Our Best Friend
20 Dec 2011 1 Comment
in animals, dog, family Tags: cat person, little mutt
I have to extol the glories of having a best friend in a small dog. I never imagined I’d be one of THEM. One of those people who look lovingly after every little quirk and cute look his littleness does. I am a sap and that’s all there is to it. This little mutt has endeared himself to us in ways I never dreamed possible. He lives in the house, demanding the same privileges as one of our kids, which he gets without hesitation. He gets his own place to sit, which is anywhere he wants.
Cooper learned early to beg for people food when my husband generously shared his first morsel with him. The little fellow now bounds onto C-Man’s lap with the first sight of a snack in Dad’s hand. That also means he follows me to the kitchen knowing I will inadvertently drop scraps to the floor for him to scarf up. Not on purpose mind you. If I want him to have something special the little guy gets a scrambled egg.
Most remarkable to me is how Cooper follows me all around the house. (Not because I feed him eggs either.) I get up in the night and the little guy follows me to the bathroom. Such devotion is so astounding. Especially to one of us old cat aficionados. He is hot my heels throughout the whole house.
Our bed, the parent’s bed, is also Cooper’s bed. Every evening he scrapes together a pile of covers before he settles into a tight little ball. Before that he rubs his mouth and head all over the place and pops his head up with a perfect case of bed-head. Just a funny quirk to a former cat person.
Cooper loves the out doors. He’s too small for us allow him to roam freely… hawks and other predators around the farm you know might grab him. Not to mention his innate drive to chase the chickens with a vehemence unsurpassed by any other predator on our farm. He’s always on a leash when we go out.
He loves to run…
I love those ears flopping in the breeze. You should see all that hair flowing in the air as he runs!! He’s a sight and these pictures don’t quite do him credit.
But you can get some sort of an idea.
You can get the idea how he feels about all that running. His face says it all.
This is his favorite place to be when he’s not chasing chickens and kittens. This is our daughter’s shoulder.
Of course she adores this silly little dog.
And…. to make matters worse, we have been sucked into the dog accessories world. Check this out…
He does a perfect model stance, don’t you think? This piece of apparel is needed should the thick fluff of hair he has be too thin to keep the cold off his back. Or should it be raining so hard he might get soaked when he steps out for a sec, because it only takes a second when the weather is inclement.
We have totally bought into having an inside pet. How can such an endearing creature not give you solace and joy? How can he not wrap you around his little paw?
Oh. My. Gosh. He’s just too much.
I’d love to hear about your favorite creature, large or small. Who makes you all mushy inside and give you so much in return? Let me know.
Love,
Jeannene
Tomatoes… need I say more?
05 Dec 2011 4 Comments
I have to do a tomato update. Last week I picked all the tomatoes left on our plants. The weather man predicted a plunge in the morning temps, inciting my last surge to denude the plants. Of course, this had been anticipated. Tomatoes can’t stay on the vine much farther into the fall. But still, November 29 is an outstandingly long time to keep fruit on the plants… you have to admit.
So… last Tuesday, before my work nap, I spent an unexpected two and a half hours picking tomatoes off all of six, mind you only six, plants. I kid you not when I say I pulled at least sixty pounds of tomatoes off those darned things. And my muscles felt every one of them the next day.
At first I filled a five gallon bucket.
After trudging that thing back to the house, I decided empty feed bags would work well. I filled the bottom of one of those.
And another…
After almost breaking my back to drag those two back to the house, I smartened up and pulled out my garden wagon and filled the remaining two bags.
These held the largest tomatoes.
Thank goodness for that cart. After bending to the task for two hours, my strength waned. I barely pulled that heavy cart back to the house. But I had a mother load of tomatoes.
Some of those ripened and I canned them this weekend.
Don’t pay any attention to the blemishes… please. They are cut off before I cook them.
These few tomatoes filled six quarts!! They don’t look like that many, but boy do they multiply.
