Storm Cleanup & Git R Done Sunday

Well, it's 60 and sunny today.  You would have never guessed the crazy winter weather of the past 2 weeks if you just looked at Georgia today.

So, Jeff decided it was time to cleanup from the ice storm this week.  We had lots of branches down - but thankfully no huge trees.

He decided to burn everything from the front yard, plus a bunch of leaves that were still left from the earlier burn day in January, over in the side yard next to our walkout basement.

It is SMOKY!  WHEW!

Meanwhile, I've been sitting inside, getting "stuff" done:

Watering plants
Unloading and reloading the dishwasher and cleaning the kitchen
Refilling bird feeders
Shower and dressed (haha, no small feat for 38 weeks pregnant)
Paying bills
Organizing our year end statements for taxes
TurboTaxing our 2013 taxes (how do we owe AGAIN!????!!!, I gotta recheck a bunch of stuff)
2 loads of laundry washed and drying
Working on Peanut's Baby Book
Making our meal and grocery list for the week
Visiting with friends and Peanut's BFF Caleb

I just have a "feeling" about this week...even next week...if I go into labor, I want all this STUFF done!!

Robins Nest!

Jeff and I feed the birds in our backyard (a lot).  We normally (when we are not battling a RACCOON BASTARD) have the following options for our birdies to enjoy:

1. Squirrel proof tube feeder with a classic mix of sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, millet, peanuts

2. Blue perch-style feeder, also squirrel proof, with a variety of nuts and dried fruits

3. Hummingbird feeder with lots of nectar OR a thistle feeder (depending on the season) 

4. Two small tray feeders with pepper coated, shelled sunflower seeds

5. A birdbath

All of this is on our backyard deck, so all day long the birdies sing in the trees and come down to have a bite to eat.

Well, the other day we were sitting in the office,   which looks into the front porch and yard - and saw this:

Ok, ok - I konw it's probably impossible to see but we have ROBINS that built their baby bird nest in our FRONT TREE!!!

Yes, the front tree - where we have no feed, no water, nothing...but a window to look out of and watch the mama feed them.  

We actually heard chirp-chirp-chirp before we saw them.  Jeff finally spotted what all the ruckus was about.  We have SO been enjoying watching the little guys eat and grow up!

Happy Fall Saturday!

After a bit of a chaotic week, Jeff and I are having a GREAT Saturday.

Well, for sure - I am.  I sometimes love these Saturdays (as long as I can force myself to wake up).

I went to my favorite Zumba class at 9AM - 40 minutes of dancing, followed by 20 minutes of weight training / ab work.  I used to hate this class because I could literally do almost NOTHING during the last 20 minutes...now I can do most of it (but not always as fast as everyone else -- hello, leg raises).

I dropped off some too-big clothes (YEA) at Goodwill, followed by a gas fill-up and a 'clean out the car so it doesn't look like a hobo lives in it' time at the station.

I came home, made a cup of coffee and let it sit, let the kitty outside to the backyard - and then watered all my new pots of mums and purple salvia, cleaned up and re-filled the bird feeders, cleaned out and filled up the birdbath, repaired squirrel damage to my windowbox of lettuce, watered my herbs, and finally got around to drinking my cup of coffee and reading the local weekly newspaper.

The weather here is BEAU-TIFUL - high 70's, sunny, only about 50% humidity...about the best you can get in early September.

Meanwhile, Jeff had been working on installing our transition pieces from our new floor into the kitchen.  As always, DIY projects take longer and are more difficult than you think (I'm beginning to boycott HGTV by the way)...but he got it done!

I heard him say, "Gosh, I just don't have enough things for weights."  Ha!  I had an idea...time to re-purpose my Zumba weights!

Have a great Saturday!

We Played Too Hard.

This weekend's report:
Friday night - worked late, then Domino's, then John Carter of Mars
-- We stayed up way past our bedtime.  Not a great way to start a busy weekend, being tired, but awesome to relax for a night!

Saturday morning - not an early morning as planned (got up at 8:30), then left for the Delta Block Party
-- The Block Party is really like Delta's "Company Picnic"...if you were to have a picnic for 10,000 people.  It's really more like a fair - bands playing on the center stage, Chick-Fil-A / BBQ / Hot Dogs / Ice Cream / Mini-Donuts / Veggie Trays / Apple and Pineapple on a Stick...and on and on.

-- It is usually incredibly hot.  It's held in our giant parking lot.  On asphalt.  Next to the tarmac.  And it's HOT.  This year not as much as other years but...still sunburn worthy (Jeff, not me, because I put on SPF 100). 

-- The Block Party is also known as "The Easy-Bake Oven Party" and also "The Delta Stand-In-Line Party".  Everything is free - food, swag, entertainnent, beer, whatever.  As long as you will stand in line for it.

-- It was super awesome to meet a lot of my coworkers families...and I still would never miss it!

Saturday afternoon - COOL OFF, rehydrate, recoup, nap

Saturday evening - Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean concert at Lakewood Amphitheater
-- Dude.  Two Georgia boys playing for the hometown crowd plus an outdoor venue that's a freaking free-for-all of lawn seating (ie, no chairs)?  Wow. 

-- Dude part 2.  Can we say D-R-U-N-K????  Not me of course.  I held it down to a respectable 2 cans of beer (seen below).

--  Yes, they were 24 ounces each.  No, I am not drinking Bud Heavy on purpose.  It was either lukewarm Bud Light (because they ran out!?!?) or cold Bud Heavy.

--  Also, I am wearing my new outfit for summer.  Aren't I CUTE (and 50 lbs smaller)????

Sunday morning - holy crap, exhausted and slept till 9:30, then mowing, weed-eating, fertilizing, tending vegetable garden
-- One, yard work after a late night kind of really sucks. 

-- And two, I'm glad Jeff and I were both doing it together.

Sunday afternoon - neighborly chat, Mexican fiesta lunch, and a few errands

Sunday night - pet the kitty and Game of Thrones
--  I'm spent!!!  I need a vacation from my weekend.  Bring on the work week.

Yard Sale Joke

Funny joke for the day:

“The only difference between a rummage sale and garbage pickup is how close you have the items to the road.”

…did you know that’s how we got rid of our orange loveseat? Several neighbors were having garage sales on a Saturday morning, and so we hauled it out to the end of the driveway (exactly where our garbage goes on garbage day) with a “FREE” sign.

It disappeared by the end of the morning!!! A little redneck, YES, but hey - it worked!

Every Fall Activity, in 2 days

Our last hurrah before Jeff leaves for harvest in SD: camping at Fort Mountain State Park.


This was a return trip; we had been here in June and really liked the park and activities available.

It took us awhile to get back in the swing of camping. For instance, we forgot trash bags, so Jeff asked if I could find something at work before he picked me up. You can see here Jeff is moonlighting as a flight attendant (we get samples of weird things, like trash bags).


We arrived later, after work - so had to get everything set up and dinner started before dark. We did have to eat our Jambalaya with the lantern on.

We also arrived after it rained...so our firewood was wet. No fire. So instead, we called it an early night, warmed up in the shower, and jumped into the tent. We knew it was going to be cold - and it was. 52 on Friday night was a bit chilly, even with our synthetic clothes, sleeping bags, blankets, and socks.

On Saturday the nice weather continued - sunny and in the high 60s and low 70s, with blue sky and no humidity! After our simple breakfast of oatmeal, we took a hike around the lake (and found a geocache, which we backtracked almost halfways around the lake because I missed the turnoff).


After the hike, I challenged Jeff to a game of putt-putt. (Yes, this campground rocks.) The loser had to make lunch...it was pretty much a tie, so we grabbed a hot dog at the concession stand. (Yes, this campground has a concession stand by the beach, lake, and putt-putt.)

We relaxed back at the campsite while cooking chili on the stove, and then had a raging fire the rest of the night and fell into bed happy, not quite as cold, and tired.

