Wordless Wednesday. An Amish schoolhouse near my parents' house.

The Secret Life of Bees.

I meant to write about what I had planned today (see entry below), but I ran across this trailer. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is an amazing book and I can't wait to see the movie. For those of you that don't know, Brett is studying honeybees for his master's work, and will be continuing that work at the PhD level at Georgia. Anyways, Brett told me that recently he met the beekeeper that worked on the set of the movie. The movie looks like it will be good- the casting seems right-on, anyways, but I still recommend that you read the book first. 9 times out of 10 the book is better (in my humble opinion, of course.) The Southern Gothic style has always been one of my favorites.

Interesting note: Sue Monk Kidd is from Georgia and currently lives somewhere in Charleston. For a while, though, she resided in the humble little town of Anderson, SC. 

I hate packing...

.......especially when it's for a long period of time! Sorry I haven't written in a while, but I'm crazy busy getting ready for an extended trip out of country, if you catch my drift. In between packing, doing last minute errands, and studying, I've been working on my winter garden. I figure that if I plant it now I will have even MORE to look forward to when I get home! Here's a list of what I either have already planted or will plant this week:

-sugar snap peas

-squash

-carrots

-green beans

-lettuce (Bibb and a variety mix)

-greens (turnip, mustard, and collard)

-broccoli

-onions

-a few more tomatoes

And I'm hoping to obtain some garlic this week as well. The tomato "suckers" that I started are also ready to plant, and I moved most of my potted plants into the yard. Brett will take care of my Christmas cactus and the rest of my houseplants, and I will be moving my herbs indoors. I feel the worst about abandoning my hummingbirds. I have to refill the feeder every other day or so- that's how many visit! I love watching them :0) If I had an amazing camera I would take a cool picture of them for y'all. Although I was sad to tear out all my summer crops, I am grateful to live in a place that manages to squeeze two growing seasons into one year! 

In case you needed a laugh, here is a ridiculous picture of me from this weekend. I was busy cooking dessert, and was caught off guard. I have no shame.

Coming tomorrow: some pics from my family's home in Pennsylvania- including some Old Order Amish homes near us (don't worry- I respect the People enough not to take pictures of them- even if it is tempting sometimes.)

Wordless Wednesday. Happiness=Family.

We got to meet Fingers!

For those of you who don't know, Brett and I are pretty crazy about Jimmy Buffett. So when we were in PA last week and I heard that Presque Isle's Parrothead Club was holding its Key West Phest, we jumped at the chance to go. Although we didn't get to see Club Trini (the name Jimmy's Coral Reefer Band assumes when he's not with them), we did get the awesome opportunity to see Greg "Fingers" Taylor play. Fingers is an AMAZING harmonica player and has graced a number of Jimmy's albums. The crowd was pretty thin, most likely due to the chilly, windy weather, which allowed us to get up close and personal with him. Fingers was even gracious enough to take a picture with us!

Headed off to PA....

So Brett and I are off to PA tomorrow for a family wedding. I am super excited to see everyone in my huge, crazy family! When we get back I will update with pictures of the wedding, my parents' dairy farm, etc. Praying that we have a safe flight....

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Getting ready for fall (already!)

I said I'd write back after I got some legitimate work done. Well, here I am, days later, still feeling unproductive. Wait- it's not that I haven't been busy. It's just that I am able to find a million things to keep me busy OTHER than the things I HAVE to do (i.e. homework.) For some reason I cannot find the energy to read for my class. Ever since I decided what I really want to do (i.e. midwife) I seem to have become physically and mentally unable to do work for my Master's. I know I have to finish my Master's before I can move on to something else, but it's so hard to focus! I am in dire need of motivation....

I (well, I should say Brett, his parents, and I) did manage to get a TON done around the house. While the guys finished building the new sunscreen for our back porch (which will help shade us from the ridiculous middle Georgia sun), we ladies were busy indoors.  My entire kitchen got rearranged, and now I have loads more room for storing all the kitchen items I have. The garage got cleaned out, and I managed to freeze about 8 quart bags of peaches. I learned that instead of using sugar syrup, you can substitute juice. The ascorbic acid in juice helps to prevent the fruit from browning. I bought a jug of organic, non-sugar-added apple juice and used that, so I'm excited to see how it will turn out. I'm betting we won't miss the extra sugar!  I also strung several jalapeno peppers to dry in the kitchen for use later. 

Today I canned nectarines. Brett was kind enough to pick a huge box of both peaches and nectarines, and although I bagged the peaches and froze them, I wanted to save some room in my freezer by canning the nectarines. I used a medium sugar syrup (1 cup of sugar for every 2 cups of water) and they look great. I can't wait to open a jar this winter and enjoy the taste of summer!

This week is going to be incredibly busy. On Wednesday Brett and I are headed to PA, so I have a lot to do between now and then. Besides working and forcing myself to do schoolwork, I plan on getting my garden ready for late summer/fall crops. I have already ripped out the early beans, many of the cucumbers, some of the butterfly garden flowers, and the zucchini and squash plants that are done producing. Now it's time to plant new beans, winter squash, carrots, lettuce, greens, and onions. I also want to try to find some gourds to try. Is anyone familiar with collecting seeds? I'm planning on doing that as well. Finally, Brett heard from a coworker (an avid gardener) about the process of cutting tomato "runners" and re-rooting and planting them. We decided to try it, and cut two suckers off and placed them in water. Hopefully they will produce as well as the plants we cut them from- those are taller than I am!