NANA NOTES

ALWAYS EXCITEMENT AT COTTON BRANCH!!

There's a website here called "You know you live in Franklin County if".  This is one of those things!!  Ed has had a friend from Virginia here riding bicycles with him getting ready for the Ride the Rockies ride in June.  They have ridden every day and left to go on their ride on Tuesday.  Not to long after they left the phone rang.  Ed said, "we just met this guy at Fenn's riding a bicycle. I'm sending him to the house to take a shower and we're feeding him steaks for supper."  You know the next words out of my mouth!!  He convinced me it was ok and Ryan was here with me so we went to the barn and sure enough, there stood a nice looking young man with a bicycle.  His first words were, "you husband didn't call you."  I said that he did and we introduced ourselves.  We brought him up to the house, he took a shower and came down to visit with Ryan and me.  I asked him how he got here. He was riding from Chicago to Mobile.  My response was, "obviously no wife and no job!" He said, "understanding girlfriend and between jobs." Lawyer by profession he was changing firms and had talked them into a couple of months break. He usually hikes but decided to ride his bike to see if he could do it.  I can't remember his specific route but he had left Nashville and ridden the entire Natchez Trace to Natchez. What a beautiful ride that must have been!!!  He rode by day and camped out by night. He's ridden 50-60 miles a day except for Easter Sunday and one day that it rained all day.  I wonder what he thought when Ed and Jim turned around and asked him if he wanted to come here? He did say that it was an invitation too good to refuse. Matthew John McDonald, lawyer from Chicago and new friend of Cotton Branch!!  Linda got here before Matt left. She is never surprised at what goes on at the "Branch". She watched him pack his gear.  He had a sleeping bag, books, a small cook stove and clothes. He bought food and drinks as he rode. After gearing up Matt was ready to take off. I said my goodbyes and left for wound care. I couldn't watch him leave. He had been fed a great steak dinner, chocolate pie and homemade ice cream, a full Southern breakfast and given a Cotton Branch tshirt to remember us.  His next stop was Bogalusa, LA and then on to Fairhope, AL to see his Godchild that he'd never seen.  Our prayers go with you Matt McDonald!!  Without a step of faith we'd never had you in our life.  What a blessing we would have missed!!  God speed and safe travel!!  I hope we hear from you some day!!

MISSED A WHOLE MONTH OF BLOGGING!!

I can't believe that it's been a month since I blogged. So much has happened yet nothing has been accomplished really.  The end of trapping season for Ed meant the start of him doing training rides for a 500 mile "Ride the Rockies" in June.  He and Josh will be doing this together along with 1998 other people!!  I'll post pictures this summer.

As for me, I finished up with my chemo and was planning on some rest until I started my "maintenance" treatment.  I got to attend a couple of Scrapbook events.  This one in Mandeville started out on a fun note!!  The event hostesses were wearing pink wigs and I fell right into that!!  Ed said, "get it"!

Spring brings the arrival of new babies on the farm.  Here are the four that have been born so far.

Last week one day I was coming home from town and saw something at the Elementary School.  Being the "interested" person I am, I stopped to check it out.  This is what I found.  Jennifer was taking Bunny pictures for the school. She had a dress up bunny and real ones. I was lucky enough to have my picture made with Sam (but I haven't seen it yet!).

A few days after that I spent five days in the hospital with staph infection in my port.  It was removed and now I'm undergoing open wound therapy until it heals.  So far it is doing well but I'm sort of stuck close to home!!

Ryan and Haleigh dropped by and left me a happy.  Cupcakes and cookies~~I love them both.  Here are the cookies. 
So sweet of my grownup grandchildren to do this!!

Update:  Saw the Dr. today; said I was doing well.  See him in two weeks.  Prayers for wound healing are ongoing. I know God hears them.

Happy Easter to everyone!!

