Long Time, No See

I write a blog post a day, complete with really cool pictures, but it's all in my head. Sorry. I am avoiding working in my yard after work today, so you get a blog post instead. A real one. I have a ton of stuff to write about, but because I don't want to keep you here all day, I'll start with poop. Yes, poop. Again, sorry.

I had a little incident where my sewer backed up into my shower after moving in last August, but a plunger and some bleach soon took care of the problem. Fast forward to Thanksgiving, and 9 extra people in the house, all big eaters. Geez, that was no way to make my guests feel welcome. Poop in the bathtub. Poop in the shower. Gah. Enter sweet boyfriend who plunged, snaked and cleaned up said mess - on Thanksgiving day. I thanked him, and let him know not to expect me to ever do it for him. The truth hurts.

All was fine for awhile, but dammit, it did it again. That was it. We snaked every line out of my house, and decided it must be close to the street. I was sweating bullets by this time, because I had managed to only spend under $30 for some Drano, a snake and a plunger. I made a call to the city, and was surprised when she asked me my address, and then told me she would have someone right out. Really? They were here in about 30 minutes. A very nice man pulled up front in a big truck with odd looking equipment all over it, and poked and prodded in my yard for a bit. Here's what he ended up with:Yep, that would be my yard, full of, well, you know. He then proceeded to do this: He sucked up the waste with a big old vacuum. How cool is that? But that's not the end of the story. Oh, no. A few days later I came home for lunch and found 6 men, a backhoe, and a city truck, some of them on my front lawn. Turns out my pipes were blocked with tree roots, on the CITY'S side of the line. How often does that happen? Where are those pictures, anyway? They fixed the problem, fixed the yard, and guess what? What gets flushed away, stays flushed away now.

I wanted to show you all my homemade goat cheese and the process, but I'll wait for another day. Not too cool to have it follow this post!

In Wine, There is Truth . . .

and the truth is, this homemade wine is about 500 proof right now!

It should be ready to drink on Halloween night, and if stays as strong as it is now, we'll all be seeing things that aren't there. Someone suggested that perhaps I could bottle it as "Gourment Rubbing Alcohol".

So, I picked the muscadines and scuppernogs all by my little self, 4 pounds in all. The recipes I looked at online suggested that I squish each and every grape by hand . Naturally, I rejected that idea. I washed them and put then in a big stainless steel pot, and tried to squish them with a potato masher. No luck. Meat tenderizer. No luck. Damn. These aren't grapes, they've got skins like leather! I ended up putting on some latex gloves (the texture was disgusting, hence the gloves) and squishing the damn things one at a time. Ooohhh, that made me mad.

I added 4 pounds of sugar to the 4 pounds of muscadines and scuppernogs, 1 envelope of active dry yeast, and a couple of quarts of spring water. The directions said to stir the pot (I'm so good at that) once a day for 7 days, and otherwise leave alone. After about two days, you could smell the fermenting fruit and the ensuing alcohol content throughout the house. Whew-wee! After 7 days, I strained the mess through cheesecloth and put it in a big clear jug, where it will stay until Halloween. I think the time length is 6 weeks, but my brain has been befuddled by the fumes! I did stick my finger in it to taste it, and it's really strong. I'm a little afraid of drinking it when the time comes!

SOLD!

It's been a long summer, and here's why:


Back in August I bought my first house. Yeah, I know. Like I'm 21 or something. That's me and my realtor in the picture. She sold us our house when we moved here back in 2007. Who knows what she'll be selling me in 4 more years! These are my peeps, celebrating the grand opening/closing by drinking champagne from plastic cups, and eating pizza. I know how to throw a party, don't I? Stay tuned for the next 30 years. Hopefully I'll get some updating done by then!

Way Down Upon the Suwanee River . . .