One last look at the bounty. Now picture all those tomatoes in those bags as red and juicy. I estimate a couple dozen quarts before the winter is through. Not too bad for a fruitless summer.
That is my little piece of heaven today. Thank you for stopping by. I’d love to hear what came out of your garden this year.
Love,
Jeannene
Late Season Bounty
16 Nov 2011 1 Comment
in family, food, garden, life, plants Tags: fall, frost, garden, plant, summer, tomato
This year has seen the most inordinate growing seasons of all time. Our summer was a long three months of intense, scorching heat, little rain and record highs. The results of which yielded nothing from my tomato garden but a few measly pieces of fruit and a lot of wilting green leaves. Blooms on the plants died off in the heat, ergo no tomatoes. It is what I call ‘fried flowers’. Not until the rains came in August did the plants show any signs of flourishing.
I must also mention we are plagued with a small herd of deer from the neighboring woods. They have found our garden a cornucopia of snacks. This year, discouraged from the decimation we endured last year, I planted only tomatoes. When the plants were still very small, before the deer could nibble them to death, our son made large wire cages to place around the plants. It is due to those cages we are now blessed with tomatoes. Yay kiddo!! The idea was my husband’s. It has been said he is a man before his time. He is truly quietly brilliant.
Well those plants just needed a little water to get them going. In October those plants are still growing out the top of the cages.
I have never had plants grow to this height. They have a shovelful of horse manure at the bottom of the hole. I tell you, manure makes the difference.
There are a bunch of tomatoes on those vines. Granted, I don’t cut off the sucker rods at all on these plants, but they aren’t stunted in the least.
But now we are well into the fall season. Leaves are red and brown and the trees are almost bare. As you see, the pasture grass is its own shade of done. Bermuda goes dormant under 80 degrees.
This doesn’t deter those tomatoes in the least, though. A couple frosty mornings scorched the upper-most vines, but still these sturdy plants endure!
There are a few brown leaves here, but that doesn’t diminish the size or the number of the fruit.
There is some frost damage but….
Check out these tomatoes! They are ripening on the vine. To me this is a huge accomplishment in gardening. This fall the weather is still mild… mildly warm. Temps in the 70s and 80s at the peak of the day. This allows the garden to finish its growing season. Remarkable.
If you look carefully, those broken ends on the stems are where the deer took liberties. They can only reach the pieces hanging out, thankfully, leaving the bulk of the plant to flourish inside the wire.
With giddy smugness, we enjoy fresh tomatoes despite the summer and the animals. The summer I thought would be a total loss is turning out to be stupendous.
Let me know how your growing season is this year. I love the out-doors and gardening is pure joy for me.
Thanks for visiting my little piece of heaven.
Love,
Jeannene
The Best Cat-Sitter Ever
11 Nov 2011 3 Comments
in animals, cats, dog Tags: cat sitting, dog, kittens
Recently one our female cats had a litter of kittens. But, like most mama cats, she hid them very well. They finally grew up enough to be playing in a spot where I can see them. That makes them fair game for the people mama to scarf them up and man-handle them to little pieces.
When Cooper found out what caught my attention, he wanted a good look at it too. When he saw those those little fluffy bodies all he wanted to do was lick on them and play. I feared for the little things and made sure it was really short visit with as little mauling as possible.
The next day we bring those little buggers into the house, I put them in his pet bed in the big chair. He hops up there with them and starts a very different behavior from any he’s portrayed. He nuzzles their little bodies and maneuvers around the little bed to keep them from leaving the area.
He uses his body to block any progress.
He is such a hoot to watch in action. You do realize, Cooper is still a puppy himself? To see him mother these little fellows is entertaining.
He is such a rag-a-muffin.
He doesn’t take his eyes off of them. If he does, that little black one escapes. She’s a pill I tell you. Adventuresome and bold.
They’re starting to scatter a bit here.
And don’t let those little innocent faces fool you. They’ll as soon jump ship as look at you.
Now for the whole scenario on live action.
