Red Tractor

For the Love of Pecans - final day update

I retired at 40 pounds.

For the Love of Pecans - day 2 update

We're up to a total of 28 pounds pecans. Didn't get to spend much time picking - it rained yesterday. Rain is in the forcast today too. I did find out that I should be able to get more money for them if I drive across the river (MS River) to Arkansas.

For the Love of Pecans

Ever since the pecans started falling, I've been seeing people pulled over on the side of the road picking them. I thought that all these people were just "lovin'" pecans. No, they're selling them!!!

This caused me to revisit some of our trees...So far, from one tree, we've gathered 17 pounds. We probably have at least five trees.

I also thought that our runty little pecans weren't so desireable. Then I found out that they get top dollar! I was told that they contain more oil.

We're going to hit it hard today and take them down to a pecan stand to see what we can get. Wish us luck!

...to be continued.

Bah Humbug

The Chair

I got this chair last week for $20! It's really sturdy and heavier than it looks. I am planning on having re-covered in a patterned blue velvet.

I was flipping through "Veranda" magazine and saw this ad...

It's not the exact chair but pretty close.

Halloween 2011

As much as I tried - I couldn't get out of "trick or treating". We had so many birthday/Halloween parties this past week/weekend I was DONE. But alas, they squeezed one more outing out of us.

The girls went to one house and Cat asked..."Do you think that lady was naturally that scary looking or was she pretending?"

Pirate & Cleopatra

"Argh"
And...a costume change.

The Harvest

We've got pecans!

They aren't very big - so they're pretty "high maintenance" to shell. It was still fun gathering them. It was like being on an Easter egg hunt.

The Fountain

Back in July, we started working on the landscaping in the front of the house. It started out as an over grown mess.

Got it all cleaned up. Removed all of the Asiatic Jasmine ground cover and planted some grass seed.

I've been stalking a fountain out at the local greenhouse for about a year. - Trying to decide if I wanted to just buy the fountain that they had in stock or special order one that is stained to my liking. In the end, I opted to buy the one in stock because there was a $200 price difference if I went with "made to order" AND it wasn't a guarantee that it would turn out the shade of my choice.

So we took the plunge and set out to bring my fountain home! The hubby and the nursery guy were able to load everything into the vehicle but getting it out was going to be a whole other issue. Luckily, we were able to just drive up into the yard and back up in between the trees and flower bed and over our little levee.

The levee is only a few feet high. It's an original slave built levee probably constructed in the early 20's to keep the flood waters of the Mississippi River away. I'm not sure if it was built before or after The Great Flood of 1927 but I DO know that our house was built on the wrong side of it!

The trunk was the perfect height to just slide out the base tier. - Otherwise, we'd be chauffeuring this thing around until we could find some more muscle!

We've gotten a few grass sprigs. We'll hold out until the Spring. If we're still not having any luck, we'll just sod the spot. I'm anxious for the fountain to start to patina. I've done a little research on how to "age" it. Suggestions range from rubbing it with manure to painting it with a mixture of buttermilk, yogurt and moss seed.

Birthplace of The Frog

We spent some of this Saturday down the road in Leland, MS celebrating Frog Fest. September 24, 2011 marked what would have been the 75th Birthday of Jim Henson - creator of Kermit the Frog and The Muppets. Jim Henson spent some of his childhood living in Leland.



Kermit the Frog was born on the banks of Deer Creek...

Puppy Love

What do you get when you cross this...

With this...

A whole lot of these...



I photographed a 6 year old's birthday party for a friend. It was a "cheerleader" party but the 3 week old puppies stole the show! It was the cutest thing - everywhere you turned, a little cheerleader had a puppy hanging over her arm.

Another day another...

PILLOWCASE!

The latest...

This weekend I learned how to "ruffle"! I also learned how to make a fabric tie (no picture of that). My craftsmanship still has a long way to go but I am at least learning the "process". Next on the agenda...fabric flowers!



I also finished up this top.

Baltimore Oriole Nest

This past Spring, our neighbor told us that he'd seen some Baltimore Orioles flying around...sure enough, we saw them too. I never managed to photograph one but we did find a nest.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Recently, I entered this photograph in a contest calling for "reflection" photos and...

I WON!!!

I really don't think there were many photos submitted...but none the less - I got my photo on the blog of a great regional photographer (http://www.hellodelta.net/) AND I get to have one of her photos for FREE.

Whoo hoo for free art!

Mama Tried

Friday, I caught a wild hair and decided that since it was a cloudy day, it might be a good day for a little treasure hunt with the girls. So I did my research (to ensure a successful search), loaded the GPS and off we went (geocaching). Of course by the time we ran two little errands, the sun was shining. Then I realized I'd forgotten my cheat sheets. We forged ahead with our plans anyway. Once we got there, I accidentally erased not only the coordinates for the hunt but EVERYTHING ever saved on our GPS. I mean EVERYTHING. It asked me to start over with what country I wanted to map. The girls started getting cranky...and then it rained. We never found the treasures, but I did get these shots of the Cypress Preserve.

Pillowcases

My latest creations...

Sorghum