END OF TRAPPING SEASON 2012

 

For the last five months Ed has been getting up before the sun and leaving to go set and check his traps. His lifelong friend, Buddy Ruff started trapping with him and they got in cahoots with Elton who was trapping on his own.  The UPS and FedEx people now know us by our first names and are probably missing us at this point. Ed ordered more trapping stuff than I have scrapbooking stuff (joke here!!).  My entertainment was hearing about the day and seeing the pictures.  The part I liked best was that Ed was having so much fun. I don't think I've ever seen him with a hobby that provided him with the excitement and fun that he's had during these months.  I could post lots of pictures of his catches and I think I have put some but here is the final day before taking the furs to the fur trader.  These guys did a good job. The traps are now cleaned and ready for next year and he's ridden off on the bike!! 

BIRTHDAY MONTH

A friend of mine told me a long time ago that she no longer has birthdays--she has a "gift month". I've decided now that I've hit the last number before I can "get a check" that I will do the same. The only thing is that I probably won't "get a check"!! :) Usually we have a birthday Sunday lunch but since I'm the one who plans them I didn't do that for me. We had a normal lunch on the 22nd and the usual crew was here. Papa showed up with flowers and a gorilla that sings--he knows I love those animals in the stores that you punch their hands or feet and they do something!! I got cards in the mail and phone calls. My Facebook was overrun with birthday wishes and I was awed by that. Jennifer came by with a wonderful rustic frame (to hold a wedding picture!) and windchime from all the Cowarts. Josh brought chocolates from Laura's in New Orleans. The Smitherrings sent an Amazon gift card which I used right away. Loved it!! A lemon ice box cake also showed up with Jennifer so we had birthday cake! An ordinary day turned into a wonderful one and now I will have great memories of the last birthday. Remember, from now on it's "gift month"!!  

CAKE TASTING

These are the "tasting" cakes that Haleigh and Ryan tried for one of the tastings.  Who knew that choosing a cake could be so hard? After several bites it really gets confusing!!  I researched the web this week and found a recipe for one of the flavors we liked. I actually baked it for Josh's birthday. It tasted just as good as the one the baker made. I went to Hobby Lobby today and found myself looking at baking supplies--cake pans, coloring, cake stands, icing, decorating tools. What am I thinking?????  I think I'll leave the cake baking and decorating to someone else.  That's just like all my other hobbies--you have to have lots of STUFF!!

HOW TIME FLIES!!

I had no idea that a month had flown by since I last blogged. Jennifer had to remind me to blog then. I've tried several times and the pictures wouldn't upload do I gave up. Wedding has consumed me for the last few weeks. I've been trying to help all I could and I think things I can do are winding down. It's time for me to relax and watch. Yeah, right!! You know I'm not going to do that! The Garden Club flower show was the 29th of April. It was held in a member's home and was beautiful. My design won the coveted Dorothy McGehee Award and my horticulture took most of the big awards. I was very proud. For some reason my pictures still won't load so you'll just have to take my word for it--or look on my Facebook. I'll load them there. Ed captured a swarm of bees and I got some good pictures of that event. Haleigh and Ryan had another shower and there were some good pictures there. Just a lot going on right now with no sign of things slowing down. Thank the Lord we don't live by the river and are safe from the flood. We're praying for those that do. At least they have warning and can get out unlike a tornado. I'll work on the picture thing and hopefully have it resolved soon. If anyone reads this and knows the solution--let me know. Now I can't even make paragraphs. Something crazy has invaded my blog!! :)

RYAN'S LATEST CATCH!!

Ryan called last night to tell me to get my camera.  If you are "faint of heart" now is the time to "turn her off" and go read somebody elses blog. Since hardly anybody else blogs you might as well just keep on reading and then say, "gross" and move on!! :)  If it can be caught, trapped or killed, Ryan does it.  It's a farm thing and a wildlife management thing.  He doesn't kill for fun. The animals he kills usually kill our turkeys, quail or baby deer or damage the fields. He is very agriculturally trained.  He respects the land.  This is what he brought to show us that he'd caught on Haileigh's grandfather's land-- 

  This 130 pound female hog got caught in a snare around her nose.  The snare was caught between her two huge teeth.  You can see the ring around her nose in the left picture.  Those are the teeth in the right picture.  These animals have no natural predators and will ruin your fields and can hurt you badly.  Some folks down the road will have some "good eatin' " and we won't have to worry about her making it to Cotton Branch!!  Good job, Ryan!!

I WENT TRAPPING WITH ED!!

Last night I tried twice to do this post and lost it.  Now I know why.  I went trapping with Ed on Saturday morning since my plans fell through.  He'd been wanting me to go.  We found that the first trap had been disturbed but he had no animal.  He reset the trap and we moved on.  We checked several traps and some had been tampered with and some hadn't. It was interesting to see all the things he did. The stuff he uses for bait is awful and I'm surprised he touches it.                  

 

                                  

 

I spotted these prints and Ed said they were coon prints. They were in a pass through under a fence and I thought it would be a good place for a trap.  He put one and I was sure there would be something there today.  We were going to check them after lunch today.  Don't you think that looks like a good spot for a trap?

This morning when I woke up Ed had gone to check traps.  I started lunch and fixed muffins and called him to see if he had checked "my" spot. He said he had just driven up to it and it had a bobcat in the trap.  He came and got me so I could see it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He was a bad looking dude as the boys would say. At least we know that our quail and turkeys are a little safer with one less bobcat around to eat their eggs and prey on them.  And I'm all about quail and turkeys--bobcats and coons-NO!

 

What "Trapper John" landed yesterday!

 
Enough said!!

A HUNTING THEY DID GO!

I started this last night and lost it! Computers have minds of their own. Everyone went hunting yesterday afternoon.  There were boys and girls all over the farm.  I was running errands and cooking soup and brownies just in case they came in starving (what are the chances??). I kept getting calls that "so and so has a deer down", "this one has a deer down", "bring Sadie so she can track the deer" and on and on.  Finally I got the call that they were all at the barn and to bring the camera.  I wasn't prepared for what I saw or heard.  It would take the boys to tell the story but I can show you the pictures.  Gotta love deer season on a farm with grandchildren!!

Graham telling the story!  Ryan's deer literally charged Shelly, Ben, Sam and Graham. He swam a pond and ran out at them.

When Sadie can't find the deer they usually call in David Rushing with his hound dog.  His dogs are great and David is a good friend. He has gotten to be a regular around here and we enjoy having him.  He's had Christmas Day supper with us for the last several years.  It's almost a tradition!

Hayden and Shelby waiting on the others to get there. They weren't in on the kill this time.

  

Jennifer and Sam were excited for all of the guys and Emily.

 

 

Here they are:  Ryan with his 11 point;  Bryden with his 8 point; Emily with her 8 point and Ben with his 8 point that had a 17 1/2 inside spread.  (I was told that was important to say!) They were all proud of their deer.

We don't kill these deer just for fun. Just so you know, the meat from the deer was carried to families that need it. We were all taught to share what we have and not waste God's resources.

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

THE MOST FUN IN A LONG TIME!!

Saturday we cooked hamburgers for all the family for lunch. After that Jody and Ed put something in one of the ponds to take the oxygen out of the water so the fish would come to the top of the water. He's wanting to restock the pond and we decided we'd have a huge fish fry (if we got any fish!). Shelly decided to put the pontoon boat in the 3 acre pond !! and Jody had a small flat bottom boat.  We had about eight dip nets, eight children, eight adults and three dogs!!  You have never seen or heard as much laughing, hollering and people having fun as we had.  The small fish started coming up first.  Then the bass (some seven and eight pounders). I caught a cat fish that weighed at least 10 pounds. It was absolutely the fattest thing I had ever seen and certainly the biggest fish I have ever caught (or netted!!).  The boys began to compete and they would see fish and try to get to them first. Bryden and Zach actually dove off the boat to get a fish!!  Naturally all the boys ended up in the pond (which thankfully wasn't over their heads due to the drought) and we didn't see any of those "creepy crawlers".  Everybody pitched in and we had an awesome supper.  Jody cooked and it was truly wonderful.  The whole day was fantastic.  There's nothing better than spending time with your family having fun.  We just don't get to do enough of it. Hopefully that will change now that the boys are getting bigger.  Here are some pictures of the day starting with lunch and ending with dinner.

