The Latest Around Hunny Bunny Haven

While I like to add pictures to my postings there won't be any this time either. Photobucket doesn't want to load my pictures anymore and the blogger loader will stick them in one spot and either they won't move or I'm not holding my mouth right. The news today will be without pictures.



This weekend on Saturday we got the peppers all fertilized again. Then it rained right after we put the fertilizer around them. That is a good thing. We're hoping that they'll start blooming again and we will have fresh peppers until frost.



I picked all the peppers ready to be harvested Saturday afternoon. Sunday I cut the stems off the peppers, cut the pods into quarters and put them in the dehydrator. This morning I had good, crisp peppers ready to be broken up for pepper flakes or ground into powder. The red Cayenne is going to be the flakes for our winter stews and soups and the Jalapenos will be ground into powder for seasoning stews, chili, or rubbing into meats.



Saturday we planted some more multiplying onions to fill the bed where some onions are already large enough to use in salads. When the bulbs we put out on Saturday come up we should have a good size onion bed. We use a lot of green onions in cooking. Maybe, I should say....I use a lot of green onions in cooking.



The cucumbers are blooming. I saw some blooms this morning when I went to the storage building to get the dehydrator. Our early cukes dried up and died so we're looking forward to fresh cucumbers in the next two to three weeks.



I planted the long, burpless ones earlier but planted the pickling type of cucumber for fall use. I don't know if we'll have enough to pickle but that would be an added bonus if we do.



The okra we planted for summer dropped it's leaves and died, also. There are two stalks of okra that came up volunteer. One stalk is producing. I cut six pods of okra off that one stalk. That's almost as much as we harvested from the whole bed of earlier plants.



I'm of the thinking that just maybe okra is not a good raised bed crop. The two stalks that came up on their own are scattered about the garden and they look healthy. Next spring we may need to make a bed that isn't raised for the okra.

We have some late blooming flowers around the yard. There are some bright, red Cannas blooming both in the front and the back yards. A Rose of Sharon is covered in big purple blooms in the back. Over the front arbor a sweet smelling rose is blooming. The rose is a barely pink color but the fragrance is what Heaven must smell like.

There are some blooms on the roses in the rose bed. This coming weekend I plan to prune those roses and give them a little dose of food then watch for their last burst of blooms before it's too cold for them to bloom.

Yesterday morning (Sunday) it was raining when we got up and rained most of the morning. A good, slow, soaking rain that has made all the garden plants, flowers and the grass stand tall.

That's about all the goings on around here. Thanks for dropping in. I hope you'll come again. :)

Everything's Moving Slowly Along

Things have been moving slowly around our part of the country. I haven't felt well so that's been a good excuse to stay inside away from the heat.

We did get the old tomatoes limbs trimmed off and the vines tied up once again. We still need to rake the old mulch out, fertilize the tomatoes and put new mulch around them. Then cross our fingers that this will work and the old vines will once again become productive.

We've gotten the newer tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and green beans taken care of and are now waiting for them to start doing their job of providing us fresh veggies for fall.

The greens still are not planted. The temps are running in the 90s. This leads me to believe that it's still too hot for turnips greens, mustard, Kale, Collards and lettuces to survive the heat. I may be wrong but I'd rather wait for another week or so than have to replant.

We've gotten several good rains lately. They did the garden a world of good. They also made this old soul feel better.

That's about it around Hunny Bunny Haven. I'll be reporting in again when I'm feeling more up to par and can get out the camera for some pictures. Come again, y'all!

'Til We Meet Again, Aunt Betty

I never knew my Aunt Betty very well. I remember some things about her when I was little. I remember starting to a new school when we lived in Louisiana. It was the same school she went to so she showed me to my classes. I was so scared and remember crying but it was comforting to know there was one person I knew there.

We moved back to Mississippi just a few days after school started. I don't remember seeing her again for a lot of years later. In fact around 45 years went by before I saw her again.

