welp we moved in...

finally got closed on the house, and "Senior and Jugms moving company" had to go to work...and my Lord, we are still working!!!. Digging through boxes, finding things that have been packed up for 18 months....*Sigh*  But, it is a blessing to be in a place that is all our own......

I think the biggest thing for me is opening the boxes that held all the pictures, Senior has started putting them up on the walls, and its really beginning to feel like home around here.

its been a flurry of  activity all last week with the different service technicians coming in to connect stuff...like the Internet, TV Satellite, and now the gas company is here installing the tank for the gas fireplace and checking all the connections for us.
things though have began to calm down and we are getting back into our groove of daily life. This is the view from my new kitchen window: 

 

 Jack the Cat, who at first was not so sure about the place, has finally relaxed and loves his new digs and all the space he has to roam now... 

 

Now begins the daunting task of cleaning out my father in laws trailer that we called home for the past year and a half. We are trying to downsize the furniture that is in there, donate some stuff, sell some stuff and clean the place up.  One of our neighbors has offered to come by and paint the exterior for us, and I tell ya what, it needs it.

In other news..Little league is here, and NW is excited to be back behind the plate catching, not sure where ND will end up , but being that he is  a lefty he did quite well at 1st. I just hope they continue to love the sport like they do now. I want them to enjoy what they do and have fun at it.. 

-JUGM

things round here # 2

Things have been going good, not only for us but all our friends to the south. The Midlands are finally drying out, but the damage is done and much work is needed to fix what the flooding destroyed.

  A couple of weeks ago Senior bought us this double burner stove. When the new house is done, we will be moving it into a storage building that will sit right out from the side porch, I will move my umpteen canning jars, and all the supplies in that as well. Thus making it the canning supply room.
 Senior had Monday off for the Columbus Day. So we did some potatoes. The best part is being able to have two pressure cookers running at the same time. It is also great in case of emergencies, just another way to be prepared for whatever life throws you.

ND was about to pee his pants to finally cut his pumpkin, The kid is so excited about Halloween that he  couldn't stand it any longer. While it was no where near the size it could have been, it isn't bad. Bigger then a basketball, and weighs around 10-15 pounds. Next year though we will get them in the ground much earlier.

  Libby absolutely despises "Black Jack"the rooster and I believe the feeling is mutual.The two crack me up when they get started going at it. On this day his feathers were getting incredibly ruffled and he was trying to spur her through the wire.

 

 

 

It is turning much cooler here, lows will be in the 30s next week.We have enjoyed beautiful fall weather, and keeping the windows open. It is a welcome break from the drought and hot temps of the summer.  Have a blessed Day...    -JUGM

LoL

garden and things.,..

Spring has kept us busy here at the ole estate. Now that it is in full swing everything is coming to life around here.

 

Garden is plowed and planted and seeds are starting to sprout. We have a pretty large deer population, so my Uncle told me to put soap on a rope around the garden perimeter, deer will catch the scent and think a human is nearby and stay out.....

 

I was a tad skeptical at first, but so far, the little soap on a rope trick seems to be working..This is a sunflower and corn popping up.



 

 My fellow Angel SANDY sent some heirloom cucumber seeds, boys planted them and now they have sprouted nicely. I also picked up some heirloom tomato seeds and got them started, few more days I will get them into the garden.

We went through a lengthy dry spell, but this past week Mother Nature as turned on her faucet, and everything is wet again..with more rain tonight and Sunday is supposed to be a complete wash out..then it looks like another stretch of nice weather for us.

this and that....

okay so I have been under the weather for the past few days. Sorry for the lack of post. Depsite me feeling "blah" things have not stopped around the estate....

One thing we aquired over Christmas was a Silkie Hen..We named her "blue" because of the markings on the side of her head...she is such a pretty girl, now I am in search of a black silkie roosters, they would make some gorgeous chicks:

Senior made these cool PVC feeders for the roosters , they work out well and reduce the amount of wasted food. next up is one for water.

Somebody decided she was going to strike a pose on a stump for me:

Everybody loves digging through fresh hale bales:



Who said dogs and cats can't get along here is Ruger and Jack the Cat snuggling together:





busy weekend

 If you have been over to SENIOR'S blog, then you know he got a new toy: a new tractor. Yup! I guess you could say that we are official country people now. It was really a much needed addition to the estate, because there has been a lot of cleaning up to do around here.



Like the picture above, The boys awoke Saturday morning, and headed out the door to "Help" us. So, they grabbed some rakes, and I directed them to lets rake up leaves around all the trees...so we did... It took us the better part of the day to get all of it done.

