F is for FARM #AtoZChallenge2017

Alabama really is beautiful, y'all . . .yes, we really say y'all!  My husband's family owns a farm in a rural part of Alabama.  Farms are far less plentiful than they used to be but can still be found.  Mr. McKay, who died a few months ago, used to plant large gardens on our farm and we feasted on the bounty every summer!  He also kept cows on the pasture land so at times, this has indeed been a working farm.  In 2017, the farm is used as a weekend get-a-way.  Some hunting occurs during season and lots of fishing line is cast almost year round on the private lake.  I borrowed some of these photos from my daughter's facebook page; some are from my camera or my phone; and a few are from the game cameras on the property.

I just love this black and white picture below.  I had it in a frame in our powder room in our old house.  I love the composition.  I love everything about it.

The lake is gorgeous.  Hubby has been swimming in it to cool off but there are snakes and other things so I'm not sure if I want to swim in it or not.  We've talked of putting a tiny house near the water and maybe making a little sandy beach.  That would be really nice but it might just be a dream.

The fields and trees and sky are beautiful, too.  God does some amazing handiwork!

I have lots of fishing photos - our son, Glenn, below with a fish.  Don't you just love how the mist is on the water!!

Laura lives quite close to the farm so every once in a while, she and one of her friends will meet Mark at the farm and he plays tour guide.  I love the John Deere tractor!!

This picture was taken just a couple of weekends ago.  Laura and her boyfriend, Scott, met Mark at the farm and Mark and Scott fished.  The story goes that Mark would not allow Laura to fish that day because he didn't want her to use one of his fancy poles/reels.

Mark is happiest when he is catching fish - this was on another trip!

When I tell you that this is a farm . . .it is a farm.  As Mark says when he cleans at the farm, "it is guy clean."  There are fly rods and deer heads and turkey feathers adorning the walls!

Blackberries grow wild at the farm.  Mark was picking some when I was there with him last year.  I think I was tired of "farm life" and was sitting in the truck at this point!

The next pictures are from the game camera.  Oh my goodness, I love when Mark brings the memory cards home and I get to look.  Mark said he had never seen a deer stand on its hind legs like this one!

I particularly like the way the sun is shining into the corner of this picture!

Farm life also include some coyotes!!

This is MY ALL TIME FAVORITE -- look at that Bob cat!!!  Isn't he/she beautiful?  Never in my life would I see this down on the farm without a game camera!!

At heart, I'm a city girl, not a farm girl but I love that going to the farm makes Mark happy!  I love that he has a place to go and unwind. l know it takes a lot of work and maintenance but I'm glad he has the farm!!

E is for Emergency #AtoZChallenge2017

I really have to plan ahead next year for this A to Z challenge.  My brain is spinning each day trying to think of what I want to write.  Once again, I've been working through all of the "E's" in my life. Considering my last name begins with an "E" . . . . I thought I had this one in the bag.  Then I tried to write.  Dead end!

I decided to tell you a silly fun fact to know and tell about something in Alabama.  Did you know . . .

from the Huntsville Madison 911 website

that the very first 911 call was made in the state of Alabama?  Yes, it was.  It was made on February 16, 1968 in a town in Alabama -- Haleyville, Alabama to be exact.  Most people in America have never heard of Haleyville, AL!  The red phone is enclosed in a plexiglass box in Haleyville and you can visit!  The first 911 call was not a true EMERGENCY, it was a test call to make sure that the system worked.

from Haleyville website

I've lived in Alabama for a long time . . .my whole life . . .and I did not KNOW this!  I also did not know that Haleyville has an annual 911 Festival where they honor local law enforcement, fireman, first responders, etc.

According to this article, 1000's of people will attend this festival and they will have a 5K run and they will have music!