  
 
  
 

 

 

 

    
 
 

 
 







 

All the pictures of me and my fish were made on Jody's phone and were small for the blog. I did catch a few bass that were nice but it was just tremendously fun to watch the kids have such a good time.  Supper was awesome Jody, Jennifer and Dona.  Thanks for a wonderful day!!









 

 

WHAT ON EARTH???

I came out of choir tonight and several people were waiting for me to come out to my car.  They were laughing and saying how they wanted to see what I was going to do.  I was sort of stunned when I looked up and saw this starring me in the face--

Someone who loves me very much had made my car look like I had just gotten married!  That's what I'm going to believe anyway!!  Thanks for the laugh guys! And I hope your Mom doesn't run out of toilet paper any time soon!

PS: Thanks to all of you who commented on my last post. I really enjoy my blog and would love to know you're checking in from time to time.

ANNUAL FRANKLIN COUNTY FAIR (Pine Burr Garden Club Booth)

It seems like we just put the Christmas tree up and here it is fair time again.  After many years of "doing the fair booth" I put out a call to members for help. Evelyn mentioned using our "hypertufa pots" that we made in May at our meeting. A quick project board with scrapbooking supplies, a few "how to" handouts, a call for member's pots and this was the result.  Jennifer called a little while ago to say we got a blue ribbon (and $30.00 in our bank account!).

 

Thanks to everyone who showed up to help and brought their pots.
 

IF IT'S NOT A CHILD IT'S A PET!!

Sadie jumped off the bed Monday morning (just like she always does) and broke her leg.  We now have a dog with a splint that will be on there for a month and will need total "personal care" until the end of September.  Last night she got away from me and I thought the coyotes had her.  I gave her medicine and I took some too!!  I told Ed I didn't think I could make it until the end of September and he would need to pull night duty!!  What is it with Herring kids and animals???  They're always breaking something! 

I DIDN'T FACEBOOK IT, GRAHAM!!

Ed and I were riding around in the Ranger (surprising to you, right?) and saw a friend at Shelly and Jennifer's.  We pulled up and the boys came out with their poles and started fishing.  Sam threw out a few times and then Ben threw out.  On the second or third cast he got hung up (with Graham's bait) and Graham told him he had to go get it.  Poor Ben stripped down and out into the pond he went.  He said the bait was on a huge log and he needed help. That was all Graham needed to hear. He stripped down and headed out to the water.  Someone mentioned a rope and then someone mentioned the wench on the front of the Ranger. Graham took the rope and the wench and hooked it to whatever was in the pond.  Papa cranked it up.  Our friend mentioned that this was when I really needed my camera. I thought about my phone.  Graham saw me and said, "Nana, don't you take those and put them on Facebook, I'll never get a date!"  We whooped at that!  Well, at least they're not on Facebook!!  :)   

  You can see the bream that they found in the tractor tire and they also got the bait back.  Nothing like a little "dip in the pond" to cool off on a hot afternoon.

BEACH SCENES 2010

Well, I can honestly say that we've done very little while at the beach-or should I say condo. The most sand I've seen has been between here and Cobalt where we've had dinner twice. If I had a job to go back to, I would be so rested and ready to get back to it!!  These pictures are just some I've taken without a reason really.  Ed and I have a game of making up stories.  There was a beautiful HUGE motor home parked at the condo.  As the people were leaving I snapped some shots--there was a driver, a man with two boys, a man and a woman with a baby.  Here's my version--the guy in the blue plaid shirt is a rock star and the woman with the baby is his wife.  The other guy plays backup and the guy with the two boys was the busy driver. The fact that he's the busy driver is real.

