"My Daddy" Happy Veteran's Day

"My Daddy"

(a poem)

My dad was in the army

Way before there was me,

But they taught him stuff

And in turn he taught me.

Obey you elders,

Show them respect,

Do as you are told,

An image you reflect.

Silence in the woods,

What tracks do you see?

Stay close, don’t get lost.

Make sure to follow me.

Pull back the bow,

So it don’t hit your arm.

Careful with the gun,

Do others no harm.

Bait the hook with a worm.

Tie a knot just this way.

When there is work to do,

Make sure you don’t play

Don’t trust people,

They will hurt you for sure.

Boys want to take,

And leave you impure

Don’t you start a fight,

But if the fight comes to you,

Make sure they are the ones

Who can't do what you do.

Crying is for sissies

don’t you shed a tear.

Never show weakness

or the least bit of fear.

Pine cones have a nut

You can live off the land.

Throw the knife by its tip

With a steady hand.

Don’t take what’s not yours.

Trespassing is a crime.

Work a honest day

If only for a dime.

Keep the tools clean

Each one has a place.

I knew he meant business

By the look on his face.

Computers are the future.

Learn all you can from me.

Reading teaches all things

With endless possibility.

If you’re going to drive

Know how to work them too.

The oil, the tire, the plugs

The broken brake shoe.

In pain, shrug it off.

Tell a joke, when scared.

Know when you are listened to

And when they no longer care.

Life happens.

Things die.

People hurt you.

People lie.

At camp, we were safe.

Dad had a gun.

Anyone come up

He could put them on the run.

He knows karate

Boxed above his class

Anyone hurt us

He’d knock them to the grass.

Daddy taught me plenty.

He could be really hard.

But he is who I thank

For being on guard.

A bit tuff on us girls

But that was OK.

He made me into

This woman today.

I thank my daddy

For being willing to fight

For my country, My freedom

And my liberty and rights.

 

(certain identities hidden by request)

Ratcliff Lake Hike

Ratcliff Lake Hike

November 7,2010

Daylight Savings time changed and we were up at seven in the morning on Stewart's day off, so I ask hubby, "What are we gonna do today?" "Well, first you are gonna cook me breakfast, something yummy, then lets go to Davy Crockett National Forest and Ratcliff Lake." So that is just what we did. I Googled and found there was a Davy Crockett Memorial Park in Crockett so I told Stewart I wanted to go there first and check it out their Veteran's Wall since Veteran's Day was this week.

On our way we saw an awesome barn I just had to take a picture of it and share. I would love to have this kind of barn. Shoot, I would love to build a house to look like this barn and live in it!

When we reached the park in Crockett, I have to say I was disappointed. The park was not well kept, maybe in an old part of town and the Veteran's Wall was very small but there was a tank in front of the Veteran's building so that made it all worth it to the kids. Adam shouts, "Is that a real live tank?" I laugh, "Well, it is a real tank but I don't think it is alive."  As soon as his feet hit the ground he was off to crawl on the tank. He looked to find a door to crawl in but only found ones welded shut. "That is to keep little boys out of there." I explain. Then up on the front and down under the track and on the back, our little Adam crawled.

"Ahhhhh help me!"

Anna was not feeling to well so dad set her up on the tank so we could take a picture. After a look around the tank Austin opened up a compartment and found some signs that said "Please Do Not Crawl on Tank." I laugh and say "Well I believe it is a bit late for that."

I tell the kids to come on and lets looks at the Veteran's Wall. We looked for names we recognised but found none we knew. I did come across a strange inscription on one though. It said :

THE UNQUALIFIED

TO DO UNNECESSARY

FOR UNGRATEFUL

I called Stewart over and said, "Hmmm, that is kind of a strange thing to write." We talked with the kids a little bit about why this man may have wrote those words. I explained it like this, "Maybe he felt unqualified to fight in a war, which he thought was unnecessary, and knew the people are ungrateful towards the military." They seemed to understand that. It is so sad that he thought no one was grateful. We are very grateful that we live in a country that brave men and women have fought for to protect us and give us the liberties we enjoy. GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES!