 

While working we found an old machete, or knife that grew in to this trunk:

 



 And a really cool knot that formed at the base of this tree, now affectionately known as the "wishing well tree" :

We also purchased a deer feeder-  across from it is a trail camera--all we seem to get is raccoons... again if you have gone over to Seniors, you will see we caught one in our trap. :

 



I think this is some of the Golden Rod that Ole Pioneer Preppy has talked about so much..looks really pretty:

 

The boys, while catching crickets, came across this little Box Turtle...they scared the crap out of him, and he refused to come of his shell until we all left. And let me tell you the person who said turtles move slow is full of it. He got the heck out of dodge!  ha ha

Our Good neighbor Mr. Farmer stopped by to help with some of the clean up, he mentioned that  five of the baby chicks, that have been in the brooder were ready for the big coop. So, we made the move. They freaked, and the older girls were picking on them, but now they have all settled. He did sex some of them for me, and it looks like we have three or four roosters in the mix. One, is pictured here, he is  the white one behind the little brown one, you can see his crown starting to stick up, the boys named him "Billy Bob"  :

 

 Now it is Monday, the boys hated going back to school and  massive amounts of rain are headed this way. The neighbor behind us has opened up his back pasture for his horses, they like this dreary weather: 

 

 

-JUGM







A New Chapter

As most of my followers who follow my sweet husband "Senior" already know. We made the decision to move up to the Carolina Estate.

Was it hard?  You betcha! It was a year of praying, and weighing all our options. It was a year of Senior applying for jobs up and down the eastern seaboard, with the only nibbles coming from the Charlotte area. 90 + applications and resumes submitted ..only a small handful of responses. But in the end he landed something in Charlotte. Thus the cement for our new foundation was laid.

The boys and I were already up here for the summer so, it was a matter of having school transcripts sent from Florida so they could get enrolled. The first day was today.

Was it a good decision? Well with all that is going on in the world, we believe so. Only time will tell though. But here, we have more room. We no longer answer to a Home Owners Association, we can put what we want in our yard without worrying about getting a letter. The Florida house is still there. it is now a rental.  A snooty coast guard family is our tenant--if they get a letter it is on them. The monthly rent covers the mortage and they set up auto pay so we are happy.
Here we have a 14 row garden, and the workings of my new chicken coop. Our Buddy Mr. Farmer's grandson in law has a incubator and is going to give me some babies in the next few weeks. A new venture that I can't wait for...isn't motherhood grand?  Ha Ha


So we have arrived!...a new place, new faces,  a new life, and new adventures to blog about...... 

However with all the new stuff..some stuff will never change: like me running late for the school car line.  I'm outta here

-JUGM

Humming Birds

They were out in full force tonight. Senior, NW and I sat as still as we could in the graveled driveway of the estate. I waited patiently with my camera.  I love these little critters...so amazing to watch, and full of personality.

NW told me he wished to be a hummingbird for just one week so he could live with them, and fly like they do.
ND said he wanted to be one so he could justify drinking straight sugar water...lol 

 

 

 

Then the clash of thunder was heard off in the distance...  rain began to sprinkle and our playtime with the little friends soon ended.. 

The Ole Chimney and Other Stuff

At the estate we had two single wide mobile homes. One my father in law resided in, the other was old, and the floor was about to give away. So we got with our neighbor Mr. Farmer, and thus began the demolition of the old place. We said he could have it, and put it on his place if he just got it out of here. Must have taken him a month to dismantle the porch my father in law had built. Let me tell you that man used every nail he could find,and when he built something, he built it to last.
Then, about three weeks ago, Mr. Farmer got with another neighbor and had it towed off. It now sits in Mr. Farmers pasture, he is remodeling it for his grand daughter and her husband.

What is left in it's wake is a pile of concrete blocks and this old chimney. I love this thing. It has lots of rustic charm and character.

We plan to move the old rubble to a bottom area, and clear the old home site up. Once all that is done, Senior wants to work his magic and transform this old chimney into a fire pit. His plan is to make an opening in the bottom then make some bench swings around it. Should be nice and cozy once we are done with this project.

My parents came to visit. the only thing I have to say about it is my mother does not have a country bone in her body. Combining  that with her Alzheimers made for a wonderful week. By Wednesday night she had half of their luggage waiting by the door. At precisly 8am on Thursday their bedroom door opened, they were fully dressed and mother was lobbing bags at my dad as if they were baseballs. I can most likely predict that she will never return to our little hilltop estate.   *Sigh*

Saturday brought us rain, and dark clouds here today. Senior is smoking us some ribs. I will cook him up some baked beans, and fried corn. We will retire on our porch for the evening, with our major source of entertainment: The police scanner..  Fun times indeed! 

Till Next Time! 
JUGM

Quiet Times....

It was early evening up on the hilltop at the Estate. The sun was going down behind the trees and was casting long shadows. The boys were patiently awaiting the arrival of the lightning bugs. Catching them is a right of passage, and a nightly ritual while we are up there.

Senior had strung up his hammock and was relaxing in it.  Birds flew about, and the squirrel population played in the trees. Occasionally on this particular evening, a car passing on the highway would break the peace. But other then that..all was quiet.

