Those Lazy Summer Days

Those long hot summer days have arrived in The Holler. Where the day starts cool then warming up quickly to spark those afternoon showers followed by the sticky muggy heat that has you covered in sweat in minutes. Grass that has to be mowed atleast once a week or it gets away from you. Hay fields of gold blowing in the breeze and farmers scrambling to get those fields cut and stored to beat the storms. Here since we do not cut our own hay we anxiously await our turn to have our hay cut. Watching everyday as two fawns frolic in the hay fields nearest the house.

Day lilies continue to bloom with abandon putting on a show even in the ditches along the gravel roads as the wild orange day lilies continue to bloom also. Soon the heat will get to them and there will be fewer blooms so we enjoy them while we can.

The flowerbeds are buzzing with bees on the daisies and cone flowers. Even the grasshoppers have appeared.

O Wise One has 13 new guinea babies given to him by the little neighbor boy who he helps with 4-H projects. So again we will have guineas here on the farm. Two of the original 4 bourbon red turkey poults are getting big and O Wise One thinks he has a pair. We are hoping so anyway. We butchered 7 of the roosters and they are in the freezer. Now 13 more to go. We have 1 broody hen that is due to hatch any day. We had to get eggs from a neighbor to put under her. We hope she will hatch soon.

The peaches are starting to ripen but aren't quite ready to pick yet. Soon they will be ready for pies and preserves. Nothing like one fresh from the tree with it's sweet sticky juice running down your arms. The plums are just starting to turn a little red. Now quite sure who is watching closer me or the birds.

The blackberries are also just starting to turn. Soon it will be time for blackberry jam.

Picked green beans this morning for the second time. The canning season is upon me. My days will be full  of snapping beans and canning tomatoes. We picked our first cucumber today and was it good. The okra is now knee high and the corn almost 4 foot. Seems like it is growing right before our eyes. We already are considering what to plant in the fall garden. 

After almost a month of various company from grandchildren and then friends for the 4th of July I now look forward to the slow quiet days in my kitchen. Just me and the radio preserving the harvest and enjoying the peace and quiet of full days. Baby O is getting her projects ready for the county fair next week. 

And life in the holler continues and we thank the good lord everyday for our blessings.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter