Summertime at the Farm

Be sure to visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer as she hosts Outdoor Wednesday every week. You'll be glad you did!

Recently we went up to our "Farm" to mow and spend the day. There's a certain look, sound, and smell to summer at the Farm----the smell of freshly cut grass, the sounds of birds singing coming from all directions, clear blue sky, flowers blooming both wild and planted, fruit growing and ripening on the trees, and the sound of the animals at the barn. It's really something very special to me. Here are some pictures from our latest trip there.
Hydrangeas were blooming all around the yard----


Gardenias are blooming--I love their fragrance!

Wildflowers in the woods nearby--

Not a very good picture but the crepe myrtles are blooming, too.

A little too early--the wild blackberries were just beginning to ripen and the figs on our fig trees will be ripe soon.


The lantanas that we transplanted from our yard at home were just "sticks" a few weeks ago and now they're beginning to bloom---I'd say they're very hardy because no one lives at the Farm to take care of any of the plants.
Sometimes it's difficult to leave that place because it has so many wonderful memories and it's a great place to escape the hustle and bustle of life back in the "real" world. However, we're extremely thankful we have it so we can go spend time there as often as possible.

Not Me! Monday---I Have Willpower!

If you'd like to see what some other people confess to "not doing", go visit My Charming Kids to read some funny posts! In the meantime, I would NEVER carefully try to watch what I eat for lunch, go exercise by walking on the beach in the hot, broiling sun for 30 minutes (which absolutely must count for walking an hour on a regular walking track), and then come home and eat 4 powdered doughnuts!!! Never, not me!

Blueberry Jamboree

Today we decided to go on a short ride out of town to a blueberry festival. Besides the delicious blueberries, much of the fun at these events is getting to see friends, check out the arts and crafts booths, and EAT!! We did a little of all of these things.

As we were leaving, we bought our own blueberry bush to try our hand at growing blueberries in our yard.

Then, on the way home, we stopped at a blueberry farm and picked a few pounds of blueberries. If you do that one time in the heat of the day, you'll understand why blueberries are so expensive in the grocery store. However, it was fun and I can't wait to try some new recipes with the blueberries we picked.

Outdoor Wednesday--The Beach and the Gulfarium

Take a look at A Southern Daydreamer to check out many great blogs on Outdoor Wednesday. Thanks to Susan for sponsoring this every week. I love it! It's fairly obvious from most of my entries that I love anything outdoors. My blog from last weekend is just another indication of how much I really enjoy the outdoors. Here are a few more pictures of our outdoor activities this week. One of our daughters-in-law and two of our grandchildren were here and we've been to the beach, the pool, and to the Gulfarium. FUN!

Here's our grandson climbing up the giant water slide at the beach.

Our granddaughter riding the waves at the beach---

Both of them playing in the gulf--

Sno Cones after leaving the beach---guess what color David had! In addition to seeing it in the cup, you can also see it on his NEW shirt. And, if you look closely, you can see it on his face as well. I believe he enjoyed it!

Up close and personal with the dolphins--

A New Bike Trail

Today we decided to try out a new bike trail we had seen earlier. We are SO glad we did. It was wonderful. One of the trailheads was through huge trees with Spanish moss hanging from them and those trees provided nice shade. Wildlife abounds here but most stayed hidden from us. However, we did see and hear lots of birds and we saw lovely flowers. Here are some more pictures from our ride.


We soon discovered they are NOT kidding when they put this sign out! This alligator just cruised right on up toward where we were standing. He definitely didn't stay hidden!!


Here's a small lake off the trailhead. We could see a turtle with his head sticking up and other evidence of life in the water but didn't see a gator here. We loved this bike route and hope to go again soon.

Five Flags, a Tall Ship, and a Rainbow

The arrival of the world's third largest "tall ship" to our city has sparked a lots of fun and celebration. The "Juan Sebastian de Elcano" has come as part of the Fiesta of Five Flags. Spanish explorers arrived in Pensacola in 1559 to establish the country’s first major European settlement. The Elcano visit will represent this journey and honor the community’s Spanish heritage. The tall ship first visited Pensacola in 1959 during Pensacola’s 400th anniversary. We went downtown today to see the ship and just to enjoy the view. After looking at the line to actually get onto the ship, we decided to enjoy it from afar.

