Millions of peaches, peaches for me

Remember that song by the band The Presidents of the United States of America called "Peaches"? Well, that was the theme song this weekend. I took five girls home to Nashville to put up peaches. It was a busy but very entertaining weekend.

We canned 45 jars and put up some to freeze.

We got there Friday around 3:15, and then hopped back into the car to go see my cousin Tela's house in Saratoga. The house looks amazing! I can't wait to see it finished. Tela and Russell are expecting twins in January so that makes it way more exciting! Then we went back home and started supper. I cooked fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, fried okra (from Dad's garden), cream corn (from Poppa's garden), and we did a salad. It was greasy and good! Mom made mocha cheesecake for dessert, so we devoured some of that. Then it was bedtime.

Of course I didn't sleep a wink. I just don't sleep well with people, AND if there is a sound (the fan making noise) I follow it the whole night. Needless to say, I was pooped before the day even started. For breakfast, we had homemade cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing and fresh fruit (that's the healthy part!). Then the fun began! We peeled, chopped and cooked those peaches up! I was more of the teacher this year, and I coached from the side. They all made beautiful preserves. We got seven jars each. Not bad at all.

For an afternoon break, Dad took us all to the Coke plant to see the museum. I hadn't even been yet, so I was excited. It was so cool to see 100 years of memorabilia, some of it I hadn't seen before. There was an actual Model T Ford that we had to snap a picture in. We also posed on the forklift and in an empty semi truck.  We could be the new Coca Cola spokesmodels. I can't wait to sign my contract. Granny and Poppa came over for supper. Dad grilled chicken, I made squash medley, and a Greek salad.

The Model T Ford

A little pose in an empty Coke truck.

Then the real cooking began. I made peach fried pies with the help of Mom and Dad. Granny gave me her sister's recipe. Dad rolled out the dough (I was shocked too), and Mom flipped pies while I filled them and crimped them. I loved spending that time with my parents. That's one of those things I'll always remember, ya know? The pies turned out great! It needs a little more of "something", but I'm not sure what that is yet. Dad says it needs more salt in the crust, so I'll try that next time. I've got to perfect them before I open my bakery; those will be a necessity.

It was a great weekend! I can't wait until next year. Who's coming?!

Let me backtrack to July 17...I went to visit Jonathan, Meredith, and Chandler Bryan. It was such a great visit! Chandler is the sweetest little girl, and she's so active. She took her first steps while I was there, so of course that filled my heart. I was scared she wouldn't let me hold her, but we quickly bonded. Oh yes. Two peas in a pod we are. And Mer and Jon are such loving parents. It's an out of body experience watching your friends with a child. It's an awesome feeling. I was sad to leave on Thursday; I wanted to take them with me.

Sweet Chandler

Chandler walking!

This is what I found on the day I left. She almost did go with me.

My next post will be London...and I have video footage. YES!

The Good, the Bad, and the Not So Pretty

Hey ya'll. So since my trip, I haven't been inspired to write. It left me feeling incomplete in the sense that I didn't spend the time I needed to over there. It's not that I'm unhappy here because that isn't the case at all. I just need to spend more time rolling around in God's creation because ya'll, it is breath-taking. I'll go back next summer. FOR SURE. If you haven't figured out by now, I am writing again. Something obviously inspired me, so I will share that with you.

Let's start with the ugly or the uh....
The Not So Pretty

• My Aunt Tricia who has battled cancer three times had to go in for a pet scan today due to swollen lymph nodes around her original breast cancer site. We won't know the results until Tuesday when Dr. Tauer returns to the office. I ask for diligent prayers on her behalf. You can read more about this on my cousin's blog Mostly Sweet

The Bad

• School starts back for teachers August 8. Why?! Why can't we have until September?! I BEG YOU wonderful state department.
• I was at dinner last night with my friends Annesley and Meredith. We went to a restaurant called Sangria and ordered different kinds of tapas. I was eating one of my favorite tapas that I had often in Spain and the tears began to flow. I miss Spain and the food and the people and the culture and outside cafes where the heat doesn't melt you.

The Good

• I just got back from a wonderful visit with Meredith, Jonathan and baby Chandler. It's always hard to say goodbye to those you love!
• I leave tomorrow for Nashville, AR with a group of wonderful girls for our 2nd annual peach weekend. Unfortunately, there may not be any ripe peaches but that won't stop us from having a fun time. That's fo sho. The menu for this weekend is yummy and heart-clogging. You don't want to miss it!
• I still have to update you on London, so yay for me for getting to reminisce some more!! For those of you that could care less, go clip your nose hairs. That will be your intermission. London will be in a separate post fo schnizzel.

Palma de Mallorca, Spain

It's Peach Month!!

My friends, Caroline and Sarah, rang in peach month the right way--in Nashville, AR. I love to make peach preserves, so I took the girls down with me. We left Friday morning around 8:40 which was way too early for C. I think she wanted to punch me in the face. Nevertheless, we set out on our roadtrip. I pull out cd's from way back with songs like Mmmbop, My Love is Your Love, and Mouth. Please tell me you remember the song Mouth by Merril Bainbridge. She's an Aussie. We jammed and finally pull on Old Chapel Hill Road when Caroline asked, "What is that?" She was pointing to a chicken house. SHE HAD NEVER SEEN ONE! I was shocked, and little did she know that my cousin Seth has some. That story is coming later.

As soon as we got to the house, we began peeling peaches. Poppa and Uncle Bobby were sweet enough to pick the peaches for us Friday morning, and Granny and Poppa were kind enough to come help us peel peaches. We made 9 batches of preserves. That would be 36 cups of peaches and 49.5 cups of sugar. Sounds like a sugar coma to me!

The girls also got a tour of Jamison Road. I introduced them to most of the family including the newest edition, Asher Howard. That's my cousin Ace's baby boy. The girls also got to see the infamous gravel pit where much of my childhood was spent in a make believe "Land before time" adventure. It was also the place where my brother fell off the cliff. So many stories. Then I took them to the cow graveyard. We had to cross a fence. That's something Caroline has never done before. Caroline looked at the barbed wire fence and said, "I didn't know this was going to be dangerous." She thought she was going to get Tetanus. If she only knew how many times I've had run ins with barbed wire, she'd be shocked that I was still alive.

After that, we went to Seth's chicken houses. He just got baby chickens that were two days old. There were 10,000 of them in there. The girls were amazed! It is a pretty awesome sight. Then they got the rundown of how everything worked. For those of you who know my cousin Seth, you know he is a man of few words. It was funny to hear him answering all of their questions.


Saturday night, the girls had their first gun shooting lesson...ever. We decided dressing up in era clothing would be appropriate. My mom said, "Out of all of Little Rock, you found these two girls to play dress up with you." It's true. I was very excited that I wouldn't have to play dressup all by myself.











You can't wear a civil war dress without pantaloons. Come on!




It was a very fun weekend! I think I tired them out though. Anyone else that would like to experience the magical Jamison Road, let me know. Peaches, dressup, guns, chickens....now that's what I'm talking about.