It's been about a week since I've posted here. It has been a busy time around the place. First the garden seemed to all come off at one time. And so we both were busy putting up our produce. We still aren't finished but at least we have breathing space now. Today is more jam making day for me. Plums this time. But with the 4th coming up soon, I tend to think patriotic thoughts and these are my patriotic pictures. Red, white, blue (black) beans we grew this year.

Our tomatoes have begun so will be making salsa soon.

The first crop usually looks pretty bad but they get better and better as it goes along.

Also found another gorgeous spider web the other morning. I just love these. It is so amazing that God made the tiny spider so she could spin such an elaborate looking home.

Well back to the plum jam making.

 

red beans, wild plums and new rug

We spent the largest part of yesterday morning shelling red beans. We got a bushel from the garden and was only 2 short rows that were planted. This is what we got from the bushel.

These are some of our stone (wild) plums we have picked. I have boiled down some already and have put down in the freezer to make jam later on.

Here is the finished "Bad Hair Day" rug. This is the 2nd one and for my beautician.

Of Rabbits and Birds

Today I'm taking it easy. We have been so busy in the garden, orchard and yard that today is going to be a quiet day. I finished the hooking on the new "Bad Hair Day" rug and even have it bound, but need to block it. I also hooked 2 hearts and they are bound as well. I will block them sometime today and then get photos up tomorrow. I plan to stitch the hearts together and stuff and put in an old rusty spring.

We have a nice friendly Peter Rabbit inhabiting our back yard. He loves the clover and he seems so tame. We can walk out when he is grazing and it doesn't seem to bother him much. Even the dogs don't seem to mind him. Thankfully we have an electric fence around our garden so that it keeps him in the clover instead of our veggies.

We also have several birds nesting around. One is in our stone plum (wild) thicket. They are brown thrush and when we pick the plums, they will fly off the next but come right back. Another nest is in one of our peach trees and not sure what kind of bird it is. It is a different looking next and looks like a little hanging basket. We thought it was a summer tanger but not sure. And the 3rd nest is in our muscadine grape vines growing at the front of our house draping over the brick patio area. That one is a redbird nest and they really squawk at us every time we walk under. Her is the photo of it.

Gardening

Finally got a few shots around the place yesterday. It has been hot and steamy here lately. We have had a late afternoon or evening shower for 2 days now and looks like it will continue today. Just makes it steamier. But so good for the garden.

Our tomatoes and peppers are in buckets and bins and really growing. None are ripe yet but will be in a week or so.
Our blueberries are beginning to ripen.

Our asparagus is now ferny plants. It makes them healthier for next spring's picking season. Cutting the plum tree beside them was a good thing as the asparagus was being shaded and sapped too much but the tree.

Our fig tree has come back as a bush. They had weakened so from 2 winters of long periods of freezing temps. They can usually do ok with a day or 2 but when you have 2 or 3 solid weeks of freeze then they take longer to pull out of it in the spring. So we decided to cut them back to the ground and now it is a nice healthy bush. We won't have figs this year but maybe next.

Blog hop

Buttermilk Basin Design Studio is having a blog hop so thought I would jump on the band wagon.
http://buttermilkbasin.blogspot.com/

Today was the first listing and got a really cute pattern for a flag quilt. Think this will be fun.

On the home front.......we finally got all the plums picked from the one tree and got over 3 bushels. Gave away a lot yesterday to the kids and friends at church. Hubby got the tree trimmed and think we can salvage the tree enough from the black blight. He then sprayed with fungicide and hopefully that will help. He was able to save our Granny Smith apple tree a few years ago from the cedar blight it was getting. So maybe so!!!

Had awakened this morning feeling awful. Stomach was rolling and thought it was the potluck we ate at church last night...but then around 9a.m. realized I had not taken my meds last night. Joints are still aching but due to rain and weather change...not unusual so I won't complain about that. We did get a little over an inch of rain yesterday that was so needed and hope we get a little more tomorrow.

Of Spiders and plums

It has been very busy days lately. Gardening is coming off and fruit is ripening so it is an everyday thing to pick and put up. I've really been too busy to even get online much. I have managed to get out early in the morning before the heat and humidity sets in to just enjoy the peace and quiet of the beginning of day. I love looking at all of nature that God has given us. Found a brown thrush nesting in our sand plum thicket and now a scarlet (or summer) tanger nesting in a peach tree. Redbirds are trying to get to the blueberries as they ripen so they have become a pest. But did manage to catch a good photo of this amazing spider web with Mrs. Spider sitting in the center waiting for her breakfast.

Our plums are ripening now and having to pick as many as we can before the birds bruise them or the squirrels steal them. We only plan to put up jam from the stone plums so these others will be given to family members and friends and of course I'm eating a bunch myself. We have gotten almost 3 bushels of plums from one tree. Our larger plums from a different tree have not begun to ripen yet so it is amazing to get this many off of just one tree.

We are bagging them in gallon ziplocks. This will be easier to give out to people. Every container you see on this table have plums. The ones that need to ripen more are still in the tubs, baskets and dishpans.