 

 

SC Common Core

The battle began about two years ago. When the parents of South Carolina school children began bringing home  Common Core education. The lines were drawn and parents were outraged at the "Dumbing Down" of our school kids.
I ,in Florida felt fortunate, that we did not have full implementation of this monster..we only had the math portion which is a headache enough. South Carolina and several other states have full implementation.
Common Core is not only a fight for what curriculum is taught, it is also a fight for the personal data that is being collected. Data that the federal government has no business asking.

Below is an actual questionnaire :

This is what a parent wrote in on one such questionnaire that was mailed to them from the Palm Beach County School District here in Florida:

 Now I am happy to say that Last week the voices of the people were heard, the South Carolina House and Senate struck down Common Core. The bill will go back to the house for final passage then signed by the Governor.

However South Carolina must remain vigilant. The same thing was done in Indiana and new curriculum was passed, only it was still common core with a different name to it.
That is why the Anti Common Core movement is hoping for their candidate : Sherry Few to be elected. She has promised sweeping changes to South Carolina's education system and if elected will begin working on the new curriculum in January 2015 when she takes office.

Now Florida needs to get on the bandwagon....  fingers crossed

-JUGM

A Weekend Away..

We took the kids out of school on Friday, said "good bye" to the rainy weather that has been plaguing Florida, and headed up to the South Carolina Estate.
Weather was gorgeous the entire weekend. Blue skies, a warm breeze. Spring is in full swing, and the trees had all filled in with leaves and were just so darn green...
I love this time of year there. Every thing is just so alive...

Mr. Farmer gave us some okra and green bean seeds. The boys wanted to plant them in the garden. But Grandpaws ole Farmall is currently out of order. I told them we would have to do the digging manually, so I gave them each a hoe and told them to go at it.
This isn't a violation of child labor laws is it? The thing about it is, they actually enjoyed it. NW loves fried okra and couldn't plant his seeds fast enough.

With the planting of these two new crops,  it sealed the deal on the boys and I spending the summer there. Some one has to be there to take care of the garden, so we will head up after school is out later this month. They are thrilled over the decision.
I am hoping this will encourage my parents to get up and out of their house. A change of scenery will do them both a bit of good, plus there is plenty of room there for them to walk around and not feel so confined.
My uncle lives about 60 miles north of the estate, and is hoping my parents visit as well, he just had a pond put in on his property, and  stocked it with bass and some other stuff. Uncle C is hoping dad will join him in a day of fishing. 

Now we are back home, boys in school...house is quiet for the moment--time to let out a deep *sigh*

-JUGM

Darn Varmints!

  We noticed something was getting into the corn at the deer feeder. So we put up a trail camera and as I expected we caught the critters red handed, I love the way one is playing "Look out" :

Mr. Farmer, our Estate neighbor and all around good guy gave me a bag of sweet yellow onions that we can put in the ground:

Yesterday we drove and found the little league field Senior once played on when he was the boys age. It was still in use and the better shape then he imagined:

On another note..My dad Finally went home from the hospital yesterday.Thank you all again for the thoughts and prayers...

-JUGM

PS: I did this post via my phone so if it looks wonky, I apologize

Spring Break At The Estate...

We drove up Sunday to our Carolina property. With my Dad still in the hospital I was reluctant to leave. But Dad insisted he is still in poor shape and for me to elaborate would be TMI.
 I know if any thing were to change my sister is there and I am but a few hours away.

The weather is chilly but pleasant here. Rain is moving in and much colder weather is predicted for tomorrow through Thursday.

So while today was pleasant Senior got out in garden and plowed, I think he was having fun on his Dads ole Farmall:

I bought a pack of sunflower seeds and the boys got out in the recently plowed earth and planted them , we wanted some thing easy that would not need much maintenance:

- JUGM

Options

Saturday was sunny but cool and windy. With the majority of the snow melted, and the fun times of the first ever snow ball fights forever etched in our memory. We set out to explore options for our future.
Senior has several employment applications out there. He is applying for something in both Florida and South Carolina. So all options are on the table.

One of those options is having a new home put on our property. We have looked at log and  custom built homes, but are leaning towards a doublewide or modular.

We found this one with Clayton Homes and really liked it:

Our favorite thing was the fireplace and wood trim. 

Saturday...

Happy 2014 every one! 

The cough that NW gave me for Christmas turned into Bronchitis over New Years. We came home a day early from the estate so I could get in to my doctor.  Like I just told Pioneer Preppy...This stuff sucks.

Between coughing I am working my way around the blogs this morning..Up at the estate we do not have internet service, and trying to post and comment from a smart phone is not easy.
I played with my new camera up there this past week. Because of this crud words are short, so enjoy some of the pics I took :

This was a drive by pic on the way up. It turned out to be one of my favorites.

 

 

 

I have color filter on my camera and I was playing with it

This is a shot from our yard and across the neighbors pasture. Do you see the gate?  If you look at the tire swing pic you can see how big the pasture is. The gate is on the other side by that tree line.

Then I played with the zoom lens and had it out at the full 42x:



I took tons and there are more to come...  -JUGM