Wednesday, August 24, 2011

" SUMMER 2011 "

In 30 days...Fall arrives! In 60 days.....my beloved Smokies will look like this and I can't wait to see it! Summer 2011 is almost in the books and not a minute too soon for me! It has been a long, hot, and I do mean hot & humid summer in South Mississippi!




I took a walk around the farm yesterday morning to take pictures of it winding down. The flowers didn't do as good this year as they usually do, but it could be because it was just too hot to take care of them. This Hibiscus is one of the few that did thrive..............



The bees.........buzz it



The Trumpet Vine on the pond house...........



This Rose of Sharon looks like a bouquet............


This Hibiscus is at least 10 feet tall..............




This was the garden back in late Spring...............



We had NO rain in June and it really affected the harvest except for the tomatoes....




I put up 92 jars of Tomatoes..................




The "Girls" are still thriving......we get an average of 9 eggs a day.....


They love to free range............


And Lay.........one was getting ready to "set" these..........



Lolly Pop loves that bucket twice a day..........

Cattle prices went high this summer so we sold off all but 3 momma cows and the bull...


Big Dub added a baby girl to the group..........



Paw Paw taught Molly how to drive the tractor.........


Cousin Sheila brought her nephew Brantley by for some fishing in the pond....

Last week my "baby girl" came back to spend some quality time with her Mommy before heading back to school next week. She's getting a BSN in Nursing........



We went shopping, had lunch at Olive Garden and went to the movie to see " The Help".
It was a great movie! I told author Kathryn Stockett not only do I expect it to win lots of awards, I expect her dear friend Octavia Spencer who played " Minny" to get an Oscar for her role because she stole the show!


I also did a lot of reading this summer but that is a post for another day! I hope all of you had a great summer too! COME ON FALL !!!!!!!!!

8 comments:

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Great post, Carol... I also can't wait for Fall--and to see the Fall colors..

What do you all do with all of your farm animals when you come to the Smokies? I'm sure you have someone to take care of them.

Great picture of you and your daughter.. Two beautiful women.
Hugs,
Betsy

Vicki Lane said...

You HAVE been busy!

We're looking forward to Fall too. The air is cooler and drier today -- a hint of things to come.

Kat said...

I am so coveting your tomatoes! You have been very busy with the garden. I love the trumpet vine. They grow wild on our property, up trees :-)
I am with you on summer. Please Please bring some cooler weather and rain. Glad you are posting more, I have missed you! Your daughter is so pretty and very smart!!

NitWit1 said...

I surely hope your weather prediction are even close to correct.

We have a vacation planned to SD the latter weeks of September. We are attending for the 1st time a Moroccan Reunion Assc. event which is essentially 4 days of touring the Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Custer Park, Crazy Horse, etc. We have never had a vacation that wasn't family in Texas or family in the Carolinas. Nor did we have a honeymoon. Despite my ailments I am excited.

We chose to renovate our front yard in the worst of summers. How did we know. We think we have made it less maintenance free.

I have been in the Smokies in the Autumn. Only Vermont may exceed them in color. If you love color, I hope the Smokies did not suffer like Arkansas as we have our own color season in October, especially Highway 9 that winds through the Ozarks and Ouachitas from Harrison to Hot Springs.

Love that some of your flowers survived. In our renovation we planted little that required more than watering. But getting them starting has been difficult. Knock Out roses have done well. Chinese (Burford Holly) has not.

The heat kept me in since I have developed a heart condition along with my COPD/asthma. I would go out at 8 p.m. to barely help my husband water. Bugs have been bad. Poor Luckie's flea medication could not overcome the influx of fleas from feral cats that roam our neighborhood, plus other wildlife.

Wobegon Cottage said...

It was nice to hear from you again and see what has been going on at your place. I have been so busy babysitting I haven't had time to do anything else but I have just closed up grammy's daycare and going to start back with my life.

Marguerite said...

Great pics! Everything looks great, there at the farm! Wow, 99 jars of tomatoes, and you look fabulous, cher! Thanks for stopping by!

Pat in east TN said...

It was nice to see everything that went on your way over the months. Nice to see posts from you ... I've missed them.

Yep, summer can't be over with too soon for me. I usually can deal with the heat, but the humidity we had wore me down in a hurry.

Great picture of you and your daughter ... did you get your hair cut shorter?

Morning's Minion said...

I am learning that trumpet vine can survive anything!
This is our second summer in KY--still haven't learned the secrets to a good tomato harvest---virus and blight on tomatoes are a new experience!