I picked my first blueberries this morning. Not many but they are sure starting to ripen.

goldfish ponds

Haven't really taken any photos lately so dug out some old ones I took a few weeks ago.

Several years ago I wanted a goldfish pond in the yard. We bought a odd shaped one and buried it near the house. A couple of years after we had it, hubby was trying to kill a snake and busted a hole in the bottom so we filled it in and planted ferns, hostas, ivy and periwinkle...all shade plants. Since hubby is the best, he decided we still needed a goldfish pond so we went to Railroad Salvage and bought 2 round fiberglass tubs. Strangely they didn't have drain holes so it made them perfect for the ponds. We planted one up high and other lower and made a concrete and slate waterfall thing between them. The first year we ran the pump we found out that the waterfall area wasn't sealed good enough and we were losing water so since then we never run the pump. We planted ivy and water iris around it and dumped in goldfish we got at the bait shop. We always manage to have at least one to live through the winter even with most of the water being frozen. We just restock them every year.

This next shot is taken one early morning when the sun had just come up. Love this time of day.

Saturday we picked all the Sugar Snap peas. We got a little over a bushel total. This is what a bushel of peas looks like when they are shelled.

We put them in the freezer in small batches just enough for hubby and I for one meal. If we have company, then we can get out more bags.

Last year I got on a kick of making some cross stitched pears. Think they were a Samplers and Santa freebie. Anyway I put them together and thought I would show them off.

Here is the website.
http://samplers-and-santas.blogspot.com/p/pears.html


I'm wanting to draw up another bee themed rug soon. I have drawn another Bad Hair day and started hooking it to give to the young lady who does my hair. I also drew up a sunflower themed one...I need to do some Christmas and autumn themed ones as they tend to sell better on etsy.

Early Monday Morning Shots

Sat outside early this morning while it was still quiet and dew still on the ground. The bluebirds have begun nesting again and got some shots of the male.

They match my bottle tree.

My sister gave me a bunch of old vintage junk she had picked up while on vacation in N. Carolina. She gave me the white rooster which I repainted. The black rooster was mine and I repainted it black. She also gave me the cute little wheelbarrow which we had to fix as it was a sieve and then planted them all with some of our ground cover plants.

She also gave me a concrete Scotty dog and iris plaque which I repainted and put out.

Today and yesterday was laundry day. I do my bed linens every Friday and then the rest of the clothes on Saturday. I also bathe the dog on Fridays. So all her doggie blankets get washed then as well. I know you are wondering what I mean when I say "blanketS?" I really mean more than one. We keep the recliner love seat covered in small blankets and the back of it covered in a quilt and then she has her crocheted blanket to cuddle in and the blanket throw on our bed. I know we spoil her. She was a rescue dog. We found her down the road with her brother. She was terribly thin and dirty. She weighed in less than 4lbs. We took to the vet and the little male had to be put down as he had a broken back. We fed her and cleaned her up and she has become our "baby." We spoil her terribly. She is now about 10lbs or so and goes with us every chance she gets.

(photos may not show up as on slow internet still).

I've drawn out 2 new rugs onto backing. Another "Bad Hair day" and a group of 4 sunflowers in frames.

I live in southern Montgomery County. It is one of the largest counties in the state.

Mount Ida is the county seat and there you will find a lovely old court house which is on the Historical record.

During the summer months a large group of people meet each Saturday night for singing on the square. They even have a stage for local bands and concession stands. The stage is called the "Front Porch."

The entire area around in the Ouachita National forest is known for it's crystal mining. Crystals were I high demand during the 1920's to 1960's for use in radio sets. Now most are mined for jewelry and for those who believe in crystal magic.

 

Found out why my internet connection was acting up. Seems I used up my allotted time on my satellite internet. I went with the slower speed as I wasn't spending as much time online as it seems I am now. So everything has slowed down to dial up speed. That is fine by me but may be a problem uploading photos here. So until my bill which is auto-bank drafted soon, then I may just be posting words.

Blogger is doing strange things. I keep getting an error message and it says to reload and finally I just clicked it off and could load..???

Just a couple of things today. I live near a tiny tiny village that is about 7 miles between larger towns. Our little village of Caddo Gap has nothing but one church and a tiny post office. There used to be a Mercantile store but was closed for a long long time and then about 3 or 4 years ago a friend of ours bought it and opened it as an antique and collectible shop. But in past year she has closed it and turned the back half of the building into a cabin rental. So sad as the town used to have 2 banks, 2 churches, a service station, the mercantile store and another store. The tiny town has some gorgeous antebellum homes of which several have been remodeled.

 This is the old Gap Mercantile.

This was an old service station. Notice the big tree trunk holding up the porch roof.

The area was named for the Caddo Indians and Desoto was supposed to have camped here. He was the first to see the Caddo Indians. The local school mascot are the Caddo Hills Indians.
There is a statue in the center of the town that President Clinton dedicated.

 

 

Also there is an old swinging bridge that crosses the Caddo River near Caddo Gap. It was the only way to get across the river when it flooded. It was for foot traffic only. Now there is a nice concrete bridge.