Updates

Hi again! I hope all is going well. The majority of the time I am reading at least most of your blogs but sometimes I do not have the time or energy. right now I am commenting very little due to lack of time/energy. We are busy, busy, busy here. We are averaging picking 400 or more 8 quart baskets of peaches 6 days a week. then there is the garden and other orchard crops as well. The markets are going well and all is booming. We are so blessed!

I am better just a lot of drainage. The strep is gone! Yay for that!
My Daddy is better except the cough.
My mom's biopsy was NEGATIVE!!!!! Praise the Lord! She goes back in September for a recheck.
My cousin's baby, Brennan went home from the NICU and is doing well.
The other cousin's baby Annsley is fighting hard to stay here on earth. The next 24 hours are critical. She is in the NICU. She is 4 weeks old, born at 32 weeks gestation. Her intestines are dying and we are praying.
My mom's brother passed away last Wednesday morning in North Carolina.
My Mom's sister Mary gave us the news of her mouth cancer on Friday. More surgery to come.
My nephew that left his wife and children has signed divorce papers and was in a serious accident Saturday morning while off duty. He had been to a party and left, flipped his jeep and then another jeep driven by his brother hit his and flipped him several more times. I suspect there is a strong chance he will be fired from the police force. He had broken bones in his back and his pelvis is cracked as well as a minor head injury. He is still in a Birmingham hospital.

We are a very close knit family and everything affects each one of us.

We should here something of hubby's job application this week.

We were off yesterday, the first time in what seems like weeks. I am home today even though i had to go to the office this morning for two hours. Ive made 48 jars of peach salsa that i have sold for tomorrow and have appointments and errands to run shortly. I will see the eye doctor today, yuck.

We pulled up two rows of yellow squash and will be setting more tomato plants in their place. Right now we are picking peaches (5 varieties), Lodi apples, blueberries, nectarines (2 varieties), squash, cantaloupes, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers (5 varieties), eggplant, cucumbers cabbage and blackberries.

Now to leave you with a snide comment that I received by someone in hubby's family. I walked off and could not speak. I was not rude, I just took some baskets to the back packing house and waited there until she and her husband left. I want to know how you would have handled the matter......... She was talking about all of the expectant moms in her family and said my so and so is expecting triplets and they ARE God given not like your twins.................

I cried in the back waiting for them to leave. It was so hurtful. We had help to conceive, but aren't ALL babies God given? WOW!! Talk about a blow. We are blessed that our babies even made it through. So, how would you have handled that?

I hope to write more later! Blessings and hugs to you all!

Short and Sweet

Well, maybe not that sweet...........we are still as busy as ever here despite my Daddy's full blown pneumonia, Mother's biopsy (on Thursday) and now my strep throat. I am not even joking, in the least. Mom went back to work today, Daddy is still under a doctor's care (and just finished his meds today) and I started a z pack today. We should know about the biopsy results Monday.

We got John's Dad moved into his new apartment tonight as well.

John has not heard from the job, we were told yesterday hopefully a decision will be reached in the next two weeks. Our church has a new building being dedicated tomorrow and my boys are suppose to sing......I so hope I feel better and fast.

Happy Father's Day to all of the Daddy's out there as well. Have a blessed week!

Week In Review

The last week has officially kicked my buttocks! I am absolutely exhausted, to say the least. I have not blogged or visited or if I have have not commented since I come straight home from work, cook supper, bath and feed children, do laundry, put children to bed, bathe myself and collapse into bed for a few hours each night. I worked 7 days straight and too many hours to count!!!!

Monday I worked. Boring really.

Tuesday Mason woke up coughing. A deep barking cough. I took him on to school with his pump and inhaler. they used it and nothing was helping. His airways were closing. He was getting lethargic. Thankfully they are trained and know how to handle all types of situations. They called me and after numerous calls to peds office we finally got steroids and he was brought home to stay with my mother's helper. I picked in the garden that day, went to the orchard and was at the Trussville farmer's market until late. I finally got home about 7:30pm.

My daddy's knee gave way completely. He will not see the doctor even though the knee cap is sometimes on the side of his knee.

I took my Mom to the surgeon on Wednesday. He seems to think the spot that was found on the mammogram is a calcium deposit and there is only a 10% chance of it being cancerous. It must be removed though. However, upon examining the same breast he found a "mass" that the mammogram did NOT detect. We were sent to ultrasound and should know something today. They will biopsy/remove both place at once hopefully Thursday of this week......we shall see. Please continue to pray her/us through this. It is a very difficult time.

