The kids are here....

We took off for Tuscaloosa, Alabama early Saturday morning to meet my parents and brother there for a kid hand-off. They'll be staying 2 weeks. Right now I'm not sure if my parents will bring them all the way home or if we'll meet again in Tuscaloosa to retrieve them. Meanwhile, I'm nursing a very out of whack back and have to seriously consider not doing all the projects I had planned to tackle. Ouch. I. Hurt. Bad. So bad that it hurts to breathe sometimes. Anyway, I'm going to rest as much as possible and see what happens toward the end of the week.

(click to biggify the pics)

(playing in a creek we hiked to)


(mom and dad's house)


(firepit for marshmallow roasting in front of the new master bedroom suite)


(Shuford creek, in the backyard)


(the narrow window above Amy's head is the same as the one in the firepit picture-far right of the pic)

Kitties in the yard....

I'll start by saying that I do NOT like taking them outside. It leads them to think that every time the door is opened they are supposed to run out. But, they love it and for now they stick very close to the house. I'm sure we'll end up having to build some sort of enclosure for them soon. We have a net from the trampoline to work with.


(gathered under the kitchen window)


(Gypsy and Tallulah checking out dead leaves)


(Tallulah loves this tall grass, usually she's crouched down in the middle of it)



(Tibert is constantly on the move)


(sometimes they play pounce with each other)


(isn't he handsome?)


(Gypsy found a good napping spot for the rest of the afternoon, poor thing was worn out)



(Rosie was mad because they didn't get to go outside for as long as the others. She showed her displeasure by dominating Ruby in the hallway)

Caturday Cont....

After spending the early afternoon at the Pritchett OkraFest, we had to leave empty-handed okra-wise. Mark decided to head north to see if we could find any farmer's markets still open. We ended up near Pittsburg at Efurd Orchards. It was the perfect addition to the rest of our day and I highly recommend it to my east Texas peeps.

(click to biggify any picture)

(we lucked into a shady parking spot)


(right across from this awesome truck)


(and this, one of several, antique tractor)


(inside was warm but there were fans to keep us cool)


(lots of preserves)


(and fresh veggies)


(and peaches, which I'm regretting passing up)


(and moonshine syrup)


(Mark and Amy taking an ice cream break, peach and strawberry soft serve with fresh fruit)


(there were lots of rocking chairs for resting)


(Sarah and Ryan opted for real Dublin Dr. Peppers)


(love the color of this old ice cream freezer)


(would love this in my kitchen)

We ended up coming home with green beans, new potatoes, and several beautiful ripe tomatoes(of which we have less than half left). YUM!

In other news...

We still haven't got our pool swim-ready yet. Its not green but its very cloudy. Mark is going to try flocking it and see if the stuff will sink to the bottom. I'm not optimistic. It would be really nice to be able to swim a few times before the season is over. Hopefully we can get it resolved and the rains will hold off a few more weeks.

Caturday and the OkraFest...

Started out as a normal Saturday. Took the cats outside for their morning playtime...

(click to biggify)








Then we headed north to the tiny town of Pritchett, Texas for their First Annual Okra Festival. We had a BLAST!!!

This family was serving up free samples of fried okra(3 ways) and a delicious gumbo. My favorite way was whole, dipped in Louisiana Fish Fry batter and deep fried til golden. He had homemade ranch dressing to squeeze on them too. HEAVEN. What was missing(but most assuredly NOT missed) from this festival, which was put together hastily, were the typical food vendors with funnel cakes and overpriced crappy carnival food. I know they would have made money from vendor fees but it was nice not having to smell that cooking oil smell.


(check out his hat)

My friend Tricia(in my blogroll) shared a booth with a jelly lady. Tricia sells soaps and knitted hand towels and such.







She took us around the corner to see her family's new horses. They are just gorgeous!! We got Gypsy and Jasper from her, she's also a cat person.*G*



It was hot when we got back to the festival grounds so we headed inside for more FREE food, what was left from the cooking contest. They had run out of hamburgers and hotdogs(which weren't on the free menu) so we got gumbo, a large assortment of desserts(including a delicious blackberry cobbler and sour cream bundt cake), homemade ice cream and iced tea. They took donations too so we didn't feel guilty about the free food.


(love this)


(my lunch, I was too busy stuffing my face with dessert to take its picture)


(they had the quilting put aside to keep it clean, wish I'd taken a close-up or three of the flowers in between the blocks, they are 3-dementional)


(cooking burgers when we first arrived)

They had an animal rescue petting zoo with donkeys and a goat. Horse and pony rides too but the girls didn't want to.



Proceeds and donations will benefit the community center and the fire department. Unfortunately the farmers ran out of okra for sale so I came home empty-handed except for my soap and jellies.



I'll tell ya about THIS place tomorrow!!!...

Sounds of Summer...

One of my favorite treats of summer is listening to cicadas sing in our oak tree. Of course, I can also hear them singing in the trees throughout our neighborhood, they are quite loud! When the kids were little they would collect bread sacks full of empty cicada shells but they've thankfully outgrown that. Very rarely have we had the pleasure of watching one hatch from its larval shell.


Longview News-Journal photographer Les Hassell braved mosquitoes and who-knows-what other creepy, crawlies to get these spectacular images of a cicada emerging from its shell. They are truly spectacular!

In other news....

We are going to the Pritchett Okra Festival tomorrow!! I hope to come home with a bushel of goodies. Homesick Texan just posted a recipe for pickled okra, how timely is that? I'm planning on making a few pints at least, depending on what my haul is.

A Peach of a Day...

Chocolate's okay, but I prefer a really intense fruit taste. You know when a peach is absolutely perfect... it's sublime. I'd like to capture that and then use it in a dessert. ~Kathy Mattea

I usually go for the chocolate but today I wanted a peach. Not a plain peach though, I dolled mine up just a little bit.



Then I was thirsty and craving salty, crunchy somethings so I made this.



Peach Water for One:

1/2 large peach or 1 small
1 cup water
1 cup ice cubes
sugar, honey, or stevia to taste(I used about 5 drops liquid stevia)

Blend in an ice-crushing blender til well blended. Serve with a spoon.



My other favorite peach:

A Day Away...

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

(all quotes by John Muir)



(Gilmer Lake from the picnic area)(click to biggify)

Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own.


(Sarah found a friend, a tiny poodle boy named Lil Bit)

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.


(delicious sandwiches for all)

Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.


(Ryan was among the hungry)

How many hearts with warm red blood in them are beating under cover of the woods, and how many teeth and eyes are shining! A multitude of animal people, intimately related to us, but of whose lives we know almost nothing, are as busy about their own affairs as we are about ours.


(Amy was as well)

I was lazy and didn't take pictures of the swimming area. We were extremely disappointed to find that it hasn't been kept up and was filled with hydrilla. Since our main reason for getting out was to swim, we drove over to Gladewater Lake where we spent the rest of the afternoon splashing and lazing on the shore. I was so lazy I did not take pictures. Suffice to say, it was delightful!