The next morning we decided to take a route home that skirted along the mountains before heading south. (This would also take us by the outlet mall.)

Ahoy! U-Pick Apples!!!!!!!!!!!!! We totally stopped.


We had done this in Minnesota, but here it's a bit different - Rome and Golden Delicious (no Honeycrisp), no corn maze, but warmer weather. I distinctly remember wearing a fleece, jeans, gloves, and a hat in MN...not this time. There were also mountains in the distance here. Beautiful!


Jeff found the biggest apple ever created.


After our apple orchard stop, we continued on our way. Ahoy! A pumpkin patch!!!!!!!!!!! We totally stopped.


I picked out two big but reasonably priced (but really heavy) pumpkins. After rearranging the vehicle, we got them in.


Shortly after this photo was taken, we realized somehow our vehicle had disrupted a beehive. An angry swarm of bees attacked Jeff. I am not kidding. He rounded the corner after getting these in the Jeep, opened his door, and they flew at his head and body and in the open windows. He got stung while trying to get us the hell out of there. We moved the car about a football field away, stopped to swat out some more bees, and then calmed ourselves. Wow. It was totally crazy.

Ok, further down the road...Amicalola State Park. We had to stop...for another Geocache! Score!!!


And another 15 mintutes down the road...we hit Dahlonega. This quant mountain town is home to antique shops, stores, hiking and backpacking venues, and tons of wine and food restaurants. We ate at our favorite place, Gustavo's (seriously good pizza).

Finally time to turn south towards home...but not before hitting the outlet mall. Jeff needed some work boots. And I'm sure glad he did, otherwise we would have missed almost everything we did on Sunday!

Yard Work Continued

Day 2: We divided and conquered just a bit; Jeff started trimming up all of our bushes and limbing up trees, while I went to Pike Nursery to purchase birdseed, pansies, fertilizer, and pine straw. (And lunch. From Wendy's.)

Our yard looks fantastic!!! Actually, the problem with a huge property is you can't tell when you put 15 hours of work in...

But here's what we got done today anyway, in case you come by and wonder:

Grass and beds edged and trimmed
Front bushes and gardenias cut back and re-shaped
Lots and lots of trees limbed up (wow they look better)
Many loads taken to the backyard compost pile
American flag exchanged for Halloween flag of pumpkins and a black kitty
Mailbox bed is completely weeded (no small task)
Pine Straw laid down in mailbox bed, gardenia bed, and climbing rose in back
Angelonia, moss roses, and petunias pulled out of pots
Potting soil refertilized and pansies planted in pots
Hoses and sprinklers drained and put away

There are still a massive amount of sticks and branches down in the backyard, which need to be gathered and burned. And I need to get some pumpkins for the front porch and stairs. And I still need to spray blackspot treatment on my roses and hydrangeas, and pull of some leaves that I saw yesterday starting to yellow and spot...maybe later though!

Holy Cow, Yard Work

I have convinced Jeff to put off doing 'adult responsibilities' for quite a few weeks. Today, though, we HAD to get some yard work done.

Three hours in and I have mowed the yard (and backyard), weeded the front mailbox bed, picked tomatoes, watered the garden, and picked up sticks. Lots and lots of sticks. I will never be done picking up sticks.

I don't want to work anymore (whine, whine...I know, but I can't help it!) so you get this blog post instead!

The saving graces? 73 degrees, sunny, 50% humidity and a breeze!!!

Georgia's Summer Crop

Tomatoes and Peaches. That's what grows well in Georgia. (Not sweet corn. Not even close!)

I think my first vegetable garden was a success!! Not a bumper crop of tomatoes - definitely not enough to can for salsa - but absolutely enough to eat on salads and BLT's and share at work.



And the PEACHES!!!!!!!!! It's not even peak peach season, and these are amazing. We bought a whole case at a farmer's market this weekend. I froze about 3 dozen and these are the rest left to share with neighbors and co-workers too.

YUM!

A Kitty Story

Looky here! Our backyard is (temporarily) home to a mama kitty and her 5 kittens.