We needed to stop by a Wal-Mart so we decided to go to the one in Crockett. Anna still feeling sick, ended up throwing up in the Wal-Mart parking lot on our way into the store. Poor baby, I asked her if she felt better, "Yep, perfectly fine now!" was her cheerful answer. We bought her a Sprite to help settle her stomach and picked up the few things we needed and headed toward Ratcliff.

After paying our $3 entry fee we drove around the whole park before deciding where we was going to park and start our hike. We came across an old Sawmill Ruins, so we got out to investigate.

We thought it was really neat that the foundation was made of bricks and not a poured concrete slab. The kids enjoyed climbing all over it and investigating. Austin discovered that it apparently was a wonderful home for lizards, they were all living in the cracks between the bricks. We took turns guessing what could have been attached to the huge pieces of threaded re-bar sticking out of the foundation. "Maybe it was a crane?" was one theory. I love provoking the thought process, it encourages them to research things for themselves.

Beside the mill ruins was a small playground that we let the kids play at for a little while. Anna and Adam played "fireman." They would start at the "look out tower", run across the bridge, and slide down the pole to go on their fire call. I enjoyed watching the imagination of my children at work.

Austin sat and enjoyed the swing, he is such a calm natured child. Anna on the other hand was running wide open on the playground equipment. I would not have believed she was sick about a half hour ago had I not been there myself. Adam jumped in the kiddie swing so he could "buckle up", Lord only knows what he was playing in his mind. Stewart even gave the swings a go, getting in touch with his inner child I guess.  

Austin decided to try the fire pole out, passively of course. Then he climbed back up the pole and gave me a big smile when he saw I had got a picture of him. Adam ran back to the bridge and grabbed both chains and shook it like crazy..."Earthquake!" It was time to head out on our hike, though the kids thought it was much too soon. I was afraid they would get wore out on the playground and not feel like walking the hiking trail.

We drive around to the hiking parking area. After a quick stop at the little store to get a hiking trail map, we go and look at the sign. The yellow markers is for a 3/4 mile hike one way, the blue is for a 2 mile hike (assuming one way), and the white is for the 20 mile hike (unsure if it is one way or not). Stewart asks, "Are we going for the twenty?" "Have you lost your mind!!??" I reply, unsure if he is serious or not."Goodness, that is as far as Zavalla is from Lufkin." I think that registered in his mind a little better. I told him I think that the small trail will do fine, round trip it will be a mile and a half. That is a good size when you have little kids and out of shape folks walking it.

 I told Adam, "We have to follow the yellow markers to stay on the trail we need to be on, so you watch for them OK." We start off, Austin toting his Science Pack and his "hiking" stick and the two little ones in the lead. I remind them to watch for snakes and to slow down. Every time we past a marker on the tree Adam would announce, "Blue, white, yellow." "Blue, white, yellow." "Blue, white, yellow." This became old pretty quick, so I told him just tell us when it is no longer all three colors.

Adam was in the lead walking like he was a man on a mission. We could barely keep up with him. He was pretty determined to find the trail marker that would tell us which path to take. Anna was trying to out run him and had to be called back so she flashes me her mischievous grin.

We come upon a wildlife viewing booth, so we stop for a photo op. We set and look out the viewing area, we saw a few butterflies and noticed bird and squirrel houses on different trees. Stewart says jokingly, "Que the deer." We were all talking and laughing and Adam scolds, "You guys be quiet or the deer won't come out!" I laughed and explained daddy was only joking, and that the deer were not going to come out right now anyway.

Those crazy kids of mine are photo hogs I swear. They found a fallen tree and boom up on it they go "surfing." "Mom take a picture!" We look at a few more trees, "Looks like a Tornado must have came through here." I decide. I point out how the tree was twisted and broken, not just fallen over. We hurry to catch up with Austin and Stewart, who has started leading the way. 

