Bear Wallow Farm Visit

Today a friend and I went out to Bear Wallow Farm, which is here in the county. I had never been out to it before but she has many times, since she is related to the folks that own it. They were having a big pumpkin contest out there and I wanted to see it. I have seen those big pumpkins in magazines and on TV, but never in person. So it was a real treat for me to see these big pumpkins and watermelons!

I wanted to go through the corn maze since I had never been in one before. My friend that was with me said, "No Rachel, you might get lost in there." This one is called "Ole Slew Foot," and I found a picture on their site of it!! I did not venture into it very far! She might have been right! I think if you click on it that it will probably enlarge.

This next picture is inside the maze. I did go in and soon decided I was lost and found a main path and managed to get back out. When it cools up a little more I'd like to go again and go through it all the way! I think it's neat how they do these corn mazes!!

I was surprised to see these big watermelons. These biggest ones were in the 160 lb. range! I wish I could have seen the inside. I wonder if they are very tasty when they get that big?

This was the biggest pumpkin of the day weighing in at 1395 lbs. The gentleman to the left holding the sign is Billy Burton and he grew it. He had the second heaviest one as well. His first year of trying!! I say he did well!!

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SUNDAY SIGN

SAPPY TREE AND FLOWERS

Recently when I was taking a walk I came upon this tree. I don't know what kind of tree this is but the poor thing was covered with all these holes that were oozing sap. I guess when you look at them you can tell what they reminded me of, especially if you click and enlarge them!

I took these other pictures here around the yard.

The nasturtium is really pretty, but this is the only bloom it has!

Mums are my favorite fall flower I think. They are so pretty and come in so many colors.

As you can see, in spite of the heat and drought, the acorns are really plentiful this year, at least on our tree! Part of the driveway is covered with them and many get squished by the car tires. I have been out there sweeping them off earlier. We may get some much needed rain tonight and tomorrow. Then it's supposed to drop from the 90's into the 80's. Yeehaw!!!

FAT SUNDAY

HELP!!!! I'm too fat!! I have way more fat than I need to survive the winter!! I need some motivation. Let's hear it. I need those words of motivation.......I'm all ears.........lay it on me.... I CAN take it!!!!!!!

Oh, and here is the Sunday sign. This one was sent to my by dear sweet friend
Sandy at Abandoned in Pasadena.

Thanks Sandy!!!

Butterscotch Pudding Day Along With Some Bull

Today is National Butterscotch Pudding Day. I do hope everyone got to partake of some butterscotch pudding. They certainly did here in our household! I do love butterscotch pudding. It's very tasty stuff.




Does anyone ever read their horoscope? I seldom do. When I do take the occasion to look at it, as the general rule, it does not pertain to anything to do with me or my life.

This picture shows the bull getting his revenge!!! I don't like bull fighting myself, so I say "Hoorah" for the bull.

1. Cross Country 2. Sunday Sign

I was awoken very early this morning (8:00 a.m.) and invited to come out and see my great niece run in a cross country race. They called as they were on their way. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to let me know! I know to most people 8 a.m. is not early but it's pretty early for me these days! Since I was pretty much awake I drove on out to see her run. This was only the second race she'd ever run in. I wore short sleeves and it was quite chilly with a good breeze blowing. Most everyone had on sweatshirts. I refused to complain about the chill since it's been so hot! Buses were coming in from other schools around the state. Finally they got them lined up and shot off the starting gun. The course was a little over a mile. Here you see them taking off at the start. My great niece is in there somewhere! Look at our long shadows on the ground!
She did really well and came in 14th place!! I thought that was wonderful. She wasn't even good and winded either. I would not have made it up the first hill myself. The course went up several little hills at the beginning and then they were out of sight for a while and in the final stretch it was a slight downgrade. The leader was a little bitty blonde girl who seemed to not be one bit winded!! I enjoyed it and I'm glad I went. I think she said the course was 1.1 mile and she did it in a little over 8 minutes! I might do it in 80 minutes. That would be more my speed!!

This is not a good picture but that's her in the center in the orange and white, and the next runner is just barely in the edge to the right. The others were onlookers.