William and I decided I should visit my Louisiana Aunts and Uncles so I asked Aunt Shirley if she would get Aunt Betty to come see us. When we arrived, Aunt Betty was waiting to see us and she spent the weekend visiting with all of us.

It was so good to get to see her and talk with her about her children. She has seven children and their names all begin with an R. I've never met any of them and probably couldn't remember all their names......Rocky, Randy, Robin, Reed, is as far as I can go.

That's sad to me. These people are my first cousins and I've never met them. Nor have I ever seen pictures of them. Some of them aren't too much younger than I am. Then again, maybe they are quite a bit younger than I am after all I'm only seven years younger than Aunt Betty.

We got to see her on our 2009 trip to Louisiana. We talked a lot about gardening and raising animals. I was so surprised to find out that she had a love for both.

She looked a lot like my Grandma Teasley. She had a quiet way about her just as Mamaw Teasley did too. She favors my Daddy too. Aunt Shirley says that she and Daddy were just like Mamaw Teasley in their kind, low-keyed ways. :)

Aunt Betty was a hard worker. She worked to support her children by waiting tables. That's a job! Not that I've ever done it but I know standing on your feet all day is tiring because I have done that.

When we went to Louisiana this year, Aunt Betty was putting peas in the freezer and also she was having problems with her legs so she wasn't able to come to Uncle Max and Aunt Jackie's home for the lunch get together.

I thought about going to see her while we were in LA but never even mentioned it to William. Now, I'm sorry I didn't go because the opportunity won't come again.

I won't be able to sit across the table and talk while she eats tamales. Nor will I get to give her another hug...Not here on earth anyway. I will miss her when we go to visit our other aunts and uncles. There will be an empty place at the table from now on.

We should take every opportunity to see those we love, to spend time with them and if we don't know them very well to get to know them and what their lives have been like. Learn all we can about those we care about for one day memories will be all we have.

Aunt Betty, I'm sorry I didn't know you any better but I can say what I do know about you.....I love. Until we meet again....

I hope there are tamales in Heaven!

Twenty-Five Year Anniversary Celebration

The day Sandi was born is one of the four greatest days of my life. Two of the other wonderful days is when Mark and Lisa were born. The fourth was my wedding day to William.....Of course I have to throw in the days that our grands were born as being great days too. :)

I always wanted my children to have the best they could have. I don't mean by this that I want them to have a BMW to drive or Gucci purses or shoes. I mean I wanted them to have a spouse who would love and cherish them. Take care of them and do it willingly not because they had to but because they love their mate.

Sandi found that in Richard. I've never worried as to how she would live. He's always supported her and done the best he could do to care for her.

I couldn't have chosen a more perfect life partner for Sandi and I didn't even choose him. :) She did all the choosing herself...In fact they chose each other and I'm very glad they did.

On August 3, 1985 Richard and Sandi pledged to love and honor one another until death did them part. They've kept these vows honoring one another for twenty-five years.

In this day and age there's a lot of couples who never make it twenty-five years so yesterday (August 14,2010) they were honored with a 25th wedding anniversary celebration with friends and family gathering to celebrate with them.

Friends decorated the fellowship hall of the Philadelphia Church God and enough food was provided to feed an army. Everything was beautifully decorated and the food was delicious.

It's wonderful to not only have each other but to have friends and family who care enough about you to come and celebrate with you. They received some very nice, thoughtful gifts also. Everything from cash, gift certificates, poems written in their honor all the way to spray to put on when they go deer hunting to keep Sandi and Richard from smelling human. LOL

They've had 25 years together and I wish them at least 25 more years together and more. I pray that God will continue to bless each of them and their marriage.

All this is not to say that there's been times they disagreed but they've always worked things out between themselves.

We've been blessed with good daughter-in-law and sons-in-law. I'm not saying they're perfect...Their mother-in-law isn't perfect either but I'm saying they're perfect for my son and my daughters.

I don't want to think of my life without all of them in it. God bless you both, Sandi and Richard. Marriage is a work in progress and you two have proven it's worth the work.