I get a picture of a Buckeye Butterfly and right after snapping the shot it flutters and almost lands in my hair.

Finally we come to the fork in the trail and Adam walks right by it. I ask him if he was still watching for our trail markers, ooops, he had forgot with all the other things we was looking at. Anna races to look for the marker we was at and she pointed the way, much to Adam's disappointment, she can be such a little stinker to her brother.

We go a little farther and cross over one of the park roadways and go onto the bridge-way. They liked walking on the bridges, I explained that more than likely the water would be all the way up under the bridge-way if the water level was where it was supposed to be. We spot some more bird and squirrel houses. I am beginning to wonder for sure what kind of house these are we keep seeing. 

We come across a big vine hanging beside the trail. Of course my two little monkeys have to try to climb it but much to my surprise my biggest monkey has to also. Maybe Stewart was playing Tarzan, who knows? I am just glad that he is a man who can be silly and have fun and makes me laugh. Austin is completely unimpressed, as most teens are when there is such antics going on.

We look at the sign that tells us what all can be seen in the area. Then walk on to where the creek flows under the bridge. Time for a photo op. for me. Stewart tries to remember to make me take pictures too. He says the kids are always going to wonder why mom was never there if I do not make an appearance in a picture or two. So against my will, I allow a picture to be taken, I feel much more comfortable on the other side of the camera. The little creek is pretty, we can see the reflection of the overhead trees in the water below us. Anna spots a red bird, but not in time for a picture.

We walk along a bit more and Stewart calls out, "Hey guys look! Beaver chew marks!" Sure enough, this area had beaver chews on almost every tree. We look out in the water and see how he dammed up the back end of the lake and we see a clump of brush that is probably his home. The beaver had chewed on some trees that was way to big for him to carry off. Anna being silly, pretends to gnaw a tree like the beaver. "With those big ol' teeth of yours, you probably could!" we tease her. She just laughs and shines her big beautiful pearly whites. She is such a care free soul.

The cypress tree was growing a bunch of  Cypress knees up beside the bricked area of the lake so we stop to take a picture. Adam tries to climb a tree, then he and Anna hug the huge pine tree. My little tree huggers, I am so proud.

We spot a woodpecker, I am pretty sure it was a Red-cockaded Woodpecker but a lot of giggling scared it off before I could take a picture of it.

We make it back to the main part of the park and come to the Amphitheatre . We play "church" for a little bit. "This is my kind of church ! Right out here with GOD. Adam, go ahead and preach son!" I urge. He steps out from behind the "pulpit" and says "I'm to short!" Austin is looking at the other "pulpit" and Anna has to come see if he is finding anything worth looking at, but no, nothing there. I tell them to line up for church so I can take a picture, Stewart looks mighty "at home" behind that pulpit.

The view of the lake was wonderful. We walk out on the pier and look around. Austin looks through his binoculars to see if he can see the beavers in their homes, but no luck.

We had a really good time at Ratcliff. I believe someday soon we will have to camp here because there is much more to do in this park than in the ones local.

I have linked information to certain things of educational interest. Partly for my own homeschooling needs but also to show people how homeschooling children study under a different curriculum than public school children. This is why I can not "label" which "grades" my kids are in. They are all learning so many different levels of things at different times. The "standard" that the government uses to categorise the children do not apply to us.

Habanera Gold

Habanera Gold

November 6,2010

My wonderful husband brings in a large pan of Habanera peppers. For those of you that do not know it, these peppers are insanely hot. He said "How about you can these?" I thought "Into what?" I drag out the good ol' Ball Canning book and looked up Habanera Pepper. I found a recipe called "Habanera Gold" and thought, "OK, I can try this." The recipe is supposed to be for a sweet and sour hot jam that you serve with cheeses, kind of snooty for an ol' country girl, but hey, I had to have something to do with the peppers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Habanera Gold Recipe

