New Road and Dust

  The good news is.....we are getting a new pave job on our country road. The bad news is....all the dust in the meantime. They are widening the road from about 18' to about 21' so that entails building out the shoulders with gravel.....dusty gravel.

  The sweeper is what causes the most dust, and he does LOTS of sweeping! The mail box, fence and roses out front are white with rock dust. The car is a mess but we are waiting until they are finished before washing it. I was in the garden yesterday when the sweeper came by multiple times. I tried to be discreet about taking pictures...didn't want them to think I was going to complain or anything!

  I figured I might as well get something pretty in the foreground of this shot.Then I turned 180 degrees and took this one to show the dust floating eastward, coating everything as it went.

  They are laying the first lift of blacktop today, so I'll post pictures of the finished product soon. I went out this morning when they were out front marking the lines and such and asked if they could lay a little extra to widen our approach in the driveway. he said sure, show me what you want, and then he marked it with paint. Pretty nice!

  Caleb is 5 months old today. He is a healthy, whopping big boy! Just like his Daddy and Grand-daddy were (are) ! He's rolling over on his stomach now.

 " Man, this is work! Makes me tired! "

" Well don't just stand there taking pictures! Help me out here! "

Garden Update and Miscellaneous

  Between being busy with Ebay stuff and some more weather, I have had to minimize the garden this past week. I did get the blackberry rows all pruned and weeded.
  Another inch of rain this morning and more corn down.

  As you know, this has happened 3 or 4 times earlier. I have just left it alone and in a few days it tries to straighten up. So we have some L shaped corn now but it is still making ears:

  Some of the tomatoes are diseased and I am pulling them, but several still doing well.

 This Husky cherry tomato still doing well. Husky is my favorite.

  The 9 pullets are laying well....8 or 9 eggs a day and getting larger all the time.

  The cucumbers are about done.  The Japanese long was a disappointment, but the Summer Dance will be a favorite next year. All the melons are done, so just tomatoes, okra, a few sweet peppers and a few cucumbers remain, with some sweet corn to come in a week or three. Time to start Fall garden prep.

  And before I go, here is a recent picture of Caleb.He's a happy boy!

Selling Calves

  We sold the 2 weaned bull calves, Baxter and Bogart on Monday. I went to the mailbox today to get the check, hoping for the best. I thought they were the right kind, but I needed confirmation from the professional buyers. WOW! Hard to believe, but Baxter at 4.5 months weighed 500 pounds and brought nearly $800. Bogart, at just shy of 4 months, weighed 400# and brought nearly $700. I'm sure glad to be selling and not buying, at those prices.

  That isn't the best picture, but it's all I had. These 2 boys are the first 2 calves from our bull, Buster. We have 5 more on the way for next winter and spring.

  I also sold one of the cows a couple weeks ago. Since we kept 2 heifers, Annie and Abby, we just had too many for the feed we have. Lucky had just weaned Bogart so she was the furthest from calving again. She was also the biggest.....she would eat more as well as bring more $$$ sold by the pound. So that was the short straw for her. I bought her 2 1/2 years ago as a bred heifer for $1000. She had 2 calves....Abby and Bogart......and brought $990, so I was happy with that.
  So now we have 3 cows, 2 bred heifers and a bull. No more babies until November.
  We have a real nice break in the weather today. Monday was 88 degrees and 80% humidity; just too warm to do much outside.  But today was 78 degrees with 40% humidity; a little like Fall and very nice.

More Rain & Garden Update

  Seems as if I have made this same post before! What a rainy year we are having. After 10.5 inches in July, we had 1 inch yesterday and 1 inch so far today. Accuweather predicts another 3 inches over the next 10 days, with some rain almost every day. Hold it....this is August, folks! Some of these rainy days have temperatures from 85 to low 90s, so it's quite humid as well.
  These are views from the front porch and the back porch about 11 this morning. An inch of rain in an hour accompanied by a lot of lightening, some very close, and very loud thunder.

  We were in Nashville yesterday and only had occasional sprinkles, but the closer we got to home, the more we could see that it had rained significantly. When I checked, it was an even inch and must have come with wind, as more corn went flat.

  This is the third time this has happened. I will try to salvage some of this. You can see the standing water in garden beds from this much rain. A critical project on my to-do list is to create some dikes and gullies to keep runoff water out of the garden beds.

  It is hard to keep up with my project list with weather like this. Too wet and muddy to work out there.

Breakfast of Champions

  We have always been a breakfast loving family. Maybe it's from growing up on a farm, but a hearty breakfast has always been important. I have never been able to understand those who can make a breakfast from a large soft drink. Since we retired, we have more time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and we make it our biggest meal of the day, usually just snacking or having small meals later in the day.

  Breakfast almost always starts with 2 eggs (homegrown) and 2 slices of Great Harvest whole grain toast with berry freezer jam (homegrown). Then add fruit, whatever is available from the garden or in off season, from the store. Right now we have tomatoes, blackberries and melons. In winter time, it is usually strawberries and cantaloupe from Florida. Add a couple cups of Eight O'Clock coffee from freshly ground beans and a few ounces of grape juice and there you have it. Also included is the morning paper, crossword puzzle and a few rounds of Words with Friends on the Iphone, concluding with the daily Bible reading. 

  It is an important part of our day, one we always look forward to; a good time of food and fellowship with Rita before moving on with the day. 

 Rita has a friend over today and just as I am making this post, she called me to lunch with this: 

  No, not the whole thing!. Just a big slice of this toasted BLT with homegrown tomatoes and cucumbers with cream cheese. Yumm!

  What did you have for breakfast today?