(Can you spot them all? Count the tails.)



Jeff saw these 2 cutie-pies playing at the bottom of our deck and snapped this photo.


We called the Fayette County Animal Rescue on Saturday - they don't operate anything except adoptions until Monday.

It was 90 degrees on Saturday and the mama left the kittens. We gave them some water. And our kitty food. Then we went out to get some cheap kitten food.

It would be kind of fun to see them grow up. But, our backyard and neighborhood cannot handle 6 wild kitties. There are too many dogs, traffic, etc and I would prefer they not torment our girls through the window. All that said, they are feral, but temporarily adopted until we can get them trapped and taken in.

Happy Hikers

I L-O-V-E 3-day weekends!!!

Friday was an early day - I got a phone call from Jeff saying he had stepped on a yellowjacket nest and had a bunch of stings. I rushed home to find him showered, red, and itchy - but doing ok (considering there were 16 stings on his legs and upper arms). This put a bit of a damper on Friday plans so we laid low as Jeff put on cream, lanacaine spray, and popped Benadryls.

By Saturday he was feeling better (can you believe it) so we got the yard all spruced up for the weekend - mowing, weeding, blowing debris. Four hours of work in the Georgia heat feels like 10!!! We capped off the day by having some friends over for a BBQ (from Shane's of course) and a fire pit with s'mores.

Sunday was an easy day - we needed some time off to relax. So we putzed around the house, got groceries and a few other errands, but mostly just hang out. I think there may have been a couple naps in there too.

On Monday, we woke up bright and early to take a day trip to Sweetwater Creek State Park, about 40 minutes from our place. We had go early to try and beat the heat since we were not going up into the mountains.

We were on the trails hiking before 9AM, with 2 Clif bars, a Gatorade, and 3 liters of water in town. It was a beautiful area - waterfalls and rock rapids, and a really cool Civil-war era ruins. The Union came through and burned all 5 floors of the textile mill during the war and all that is still standing is the brick facade. (I'll post photos later.)

And - of course - we geocached. We got our first stamp in the Georgia State Park passport!!! If we get 15 State Park Geocache stamps, we will reach the bronze level and get a really cool trinket.

Monday night was of course fireworks. We did not fight any crowds but instead Jeff dashed in and out of the the rain to give us a good show!

Confused Gardenias

My gardenias are STILL blooming a little bit. They don't seem to mind the 90+ temps we have had for the past month. What troupers!


Our garden is humming along...but not THIS well - check out this zucchini from some of our friends!


Turns out, pots are just fine in Georgia as long as you don't do petunias. They just have to be drought-tolerant.


My house smells WONDERFUL!

Bird of Prey

Look what Jeff caught on camera in our backyard! No birdies chirping today - they were all hiding...

Growing Vegetables

Jeff looked at me yesterday and said, "Do you want to put in a vegetable garden?"

It was like he forgot I was my Grandma Kienow's granddaughter and Uncle Bob's niece..."YES!!!"

Our only problem was measuring our enthusiasm against our time and effort...

The Stats:

2-2x8 green treated 16 footers

Assorted screws, saws, drills, and workbenches

15 40-lb bags of topsoil (it was red, not black, but still topsoil)

6 wheelbarrow of composted dirt from our backyard pile

3 wheelbarrows of clay (regular dirt down here)

2 Celebrity Tomatoes

2 Better Boy Tomatoes

1 Red Pepper

1 Green Pepper

1 Jalepenos Plant (I am sensing salsa...)
1 Eggplant

Green beans from seed

Green leafy lettuce from seed

Basil from seed

Oregano from seed

Cilantro from seed

Rosemary from seed

And I'm so happy!

Jeff and I definitely stopped and smelled the gardenias on the way in after our crazy day. I wish I could bottle them up and sniff year round. (Wait, maybe that's already been done in a perfume. If anyone has suggestions, I'll take them.)

Two Doves

Doves are the symbol of love, peace, and serenity. So I think it totally fitting after the crazy week last week that I have spotted a pair in our backyard.