Cookout Celebrating William's 63rd Birthday

On July 23rd William celebrated his sixty-third birthday. On July 24th he celebrated again with a cookout and several family members. Unfortunately a lot of the immediate family members couldn't be here. None of the grands got to come. They were missed and we had to eat their food. ROFL



Here's the birthday boy all decked out in his party clothes. :)






This is about as partified as he gets! Anyway the party was VERY casual.



Sharing some Grandma/Granddaughter time. Mamaw Roberson and Erica Duncan in deep conversation.







William's Mother-in-law....That would be my Mom. My stepfather is to her right and that is all the pictures I have of him. I made two others but something went wonky in the camera so there were no pics of Dub.







Another Daughter, Sandi (on the right) and my Sister, Carolyn posing for the camera.







Sandi's husband Richard...Our son-in-law. Aw man, he's a really great guy! :)







Our niece, Daphne Freeman smiling pretty for the camera.







Shane Freeman, Daphne's Husband and our preacher man nephew! Another really great guy!







The next three photos are pictures of little Shanelets. :) These young men are Daphne and Shane's three boys, our great nephews.



Ethan trying to keep his mouth closed because as you can tell he has a mouthful of burger!

That's Timothy standing to the side.







Timothy you can cover your mouth but I know you have a hunk of burger in there. You can't hide it from me! :)

Benjamin with a happy smile. Does this grin mean he's had enough burgers and chips? Or is he trying to get a bigger piece of cake? Either way it's a smile I love!

We missed those who couldn't be here but we had a good time with those who could come. William loves having family around him. That's one of the things I love about him. Not to mention the fact that he's good at the grill too. I didn't have to do very much cooking for this get together and that makes for a more fun party....at least for me.

Food, fun and family. That's a true party.

Gremlins? Gnomes? Or....

Those six inches long black and red grasshoppers? They're not really six inches long but they eat like they are.

I planted some yellow squash and zucchini seeds a week or so ago. The seeds did their job and germinated to the nth degree. That means most all the seeds came up. I checked on them every day or so and they were growing. I was looking forward to fresh squash until frost...

But....some kind of critter decided the tender shoots were too tasty to leave where they were planted. I went out to see how much the plants had grown and they had completely disappeared. No sign of anything ever being planted in that bed.

Not to be out done...I replanted this morning. If the seeds come up and critters get them again it will be too late for planting squash in this area for late fall eating. I will have to keep a close watch on the plants when they stick their heads out of the dirt.

We have been blessed with a huge crop of black/red grasshoppers this summer. They are guilty by association as far as I'm concerned. I try to stomp them but no matter how hard I stomp on the varmints they hop off with me in hot pursuit. It takes several stomps to do them in!

We have removed the old tomato vines, the okra stalks and green bean vines from three beds. We have to get them reworked and more compost added to the dirt then......It's turnip green planting time.

I'm going to mix the turnip green seed with mustard seed and sew a bed with those. Another bed will have kale in it. The third bed will be collard greens.

William couldn't find any collard green plants so he bought seeds. I need to get them in the ground this week so they'll have time to get a good hold on growing before it turns cold. They should come right up what with the daily showers we've been getting. Not a lot of rain but enough to keep the ground damp and perfect for sprouting the seeds.

That's enough rambling for today. I'm ready to get the fall garden going and can already taste those greens with a big ham hock cooked in them. Cornbread, green onions and pepper sauce will round out the meal. "Yum, Yum" as Grandpa Jones used to say.

One more thing....I have pictures of William's birthday get together that I have to download and then I'll post pictures here so y'all can see his party attendance. Family members were at the party.

Thanks for coming. Come again any time. :)

Good News!

We got more rain this afternoon. Two times in three days! Now, that's good news!

There's still some thunder in the distance so maybe we'll get more in a little while. Rain makes me happy!

I'm off to start dinner for my hungry husband. He got to leave school early today and he's a Starving Marvin! Have a great afternoon!

Today Has Been A Hot One But....

