NANA NOTES

TIME TO CLOSE IT UP!

All good things come to an end and I feel this is the time. Each time I try to write my creative juices freeze and the words won't come. Life is crazy and I don't know why. There's never enough time and I get nothing done. There's a song that speaks of this but at this time I can't recall the words. I'm sure Pat could tell me. Who knows, I may decide to start a fresh, new blog about new things. Life changes and mine seems to be trying to. God bless you all and thanks for reading Nananotes for the last eight years. "Eight years"! OMG!!  It is time to stop!!!

PLAYING CATCH UP!!

This blogging thing seems to get harder and harder--I guess because Facebook and Instagram have taken over the blogging world. Oh, and don't forget Twitter and ---! :) Really, it's just laziness or busyness on my part.  Here is a little bit of "catch up" to let you see what's going on at the farm.

 

Some of the jam made from berries from the farm.

I spend a lot of time upstairs running my embroidery machine. These are some of the things that I donated to the bazaar.

One of the biggest happenings was Josh and Victoria getting married. Not the big wedding we had planned but a beautiful one nonetheless. A lovely ceremony and a trip to Canada then back to real life. Hope to have a party after Christmas for them. 
The Herring Gas Bicycle Team years have been great ones. Each year we've had a get together and fellowshipped with each other. This year was the last HGC sponsored year.  We had a grand party and will watch the guys ride under a new name next year. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hunting was good to the kids this year! They all got big deer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other pictures must be on my ipad and I'll have to switch devices. I'm frustrated to say the least!!  To be continued--sooner or later--sooner, I hope!!

SATURDAY DRIVE AROUND THE FARM

I've been staying in a lot lately; mostly because of fatigue but a lot to stay away from germs so I don't catch something because of low immunity. Ed came in and got me Saturday to ride around and see the new horse babies. That called for a camera opportunity!  Our first stop was to check on the baby chickens.  They're cute at this age and they are beautiful when they're grown. Like all creatures, they will go through the teenage stage! Henry always comes to the gate for a handout. Saturday was no different.  He loves scratching and talking and a little horse feed never hurts.  He just loves to be loved!!  Piper had to have her photo made too.  She always poses!  And we can't leave out the big chickens!!  They always get a big helping of feed when anyone goes to the barn.  They provide big brown eggs for us.  Now on to the new baby!!  Our stud Esay threw another blue roan! I love the one white stocking!!  Now on to the baby calves.  It took me years to convince Ed that the motley babies were what we needed around here. Those red cows with white spotted faces are just beautiful.  Finally, when we start to have a good stand, he and Ryan have decided to go full Santa Gertrudis again! Darn it!!  Can't win around here.  And who's your daddy?????   Couldn't be one of Shelly's roping bulls, could it??   I'd better enjoy these beautiful babies. When these are gone, they're gone. Unless I can convince them again. . .








                     

HUMMINGBIRDS

We've always put out hummingbird feeders; we've always supplied all our birds with plenty of sunflower seeds.  Everything gets fed at Cotton Branch!! I've heard about people using pounds and pounds of sugar filling their feeders and we're experiencing that now.  We've never had as many hummingbirds as we have this year!  Some days we fill them up four times.  There are as many as thirty birds flitting around the two feeders. Fascinating to watch; amazing really! How on earth do those little birds that weigh less than a ball point pen fly from Canada to Costa Rica? 
This is just a small portion of what we see each day. I'm going to try to video them tomorrow. The little things are so precious!! Loving our hummingbirds and wishing them a safe journey to their winter home.

Annual Dove Hunt

Opening Day--camo everywhere--guns everywhere--people everywhere--food everywhere!! That's what makes up opening day of dove season.  This year was no exception. Hurricane Isaac threatened to ruin it all but even he left in time for the guys to have a nice hunt.  While they hunted, the girls fixed up a big breakfast (french toast casserole, 6#s of bacon, 3 dozen eggs, orange coffee cake, lots of fresh fruit and Haleigh's cinnamon rolls.  It was gone in a flash when the guys came in.

