Things round here ( take 2)

( blogger was wonky earlier and I have no idea what happened with the first post about this so this is another shot at it)

Things are here have been busy. The construction of the new house is moving along nicely. We are growing accustomed to the coming and going of subcontractors. This week it has been the masons who are doing the brick work around the base. Senior and I thought they would run out of the red brick  so, this morning I slowly approached and politely asked if they would be getting another delivery. I was looked upon as if I had three heads, unbeknownst to me  none of the workers spoke a lick of English...  They just kind of smiled like they understand and nodded their heads as if agreeing with me.

ND has been giving me fits these past few days. He is expanding his vocabulary and the word for this week is "Apparently"  everything begins with : "Apparently Mom"...   Yesterday  he put the word to use while ratting out his older brother  it was " Apparently Mother your older son is to blame"   I rolled my eyes and silently giggle...  Kids! you just gotta love the things they say...

The fall garden is in full swing and we have been blessed with an abundance....This is NDs gigantic pumpkin, it has grown quite a bit since the last post about it. But it still has a ways to go before Halloween.

These are the two vines that the boys planted:

The fall green beans are being more prosperous then the spring and summer ones, so we have decided in the future to only do a fall planting of them.

We get half of a 5 gallon bucket every 2-3 days. Thus it  has become the ritual after our evening  baths to sit at the kitchen table, and snap them. We have 3-4 gallon bags frozen and plan to start canning some this weekend.

I was told "Apparently Mother, ( lol)  I have picked and snapped so many green beans, they are growing out of my nose" 

 OMG! 

I had to take a pic

We got the collards in earlier this year, thus they are exploding:

We are being blessed with cooler weather, the lows are down in the 50-60's highs in the 70s. Hopefully those stiffing hot and humid days are gone until next summer.  And rain is back in our forecast, which is much needed for our region. Everyone is hoping it will start to cut into the drought we have been under since April.

It is the first day of fall and the only positive thing about being so dry and hot this past summer is the fall leaves are expected to be very brilliant... they are currently turning a bright yellow, with some reds and oranges splashed here and there.

-JUGM

our ebenezer

We have lots of boulders, and rocks here at the estate,  lets not kid around, you can't walk or dig without stumbling over rocks of all shapes and sizes here. So, it was not abnormal for the foundation crew to find and have to unearth this behemoth rock.
I thought it was cool, and another one to add to the many others, so I actually blew it off.
 Then Friday, I was flipping through the bible in the book of  1 Samuel and came across the story of Israel and the many battles they have had against the Philistines. The battle was incredibly fierce and the Israelites cried unto the Lord for help. As the philistines drew near for battle, The Lord caused a great thunder upon them and were defeated by the Israelite's. 
 After that Samuel grabbed up a stone, used it as a monument and called it "Ebenezer" it is a combination of two Hebrew words that literally means: " the stone of help"  What it did though, was remind the Israelite's that God is with them and provides for their needs, no matter how big the problem is...God was there protecting them.

Okay, I know Samuel used a stone, and this thing is a massive boulder but during the past year of our family moving to the estate, The problems we faced and challenges we had did seem"boulder sized" to us. There were many times we talked about  about throwing in the towel. But, I would give it to God because there was no way I was going to be beat.

Now, with Seniors job, and the house construction started, we have seen Gods work in action.
So when the rock was unearthed, and reading the story of Samuel  it reminded me that  much like he did back then with the armies of Israel, God has and will provide for us.
like the stone Samuel used, this big rock serves as an everlasting monument that our needs were provided for.  When we felt things were so dark, God provided. 

We have discussed where to move the thing to, and we have all decided to keep it in front of the house. So we can never forget where we have been, and where we are going......  

-JUGM

Say a prayer, stay vigilant and never forget

Roots run deep....

"If we know where we came from,

We may better know where to go,

If we know who we came from,

We may better understand Who we are"

-unknown

When one starts searching through the past, you find the most interesting things. Senior and I had heard of a book about his family- when they came to America, and roughly about the entire family tree..starting in 1698 and going to 1978. We knew  at one time Seniors dad had a copy of this book as it was written by a cousin. But, in our search through his belongings we have not found it.

So, a few weeks back I took to the library. And found a copy resting in the reference section, among the South Carolina archives.  It is frail and you can not check it out.

I flipped through it and found the history of his family fascinating.. Who they were, and who they had become in life. My search led me to Seniors 4x Great Grandmother, and to her grandfather, Captain John Blakeney Sr. He was born in Ireland in 1732, came to the colonies in the 1750s  and fought in the Revolutionary War. He achieved the rank of Captain, and served in the South Carolina militia along side Francis Marion ( the swamp fox). Once the war was over he chose this area to set up his home and raise his family. He was brazen and tough, and died at the age of 100.

Searching for him, led me to a monument erected in his honor in 1956 by the Daughters of the Revolution. And it was in fact not 20 miles from here.

I was excited about this and showed it to Senior who in turn was equally excited that he had an ancestor who fought in the militia. So, we found the address for the cemetery that the monument and grave are in and took off Saturday to go find it. It led us to a ruddy dirt road with a large mud puddle. Senior suggested we return in our 4x4. This we did the next day.