And not only did I spot them - we saw some nesting material. We were not sure if it was nesting material since it was actually ON THE TRAY FEEDER and we thought surely there would be too much traffic for them to start a nest.

So we cleaned off the 'debris' and about an hour later, a mama dove came to sit on the nest-in-progress while the daddy dove kept watch on the deck railing.

I still can't believe this will be their final nesting place - after all, we go through a 40-lb bag of birdseed in about 2 weeks...but who knows!? Maybe the universe is telling me to get a little more peace and serenity in my life.

Happy President's Day

WOO HOO! 3-day weekend and I'm not in the snow and cold!!!

My personal thanks to Mother Nature, over the counter Claritin, and Merck (makers of Singulair).

The last few days, especially Saturday, were BEAUTIFUL! We got so much yard work done - I haven't been this sore, consistently, for a really long time. Lawn mowed and mulched, 3 buckets of magnolia seed pods picked up by hand, all beds cleaned out and trimmed up, all the leaves blown and 4 hours of burning them up, picking up sticks like crazy in the backyard, re-positioning my meandering paths...I could go on!!!

Oh, and we got some new fish - 2 melanarus wrasses, a yellow tang, a flame angel, and a carpenter's fairy wrasse. They are awesome.

Oh, and we finished a puzzle. YIPPEE

Keep 'em coming - 75 and sunny with no humidity!!!!!!!!

Getting ready!

We always feel like there isn't quite enough time to enjoy our Christmas decorations. Because inevitably, we get back really late the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and don't get anything put out until the next weekend which is the first week of December. Then there are only 3 weeks to enjoy it!

So this year we decided to be early birds. As of November 21st, we are almost done! Our 7 outdoor lighted wreaths, complete with ribbon and poinsettias, are hung. Our lighted snowman is 3/4 working (his tummy went out). Our luminaries are lit in every window. Our tree is up (with no ornaments yet though). My Snowbabies are out, the nativity is set, and my buffet is decorated with laughing santas and funny snowmen.

It's beginning to look at a lot like Christmas!

Fall chores

Today, we put out our Halloween flag! Who doesn't love friendly pumkins and a Maddie-looking Halloween kitty?

I also got my fall decorations out and bought a cinnamon scented broom thing, to make my house smell like fall. Oh, and I bought bruised and dented Honeycrsip apples for $2.99/lb (still worth it). I know it will never live up to the bushel we picked ourselves in Minnesota and made lots of apple crisp with, but it works.

Jeff did some last minute yard work: trimmed up our bushes, threw down Weed B Gone, hauled some potting soil up from the shed, and helped me plant 2 pansy pots - a big one for the garage, and a smaller one for the back porch. I can't wait to enjoy them all winter (haha, Midwesterners!).



Just a few more chores to do before harvest...but in the meantime we are enjoying the end of a perfect fall day!

Welcome, Fall

I read on "the internet" that trees begin losing their leaves as a result of dwindling daylight, and not necessarily a function of temperature.

In the Midwest, leaves falling to the ground are accompanied by light weight sweater sets, maybe a fleece jacket, crisp air, and visits to the apple orchard.

But down here, our leaves are falling already, some in major waves. Plenty of trees are turning yellow and red already as well. And yesterday it was 90 and humid.

This time, I think "the internet" was right!

Funny Little Town

Jeff and I took a Sunday drive to a little town called Serenbe.

This is a Farm to Table rural community about 20 minutes from our place. It has some amazing little shops - including stores featuring local artisan work, the most delightful antiques place, a specialty wine boutique, several kitchen and clothing shops, and some great food.

We had a snack at the Bakeshop, which featured gourmet sandwiches and salads, a huge breakfast, and seriously delicious homemade goodies. Jeff and I shared a slice of chocolate cake and our friends had a peach and blueberry pie and oatmeal cookie.

There are also some neat stables so we petted the horsies. They were so beautiful!

We tried to drive up to the front of the working farm but it was gated off. I think a Saturday farmer's market is in my future!!!