The prep and cooking crew!  Of course, the girls had everything ready for them to assemble.  We're good like that!!  
These cooked up to be delicious! They went great with Bill's Beans, Garlic Green Beans, Jambalaya, Mac and Cheese and Hot Rolls. Desserts--I won't even go there!!  Opening day of dove season!! One of our favorite days of the year!

Saturday Ride on Cotton Branch

Taking a ride on Cotton Branch is a normal activity. Seeing two Cowart boys on tractors is not.  Today we saw Ryan and Ben fluffing and baling hay. That was a good sight.  Both boys worked hard today. The fields with hay bales always look good to me. 

This is Ryan on the baler. He knows just how to do it right.  Ben on the fluffer. He can really drive that tractor and keep those rows straight!  The two of them working together warms my heart!!  Gotta love those hard working guys!!

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!!

FIRST OF THE SEASON!!

Youth season opened with a bang for Ben. He got a big bodied eight point.  He was in the stand way back behind the house and called to check with Ed if he should shoot. Papa gave the ''go ahead'' and I told him to open his bathroom window that we might could hear the shot.  A few seconds later "boom"!! Then the cell phone rings!!  Deer down.  That meant that we had tenderloin on Monday night with rice and gravy and biscuits!! A great early birthday supper for Ben!  Way to go, Ben!

2011 ANNUAL DOVE HUNT WEEKEND

Our family has gotten so large that we pretty much keep our dove hunt weekend for family. Ed's cousin and his wife from Texas, our friends from TN, Ed's brother from TN and my brother and his wife from Petal along with our children and grandchildren and in-laws began arriving on Friday.  Even with having such a big house, it sure filled up fast!!  There was constant chatter and laughter and of course plenty of food.  Some of us went out on Friday night and had Mexican. That was a treat. On Saturday morning it was up early and out to the dove field for the men. Never mind that it was raining.  "Some of our best hunts have been in the rain." Famous saying!!  About 10:00 am when the hunters came in soaking wet and hungry this was waiting for them--a pile of bacon, hot grits, homemade cinnamon rolls, orange coffee cake and fresh fruit with juice, milk and coffee.  They needed some nutrition because after all, they had more work to do. The shishkabobs had to be prepared!

Since the beans, potato salad, desserts and appetizers had been prepared earlier, the ladies got to sit and visit!!  We certainly enjoyed that.  Of course, there was some ballgame watching!

    

We signed Kelsey's cast.  To bad she's getting it off soon. She won't be able to carry around Ed's art very long!

 

Sam spent the night with us and we went to church.  We filled a whole pew.

Vin and Cathleen from Houston, Texas.

  Vivian and Sam from Riceville, TN.

Ed and me--our first picture together in a while.
After a wonderful church service with communion, a delicious Sunday lunch and a short last visit, our house emptied and Ed and I took a nap.  A great Labor Day Dove Hunt weekend with friends and loved ones--family--all of them.  And what a welcomed addition--soft, sweet rain!!

 

A RAINY SUNDAY AFTERNOON

 

I can't remember when it hasn't rained in the afternoon! I'm quite ready for some sunshine!! Papa and Piper were watching tv and I noticed that one of her ears is standing up. She has grown a lot in the 11 days we've had her.  She's got a serious attitude problem. Her favorite past time is fighting. I guess that's due to the face that Papa likes to fight with her toys with her. She thinks she owns us. She's typical.  Boy, it's going to take her a while to train us!! 
See how she has one ear up and one ear down?  She thinks she's something now.  When the other one stands up--watch out world!! 

2011 Honey Harvest Part 2

I left you yesterday saying that we have new plastic bottles with new labels. Sam and Ed finished them up today.  They look great and will be much easier to use--less messy and a little cheaper too! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New label !!

New bottle!!

Awesome honey!!