After that they had the boys race and we stayed to watch that one.

SUNDAY SIGN

A BIRTHDAY WISH AND A GLORIOUS SUNSET!

Today is Jamie Dawn's birthday!! Go over and wish her a great one!! She's still a young thing. I won't reveal her age though!! Happy Birthday JD!!!

I got these pictures of the beautiful sunset last night. It was glorious!!!

I Found Some Green Grass!!!!

The lawns are brown but I found some greenery not very far away. This is a new golf course they are building at General Burnside Island State Park. They already had a golf course but I guess it wasn't big enough. They say when this one is finished it will be one of the best in the country. It sure is going to be big. They are also thinking about building a lodge back there sometime in the future.

I don't know if golf courses really have grass. I guess it's more like turf?? I'm sure all you golfers can answer that question! It sure is pretty and green where they have the grass/turf growing so far.

I love this pond they made and the stone they used. Very nice!!

It doesn't matter if there's a drought! We must water the golf course!!

Sunday Signs

The way its been so hot here is probably how they thought of this first sign, since it seems most everyone has been complaining about the heat! We still haven't had any rain yet either, but we have a big 40% chance tomorrow. Then that makes it a 60% chance that it WON'T rain. I hope the 40% wins out.

Shadow and Red Fox

Still hot and dry in these parts. No rain yet, not even a sprinkle. I haven't been on the computer that much for various different reasons. I hate not commenting on my favorite blogs as much as I'd like, but sometimes it just isn't possible. I'm sure we all have those times!


This is Shadow that lives down the road. He's really pretty. Pup loves to get close enough to lick him on the nose!! There use to be miniature ponies in this field and Pup loved them too. He always got excited and wanted to see them. I guess he has a fascination for horses (like me!), because he'll just stop and sit there and doesn't want to move on.



A few nights ago I was up at 2 a.m. and I looked out the front window. There was a young fox standing right in front of the steps. I opened the door and stepped out on the porch and it was gone in a flash! The next night it was 1 a.m. and I heard what I thought was a dog barking and it sounded like it was in our yard. I got up and went out on the porch and there it sat at the end of the driveway barking. I thought it was a dog! I went back in and got clothes on and went back out with the flashlight. I started up there and shined the light on him and off he went. That's when I saw it was a fox instead of a dog! I've never been that close to one barking before. It sounded different, kind of like a chihuahua with a sore throat! It's a pretty young red fox. No lack of the critters we have around here!

Well, I appreciate everyone who crossed everything for us, hoping we would get rain. It sprinkled and that was all it did. Not even enough to settle the dust! All that crossing of body parts and no results. Some parts of the county did get rain, over 2 inches with some wind damage in the eastern part. About 4 miles from us they got an inch. Looking on the bright side I haven't had to mow my yard in about 3 weeks.

My neighbor that mowed so much for me moved away. His wife said that he would continue to come and mow for me, but I don't think that will ever happen. He has been so good to us. He has mowed the yard so many times and never would take any money or gas for it. He professed to be a Christian man. He has said the most beautiful prayers that I have ever heard, praying for my husband when he was in the hospital and here at home. As it turns out though he has another side to him, one that I have never seen and hope I never see. The people that bought the house they lived in are not happy with him and told me about his mean side. He also jumped on my neighbor and accused her of all sorts of things before he left. She is a widow in her 70's and she never did any of the things he accused her of. I was shocked beyond words when I heard what he had done. I just could not believe it. It disturbed me greatly. I told my husband about it and his wise words were, "Rachel, don't get in the middle of it."

I have had contact with his wife by e-mail since they moved. She may not know about these things he has done, so I certainly didn't mention it to her. She has given me some hints that he is pretty controling of her. She is such a sweet person and I truly believe she is a sincere Christian. She is the one who taught me to make baskets.

Here is a picture of the lake now and when it was first lowered. Quite a difference huh? Our house is on around the curve and up on the hill on the right. You can see some parts of houses in the picture where the leaves are gone.

SUNDAY SIGN


I think this sign kind of goes along with what I was talking about with my previous neighbor. His words were kind and his actions were kind to us, but not to others.