We Got Our Poppie Back

I swear I have not dropped off the face of the earth. We have just been so busy around here. 

First, Dear Hubby got to come home. His girls have missed him so much. The feeling was quite mutual. 

He has been helping me catch up on stuff around the house and garden. I love working in the garden with him.

He loves being on his tractor too. He is preparing a spot where we needed to lay some sod. He even took me for a ride. lol

This man had been missing my cooking and requested some of my homemade cinnamon rolls. I have tweeked the recipe and made a healthier version. I used oat and whole wheat flour and made a cream cheese frosting. The are delicious. Then Dallas wanted some chocolate chip pancakes. 

I have been trying to catch up on some reading. I love this book. I love all book on Proverbs 31 Woman or living virtuously, homemaking etc. 

I can't wait to start these books too. 

Our daughter in law celebrated her 21st bday and her mom took her on a trip to the set where they filmed Vampire Diaries. They love this show. 

While the mommies were gone, the daddies took the kids to the drive thru Safari Park. They loved it. It was good for the dads to have some one on one time with the kids. 

I have also been busy putting some things up in the freezer.  On our Canning and Preserving page I have listed my method of how I put up our potatoes different ways. 

So Dallas did a thing.  Of course I knew this was coming since he was 5 years old. He has entered a program for students that want to join the Marines but are under age. It is called a Delayed Entry Program. They help train them in physical fitness to get them ready for Boot Camp when they can legally join at 18. This has been his passion since he was a little boy. Every young boy has a dream to earn their right of passage into adulthood. Dakota had his way and this is Dallas' way. He wants to be so much like his dad. He wants to make dad so proud. We met with the recruiter and we signed his papers for him to enter the program. It is for a year. I believe this is good for Dallas because it will grow him and mature him. Trust me. I does. I have seen it in my Marine. He wanted dad to give him a crew cut. His first day of PT, he said he only died 4 times. lol  He will have PT two times a week during the summer and then it will change when school starts. 

The girls got me a charm for my bracelet for Mothers Day. I cried. I always cry. I'm an emotional cry baby. 

The girls got to  spend two weekends in a row with us. They literally clung to Poppie and forgot about me sometimes. lol. He so deserved this time with them. 

They have been so excited seeing things grow in the garden. They help me look every time they come over. 

Our first picking of 2020

The garden is coming along fine. 

Poppie bought us a tree stand of our very own last season so us girls could hunt our of. We need to get it up and ready for this fall so we can start teaching these girls. 

Every girl needs to learn how to drive a tractor too.

Enjoying some outdoor fun. 

We've spent the last 3 days laying sod in a section we had to finish just on one end of the house. We are not as young as we use to be. Tomorrow is date day for us. 

Dallas had to go to Memphis for all of his physicals for the Delayed Entry Program. After we got word that he passed, they took them to swear into the program. He also has a close friend that is going through it too. We are so proud of him. 

We have got so many more projects we are crossing off our to do list. So that is where I have been for the longest.  

We have also just been enjoying family time as well. 

Memorial Day 2020

May we remember what today is truly about. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.  Semper Fi!

Canning Marathon

I have been so busy canning here lately.  I do this every year to stock our pantries. Has nothing to do with the pandemic. I've been doing this for years. Carrots,  more cole slaw and sauerkraut,  and potatoes. I tried something different with our potatoes this year. I dry canned them. They are suppose to come out to not be so mushy if you pack with water.

I am going to try my hand at canning rice sometime.

Slowly but surely getting there.

Me and the girls are rocking right along. Mommy took her last exam for the year.

We had a girls night one night and they spent the night with me. I had a pic of me and Poppie and a pic of just Poppie on a night stand beside the bed. They grabbed those pics and hugged and kissed them and told Poppie goodnight. I melted my heart.

Poppie got me part of my Mother's Day. He found this stool for us. These girls will fight over one stool and push and shove and want to be beside Gmaw in the kitchen.  So he fixed that problem. ❤

One morning they came to eat breakfast and I put them to work.  No, really,  they wanted to help Gmaw of course. They made biscuits with supervision.  And wanted to wash dishes. 