Thursday was rough. Boys at daycare/preschool at 6am and I off to the market (over an hour's drive). There until after lunch. Home by 2pm, unloaded trucks (mine and Mom's) and bought groceries. Picked up boys by 4pm, supper, laundry, bathes, dishes, downtime with my babies and bed by 9pm.

Friday worked 7-7. Answered calls, took orders, waited on customers, went through produce, cleaned, loaded three trucks for markets next day and picked in the garden. John was sick (little John). He stayed with me at work until 9am and then to school. They called at 3pm his fever has spiked 103, off to retrieve him, gave him meds and left him in my Mom's care, back to work.

Saturday went to Jasper market. Left home at 5:30am, it stormed and was awful. we were like drowned rats though, we still had a decent day. Home by 3pm. I ran errands with little John and picked up supper. Hubby and mason relaxed. Supper, time with kiddos and bed.

Each night when the boys are sick, they wake throughout the night. So, my sleep is very broken and we all know how that is......then I am going to work for such long hours.

Hubby has been getting to work 5 days at least last week. Yay for that! We have not heard anything about the applied job. The board should meet today.

Things are going well just busy, busy, busy! Also, we are in the midst of moving my father0-in-law into an apartment in town where I buy groceries and such. We are co-heading two small groups from church as well.

I am home today,at least for the morning. There is a truck coming in that I must go and unload shortly. I also have the garden to work in. I have a case of peach salsa to make for tomorrow that is sold.

Have a great week and I will check in soon! Blessings!!!

The Party Has Started

First of all a big shout out to Nicola and Tyra (and Blake)! Ya'll saved us and just in the nick of time. We will not anything until next week about hubby's potential job. I intend to email each of you back but I have offically started the party (work). I feel so behind though. Laundry is running out my ears, I cannot get my menu plan for June finished and I am already exhausted. I am behind reading and commenting on blogs and i feel kind of lost without my bloggy friends.

My schedule is just plain crazy......

Monday 7am drop off boys at daycare, 7am-5pm roadside market, 5 pm pick up boys
Tuesday 8am drop off boys at daycare, 8am-10am payroll, bookkeeping, banking
11am load peaches in orchard
12pm leave for Trussville market
7pm home......I hope
Wednesday 7am drop off boys at day care, 7am-5pm roadside market, 5pm pick up boys
Thursday 6am drop boys off at daycare, leave for market
7am-1 pm Jasper market, drive home
2pm home, unload, run errands for parents (bosses)
4pm pick up boys
Friday 7am drop off boys at daycare, 7am-4pm roadside market, 4 pm pick up boys from
from daycare, take home to mother's helper, go back to work from 4pm-7pm
home 7pm
Saturday 5:30am leave for Jasper market return home at 2pm
2 Saturday's a month John will go to the market at Jasper and I will work the roadside market from 7am-5pm.
2 Sunday's a month John will work the roadside market 1pm-7pm.

This is just what John and I do. The roadside market is open from 7am-7pm M-Sat., 1pm-7pm on Sunday's. Then there are 6 grocery stores we deliver peaches to 3 times or more a week. We also do another market 3 times a week, then there are 3 more that my brother does, for a grand total of 6. The help is my Daddy, Mother, me, John, brother, sil, 2 nephews (16 and 10), an aunt and an uncle and one part time Spanish guy that has been with us for years (he works another full time job).

Please say a little prayer for us........things are really beginning to come in around here and we are all a little frazzled. I'll be around when I can,,,,,,,,

Blessings!!!!!!

Need Help With Resume......ASAP

Just a little run down about the job hubby is applying for. It is a very lucrative position in the county/city. He would be hired by a board of directors. They are several in the running. I feel like I have been "politicking" all day long. Now, we finally were able to get an application this morning, only to find out he also needs a resume to go along with it. So, since neither of us have ever had one or had to make one, could you all please help. I need to get it done tonight and everything returned in the morning. i have looked online and since it is a completely different field than he is in now, I /we need to make it look as interesting as possible. There is not an actual name for the title at hand........it is called an executive director position. Anyhow......we need help..........and prayers!

Thanks so much and blessings!!!

Guess What We've Been Doin'????

