April Recap

Justin and I both took off the entire week of Wyatt’s spring break. We wanted to be able to get our yard back in shape after the mess left behind from having 37 trees cut down was just too much for us to handle any more. It turns out being 8 months pregnant doesn’t lend itself very well to bending over and picking up tons of limbs and sticks. Thankfully, Jake and Ben were interested in making some extra money so they came over and helped load two trailers full of stuff to be sent to the burn pil. And burn we did. Justin lit a few of the stumps on fire and even tried to get the huge burn piles to go up in flames. Apparently the wood is still too green because it didn’t burn like he wanted it to even with the help of the blower to stoke the flames.

  

The cleanup made a huge difference. We got everything edged, grass cut, walkways blown off, and the yard was brand new. We still plan to rent a stump grinder but that will have to be later in the year when everything dries out.

 

Wyatt loved being at home with us in the yard. He managed to overcome his fear of my favorite rooster, made a coat rack for Georgia all by himself, and even helped Justin change out his brakes on his truck.

   

We took Friday and Saturday off to do fun stuff. We spent all day Friday enjoying Chehaw Park. We packed a picnic lunch and had a great time. It was their Native American Heritage Festival weekend so there were lots of activities outside of the actual zoo part.

On Saturday, we spent over 6 hours at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture at their Folk Life Festival. It was packed and I was so glad to see it so busy. We spent at least an hour watching the men operate the sawmill. I believe Justin might start to volunteer out there to learn how to run it. We got to see some turpentine distilling and even got small sample bottles.

           

Now on to two of Wyatt’s adventures. This boy is just too much!

Wyatt was in the sandbox playing and he said he was with his friend. I told him to come around to the porch and show it to me, thinking he got a chick out of the incubator. He told me he rescued his "best buddy rat" from the cat that was trying to eat him. I stayed calm enough to snap a pic and then called the cat over for his prize. Justin and I just had a ten minute phone conversation with Wyatt about the circle of life and how the cat doesn't eat bagged food but that he hunts rats, frogs, and lizards and that we can't play with rats. He is very distraught because he named this rat and it was his best buddy. I'm not prepared for this part of boy mama-hood.

  

He also packed his own lunch one day:

When your 4 year old packs his own lunch...in a Thirty-One casserole carrier. Luckily I checked before we left the house.

Our last big event in April happened without me knowing anything about it: ON PURPOSE.

I had the biggest surprise for my 30th birthday (actual birthday in two weeks).  A co-worker accidently exposed a plan for Justin to host a surprise party for me on April 16. After the "surprise" party was ruined, Justin cancelled it and went to work that morning...or so I thought. Turns out they stuck with the original plan and got me so good! I am so blessed to have been surrounded by family and friends that mean so much to me. It was a wonderful way to see how very loved I am! I should have gotten a big giant group pic of everyone but I didn't think about it.

 

      

February recap

February was a slow month in the Cook family. By far the saddest event was my Uncle Louie passing away. It was so unexpected and sudden that we were all stunned. Fortunately, weddings and funerals are the quickest way to gather up entire families that are spread out all across the country. Seeing my Mastrario cousins was a blessing in disguise.

 

After all the sadness, it was a blessing for the earth to start waking up again. Seeing the flowers bloom in the yard and having the opportunity to start planting in the garden was a nice shift.

      

Also, I stepped out of my comfort zone and went to the Donald Trump presidential rally in Valdosta with Justin. I am very liberal especially on social issues so ol’ Donald isn’t up my alley. It wasn’t terrible. Regardless of political stance on issues, I don’t think I am a political rally kind of person. There is no politician I want to stand up and cheer for an hour for, wear their shirts, etc. I just don’t get that excited. I do take time to make a conscious decision when I vote and try to vote for the person that most aligns with my values though. I wish everyone would do that instead of strictly voting along party lines or for the most popular person. It was definitely an experience I am glad I had.

  

July Garden Update

June and early July have been good for our garden. We have had plenty of opportunity to gather up cucumbers, peppers, and squash out of the garden. Let me tell you, it is a real pleasure to bring a fresh grocery bag of produce to family when you visit!

   

One late afternoon, I picked my dessert right off the bushes at Justin’s Papa Theron’s house. Sun-warmed blueberries are the cure for most of what ails you!

Justin and I picked flat beans and snap beans from a friend’s garden and I spent the majority of one night snapping them and popping the ends off. We canned them up and have them on the shelf for great tasting sides at supper.

   

I have also been blessed to have been given some delicious peaches from some local farms that we peeled and froze. We also bought a box of firm, tangy peaches and made peach jam from them. Peach is my favorite jelly/jam/preserve.

   

We had a volunteer sunflower pop up as a residual of last year’s crop. I’m sad we didn’t plant any this year. We had our potatoes on this piece of garden.

  

We also have an abundance of habanero peppers that we don’t know what to do with. I accidentally bought two habanero plants when I thought I was getting bell peppers. Luckily, our local newspaper editor loves them and is happy to use all I can bring him.

June Garden Update

I am so excited for the summer months at our house. It means the garden is plentiful, the flowers smell amazing, and life is bursting with color!

I planted ten different kinds of flowers for my new cutting garden. I know it’s silly to plant annuals, but I love the idea of my house being filled with asters and wildflowers and dahlias.

The caterpillars are back! They eat my fennel plant and I get the benefit of black swallowtail butterflies for the rest of the summer. It’s a win-win situation.

I wish I had even a minute bit of floral arranging skills. My sister-in-law Amanda could make Martha Steward jealous with her flower skills but I get only as technical as sticking my pretties in a mason jar with a flower frog on top. I still love the colors and the smells my yard has to offer.

Speaking of smells, my two huge gardenia bushes just finished blooming and my entire yard smells like heaven.

I dug up some gladiolous from the ditch in the dirt road and transplanted them to our back patio. I stopped by our old house in town and the ones I transplanted there were all doing exceptionally well.

One of our researchers on campus had done some work and had tons of fresh basil for free! I never pass up on fresh basil, so I went home and whipped up some southern pecan pesto. I then had to go out to the store and buy up some of my very own basil plants so I could have fresh pesto all summer.

We have been picking squash, cucumbers, and bell peppers all the time! We have blanched and frozen squash, made stuffed bell peppers, and my favorite thing: made pickles.

 

We have made two kinds of fermented pickles so far: traditional garlic dill and some horseradish ones that I cannot WAIT to get my hands on!