.
Needless to say our freezer is empty. I did not bring a gun out to the stand with me after that. Next time, After I get a new gun. LOL.
Can I just say I still had a great time?
How could I NOT? Just look at our drive way....

And do you see any houses? No, and if you look in any other direction you will not see any either.... see....

 The driveway opens into a small row of cedars, along the pines, with the mature old  pecans behind that, and a few plum trees planted in between.

The old barn in the distance and my lovely blackberry patch right along the tree line. It keeps the animals out of it until later in the summer. There is still plenty to keep them busy in the woods for now, but as the heat intensifies they will come here and forage. But, I will gladly share. Besides, I'm not always there to get the wonderful fruit and my parents don't keep up with it.

Ah, Well there is THAT neighbor I suppose. My parents house is the only house you can see for miles. There are 2 other houses within 'walking distnace' (1/2 mile or more) but one is actually on old general store that has been long since abandoned and the other home belongs to an elderly lady in a wheelchair. Hope you don't need help out here!

This home was built over 100 years ago and stands today on the exact same foundation. When my parents bought the property they never wanted to tear it down and have done a great job modernizing it. It now has central heat and air, indoor plumbing and the sleeping porch has been turned into a bedroom. The breezeway that used to be the only form of 'A/C' in now enclosed and is my childrens favorite part of the home to play in. :-) You can tell from the picture that they have replaced all the windows, but they did save the old ones. Oh! You can even see the old stone stairwell leading to the uh- indoor/outhouse! The power meter still looks strange on the house, but all things considered they did a great job I think.

Our place is only a trailer, but things have been done to improve it and make it more like a home as well. Siding installed makes it match more like my parents home, and a true roof was placed over the top of the trailer to help with the noise and make the home more enjoyable as well as more comfortable in the summer. Hey - air conditioning is a VERY valuable commodity here!

While I was away my garden did flounder. But such are the lives and times. It's not extraordinarily early to be pulling out some of these vegetables. Not for Florida standards. Would have been nice to get a few more weeks out of them - but hey. So, out with the green beens, and in with Ying yang, and Holstein. My whole corn harvest was a whopping couple of ears. It flopped in the wind and then the rain made it mold before I made it home. *pout* But what I got...w as - OH so lovely.



The heat has officially become oppressive. It’s high 90’s daily now and mid 70’s at night. I guess that means the end of the majority of tomato setting as well.

Next month I will be starting over with new tomato plants and new spring plantings but for now I’m trying to stay strong and pull out and replant as fast as possible.

The cucumbers seem to have caught mosaic virus. They look like stained glass windows instead of cucumber leaves. A first for me. Typically they succumb to PM long before the virus can come in and take hold. I suppose this is a good thing. It means my practices have gotten better. But what controls the viruses? And, what do I do now? I only have one set of trellis’. Not like I can just switch out where I’m growing them.  :-/ hmm… hopefully it’s not soil borne. I will be doing more research today. The newest cukes are not nearly big enough to take the place of the ones in production now, and the virus seems to have touched all of the plants in part or in whole. Praying I find out that like some other things they can outgrow it if I cut the infected leaves, etc. That would save at least one or two producing plants until the smaller ones can catch up.

I’m thinking about a late planting of tomatillo. Being that they took so long to get going I’m not sure it’s a smart idea but after all the seed doesn’t truly cost me much of anything – so what can it hurt? At the very least we’d have salsa verda – or salsa murado. :-D

Winter squash have begun aborting and the fruit that remain are growing to enormous proportions. I’m sad to see so many potential fruit starting to shrivel and die but  what remains looks incredibly promising and already at larger sizes than touted even at half growth.

I’ll quit rambling now.

‘Till next time!

Barbie~