I'm proud to say I braved the heat and went outside to pick some tomatoes and peppers. I can say it did not take me long to get all I needed gathered and get back inside. :)

All the vegetables that I planted this past week are coming up. They didn't look so good in the hundred degree heat out there today. They did get some good water late yesterday afternoon so maybe they'll be okay.

I think I need some shade cloth to go over the new plants while it's so hot. I don't know where to find any shade cloth here in Philly unless Lowes carries it. I will call them tomorrow and find out since William is planning a trip to Lowes tomorrow afternoon.

In the morning I'm going to pick all the little knotty green tomatoes on the oldest vines. I think there's enough to make William some Chow-Chow. At least we'll be using the tomatoes instead of letting them hang on the vines for stink bugs to eat or to rot on the vines.

After I get all the tomatoes off the vines, I'm going to pull the vines up to make a space for some collard plants. The bed may be large enough for the collard greens and some kale. I'll have to wait and see after I get the tomato plants out and get the bed ready to reuse.

The tomatoes we transplanted a week or so ago are growing and looking healthy. I sure hope they will produce some fine tomatoes. The other two tomato beds are about to burn out and it's just too early to give up fresh tomato sandwiches yet.

Life is moving slowly around here. It's just too hot to do anything else except to mosey along. I'm going to "mosey" on out of Hunny Bunny Haven tonight. Thanks for dropping by. Come again any time.

Well Ain't This Just The Cat's Meow?!!!!

We had to go to Meridian today and was gone for the most part of the day. It went and rained about a half-inch while we were gone and I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO SEE THE RAIN!

But I do see the cucumber seed and the butternut squash seed poking their heads out of the dirt! That, as Martha Stewart would say, is a good thing! :)

What's New?

Nothing much new around here. The weather is still all the news. Temps expected to reach 101 degrees today with a heat index over 110 degrees. We're staying close to the air conditioner where it's at least bearable.

I went outside and gathered some fresh basil to go in my tomato, onion, and cucumber salad we're having for "Lupper" (that's lunch and supper for those who don't know). I'm going to microwave some potatoes and grill a couple of small steaks. That's going to be our evening meal.

I plan to cut some fresh chives to sprinkle over the baked potatoes. So there will be another trip out into the heat. Also, have to heat the grill up and keep the steaks from burning. But, that's not like staying outside all evening nor is it as hot as heating up the kitchen with the oven/stove. :)

We've had a rough week around here. William's youngest brother had a stroke last Monday. He's recovering nicely except he still can't speak but for a few words. He was paralyzed on the right side at first but he has regained use of his arm and leg even though he is still weak in these areas.

William's Mom had some tests done last Monday to check out some lumps the doctor found in her abdomen. The doctor is concerned that the cancer has come back. We're going with her tomorrow to get the results of the tests. I pray they are negative and must have faith in the prayers but I'm really afraid for her and for William (and all her family).

William will be starting back to school on Tuesday. He's supposed to start tomorrow but is taking off to go with Mamaw. I hope he gets to start on a positive note.

I know this isn't about gardening but it's about family and family is more important than gardening. Or it is to me, anyway. Gardening comes in second!

Back to gardening.....We did get the squash, zucchinis, butternut squash, cucumbers, and green beans planted. I hope these will produce better than the ones we had this summer. We also have eight tomato plants growing in a raised bed. Good food for the fall.

We need to get a bed or some beds made in which to plant greens. We can plant greens here until around the first of September and they will have time to get a head start on the cold.

Our fall/winter garden will include turnip greens, mustard, kale, swiss chard, lettuces, spinach and transplant some collard greens. The collard greens and kale will survive our winters. The other greens will make it through several light frosts.

I've been looking into row covers to protect the greens from frost. If I order the row covers the veggies should make it until we have a hard freeze. I'll go to any lengths to have fresh veggies on my table. LOL

That's enough rambling for me today. There's a steak with my name on it waiting to be grilled and a potato waiting to be baked. Wish y'all could join us. Maybe one day!