He just wants to play and love those little fellows. Note the black kitten perched on the edge of the chair… She’ll jump as sure as she can get a chance. Amazing to me is how gentle Cooper is with them.
I’d love to hear about your pet’s antics. Drop me a note.
Thanks for peeking into this little slice of heaven.
Love,
Jeannene
It’s Time for Comfort Food
31 Oct 2011 1 Comment
Today, in an effort to avoid doing some real writerly stuff, I opted to do a long over due food blog. Any blog is long overdue lately as it is. Between work and life, I find myself falling miserably short of my goal of blogging at least once a week. Had I taken my camera in tow this weekend I would have been able to share a charming piece of Americana, but sadly those moments were lost to posterity and embedded only in my memories.
Anyway… now on to the FOOD.
I’m making Chicken Pot Pie. Who doesn’t love this dish? My family loves it.
I start this by boiling chicken in a pot. This gives me broth as well as cooked meat for the dish. I used a couple of leg/thigh pieces for today’s meal.
Start my chopping 4 celery stalks, 1 medium onion and 3 large carrots.
Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the bottom of dutch oven on medium heat and add the veggies to them. Cook until they are translucent.
To this add a small bag of frozen peas and cook for 4 or 5 minutes.
To this add 3 cups of diced chicken meat. This is dark meat, but you can use whatever you want.
Stir together and sprinkle 1 cup of flour over the mixture.
Pour over that 4 cups of chicken broth and cook at medium heat. The flour will thicken as the mixture heats. Add the 2 bullion cubes to the mixture.
Sprinkle in 1 tsp thyme and 1 tsp salt and pepper to taste.
Then pour in a cup of heavy cream. I know it’s fattening, but it really adds to the flavor. Substitute at will if you must, though.
Let this heat for about 15 mins. It’ll thicken nicely.
At this point I pull out a pie crust from the fridge, or as I did today, made crust from scratch. Scratch crust rates by the way. There is no comparison to the store-bought crust.
Take that rich brew and pour it into a large dish. This is a 15×11 pan. I reserve the largest dish for the best food.
Lay a thick covering of pie crust over the mixture. 
As you can see, the crust isn’t perfect but it doesn’t have to be when you taste it.
Pop that puppy in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 mins. The crust will brown nicely and the inside should be bubbling.
Then, of course, enjoy.
Here is the recipe in toto:
3 cups diced cooked chicken
4 celery sticks
3 lg carrots
1 med onion
8oz package frozen peas
4 cups chicken broth
2 chicken bullion cubes
1 cup flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 pie crust
This is my little piece of heaven today. Thank you for letting me share it with you.
I’d love to hear what your comfort foods are. Drop by and leave a note.
Love,
Jeannene
Today
More History
05 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in family, history, life, travel Tags: history, houses, plantation, tenant
To continue with our foray into the past, we move into other areas of the plantation.
We now tour the school-house.
This is a one room school-house. It has everything a class room needs in the space of a small shed.
The next building is a doctor’s office. I never imagined a plantation would house a physician, but it makes sense. This was a large community with a lot of people. They all needed care. Notice the two doors on the front. One side was for blacks and the other for whites.
This in one waiting room. I marvel at the slatted walls and ceiling.
Small office/lab in the back. There are ledgers with patient results and diagnosis’ recorded. These fascinate C-Man and me as we are both employed in the medical industry.
Old obstetrical instruments. The man in this building is retired physician from the big city whose ancestor worked in that building! Cool huh?
As a laboratorian, this caught my interest.
This is the other waiting room. Looks nicer than the other one.
We move to the sharecropper’s living quarters.
And there are some of my favorite people… er, animal too.
Another tenant house.
Then we have the BIG house. This is only half of the big house I am told. It is still big and carries with it a fair amount of grandeur. This house was used by the owners only as a temporary home until the HUGE plantation house was finally built (not on this little park). When the family vacated it, it was used for the foreman’s family. The original plantation family home is down the road about 3 miles and has been restored to facilitate weddings and events.
