Happy Birthday Papa!

Happy 63rd birthday Papa!

For Papa's birthday we took a day trip down to Sikeston, MO. Now it may seem like driving three hours for lunch is a bit extreme but you gotta understand that this is no ordinary restaurant. Lambert's Cafe is the "Home of the throwed rolls", yes that's right they throw the hot, fresh rolls at you! And they walk around offering up fried okra, fried potatoes, sorghum for your rolls, black-eyed peas and macaroni & tomatoes. This is in addition to whatever you may have ordered. I was a little worried about eating here, since my surgery in December, over eating is a not a good idea unless I want to feel like I'm dying for the rest of the day. But I was just extra careful and all was well.


G had to try out the fast car as soon as we got there!

Mmmm, diggin in.

Yes, the food IS this good!

Notice G has his mouthful and so does Papa!

Me n my boys

After lunch we took the scenic route home, going through the Shawnee Forest area and making our way up to Bald Knob.

The view was gorgeous. Notice the welcoming committee in front of the welcome center? Daisy and Athena were quite friendly.





The four of us with Papa

The Cross on Bald Knob has seen better days, in fact, it looks as though it is being torn down. But the website says it's being restored.

Tip #1

Hey I was reading in my country living magazine, which is free btw, that if you have tomatoes that split on the vine, you should wrap a plastic baggie over them and close it up and it will help save the tomato for you.

If we get as much rain this summer as we did last I will for sure have to try this.

The Mohawk

G loves to get a summer hair cut. Shave it down Mom, as short as you can. But before that he sports a mohawk for a couple of weeks. This year we let him have it early because he had been growing his hair out for it.








Here he is pre-haircut. He's on the right.











And this is after.














You gotta have a little color for the Memorial Day Parade.





Here's the funniest part about that day. After the parade the In-laws took him to the nursing home to visit and show off his mohawk. Several of the residents commented that he was a scout so he must be a really nice boy. Here he is lookin all punk rock but because he's a scout they totally overlooked the hair.






Rockin it!

A Big Scary Snappin' Turtle

I looked out the kitchen window last night and noticed we had a visitor.

This fella (or maybe Filly) was pretty good sized.

At this point I'm thinking just how fast can a snappin turtle move?

That's a big ol tail.

The token boy with a snappin turtle shot.

Here's the best part though. We caught him and left him in here for C to see when he got home. Three hours later, C walks in the door and says where's the turtle. It got out and somehow did not turn that big tote over. Crazy!

Lessons on Farm Life

Recently, I casually mentioned a Spring Surprise. I ended up with a broody hen this spring and decided to give it a go. She's been on five eggs and all was going well. Yesterday chick #1 hatched out and we were all very excited. I had decided not to separate the hen and chicks from the rest of the birds, hoping that the Mama would take care of things. Well, she didn't. I'm not sure if she just felt pulled to sit on the remaining eggs or what but the other chickens got a hold of that chick and well they did what chickens do. When we found her she was quite mangled and barely alive. I was just sick to my stomach about it. What to do now, I asked my chicken mentor and she gave me the details on what had to be done, for the dying chick and the mama and possible other chicks. Sooo, with a sad heart I put the chick out of it's misery and then went about moving things around to make sure the remaining eggs/chicks would be safe.

It was a hard lesson to learn. I guess what I wanted to happen was just not going to work with the nature of chickens. So, now the hen and chicks are in my garage safe and sound.

And here's the good stuff:

Holding pen.

Don'tcha love my nest box.

I think she looks pretty cozy in that shirt box.

Checkin out the food supplies.

Mama Hen and three peeps



See the little peep sticking it's head out. There's actually two of them in this picture. One in front and one in back.

Can you see the peep in this pick. It's like an I Spy Pic.

A Country Livin' Surprise

This is a spring job our boys "love" to get called on to do, cleaning out the window well. It was G's turn and he was less than thrilled but he went on down there to dig out all the nasty leaves and the toads and the frogs that get down in there.





See he's headin down, no problem.

Then, Oh my goodness what is that? After much discussion he decided to go get his big brother for assistance.

Big brother climbed in and got a box and a rake to pull this guy or girl or whatever out. Can you see it? Here's a better look.

Those are some big ol pinchers on that thing.

Here it is up close and personal. It's huge!

Ha! not really, but it looked really big and scary to G.

This picture is pretty normal around here. P is sitting all calm and G is moving so he's blurry. Hold. Still. For. Just. One. Picture. Please!

This is the crawdaddy rescuer headin out to move Mr. or Mrs. Crawdaddy to a safe location. Well, unless a raccoon finds him or her tonight.

Welcome To My Garden 2009 Part 1

Dwarf Iris', Shasta Daisy "Snowcap" and behind the sign Siberian Iris'.

Yellow Rose Bushes

started with five to six small starts two years ago.

Beautiful Rose Blossoms

Hmmm, well I thought this was Lamb's Ear growing wild along the edge of the trees. After transplanting it to my flower bed and seeing other lamb's ear around I'm not so sure. Could it be Lamb's Ear Giganticus? lol

This is all reseeded cilantro from a plant I bought last year! Yum, Pico De Gallo!

A lovely gift from a Sis-n-law. A tea cup bird bath.

How gorgeous is this, a ball of blooms on my snowball bush.

Sedum, ground cover-Dragon's Blood?

This is Lemon Balm and every spring and every fall I rip it out with a vengeance and it just. keeps. coming!

One of my fav decorations. Rooster jumping rope. I picked this up at a Big Lots! one year. Every year I go back looking for some more uniqueness only to be disappointed.

Second all time fav, Hula hoopin frog.

First Iris bloom of the 2009 season

Dianthus, this was a dead looking plant at church that I brought home, stuck in the ground and watered. Lovely.

Dianthus bloom

I love daisies, they're so friendly, dontcha think that daisies are the friendliest flower. (name that movie!)

Mouse Ear Coreopsis bloom

Flowering Chives, mmmm.

Alum Blooms