Who knew??  I've always loved a fun fact to know and tell . . .and now I have a new one!  

p.s.  I realize this is not my finest piece of writing :-)

D is for . . . #AtoZChallenge2017

I've made a list of 15 words that begin with D . . .from Dog to Death and everything in between and I have not really been able to decide.  Yes, I truly see why the organizers of this challenge recommended that you plan out your 26 days.  I'm not a normal procrastinator so this finds me in a quandary!

I thought about writing about dogs - our son and daughter-in-law have the most beautiful German Short Haired Pointer.  Her name is Riley.  You can see her in this picture with her "sister" - our lovely grandbaby.  Riley can run like the wind.  When she runs, it is as if her hips become "unjointed" (is that a word?) and she stretches out into her full length.  She also jumped/clawed her way over that wooden privacy fence a few years ago while fireworks were exploding nearby.
She still gets so excited when she sees my husband, that she tinkles everywhere - only with him - no one else!!

I could write about danger and disasters.  Most everything has closed down today around us.  We have had thunderstorms with large hail and we've been under tornado watch . . .phone just buzzed . . .under tornado watch until 9:00 p.m.  It may sound silly to close schools and businesses, but on April 27, 2011 a tornado ripped across the state of Alabama that killed people and did a mile wide swath of damage and we tend to be overly cautious now.  I'm able to work remotely so I've been set up on the kitchen island all day on the tablet.  I've had trouble accessing a couple of documents this afternoon so out of frustration, I decided to blog!  This morning, I was able to ride my bike for 30 minutes and since it only took me about 10 minutes to eat lunch, I took a tiny snooze after lunch.  I feel guilty that we didn't go into the office but am thankful to work for people who care about us and our lives.
This picture was early this morning - the park in front of our house was overflowing with rainwater!

I could write about dogwood trees.  Alabama has an abundance of dogwood trees and when they are in full bloom, they are exquisite!

I could write about divorce.  I went through a nasty divorce at a very young age and was forever changed by it and the circumstances.  That time in my life is a part of my "story" and there were people in my life who loved me back to Jesus (thanks be to God!).

I could write about donkeys (just because they are cute) or Durbin's (the wonderful place where we buy peaches every year) or doubt (I experience doubt quite often).

One of the words on my "D" list was desserts!  I do know about desserts.  I couldn't bake a single thing when I married Mark and his mother has taught me to bake quite a few things.  She makes wonderful cakes and has taught me to make her Carrot Cake and her German Chocolate Cake and her Pound Cake.  She first taught me how to make Brown Sugar Brownies - yummmmmm!  I think my favorite cake she makes is the German Chocolate.  It is what I usually request.  I'm lucky because my son and daughter-in-law both love German Chocolate, too!!  (that means my odds of having a piece might happen several times a year)  My husband's favorite dessert is Blackberry Cobbler with vanilla ice cream and he actually taught me to make it.  Our son picked several gallons of blackberries last year and very graciously shared a few with us.

I just though of the thread to tie this all together - D is for Diversity.  I googled diversity and variety is one of the first meanings (wanted to make sure I was using it properly!!).  I've shared a variety of things with you today - D is for Diversity!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. April is Lawn and Garden Month. On a scale of 1-10 what's the current state of your lawn and/or garden. (10=a showpiece, 1=send in the professionals). Tell us about any lawn or garden plans you have for this month.
We have a very small front yard and we have a side courtyard and we have a tiny patch of grass and some shrubs by our driveway.  We moved to this neighborhood in order to have a smaller yard.  My husband keeps our yard immaculate.  He keeps everything trimmed and cut and edged.  We do need to have our white picket fence (not kidding - we really have a white picket fence!!) painted this year.  Ours is probably a 7 or maybe an 8??  We had the courtyard professionally landscaped and it is quite nice. 

We are struggling a tad with the satellite dish (top right corner).  Our houses are close together (once again, this was our choice) and our neighbors recently added a satellite dish - I keep trying to think of a way to disguise it.

2. "Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there."~Thomas Fuller  What does this quote mean to you?
Weeds can pop up so quickly in our lives!  I was having a conversation with a close friend today and I said, "you can't say that" because when you "say those things" they become reality.  Weeds grow quickly!!  I'm normally a positive thinker so something fun could pop up, too . . .maybe a pretty flower whose seed was transported by a bird.

3. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about God?
I am so very thankful for God and his saving grace.  I truly need him every hour - every moment - every second.  He is creator, redeemer, lover of my soul.  He is awesome and amazing.  There are not enough words for me to write how I feel about God!

4. If we were chatting in person, how would I know if you were nervous?
I bite the skin around my fingernails or I jiggle my leg. (usually)  I also sweat profusely when I'm nervous.  I've been teaching a large adult sunday school class for about 25 years and I do not buy "dry clean only" dresses to teach in because I'm always nervous (I'm hoping you wouldn't be able to see my underarms if we were meeting in person)!

5. Do you like the color yellow? Would I find any in your home or wardrobe? Daffodils, tulips, roses, sunflowers, day lily, black eyed susan...which yellow bloom on this list is your favorite?
I do like yellow!  My daughter LOVES yellow!  I know that I own at least two yellow shirts from Talbots and a yellow dress (also, from Talbots - trend, perhaps??).  I have yellow forsythia in my dining room centerpiece!  Forsythia wasn't a choice but I love it.  I love sunflowers, too - they appear to be "happy"!!

6. Flip flops or bare feet?
I wear flip flops ALL THE TIME.  I would wear them 12 months a year if possible.  I only have bare feet on the sand - flip flops all of the rest of the time!  We have hardwoods throughout our downstairs and your feet tend to hurt if you walk around on the hard floor all of the time.

7. Tell us about any Easter plans, celebrations, or traditions you'll carry out this month. 
We always go to church (not just on Easter) and I think we may go on Saturday night this year.  The Saturday night service is a new offering this year and it will be the exact same worship service as Easter Sunday morning.  We would open up a seat for someone who might only attend on Easter Sunday morning.  We will eat lunch at my mother-in-law's house after church and we planned our menu while we were together this past week.  We will have ham and turkey and lots of excellent salads!

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
My daughter just told me that her school is closed tomorrow due to the possibility of bad weather.  We live in a state where we have LOTS of tornadoes and it is difficult to transport kids via buses.  I haven't looked to see if we are expecting bad weather at our house.

I also am doing the April A to Z blog challenge . . .man, I'm not sure I'm creative enough to write for 26 days using different letters of the alphabet.  The challenge folks recommended that you plan ahead - I see why now!!

C is for Cookin' #AtoZChallenge

I love to cook!  I love for people to eat what I cook and for it to satisfy their desire for something yummy!  (No, of course there is no ego involved in that statement! Ha!)  My husband and I both have the gift of hospitality so it works out quite well!

So what's been cookin' (in the south, we often drop those g's, don't we?) at our house?

For our young adults tonight, I'm cooking potatoes and sausage and onions in the crockpots.  I love these Honey Gold potatoes.  I have two large crockpots filled with 8 pounds of Conecuh Sausage, about 8 pounds of potatoes, 2 large onions, a clove of garlic, salt, pepper, Cavender's seasoning, some butter and olive oil -- Yummy!!

Last night, I tried a new recipe from the most recent issue of Southern Living.  It was delicious and nutritious.  I used a regular cucumber instead of the fancy cucumber.  The fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and fresh herbs are a wonderful addition.  My husband wanted more flavor so he added Sriracha sauce to his.

On Sunday night, I usually do some meal prep for Tuesday night and I try to make my lunches.  If I don't plan ahead, I'm going to want a hamburger and French fries or a giant BBQ baked potato from Saw's BBQ or something equally as bad.  I made some homemade spaghetti sauce that has diced carrots in it!  A nutritional bonus and a bit of texture.  I used whole wheat noodles.  I ate some on Sunday night and I've eaten it for lunch two days.  I've been cooking with fresh garlic lately and I feel like I probably reek all the time.  Friends, I'm sorry if I do.  Really, I am sorry . . .but it just adds so much flavor!! 