The living area. I love the color of these walls. And again the walls are all constructed with slats. I just love seeing how people lived in the past.
The kitchen…
I have seen all these furnishings in antique stores. So nice to see them in their own settings.
The dining room…
This house has an indoor bathroom!
A couple of spacious bedrooms too.
Loved seeing that house. The cooks house was out back along with the ice house.
This lady is a woman after my heart. I cook in dutch ovens and love it. We share kindred spirits. Dutch ovens enable a body to cook anything anywhere you want. You will never be without your favorite foods.
This is another tenant house, larger that the rest.
These are butter churns. Depending on how much cream there is to be processed. The all time easiest way to make butter is by shaking a quart jar with cream.
This is the interior of the largest tenant house. These buildings house the sharecroppers’ families. The walls are lined with newspaper to keep the wind from blowing through the holes of the slats.
This house even has a kitchen in it… very extravagant. The stove in this kitchen is identical to the one C-Man bought me a few years ago. I love the old ways.
This is a shot of the holes in the floor. The floor boards don’t meet exactly and this was common in these buildings. C-Man remembers living in house like this as a very small child.
This is a luxury. To have a stove for warmth. This house has two stoves and a cooking stove.
This is a log house with a dog trot. I didn’t get a shot of the dog trot because there was a band of musicians in it. But for those of us who never heard of one, a dog trot is a breeze way in the south. During the heat of summer it is a cool respite. The air blows through the shaded area, cool and refreshing.
Loved our visit into history. Share your historical visits if you have a chance.
Thanks for visiting my little piece of heaven.
Love,
Jeannene
A Little Piece of History
03 Oct 2011 2 Comments
in adventure., history, horses, life, travel Tags: blacksmith, commissary, history, plantation, sorghum
This weekend we made a foray into the past. A few miles from our home is a small community that used to be a huge plantation. The community has preserved the buildings from that plantation in a small park. Saturday they opened the park for a a friendly celebration. I have tried to get to this town for as long as we’ve lived here, but the only time we venture to Scott is during the winter when they are all buttoned up for the season.
Here is the Scott Railroad Station.
This is an old railroad light. I just liked the shape of it.
Every plantation had its own blacksmith for obvious reasons. This is an example of a smithy. I don’t believe the whole methodology is entirely accurate, but it does give us good insight into the craft.
This smithy used coal to make his fire. That is a circular bellows to the left of the table to blow air into the fire.
The vintage anvil is awesome.
And the vintage vice.
This is a corn crib.
I like the vintage clothing too.
I encountered, what I have always considered a mystery to me, sorghum processing. I use sorghum molasses in my bread. It’s origin has always been confusing, even after googling it. Today the shadows are cleared and full understanding emerges. Here is what the plant looks like…
To me, this plant looks like a weed. One of the gentlemen processing it kindly demonstrated the nature of sorghum to me.
He peeled away the sheath to expose the cane beneath. When chewed, the inside is sugar sweet! This is where sorghum originates.
So the cane is cut down …..
…. then processed in a mill. This mill is powered by a team of Belgian horses. The mill crushes the cane to extract the sweet liquid inside.
Cane is fed into the mill on the left. The gentleman in the center monitors the liquid and the crushed waste comes out the right side.
I love this team of mares. This breed is bred for this sort of work.
One of the mares also has foul here…
I just love that the little fellow had free reign of the place as his mama worked.
Sorghum is cooked down in a boiler to make the dark, thick syrup we know as molasses. This is the cooking area.
So plantations made their own sorghum molasses as well as provided their own bee hives for honey. I stand amazed at the self-sufficiency of these large farms. They also provided the workers, this is after the Civil War, with groceries and as-sundries through a commissary.
The interior is no different from any mercantile of the era I’ve had the privilege of touring.
This commissary lived on the Marlsgate plantation. We looked at the ledgers on this desk. Living history. I can’t tell you how it fascinates me.
