Oh, Rhett ~ It's So Hot!

Gotta love Scarlett.  Wow, did she endure some hot days in the south!

Stay cool ~ it's warming up.  Gardening makes one thirsty.  Try this lip-licking, thirst busting, refreshing

drink when the work is done ...aaah, yummy!

Watermelon Mojito

        20 mint leaves, chopped

                  2 tablespoons superfine sugar

               1/2 cup fresh lime juice

           Crushed ice

                  3/4 cup light rum

           6 ounces seedless watermelon, pureed

In the bottom of a large shaker, muddle the mint, sugar and 1/4 cup of the lime juice. Fill the shaker with ice. Add the rum, watermelon and the remaining 1/4 cup of lime juice; shake well. Strain into old-fashioned glasses over ice.

Thanks to Food and Wine, http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/watermelon-mojito

RARE BIRD ALERT

For those who remember, this is OUR Steve Martin from Saturday Night Live, movie "Father of the Bride", etc,etc.  If you like Blue Grass, hands down - get this CD.  He plays the banjo with his band, the Steep Canyon Rangers, and it's fantastic.   His concert was just in our area and I totally missed it.  It was a sale out.  I had this on the outdoor speakers today while I was sweating and working away in the garden and it just kept me moving.  You will love it.  Google it and listen to some of his songs (maybe Amazon).

Stormy Weather Again ~

Can We Go Out Yet?

My boys are SO... ready to get back out.  Look at Ace's little face ~ he's ready for some jumps!  We had just started the evening turn-out and they were loving it.  The pasture is so wet that they would probably tear it to pieces + we don't want to risk any broken legs or any other injuries from being silly in wet grass.

There's always work to do, however, even on rainy days.  That's what we call "Plan B".  It's a good time to straighten out the barn from the past winter.  New hay will be coming soon, cob-web's need to be swept out, fly traps hung, water buckets cleaned (again) ......its endless. 

Finally Some Sunshine

Got my things together ready to finish up!  

  

Nothing is blooming right now ~ sorry. I have so much shade.

I have 2 holding beds.  One basically holds the sale items I bought in the fall waiting for spring planting. There are still items in there that I just don't know where I want them yet.  The front box holds lettuces, etc, and then the herbs take it over for the summer.  There are 3 holding boxes of composted horse manure with leaf mulch that is on the other side of the property that gets moved into these beds and garden area in the fall.  I have a good little client base who come take some for their gardens also.  It's a win-win situation.  

Snake Bite Update

Potter coming this morning.  Still in pain and has huge neck.  Copperhead bites have been common for us living in the middle of the forest.  I think all the dogs have been tasted by the snake at least once, one dog twice.  The lucky dog who has been bitten twice (Jasper ~ see his pic) might not survive another bite, so he's always on a short-leash.  This a.m. update, there's a black snake in my birdhouse. I am SO mad.  Be careful where you place your hands out there digging around in your dirt. Debi

Copperhead Bite

Friends, my little Jack Russell, Potter, was bitten somewhere around his upper neck/face area this evening by a copperhead snake.  He had immediate swelling and had a little trouble breathing.  He was taken to Emergency Vet and is in tremendous pain.  He will stay tonight and only receive anti-venom tomorrow if needed. He will get fluids and Benadryl tonight. Poisonous snake bites are hard on small dogs.  He's no spring chicken either (age 11).  Positive thoughts & a hug needed ~ Debi

Gardening & A Recipe

I never thought of myself getting into gardening like I have, but something happened along the way (probably the horses), that has made it incredibly difficult not to love playing in the dirt.  Gardening takes time and commitment.  It can be life-changing and, ... Mother Nature may be one of the most unpredictable forces there is. If you don't grow your own, please support your regional food system and get to know who grows your food.  Make friends with your local farmer.  Its "food with a face, a name, and a place".  

Now ... I would like to share with you this lovely little recipe.  Because of all I said above, I hope all of you will run to your local farmer and pick some of their lovely strawberries. You will love this. Very seldom do we find a strawberry bread recipe.  Enjoy!

    Strawberry-Nut Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, beaten

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

2 cups strawberries, sliced (fresh or frozen)

1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped

Combine dry ingredients. Add eggs, oil, strawberries, and pecans.  Stir just until all ingredients are moistened.  Spoon batter into 2 well-greased loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes until cake tests done. Cool in pans 5 minutes.  Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Freezes well.

My daughter, Ally, with Bunny ~ 7 Gates Farm.  

Ally and Ace; poor horse doesn't have to work THAT hard for that jump.  He's still learning.

Ace in training.  Early mornings are a great time to get a workout in.

This is our barn.  I love it in there.  We have a couple of rooms in there - a tack room, feed/supply room and a wash stall.  I love the hay and horse smells.

Back to pasture

My pastures were finally mowed this week.  It was getting so high, the Jack Russells were getting lost in the middle ~ joking, Jack Russells never get lost.

The result... happy horses!  Wouldn't you just love to be in that hammock.

The barn across the pond. 

OK, I helped Meg work the store on Mother's Day, but we had a good time because she helped me with my blog.

The Farm House

I've looked at a lot of blogs and can really tell that home is where it's at for almost all of us.  There's a certain style that I'm looking for in my next home scale down and I appreciate so much all the inspiration pictures everyone has posted.  I'm torn to leave my farm house (pictured on the right somewhere).  Its different.  It's not for everyone.  There are brick floors, wood floors, marble floors, and stone floors.  There are cottage windows and cottage doors, screened porches, and a bookcase that goes from the 2nd floor up to the 3rd floor. My style in here is a mix of a lot of different textures with modern, traditional, and farmhouse blend.  The washer/dryer are on the bottom floor and, little friends, that's getting tough.  My hubby says we will know when its time to leave (our knees will tell us first, I think). I'm just trying to figure out how to get all this charm into less sq. footage - and I'm talking really less.  So you folks keep posting those pictures; I'm taking notes.