This is the only marker showing the entrance to the cemetery, long been worn down by the elements, it once had a brass plaquered attached but it was either stolen or fell off, and never replaced.

This is the road in to the cemetery:

Captain Blakeney ( Seniors 6X Great Grandfather)  monument and grave, erected in 1956, near the Blakeney homestead

Along with the Captains grave were other markers for other family members:

 

After taking the pictures and thinking about what kind of man Capt. Blakeney was, I thought about how sad it is that so much history is here, and not being taken care of. I am sure one time or the other it was , and those family members have since died off.

Seeing this gives me another reason why I love living in South Carolina...this area is so rich in American history, We cant drive down a road without seeing some sort of marker referencing something from the past.

My search into Seniors family is not over. I am stuck at the his paternal 5x grandfather who married Capt. Blakeneys granddaughter. The book in the library will tell me more, and holds the answers to filling in Seniors family tree. I have tried to get a copy but the publisher is out of business and the book out of print.

As for my family tree...my dad and aunt actually researched that some time ago, and traced us back to Scotland in the 1400s. We were of Clan Gunn, which was one of the oldest Scottish Clans,  and our motto? " Either peace or war" 

-JUGM



things around here....

We got our fall garden in full swing, the other night I cut my first batch of "tendergreens" and the fall green beans are growing nicely.
ND wanted his own pumpkin patch, so when it came to getting the seeds, he went with the "Gigantic" variety. We planted them in early August, and now he has his first one growing.
I know they went in the ground a bit late to get anything really big, but honestly these plants grew like a weed on miracle grow, so it would not surprise me if he ends up with a big one..

 

If you recall this past spring, I picked up one Jersey Giant Rooster...he was so darn cute and fluffy, and the last one left, I could not resist buying him.  I had read about the breed, and learned they were very docile, and friendly...Well here is that Rooster now.  A couple of weeks ago, we put him in the main coop with all the mutt chicken ladies, and he has done real well adjusting. They were a bit nervous at first, but now everyone is happy.

The boys named him "Black Jack"

 

  

Since we liked Black Jack so much, the feed store got in another batch of Giant babies, I went back a month later to get 5 pullets. ( because I am thinking about breeding and selling them). A month ago I started getting suspicous that 2 were cockrels and darn I was right, they have just learned they can crow... so yes I have three Jersey Giant Roosters, and am trying to sell these two smaller ones..

 

You know when things get quiet that means something is wrong?.. I walked into the bedroom yesterday where we keep the dogs kennel, and there was Libby snoodling with Jack the Cat...this is the same cat she usually hates and chases around the house... 

 

 

The boys came across some creepy crawlies this week :

 

And Monday I was at the sink doing dishes, and this butterfly was fluttering around the bush outside.I grabbed my camera, stood on a chair over the sink to snap this pic through the window..

 

 

It has been really hot and dry here this week, but that is soon to change over the weekend, I guess a classic Nor'Easter is suppose to be setting up and it should bring us much cooler temps and rain. The Good Lord knows we need the rain here. I will  probably get out and do my happy dance if it does!  

 

Hope you all have a good weekend!

 

JUGM 





Freedom Lost

I was sitting here this morning sipping my coffee and reading through my bible, when I came upon some old notes I had made one day in Church.
That particular Sunday the message was from Acts 16:25-34. Paul and Silas had been  jailed and began singing praises to Jesus, and a great earthquake struck. All the prisoners were set free of their bonds, but stayed in the cells. The Jail keeper was amazed and called upon the Lord and was saved.

Just below my notes for the sermon I had written this:

   "Freedom assumed is freedom forgotten,
     Freedom forgotten is freedom lost"

I am not sure who first said it, so I can give them credit for it, but the preacher that Sunday included it in his message.  I found it important to his meassage and wrote it down.
It has made me think on how our country has assumed freedom and how we as a nation have forgotten it, and how it is slowly being lost......

-JUGM

Yup! Still here

My buddy Harry made me realize that it's been a while since I last posted. No worries we are all okay. And Harry ,Thank You for your concern.
What can I say except things have been busy, and there are days when I just out right don't feel like being on a computer.

The weather has cooled off, boys are back to school and its been nice having time to myself  just to get out in the yard, walk around the estate and enjoy all the beauty it has to offer.
Last night, I was sitting at the top.of the garden, I was alone sitting and listening to the forest around us come to life with all of its nightly inhabitants. Listening can be almost deafening.

I hope you are all doing well, I have been making the blogger rounds and while I may not always comment I am reading and keeping caught up with you all.

Senior and I do have some good news to share, (no I am not pregnant) ... We finally have the ball rolling on our new house. Permits have been applied for and (kmock on wood) all legal matters have been resolved so soon they will be breaking ground.
It feels like we have come full circle since moving up here, we have been face to face with lots of adversity and have paid our dues. Now I am happy to say we are able to move forward in making the estate what we have envisioned it to be.

God is truely good.

-JUGM