We picked 57 baskets (8 quart size) on Saturday......A small feat compared to what we will be picking in a couple of weeks. 57 seems like a very small number when you are usually picking 300-600 of those baskets a day. We have these new fangled while plastic baskets (same size), also with two handles on them all dallied up with our business name and number on them, ordered. It seems it is just taking a while for delivery.

Aren't they pretty?!!! These are the Corelle variety.




How is the produce coming in your area? Blessings!!!

Hi Ho Hi Ho, It's Off to School We Go!

The boys had a great first day of school and didn't realize it was time for them to come home when I went to pick them up. I got "but mommmmmmaaaa, I wanna sta all day long!" Too funny! I took this picture right before we left this morning......arent's they just peachy?!!!

Blessings!!!!!!

My Mom

please say another prayer for us, as my Mom got here mammogram results back today. She goes to see a surgeon. There is a spot on her left breast. She is to have a biopsy on the 10th.......please be in prayer with us. Thank you in advance.......blessings on you all!

Farming Update

I thought I would share a bunch of pictures with you. I did not take pictures of everything. WE planted the first week in April and through about the 10th of April. Here it is!


We will have blueberries soon! Look how big the berries are already! Yay. Come on blue! Here are the blackberries. They are thorn less. Excuse it being kind of grown up.

Here are the scuppernongs. A Southern grape.

Here is tamed crabapple tree. We use these for pollination. The fruit is not as bitter as the old tiny green crabapples. These are a bit smaller and red in color. They make great pickles and jelly!

Here is the broccoli.

Here are the fig trees. There are 7 of them all total.

A few pepper plants.

The potato bugs have really done a number on the eggplant plants.

Here's one of the cantaloupe plants blooming.

Here is my Daddy taking a break, in the packing house. He fell in a hole in the peach orchard and twisted his hip and leg. He is very sore.

Here is the cauliflower.........getting excited to pick the first head!

Here's the regular good ole fashioned cabbage.

Here's the chinese cabbage. This is our first year growing this.

An overview of the garden with my house in the background.

Here's the tomatoes. I could not get the blooms and the little green ones to show up in the pictures for some reason though. There are 3 rows (1000 feet rows) of them.

Here's the squash after the first big picking yesterday. There is three 1000 foot rows of it and a couple more rows planted a few weeks later. We got almost 6 bushels yesterday.

Here's the garden. The front of the building is the fruit market and the back building is the packing house. We have a place to store equipment in the very back.

Another shot of the garden.

This picture is looking from the fruit market to our driveway. The rows are that long. I think each row is about 1000 feet. Here's Mother on the beep beep with the boys yesterday, enjoying a day of warm sunshine!

Here's a few of the potatoes we got from a south Alabama friend over the weekend! They sure did taste good in some tater salad.

Here's the first three squash picked by me last Saturday. I stewed it with butter, onions, salt, sugar and pepper, just like my Grandma used to.

And last but certainly not least, my Mom and Daddy rode to the lower farm and checked the peaches Saturday. This is what they brought me back........yum! What a great cobbler they made!

I cannot believe we open our roadside fruit market in just a couple of weeks. One of the markets we attend is already open and the other 5 will open by the 6th of June. Where is the time going?

Our peach orchard is on the lower farm.......no pictures of that. I didn't drive over to the apple/pear/plum/nectarine orchard either. Maybe pictures of that later. WE also have some plants that did not make it into the garden pictures, maybe later.

What's growing in your garden? Happy harvest and blessings!!!

All About Broccoli

Mrs. Darling asked this question and I thought more of your advid gardeners would like to know this as well.

Mrs. Darling asked if we grow it in the open sun. She goes on to say that the only information she can find about says it is a cool weather crop and if grown in the summer you must make sure the soil stays cool. She would like more info on how we grow this crop.

Well, we grow all of our veggies except okra on raised beds, covered with plastic and irrigated underneath. The plants are watered daily, sometimes more. They get little water other than the irrigation. The foliage gets it's water from the rain. Their primary source is from irrigation (drip tape placed underneath each row.

All of the broccoli is usually harvested by the 10th or 15th of June. We have been picking it for a couple of weeks or so here. It has a very short growing season due to the heat. We had 92* weather here today and that is not good for cool weather crops (such as cauliflower, broccoli, Bok Choy, etc.), no matter how wet and cool the soil.

The picture above shows how the rows are laid out......I wish I had a better picture but I don't.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask any other questions. Blessings!!!