2011 HONEY HARVEST

After a very busy and hectic week my afternoon was spent at the back barn bottling honey!!  I guess honey is kind of like corn--"when it's ready, it's ready". And a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do! Ed and the farm guys had worked so hard all morning, and after a lunch of grilled burgers, chocolate cobbler and homemade ice cream Sam and I went up to help.  Our job was putting the honey in the new plastic squeeze bottles.  Doing honey is a very messy job, but we got it done and it's rewarding to look at all those beautiful bottles of liquid gold!! 

This is Sam helping Papa empty the spinner.

 

 

 

 

Filling the jars is a tricky job! Your timing has to be just so.

 

 

All that's left to do is the labeling. We have our own label for the front and a nutrition label for the back along with one that says "I Love Honey". I'll post that when we finish.  We ended up with over 300 bottles.  Ryan said they would be showing up at the "Frog Pond" soon.  I will be taking some to the TOAD HOUSE for my booth!!  Get those biscuits ready!!

ONE BEAUTIFUL DAY!!

There's not enough time or space to write about the wedding. God blessed us with a beautiful day and wonderful family and friends to share the day. It lasted until the wee hours and on into Sunday. The pictures only tell part of the story!! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=576241373#!/media/set/?set=a.10150212179691374.311067.576241373 Click on the link and then click on the first picture. That will make them bigger and you can move through the arrows to see the pictures. Hope you enjoy them.

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!! :)

SPRING ARRIVING

This time of year is one of my favorite times. The flowers begin to bloom and I get very enthused about gardening.  I usually "overbuy" and have to spend a lot of time planting.  I love container plants but not necessarily the watering process they require. Sunday morning I was ready early for church and I walked around snapping some pictures of the things blooming in our yard. Love the colors!!

 

 

 

 

 

 















 

 















Hope things are this pretty when it's time for the wedding!!

 

 

 

    

 

 

OH MY, OH ME!

Where this you see there used to be, a beautiful big green oak tree!  I'm not a "tree hugger", I'm just not a fan of cutting trees. This big old oak tree has been here for longer than most of us.  It should have been cut when we built the house but no one wanted to do it.  Then, along came the garden and the orchard and they began to flourish.  The poor blueberries were leaning to the north for sun because the tree was shading them out.  I finally caved--my head knew it had to go but my heart was fighting it.

This is the view from the upstairs window this morning.   
 
The sun can now get to the garden and the blueberries and raspberries will be happy and all is well on Cotton Branch!!
 
 

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!!

WHEN NANA'S AWAY THE BOYS WILL PLAY!

One afternoon recently I was gone somewhere and when I returned Ed said he had something to show me.  He handed me his phone.  This is what I saw. 

He and Sam had built another bluebird house and it looked so good. 

 
Sam even used the cordless drill to hang it on the fence post.  He loves the bluebirds just like we do and loves the power tools just as much.  Thanks guys, for building another house for our birds! 

SPRING BREAK WEEK 2011

This has been an interesting week.  The boys have been power washing and painting the fence around the pasture and house. They've worked very hard and the fence is looking great. I didn't get pictures but take my word for it. They've done a wonderful job. I got to go with Haleigh to get her dress fitted. I did take pictures but I can't show you. I want to live to go to the wedding!!  :) I went trapping with Ed on Thursday morning and we got three coons.  He says I'm his good luck charm.  Nothing would do but Linda take our picture.    We have had company (very long time friends!) from TN here since Thursday.  They've been turkey hunting and we've been visiting every spare minute.  We've shared some good meals and had a wonderful time. 
Sam and Vivian have three grown boys so they were comfortable with our boys hanging out all week.  Having a table full of boys all week long at lunch was fun!  The conversation was always lively.

Graham and Sam showed up Saturday afternoon wanting to show me something "big"!  I had a feeling that it was a camera moment. I took the camera out and this is what we saw. 
Graham will be taking drivers ed this summer and here's his ride!  I hear that Sam was driving it around the farm this afternoon with Shelly!!  Haven't heard what Jennifer thinks about it yet!!  I just started a new prayer chain!!

Finished off the day with a nice dinner in Brookhaven and am looking forward to a good breakfast and church tomorrow. We're blessed beyond measure--and have you seen that moon??