Heading out over the bridge (the very high bridge) to see the Suwanee River

That's it, folks, the river of fame and song. I think the first time I heard the song was back in 1966 or '67, somewhere near Sanford, FL, in a Shakey's restaurant. They played sing-a-long music, and projected the words on a screen, so you could follow along, complete with the red bouncing ball to keep your place. Betsy, do you remember that? I think Shakey's was known for pizza and beer, but I could be wrong. Big, long tables, pitchers of beer and pizza. That combination never goes out of style.
As you can see, this dry, dry summer has taken it's toll on everything! I took Bowen on an outing last weekend, which included stops at the Suwanee, the Santa Fe and Itchetucknee Rivers. The water in the Suwanee is dark, dark, dark - not at all what I expected. We were standing on a bridge when these were taken, and the river was waaaayyyy down there. I thought I had pretty well conquered my fear of heights, but I was wrong!

The Sante Fee River. And Bowen.

That's Bowen, checking out the fish in the Santa Fe River. I had no idea there was such a place in Florida! We were there on a Sunday, and there was hardly a soul to be seen. I imagine they were all in church. Apparently only heathens visit the river on a Sunday.

The Itchetucknee

The spring

These are pics of the Itchetucknee River. It was too far down to get close to, but it does have a spring.

All the rivers were very low, but they were beautiful, very peaceful. The fact that there weren't many folks out and about helped with the peaceful part. The parts of Columbia and Alachua counties in Florida that we saw were very agrarian and quaint, not what most people expect from Florida. The small towns we drove through were picturesque, very north Florida. I think it's a crying shame that I've lived in south Georgia for almost 4 years and just found this beautiful spot!

This was a pretty yard with a beautiful house right on the Suwanee River. We were in Fargo, GA, and the bridge in the first pics is the 441 bridge. At one time, 441 was the main thoroughfare to get to Florida from these parts. The Suwanee River Visitor Center is located right here, but because we were on a mission, we didn't stop in. Next time!

In the Garden

Just a VERY small portion of our daily cucumber harvest

Me, cutting okra, sweating like a wart hog.

Polly picking cucumbers and watching me sweat.

Polly in the sweet corn patch, stealing ears of corn while Cecil isn't watching.

Have I mentioned I was cutting okra?

It's amazing what a little water and a lot of sunshine will do for a garden! We haven't seen any rain for weeks, but we've been doing what sprinkling we can. I've been trying to keep up with our smaller field gardens, with the help of some of my interpreters, but judging by the size of some of the cucumbers, I haven't been diligent enough! I love this job. Where else can you go out in the morning to pick produce and enjoy the quiet before you go back to your desk, and get paid for it!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Students in a spring workshop

It's been a long couple of months since I last posted. I turned 50 just over a week ago, and while I'm glad to be here, I just can't figure out where the past half century went!Family & friends at my 50th birthday party

Lots of changes going on, lots of stress, lots of everything. My school workshop season at work is over for a month or two, but we've got plenty to do in the meantime. We've got an independence day celebration coming up on the 2nd of July and that's going to wipe me out. Well, that and the 100+ degree temps and lack of any precipitation down here. Number One grandson is down here for 3 weeks, and he managed to pack only 2 pair of underwear for the entire time. Sigh. He started baseball camp this morning, and is probably the only 11 year old in Georgia who took a nap today!

I've got lots of pics to post from the last few months, so stay tuned!

Riding in the mule wagon

A Few of My Favorite Things

It's almost spring, and that's when a woman's fancy turns to shopping. Again. Kinda like winter. And summer. And, well, you know. My favorite bloggers are also my best enablers, and this spring they haven't let me down. Enter Photojojo. Ever heard of it? Don't be rude - wait until after you've read my post before you go clicking off to some other site! Here's what I want from them:

The Tokyo Dream Strap. How cool is that? Only $20.00, or two for $35.00. I like the blue, but then again, the red is too gorgeous.

Photoclips, because I need more crap to hang on my walls. No, really, I do.And Jelly Camera Phone Filters. Why not?

But really, I think I'll just settle for the camera strap. Now I'm off to look for a good camera bag that doesn't require a bank heist to pay for it.