FEBRUARY

February started off with a bang. So far there has been a tornado, an earthquake, and even a little bit of snow. Jonquils and mini-forsythias are struggling to bloom. Mother Nature's turned upside down. The weather is like a crazy bitch, blowing hot and cold. There's no telling what might happen next. 

No matter what the groundhog says, we still have about six more weeks of winter. It sure is a wet winter. Colt said the Almanac had predicted that. I don't know how they are able to nail weather so often but those farmers always had to watch the weather so they probably passed it on for thousands of years. 

Saturday I watched a marathon showing of Groundhog Day, all day long. It's a surprisingly sweet and romantic film with Bill Murray and Andie McDowell. The more I watched it, the more I liked it. 

Sunday I immersed myself in The Walking Dead reruns while the guys watched football. Today was Superbowl Sunday. The Ravens and the 49ers. That's a big deal in America. Half of the country, and most of the south, watch the Superbowl. Go Teams!

Colt's friends, Brent, and Brenda, and their three kids came to watch the Superbowl. They stayed until Brenda's little boy got cranky and wanted to go home. He was a tired little fellow. 

I am enamored with the twins, Mason and MacKenzie. Boy, what a handful. They're old enough to walk now. Oy! I adore little kids. Their older brother,Logan, was a very well mannered and sweet little boy. He had enjoyed seeing the chickens and goat when they first came over. He just wasn't used to being over here and was tired after a few hours. I can understand that. I get antsy when I'm in another environment, too, if I have to stay too long.

*****

I've taken up reading again. I bought a paperback from our new Dollar General Market and got hooked. It was a light look at Washington through the eyes of an idealistic young woman who worked for a young Senator at the capitol. Since I've been so immersed in politics lately, I thought it would be fun to read a story about it from the "inside". The book Sammy's Hill by Kristin Gore was fin-tas-tic! (You'll have to read the book to get that reference.) If you run across this book and like a good romantic comedy, check it out. You won't be disappointed.

I've started on another paperback book from the dollar store. It's a humdinger. It is written by someone raised in north Georgia. I can hardly wait to see how it ends. More book reviews later, maybe.

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Mikki, Alicia, Brooke, Don, Douglas, Bailey

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

RIP

Delbert Callahan

AS ALWAYS

PIO

AUGUST

Ah, sweet mystery of life . . . August is my favorite month. The sun is high, the days are long, and the temperatures are really hot. As long as I can find a shady place, or an air conditioned room, with a cool drink I'm happy. At least, I'm lucky. I can go inside where it is cool when I want to. People who work outside don't have that advantage in this heat. People across the world who don't have those luxuries don't have a choice at all.

Last week Scout had some kind of bug and was sick all week. Colt had to work without him. Colt said he and Bob dug 14 post holes by hand one day. Bob dug a few near some underground power lines and Colt dug the rest. Colt said the soil was rocky and hard to dig. It took all day. He came in from work looking beat, covered in dirt, and dog tired. 

I was in the front yard hanging a new bird feeder under my Magnolia tree one day when Colt's friend, Brent, came to visit. He watched me wrap a metal coated coat hanger around a limb to hang my feeder on it. Brent remarked how he couldn't understand how I could stand being in the heat. I didn't think it was too hot. I'm used to it. We were in the shade under the Magnolia trees. It's like being under a gigantic umbrella. 

We use air conditioning in the house but I don't ever turn my A/C on in my car. I like riding with the windows down, soaking up the sounds and the smells around me. I like smelling fresh cut grass in the evenings and listening to the frogs and crickets as they begin their evening orchestration, don't you?

Living through the heat of summer is what makes us who we are in the south. If you can suffer the heat of a southern summer you can just about endure anything. Ain't that right, sugar?

Anyway, we had a couple of extremely hot weeks where temperatures hovered around 100 degrees and then it started to rain off and on for a few weeks. Anybody that's lived in the south knows that causes a summer sauna as the steam rises from the ground and engulfs you in it's hot, humid embrace. I don't know if the weather is extreme because of global warming but I certainly can believe it. It's rained so much we haven't been able to use our little swimming pool. I was just beginning to enjoy it.

My birthday is in August. I've decided to thaw out the frozen turkey in my freezer and fix myself a feast for my birthday. I love turkey and dressing but nobody seems to want to cook it in the summertime. I'm going to fix deviled eggs and potato salad and invite my family over to share it with me. I have two reasons to fix turkey and dressing for my birthday. First, and foremost, it's my birthday and I can do what I want, and second, I need to make room in the freezer for all the food I've been putting up out of our garden this summer. I already filled up one shelf and need room for more.

I have broccoli, cauliflower, turnip greens, tomatoes, and okra, among other things. Right now we are getting plenty of tomatoes and okra so I am stocking up for winter. I found out that fresh frozen food is better than canned food. It's also lots easier to freeze food than it is to can it, although I have plenty of experience canning food. I have a huge pressure canner and lots of jars that I can use if I run out of room in the freezer. I sound like Suzy Homemaker, don't I, but I'm not really.

The green beans we planted didn't do as well as we hoped so we didn't have many of those to put up but I found out that frozen beans from the grocery store are delicious and a great addition to my food supply.

A couple of years ago I decided to use my freezer more wisely in order to save money on my food bill and to decrease waste. I don't like buying canned goods because after they are opened, you tend to have so much waste to carry off. After I started eating more frozen food and found out it tasted better than canned food, I was hooked.

Everyone should learn to put up their own fruits and vegetables so that they can eat healthier and be assured of their food being put up under the best conditions. I hope you will consider joining me in my quest to cut down on waste and garbage. And remember, a mulch pile is a good place to throw out your scraps and it makes a wonderful worm bed. Talk about recycling!

Maybe I really am Suzy Homemaker . . .  Nah!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Tommie Lyn, Pat, Pam, Myra, Nancy, Nancy, Brenda, Chris, Randy, 
Jonnie Bell, Glo, Blake, Bob, Justin, Cole, Jerry

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Susan and Bob

AS ALWAYS

PIO