Even more enthralling to me is the equipment displayed. This large-scale…
… and this old mill to grind wheat into flour, or other grains.
This is only half of what we took in. I am enthralled with all things from the past. This plantation had more on it. This post would be waaaay too long for it all. I’ll post the rest in the next post of the week.
I truly loved vicariously reliving this tiny bit of history. Let me know what fascinating history is in your area of the world.
Thanks for letting me share this little piece of heaven with you.
Love,
Jeannene
We Had A Time!
19 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in adventure., beach, birds, family, life, travel, wedding Tags: beach, coast, vacation, water, wedding
It has been too long since posting here. Of course the time has been packed with activities. This is just a very short few words and couple of stunning pictures to give you some idea of what we have been doing with ourselves these few months.
First of all, the kids and I went down to the coast of Alabama for a very special occasion. Our son got married weekend before last on the beach of Gulf State Park and it was lovely. Just as thrilling as a wedding was the fact that my children have never seen the ocean before. Nor had any of us ever vacationed that close to the beach. On the down side, we had to leave Corvette Man to tend to the animals. Unfortunately for him, he came down with our daughters horrible cold while we were gone. It is terrible to be sick and have to drag yourself out of bed to feed. We missed him all the same. He explained he was best left at home sick than going in that condition, though.
Anyway, on to a few of our favorite pictures…
We got to feel the sand between our toes.
Also with us were my two mom’s. We had a great time visiting.
We also saw some unusual animals… at least as far as we are concerned.
And of course we had to drench ourselves in the salty water of the gulf. The water was warm. The kids discovered a stinging shock when they opened their eyes under the water. Not at all like fresh water or swimming pools.
Then of course, we have the main attraction.
The weather was amazing and pleasant. It was the experience of a lifetime for us all.
We didn’t really want to return from this beautiful piece of heaven. Tell me about your trip this summer. I’d love to hear about it.
Love,
Jeannene
The Time of My Life
25 Aug 2011 4 Comments
in adventure., family, life, sports Tags: harness, tower, zipline
This weekend we took a short trip to Branson,MO. We consider it a mini-vacation. A writer’s meeting drew me originally. The meeting was a blast, but the main attraction was an experience I will likely never forget. It was truly a blast.
During the meeting, while discussing books and assundry writerly things, my daughter calls to tell me she has a reservation to go on a Zip-line. For those of us unfamiliar with the term, it is a wire strung high above the trees where a person hangs suspended by 20 lbs of climbing gear and rolls along the line at moderate speeds from one tower to another tower. She asks me if I want to do it with her. I say yes, not clear about the whole thing, but expecting an adventure.
It isn’t until after the meeting concludes that I learn the details of our adventure. Not only do we zip between two towers for 1/4 of a mile, but we must jump 100 ft off the final tower. It is the only way down. Gulp.
We are talking about a big ass chicken here. 100 ft is very, very high. I don’t ride roller coasters because I hate that horrible drop off. Well…. when we drive into the parking lot of the place, I see first hand how high 100ft truly is. OH. My. Gosh. From the parking lot it is really high.
Our tour guides for this exciting trip are Jessie and Miles. Two strapping young college men who find this job as the job of a life time. Where else could they have this much fun and make money at the same time? These young men are awesome with their people skills as well. The skill they use to keep us nervous nellies calm is outstanding.
We spend about 20 mins gearing up. Helmet, harness and ropes that keep us suspended safely in mid-air. All of them tightened close to your middle. I felt trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Make sure you go potty before this stage. My daughter made a pit-stop, but her nerves managed to make that a moot break.
They brought us up the mountain in an old military all terrain vehicle. That is some hill too. At the tower from which we zip, we are giving a few basic rules. Don’t unhook yourself from any line at any time. And do not unhook the guides line. Actually no one touch his line. The guides are the only people allowed to touch the lines. Once we stand under that cable and are attached to it you look down that line. It is long and dips in the middle, but I will still be several tens of feet above the ground.
