Leibster Thingy.....

So my fellow "Charlies Angel : KYMBER has nominated my little humble blog of for a leibster blogger thingy award...   I graciously accept this honor. And thank you to the committee and all my fans who voted for me.. 

I am supposed to answer these 10 questions about myself, so here goes :

1. what is your favorite thing to do when you have 2 free hours all to yourself?
     Catch up on my shows ex.."Outlander, Criminal minds, Quantico.. or anything that is  too adult for the kids to see or I like to sit and read...

2. who is your favorite author and why?
    Its a toss up right now, between Diana Gabaldon and Phillipa Gregory...My current read is "The Other Bolyen Girl"  by Gregory, only because I am so enamored with that time in history. And I have a portrait of Queen Anne on my dinning room wall that was passed down to me by my mother in law. so, i am a fan of the Tudors. ND hates this picture because he says her eyes follow him around the room and watches him while he eats...lol

  
  3. when it snows do you make snow angels or snowmen? (c'm PP - we all know that you do!)
    While our buddy PP might have the thrill of snowmen, we don't that often, but are gifted with ice storms...

4, do you ever walk through the mud and/or grass in bare feet?
    sometimes, but the soil and mud here are so rocky that its hard to...

5,   do you love where you live?
    Of course I do, while I am away from my Florida family and miss the beach,  I wouldn't trade     living in the hill country of the Carolina's for anything. 

6. what is the most exciting thing that you ever grew and were thoroughly pleased with yourself by?
    Our first attempt last summer at growing corn, this year I have attempted sweet potatoes

7.  what is your favorite house cleaning tip?
     We are supposed to clean house?????    Bahahahahaha!!!    I knew that, I like to use distilled vinegar.  The fumes aren't toxic to the kids when they scrub their toilet

8.  what is your favorite alcoholic drink?
      I have three..  " Angry Orchard", a decent margarita, and coconut rum with V8 Tropical splash....gosh people are gonna think I am a lush..  Don't say it Preppy!  

9. do you love swimming?
    Yes, not so much in the ocean though. But, a nice cool lake or swimming pool is always a delight. 

10.   if someone got you a mermaid tail, would you wear it? in private and in public?
      in private yea, but in public only if I looked like one of these, this was a friends daughter with a couple of mermaids that was hooked in a net, I am sure her mom was thrilled when daddy brought them home.  

 

 okay, so I did my deed and answered Kymbers questions...  I have no idea who to nominate because we all pretty much follow the same blogs etc, etc, etc,,   But, thank you Gurlie!!!!!!  


-JUGUM 
 

front porch....

If the world had a front porch like we did back then
We'd still have our problems but we'd all be friends
Treatin' your neighbor like he's your next of kin
Wouldn't be gone with the wind
If the world had a front porch like we did back then

-Tracy Lawrence

Okay, its safe to say that I am not a big fan of country music, but I always liked Tracy Lawrence, and I always liked this song. "If the world had a front porch" I guess because some of my most memorable times growing up was summers over in Easley, SC with my grandparents. I am sure most of you can concur that life revolved around the front porch.  

Supper would be finished, dishes washed and put away, it was time to retire to the  porch.  No kidding-every neighbor seemed to drop by and we kids played in the front yard chasing lightening bugs or eating a cold piece of watermelon. There was no TV, the comings and goings of the ole mill hill were our nightly entertainment.
Friends would catch us up on all the local gossip, and My Grandmother ( God rest her soul) would sit in her porch swing with her two pekingese puppies next to her. She was a great debater, and would keep you up past midnight arguing the issues. She went to her grave believing that man never walked on the moon and it was all one big puppet show.  In one evening we would have all the worlds problems solved and then enjoy a dish of ice cream..

My Grandfather would sit in a rocker that was once my great grandmothers, and laugh at my Grandmother, and all her theories on things. He would get us kids together and scare the crap out of us telling stories of local "haints" as he called them. He taught us the way of the hill people, and all the superstitions.

So, when we got the house done, with our lovely porch...Senior surprised me one day with rockers. It was so reminiscent of those simpler times when I was a kid, much like back then we turn the TV off, and retire to the porch, take a breath and enjoy life.....

-JUGM

a visit to see mom

While on spring break, we rode south to visit my parents in Florida. I don't usually talk to much about my mom, but once in a while, I think I need to for therapy.
Last week we got the diagnosis we all have known in the back of our heads, but dreaded to officially hear: advanced stage of Alzheimer's. Seeing it on paper, and hearing it from her doctor...rocked my dads world.
Because my mom has always been fearful of legal dealings, such as POAs, and Medical Surrogates. So, with my sister and I by Dads side we met last week with an attorney. We are petitioning the court for moms guardianship, this way he  can legally place her in a home, that will meet her needs and get her the help she consistently denies. She has only gone to the doctor twice in the past year, and we had to lie to get her to those appointments. So, it will be fight, as the mere mention of a doctors appointment or someone coming to the house arouses her aggression.
Something new is her constant sleeping, and in a daze of sorts. Last week she just sat there, disengaged, and staring past us into emptiness.