While there we just walked around and enjoyed the wind, the sun, and the people.

After leaving this area, we decided to eat at a restaurant overlooking the water.

We got the added benefit of a beautiful rainbow while we were there.

A perfect ending to a perfect day!

It Takes a Church..........

Susan at A Southern aydreamer hosts Outdoor Wednesday every week so go on over to her blog to see more pictures of Outdoor Wednesday. My entry this week into Outdoor Wednesday is a very different one but one I'd like to share with you. I hope you enjoy seeing the pictures of everyone, especially the children, having a great time OUTDOORS. In the last few years, my husband and I have hosted an annual cookout in our backyard for the families in our church who have young children (along with some of the teens as well because many of the young children have older siblings). We rent an inflatable water slide and also have a baby pool, a sprinkler, a swing, a slip 'n' slide, riding toys, and a small slide which goes into a little pool for the pre-schoolers. Sunday afternoon was the day for the cookout this year. I think you can tell by looking at the pictures that we have lots of families with young children at our church (the best count we could get was 90+ people at the party). Because we remember what these types of outings meant to our own children in their formative years, hopefully we can do our part in giving these children pleasant memories of fun experiences with their church family. I truly believe it's vital that we all work together to assure that these children learn that being a Christian is a good thing and involves much more than a couple of hours on Sunday. Here are some pictures of our OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY (that happened on Sunday).











And, the following picture probably depicts how we all felt at the end of the party. I'll bet it didn't take long for the children to go to sleep that night!

End of the School Year and a Birthday!

Last week we went to visit our children and grandchildren for a few days. We never need much of an excuse, but our grandson was having a birthday, he was also having an end of year play in his first grade class, and one granddaughter's class created a wax museum where each historical character (4th grade students) told about himself or herself when someone "pushed" their button. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Amelia Earhart never looked quite so beautiful as this day! Didn't her mom, our daughter-in-law, do a great job of finding an aviator jacket, cap, and goggles---all at a very reasonable price. Our granddaughter was a very authentic looking replication of Amelia Earhart!

Of course, we went to lunch with all four of them which is always fun. Then, we went to the birthday boy's play "Going Buggy." Don't you think he's about the cutest little honey bee you've ever seen?


While there we took them all to see Night in the Museum--Battle of the Smithsonian. It was actually a really cute movie which we enjoyed and we were only interrupted once when our oldest granddaughter got her foot hung in the seat and Pops had to go get it out. Other than that, it was an uneventful evening at the movie and a really fun trip! We'll soon be looking for another good excuse to head that way!

2nd Time Around

Diane at A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words is sponsoring 2nd Time Around Tuesday so I thought I'd join in . What I have to share is a desk that once belonged to my dear aunt. I'm named after her and she was an inspiration to our entire family with her desire for all to aspire to higher education and better jobs. She left my grandparents' home on a small farm in the South in the 1920's when most women dropped out of school to get married and start a family. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but she wanted more and she wanted her younger brother and sisters to have more. After going to college, getting her undergraduate and graduate degrees and teaching for several years, her life was cut much too short when she was killed in an automobile accident at the height of her career. I was fortunate enough to be given her desk which is a treasure. It needed refinishing so when I took it to the antique store to have that done, I was told that the top was warped and I probably should just throw it away (in other words, it wasn't valuable as an antique). Now, it sits proudly refinished in our foyer and holds pictures of nieces and nephews she never met. Whether valuable as an antique or not, this "2nd time around" desk is priceless to me-----I love it because it was hers.

Lest We Forget-Memorial Day 2009

Even though cookouts are fun, let's not forget what Memorial Day is really all about. Without the sacrifice of the men and women who have fought for our country, we would not be able to enjoy all the aspects of freedom that we have today. Here is a quote from one of our military leaders many years ago:

On May 30, 1870, Maj. Gen. John A. Logan said: "Let us then all unite in the solemn feelings of the hour, and tender with our flowers the warmest sympathies of our souls! Let us revive our patriotism and strengthen our loyalty by the example of the noble dead around us."

Thanks to all for giving to a cause much greater than themselves.


Totally separate from Memorial Day, but I want to say "Happy Birthday" to our grandson today. His birthday happened to fall on Memorial Day this year so he not only had a birthday but a holiday from school! We love you!