 
 
  Ok, we have bus, backup, wife and child, bus driver and now rock star! 

 As hard as I tried I could not get a shot of his face.  That was my story; Ed just said "megabucks"!!

Breakfast for Papa and me--our favoritebeach thing--bagles, bacon, fresh fruit, and homemade blackberry jam and homemade peach jam! 

 
Have to get Papa walking Sadie for one of her "daily's"!!  She really just likes to ride the elevator!!

  Always weddings on the beach. This was one of three this afternoon.  Gotta go take Sadie out. It's about time to come back to good ole Franklin County too!

 

 

FUN AT THE BEACH!!

 This is what greeted us as we crossed the bridge on Monday afternoon.  It's anchored at the GS airport.  Don't know what it's doing here. A fun sight to see though.

Didn't make it to the beach today but it was a beautiful day! Looking forward to going tomorrow.

Vin and Cathleen are here visiting and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Gulf Shores Steamer at San Roc. Tiffany will flip when she sees this!!  We loved it!  A freezer of Nadene's Homemade Lemon Ice Cream was waiting on us when we got back to the condo. We had a great day in heaven!! 



  
 
  

 

MY "HONEY" WITH HIS HONEY!!

 And I'm not talking about Exal!!  Today they extracted the hives and got lots of honey.  They still have more to do and we have to bottle it all.  I get to help with that part.  Doesn't that look wonderful?  The combs were so full.

Ed's using a warm "decapping" knife to remove the honey from the frame. I don't know how many frames he did but there were boxes full.  Seems his "hobby" has turned into a JOB!!  We will enjoy the fruits of his labors though. The bottling process should be fun. :)   "I can't stand it when it's sticky!"

 

AFTERNOON DELIGHT

Our afternoon these days consists of riding to the pond to feed the fish. We do it about the same time every day after Ed has his cup of coffee!  Real adventurous life we live!! :)  I took the camera to see if I could capture some of the fish.  It isn't as easy as I thought. 
The catfish come up and make a big fuss. The bream just ease up and snatch a bite.  The grass carp make a big noise.  The turtles are just happy to be at the party.

 

 

 

The catfish are really growing. Most of the fish are. And boy, are they fast!

And like I said, the turtles are just happy to be there.

A FISH HOOK WHERE????

 

 I got up to let Sadie out this afternoon and someone said, "Ms Barbara". Casey was sitting there with Sam in a chair with a HUGE fish hook in his foot!  He wasn't crying and was very calm. I called Jennifer and she sent Shelly to get him. Shelly and I took off for the hospital. They saw him instantly and a very nice plastics resident looked over the situation.  He was from New York and said he didn't have much experience with fish hooks! At first he wanted to xray Sam's foot and make a small incision to remove the hook.  The barb was nearly through the skin so I suggested that after he deadened it that he push it on through and cut the barb with wire cutters and pull the hook out from the end.  He thought about it and said, "that might be easier on his foot."  Shelly got his wire cutters out of his tool box ( probably not the most sanitary thing to do, but the doctor did clean them) and everything went smoothly. Sam did cry a little when the Dr. gave him the first deadening shot but was a real trooper through the whole ordeal. He came home with us and is spending the night and tomorrow.  He even has an excuse for school that says, "please excuse Sam from school because he had a fish hook removed from his left foot."  There will be NO MORE FISHING WITHOUT SHOES!!  He got a tetanus shot so he's good for five years.  Hopefully nothing else will happen to him that he needs it.  Just to let you know Casey: I'm glad he was with you! Nobody else would have carried him all the way from the pond like you did!!