Speaking of "cookin'" I just had to add this picture of these ladies in their aprons.  They weren't actually cooking, they were serving.  That is my sweet mother-in-law second from the left.  I can't tell you how old she is because she would shoot me (she doesn't own a gun) but you would be shocked if you knew.  She is still driving and is quite amazing!!

We've been receiving Blue Apron boxes every few weeks this year and I can't believe how much their recipes and ingredients have broadened my horizons.  This dish below may be the one that was so spicy (my fault - they said add spices sparingly) I couldn't eat it.  I love this new adventurous side of me in the cookin' department.

The ingredients below, along with tater tots - yes, tater tots - morphed into the most wonderful taco tater tot casserole you've ever eaten.  I used several different recipes I found on the internet and melded them together for my own creation.  It was really good!!

Last but certainly not least (these were the most recent food pictures on my phone!) is gumbo.  I love a good pot of gumbo.  I made it on New Year's Eve for our supper club and it just warms you all the way through.

I must admit to using Zatarain's Gumbo base as my starter.  I've tried making a roux before and mine has never been just right.  I use homemade ham and chicken broth instead of water.  I use Conecuh Sausage (hear that Alabama theme going on - Conecuh sausage is cookin' in my kitchen right now!).  I use lots of okra, tomatoes, celery, onions, and peppers.  I also use a mixture of shrimp (several pounds), chicken and ham cooked from the honeybaked ham bone!!  Yummy!!!

Do you enjoy cooking?  What is your favorite thing to prepare?  Do you like to entertain?

B is for Books #AtoZChallenge

If you ask me "what is your favorite smell, Lisa?" . . .I would answer "the smell of old books - like in an old library."  I've loved to read since I was a mere child (I've always wanted to write that - mere child!).  When I was a kid, we walked or rode our bikes to the local library.  I can close my eyes and remember where everything was in that library.  In the summer, I would ALWAYS sign up for the summer reading program and my goal was to WIN.  I wanted to read more books than anyone else! 

I've always read for all sorts of reasons - I read because I enjoy it; I read for escape; I read to procrastinate; I read to make the time on the stationary bike go by quickly; I read if I'm lonely; I read to learn new things; I read because I have to read to teach a Sunday School lesson, etc.

The story is told by my sister-in-law that on the day Mark and I were getting married, I was all dressed in my wedding finery sitting in a corner of the bride's room at Trinity reading a book.  What can I say?  I like to read.

I was thinking about the various books I've read over the years.  I tend to read thrillers and mysteries.  My kids used to ask my why all my books had blood and knives, etc. on the cover.  I finished a book tonight that was downright disturbing.  I've been reading books by James Patterson for years and I've LOVED most of them but I only finished tonight's book because I made myself.  The name of the book is Never Never. 

Alabama has produced some great authors.

Have you read Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg?  She has written several other books, too.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was required reading in our schools.  I met someone last year who was good friends with Harper Lee and had dinner with her regularly.  How cool to be able to namedrop Harper Lee?

Have you read All Over but the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg?

Years ago, I read 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey by Kathryn Tucker Windham.  She came to speak at an event at our church one time when I was a young stay-at-home mom.

One of my favorite authors from Alabama is Anne George.  She wrote a series of books about the southern sisters and I would laugh OUT LOUD when I was reading one of her books.  How can you not laugh when reading a book by the tile of "Murder on a Girl's Night Out"?  She also spoke to our women's group at a luncheon years ago.

This past year, a gentleman in our Sunday School class self-published a book of stories.  For several years, Steve has been emailing his short stories to me.  They are true stories written from the heart.  I love his stories so much that I have an email folder with his name on it!  His stories tell of growing up in Alabama in a very poor family and one of his stories tells of the night his mom died and how the Christmas Eve service at our church came to be.

I love books . . .I love my kindle, too!!  There is not an old book smell when I read my kindle.

Are you a reader?  Do you enjoy books?  Do you have favorite authors from your state?

Alabama the Beautiful #AtoZChallenge

Back in February, I tried to blog every single day (didn't quite make it but almost!).  I read about a challenge for the month of April - blogging from A - Z.  Thought I would at least give it a go.  So this morning, I started trying to think of "A" words that I might want to write about.  I was in Trader Joe's (love that store) and saw these apples and snapped a shot - A is for Apple, right?  I quickly realized that I couldn't write a whole blog post about apples.  I might be able to if I had just visited an apple orchard, etc.

 Still thinking about A-Z as I was checking out at Trader Joe's and I looked up and a bright light was shining through the window framing this sign.  Well, of course, I could write all day about Alabama.  I live here and love it!

Our "welcome to Alabama" signs even proclaim - Alabama the Beautiful!  Many people have prejudices against Alabama - they think we are slow and backwards and racist among a million other things.  There probably are some people who fit that bill but many folks in Alabama are kind and caring, many who love ALL people, our climate is awesome, and people move here and never want to leave.

The wonderful thing about Alabama is we have a little bit of everything.  We have mountains (though I've seen some really big mountains and ours are much smaller!).  We have a town called Mentone (view from a deck below) man made snow is produced in the winter so there is the possibility of snow skiing in Alabama.  The highest point in Alabama is Mt. Cheaha (not pictured) with an elevation of 2.407 feet.   Cheaha is a Creek Indian word that means "high place."

We have quaint downtown areas like this one in Madison, Alabama.  Many cities have refurbished their old downtown areas to attract tourists.  Madison is also home to a wonderful brewery.  We have amazing breweries in Alabama.  Just to name a few, we have Avondale Brewery, Good People Brewery, Old Black Bear Brewing Company (in Madison), Cahaba Brewing, Trim Tab Brewing, and Main Channel in Guntersville - and there are more!!

We celebrate Mardi Gras in Alabama.  Mobile is our major port city in the state.  Mobile is also known for having the oldest organized Mardi Gras celebration in the United States, beginning in 1703.  Mobile also hosted the first formally organized Mardi Gras parade in the US in 1830.

Many Civil  War battles were fought in Alabama and there are several reenactments every year in various locations.  You can often find really old cemeteries with unmarked graves and crosses like this one.  It is very interesting to walk around and read the dates of birth and death and to think of all the history that has happened since then.

The climate in Alabama is quite nice.  I will be the first to admit that it can be miserable for a short time in the summer.  We have high humidity and warm temperatures especially in August BUT most of the year is spectacular.  This sunny day was back in January or February.  We have blue skies and plenty of sunshine.  We had a particularly warm winter this year - in January (in the greater Birmingham area) the average high was 61.7 and the average low was 43.4 (we have had some lows below freezing).  In August of 2016, average high was 91.8 and low was 74.7 (pretty warm in August).

Our gulf coast is spectacular.  We have white sand beaches.  The sand is fine, not coarse.  The water temperature is comfortable for a large portion of the year.  I always hate to tell people about Orange Beach and Gulf Shores because I want to keep our beaches a hidden secret :-)

Fishing in Alabama is excellent - we offer lake fishing; deep sea fishing, private pond fishing; and fishing from the beach (and probably other ways, too!)  Our gulf seafood is some of the tastiest you will ever consume!

Last, but CERTAINLY not least, is our food.  Birmingham, especially, has become a foodie paradise.  We have some of the best restaurants.  Two of our famous restaurants are Highlands Bar and Grill, with owner and executive chef, Frank Stitt.  Restaurant and chef have claimed James Beard awards.  One of our favorites is Hot and Hot Fish Club with chef Chris Hastings, 2012 (I believe) Best Chef in the South James Beard award.

We have those restaurants but we also have places like Iron City Grill.  Look at those desserts below!!  There are meat and three restaurants and five star restaurants and everything in between and they all serve up some goodness!!

Alabama the Beautiful - she really is . . .in so many ways!!