Dallas is done with school. He has turned in all his work to his teachers.  This is a page from the year book at school. He is an FFA member.

I had two more rows of corn to plant and I planted some sunflowers too. I've got to replace some tomato plants due to weather.  But not as bad as I thought. We have got to find some sweet potatoe slips and plant two more rows of corn then we are done planting. 

It has been an exhausting week. 

Dad got to come home. The job is done for the summer but he will have to go back end of summer for a small project. But for now, we are going to enjoy every minute. I can't understand people complaining about being home with their spouse or kids during this pandemic. Oh well, that's a whole other soap box. 

Mothers Day 2020

I’m paying tribute to two beautiful women today for Mother’s Day. I am who I am today because of them. Their prayers helped me make it through life.
My momma: God bless her. She raised us in a Christian home and I have heard her sing all my life. She was a Preachers daughter. She had devotions with us prayed with us, and over us all our lives. And still does. She worked hard to always make sure we had what we needed. Even if it meant two jobs. We were never hungry. We always had clothes to wear, alot which were hand made by her and my grandmother. They put alot of love into those garments. I felt the love in my mommas hands and hugs. I always felt safe and secure with her. She made home a home. She also had her share of tough love for me. Yes, I got my butt whooped alot and should have gotten more to be honest. She was tough and still is. She didn’t take any crap and still want. She sacrificed alot of things just to protect us and provide for us.
Still, today, she is amazing and one of my best friends. We love the days we get together and make the most of it. I can call her anytime and she will listen, let me vent, yell, cry, and get things off my chest, then she prays with me or for me.
She is graceful, but a force to be reckoned with. She is one of my heroes.
The next is my Ma Ma Oliver. My grandmother. Boy, how I miss her. Even when I got older, I always went to visit, and she always made my favorites to eat. I made sure my children knew her.
She was raised in a Christian home and was a very Godly woman. Talk about a Proverbs 31 woman. I don’t ever recall seeing her angry. Maybe a hissy fit or two, but never angry. She was a gentle kind soul who loved God, family and everyone. She was a prayer warrior. I would spend every summer with my grandparents. They taught me so much.
She put love into everything from house work, cooking, cleaning, gardening, animals, sewing, you name it. My momma says I am my grandmothers child. I patterned my life after her and I get my old fashioned ways from her. She was a gracious preacher’s wife and served the Lord and the church. I miss her dearly and wish I could visit so bad. I’d make sure my grandkids knew her.
These two wonderful women are the reason why I do what I do.

Two of my greatest blessings call me Mom. I prayed for children and God heard. Everything I have done all these years have been for y’all. I may not have done it or do it the way you want, but hey, you’re still alive and loved. 
We may argue, fuss, fight, and aggravate but in the end, we are a team. Y’all have given me more scares, heart aches, gray hair and hurt feelings than I can count but my love will never change. At the same time, y’all have done things that have made me so proud and overjoyed that I just had to shout it to the world.
I know I’m strict and old fashioned but I think y’all may get it now. I know I have screwed up sometimes and I know I have failed sometimes as a mother, but it’s not because I didn’t try. I look back alot of times and ask myself where I went wrong.
Y’all are prayed for daily and loved so much. You will never know. Maybe one day when y’all are older. God gave me a high calling as being a mother and i will do it to the best of my ability until he calls me home.
Always remember, I would lay down my life for either of you. I love y’all.

I have the greatest mother in law ever. I can’t say I have known her all my life but for 29 years I’ve know her to be a God fearing, Godly woman. She’s one tough cookie but with a heart of gold. She has always put others before herself. From what I know she has done this for a very long time. I am glad she raised this man here. He loves her and will do his very best to care for her.
She has always taken care of her children and raised them to be who they are. She has always sacrificed her needs for the sake of her family. You can’t keep this woman down. God is on her side.

Happy mother’s day to a wonderful young lady. The mother of our little grand blessings. I know it’s not easy with these Dixon men, but you have proved yourself quite well. You are slowly but surely passing the test. 
You are a great mom and kind hearted and most of all patient. That’s what it takes. Thank you for loving our girls and raising them. Jocelyn Dixon we love you.

And these two made me a grandmother. Just when I thought my heart couldn’t get any fuller. They melt my heart and keep my young. We may not always see eye to eye but they are my little buddies and I know they love me.
We have so much fun together and I want to teach them all I can. They will always know Gmaw will be here for them.
When they run to you and holler,  "Gmaw, Gmaw,Gmaw" and hold their arms open for you to hug them,  PRICELESS.  and then they melt my heart when they say, "I love you Gmaw!" I just crumble.

I Did A Thing Today

Well, I'm gonna try it. Old timers said it can be done, and they did, so I did too. The purple is coleslaw. Yes, you can, can coleslaw. And the one on the right is sauerkraut. You're welcome. 

You can, can coleslaw.  Old timers have done it for years.
Here is the directions to follow:

Click on the images and zoom in so you can see better
 For the coleslaw, when you get ready to eat it, open the jar and drain the liquid. Then you can add your mayonnaise,  vinaigrette dressing or any dressing you put in yours.

 I want to do a fermented version too. My MaMa Oliver did fermented sauerkraut all the time.  I just have to research it some more on how to do it.
I know that by canning it doesn't have as much probiotics in it, but I like the shelf stable life with canning. I only have so much room in my fridge to ferment some. I have planted about 36 cabbage plants and will need to put them up somehow. 😱😊
This also has apple cider vinegar in it too so that may be a plus.

Learning Alot

When your son passes on life lessons to his daughters, it is a blessing. Daddy told them if they worked hard today, they would get paid. Well, when they got here, Atleigh jumps out of the truck and says, "I want to work hard wiff you Gmaw!" And Caroline said, "Work hard!" 

They were so excited. We had two very tired little girls. Jossie wants to learn, so today's college and preschool homeschool class was Agricultural Science. Yes, they got paid when daddy got home Don't tell me you can't teach little ones anything.

  

When they want to put on their new pajamas in the middle of the day and wash dishes.....you let them.  

Dallas is doing good getting all of his assignments turned in to end the school year with. The school directors will be coming up with a time they will let students come pick up personal items from the school.  Our state is going to slowly start opening back up after May 1st. They will do it in phases. I will still choose to take precautions however. 

Earth Day

Well, yesterday was Earth Day and this is what mine looked like.

I had 25 pepper plants to get in the ground. 

I used a nifty little contraption my dear hubby got me last year. It is a drill auger. You put it on the end of a drill and drill away. It is so fast and convenient.  I used a homemade fertilizer to put in the holes when I planted. It is used coffee grounds, epsom salt and baking soda.

I got them all covered and mulched because it is still getting a little chilly at night here, and we are trying a hay method this year to cut down on hoeing and tilling.

Then I tilled a border around the square so Dallas will know not to weed eat those areas. I like my garden crisp, clean and weed free.  

Then I tilled a space to plant 2 rows of corn first. We plant two at a time to stagger our planting so everything is not coming in all at one time and I am overwhelmed and can not keep up. I fertilized and covered those as well. 

And of course I had to take time out to play with the kitty. She loves being with me when I'm outside.

I think it is all coming around just fine. 

The rest of the parts for my electric fence should be in today and my dear sons are going to finish it for me. 

I came in, and it smelled so good in the house. Dallas had cooked us some lunch. I ate and then took a much needed shower and just crawled in bed and passed out. I was already so sore I couldn't hardly move. I think I slept 2 1/2 hrs. Needless to say, I didn't do anything last night but sit and watch tv. Then went to bed and passed out again. 

It did however rain all evening and then into the night, so I hope my peppers are not water logged. I guess we will see. But at least everything is fertilized and covered. 

If you are considering putting in a garden, check out our Gardening Page by clicking on the subtitle in the header.

Today I got to spend time with my buddies again.  Jossie had some assignments to get done to turn in and a quiz to take. 

We have a little princess who has a hurt arm. She was playing in their trampoline and she hurt it. She kept crying and would scream when they touched it and they knew something was wrong. They took her to have some xrays and she has a little fracture. As young as she is and the little bone thatit's on, it is going to grow back just fine. We just have to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't do anything strenuous or rough housing.  She is being a trooper. 

We had a good day today.