 I never thought I would see my mom like this, I mean what kid would?  When we had the boys, she was over the moon about them, they were her world, now she had nothing to do with them, and was wanting them to leave.

It hurts like hell and I hate how this horrible disease robs the patient of their life. All we do is pray for mom that God will intervene and relieve her of this mental torment and call her home.
( is that bad to ask for? )


JUGM

a quiet sunday

What is it about the solitude of country living? No hussle and bussle of the big cities, or crowded apartments and subdivisions. No hearing everything your neighbors talk about or having cars parked along the street and blocking your driveway...No I don't miss that at all.
 Another benefit is shooting whenever you want to, we have been working on our little range, made some additions and improvements and its all coming along nicely...I am thankful that we no longer have to find a public range to shoot at and can come and go as much as we want on ours...
 This being the last day of our spring break the boys were up early, with BB guns in hand, wanting to get some target practice in. As long as they don't put an eye out they can shoot BBs whenever they like. But, when it comes to their .22s or something of mom and dads...we need to be there with them.
 I made a cup of coffee and sat on the porch watching, and thinking about how carefree they are. Wishing desperately that they did not know of some of the things that are corrupting our world, or the meaning of words that I would have never thought of as a child.

I look at them being so free and smile, but inside I am sad that soon Senior and I will have to turn them loose in this big old world, and I hope we are preparing them well for that day.( sniff sniff..mom gets weepy eyed)

Another good thing about country living and having property?...is getting to have a monster garden. Ours is 99% planted. Only thing left is the okra for Senior and boys. ( ick...i know!...lol )
Jack was being naughty in the house, and so we collectively decided to let him have the great outdoors where I think he is much happier. Today he was helping us out in the garden . He likes coming down there to purr and nuzzle us with his nose. When we pull the hose out, he cracks us up trying to attack it thinking its a big black snake.
Having an out door cat has been an adventure, we look forward to his daily presents he leaves on the porch. Mostly its moles. But Friday he managed a bird. And No, we were not happy because it was a robin.

The day is growing short,  I have noticed several of my favorite bloggers have done posts, so I am off of mine to go check theirs out and say a quick hello. Then its on to answer the demands of the household....you know that dinner thing!  lol

-JUGM

Squirrel vs Power Pole

If you are a Squirrel it is not wise to 

play on power poles....

Because the power pole is sure to win

starting a natural fence

every time I go down to visit my parents, my dad sends me home with small cypress trees. I made the mistake of telling him once that Senior and I wanted to work on a natural fence along part of our property line. So ever since, he calls to tell me he has some trees for us..
I can't say no to him..I mean he's my dad. But, every time a new little tree pops up in his yard, he is quick to dig it up, pot it and send it home with me when we visit.

So, yesterday we finally got around to planting these three. The ground was really hard, and of course rocky. I was happy to turn the shovels over to the boys and just supervise.

 But we got them in the ground, of course we have no clue what type of cypress trees they are..

This one is a complete mystery..but we took it anyways and I smiled and thanked my dad for it.

It was with this one, that while we were taking it out of the pot, I talked about its roots and how happy it would be to be in the ground where it could stretch them out. NW the oldest, said it was kind of like us...getting the house built, starting our life up here..and putting our roots down on the estate, and now it was time to watch the little tree grow, just like we had.

I told him that was a good analogy, and Thanked God for giving Senior and I wise and intelligent kids..

-JUGM

rainy saturday and garden sale

All you had to do was tell me there was a plant sale, and I would be there. I love planting and watching things grow. So, I was up bright and early on this rainy Saturday morning. The boys asked last night to come as well, but only ND made it out of bed... 
I made us a quick breakfast, and with coffee and chocolate milk in hand we both headed out

It is an annual plant sale the first Saturday in April that is put on by the local high schools and "Future Farmers Club+. I really want to give it up to these kids, and all the hard work they do. I don't think I have ever been around a group of teenagers as polite as these were.  When so many are disengaged, sit on the video games or getting in to trouble, it was nice to see some doing a worth while thing and learning to be self sufficient. Their knowledge on gardening, what to plant and when to plant just amazed me. It was like picking the brain of the "Farmers Almanac" . Indeed I was truly impressed.

Then there were the girls,  and being all flirty and smiling at my little ND that he turned red.. LoL
  I was proud of him because he brought some of his own money and bought cantaloupe plants and Jalapenos..  Don't ask me why the peppers, but he did. I guess it was something to buy and he could plant. I think he has inherited moms love of gardening.

 This was my haul: Squash, pickle bush cucumbers, beef steak tomatoes, red and yellow peppers for Senior and the two things ND bought. The prices were so cheap that it was impossible not to go overboard, I think I paid no more then $10.00 for my load.

The rain here is now stopping,and the sun is starting to peek out,  but there is no way to get down in the garden, it is so muddy after the two days we have had that it will be either tomorrow or Monday before I can get this stuff in the ground without sinking down 2 feet and getting stuck.

Hope you all have a blessed Saturday...

-JUGM