Here comes my little girl.
She’s so calm and collected.
The palms of my hands were soaking wet, but I was surprised that I didn’t freak to badly as I sailed through the air about 30 feet above the ground. I held my breath until I decided to scream for a little relief.
The look on my face in this picture relays the tension and “excitement” of the moment. Can you tell how thrilled I am with all the height? Just enthralled.
This was the easy part. We stood on the 100ft tower until all the others of our party jumped off the platform. All this time my hands and feet are exuding rivers of sweat as well as under arms and other body parts. My insides started vibrating, increasing with each members descent to the ground. It means my turn creeps ever closer. The view from that tower is high. Everything below us is soooo far away.
My little girl takes it all in stride. She doesn’t have a qualm about the jump at all!
Finally, or rather, regretfully my turn arrives. By this time I’m shaking like a leaf. My stomach is fluttery and sweat is pouring from every pore. To make this more urgent, an eminent storm is fast approaching. And I mean we see it raining just a mile away.
Jessie gets me ready to go and I approach the drop off. This rig is used to train paratroopers. A line is attached to the back of your harness and you step off the platform and free fall for 70 feet. It’s the stepping off into nothing that scares the bejeezes out of me. I have this aversion to falling long distances. It doesn’t matter if I know the tether will slow my fall at 30 fit above the ground. It’s that initial falling that just freezes me in my tracks.
I am standing on the edge and Jessie gently tells me to ease forward. I inch my toes to the edge, then I ease them over the edge. I am shaking like a leaf and just want to cry for the frustration of it all. There is only one way off that tower and it is DOWN.
I grab a hold of my harness and every muscle in my body is wound tight. About half way down, out of sheer relief, I let out a scream. I wasn’t falling to my death after all.
I am a stiff going through the air.
Finally the sweet firm earth meets my feet and Miles unhooks me and I can walk on my own. I hug the man, so grateful I am still in one piece and blissfully proud that I really did do what I considered the almost impossible.
Can’t you tell by the look on my face the sheer joy of the experience? It was truly a blast and I would so do it again. I recommend the thrill for all you people who love living on the edge.
This was a huge slice of heaven for my and my baby. I’d love to hear all about your dances on the fringes of the respectable. Leave a comment so we all can hear about.
Love,
Jeannene
A break in the Weather
15 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in sky Tags: clouds, sky, summer
This summer has been the hottest summer on record in the state of Arkansas. I can tell you uncatagorically that I felt every day of it. It was darned hot. And this from a woman who freezes instantly in the air conditioning of every restaurant and mall she sets foot into. We spent our days inside and ventured out only in the early morning and almost never in the evening, for the summer never relented.
In the midst of all this heat, we experienced perhaps only one really good gully washer of a storm sometime in July. It was enough to stave off the imminent drought looming over us, but the brief bout of relief wasn’t near enough to carry us through the next three or four weeks. Until…
The most wonderful stormed loomed on us last week and brought with it more that just one tempest in its wake. We watched the clouds gather and foreshadow us. Our greatest fear they only teased us with much-needed shade and very little water was shattered as the first drops of water soaked the parched ground and gathered into rivulets of welcome refreshing relief.
The formation of the thunderheads is absolutely fascinating. Please excuse all the senseless cloud shots. Couldn’t help myself last Monday as we waited with bated breath for the invigorating downpour that followed all these pictures.
Don’t you just love the separation of light in the sky? Ordinarily this is a bad omen, heralding a tornado, but the conditions for such were nonexistent this day.
Just the roll of the clouds drew me in. Heck, my whole family ran around coaxing me to take pictures of the process.
Then it cloaked us in its last throes of darkness before gracing us with the most glorious respite of the entire summer. The horses welcomed the shower, water drenching them in blissful relief as the goats sought shelter in their igloo – all three of them crammed into the space to escape the down pour.
Incredible blessing it was. That is all I can say, making our farm our own little piece of heaven on earth.
Love,
Jeannene
What do you think?