Ingredients:
Yield: 3/33Servings Size 250 ml jars
1/3 cup finely sliced dried apricot
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/4 cup finely diced red pepper
1/4 cup finely diced habanera peppers, with seeds or 1/4 cup finely diced jalapeno, and scotch bonnet peppers combined
3 cups white sugar
1 (3 ounce) envelope liquid pectin
Directions:Prep Time: 30 mins Total Time: 45 mins


1 Cut apricots into 1/8 inch slices and measure into large stainless steel saucepan with the vinegar; let stand for four hours.
2 Cut onions and peppers into 1/8 inch slices; cut slices into a 1/4 inch dice.
3 Add to apricots and stir in sugar.
4 Bring mixture to a full rolling boil.
5 Stirring constantly, boil hard for one minute.
6 Remove from heat and immediately stir in liquid pectin, mixing well.
7 Stir for about 3 minutes to mix solids, but put into jars before it gets too firm.
8 Pour into hot sterilized jars, dividing solids equally and fill to within 1/4 inch from top of jar.
9 Apply snap lids and process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes if you choose.
10 Once sealed you can rotate or invert jars while still warm to distribute solids if needed.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Due to the large quantity of peppers we had and the small amount required by this recipe I decided to quadruple the recipe.

I cut the apricots and laid them to bed in the vinegar over night, to tackle this project the next day, time enough for me to muster up the courage to deal with these peppers. Morning comes and goes and finally by afternoon I am brave. I pulled out my yellow and red bell peppers and my red onion and have fun chopping and dicing and using my Vidalia Chopper. Then came time to tackle the Habaneras. Sporting a lovely pair of latex gloves to protect my skin from pepper burn, I begin cutting the peppers in two and removing the seeds.

With the Habaneras all split and deseeded it was time for the final rinse. Lo and behold as soon as they hit the water and the mist came up from the peppers I started to cough and gag and sneeze like crazy. I thought for sure I was going to die from anaphylactic shock right then and there. I go to the door and gasp for breath, call for my daughter to find the Benadryl and pull my shirt up over my nose. After taking a little pink pill and with my shirt still over my nose I return to the scene of the crime, the sink. I had left the water running this whole time so the peppers were rinsed well by the now. After draining them, determined to finish my project, I cut the peppers in the tiny cubes, all the while still coughing and sneezing and having to take breaks to get my breath.

Noticing that the "cup" of peppers I started with "halved" became a half cup "diced", I decided that that was plenty of Habanera peppers for this recipe and I would just make up the difference with the extra bell peppers I had. With the Benadryl finally helping ease the allergic reaction I had, I wondered if I should risk the "cooking" process. I thought, "Gosh, if "spray off" from the silly things did that much to me, what on earth will the heated steam do?" Not brave enough to attempt this solo, I called in my hubby to sit with me through the rest of the canning process in case I really needed to have someone call 911 for me. Thank GOD for Benadryl because I got the stuff cooked and in jars with no more near death experiences.

I have to say I will never again attempt this recipe for fear for my life, even though it turned out to be a very pretty jar of Habanera Gold. My "mild" rendition of this turned out to have the taste of a very sweet jam with a after burner hot pickled pepper affect, from the very tiny bit I tasted. It seems like it would be wonderful as a glaze to a ham, that is if I wasn't afraid it would kill me.

Photos taken by Anna Husband



Our Creek

Our Creek

November 4,2010

We have went walking all kinds of places around our area, we almost forgot we have a creek on our property. The lack of rain has given us a wonderful opportunity to be able to walk down our creek that is pretty much dry now. All that is left is a few pools of stagnant water, however pretty they may be with the fallen leaves gathered in it.The first thing my little monkey does is climb a tree, "Mom, look at me!" Adam shouts in accomplishment.

It is hard to believe as we walk over the dry ground that this creek can turn into a raging whirlpool that threatens to come out of its banks during the rainy season. Right now it seems so calm and peaceful.

Fallen trees litter the way, probably some of the reason the creek breaches its banks on occasion.
Austin calls, "Hey mom, are these spores on the back of these leaves?"
"Yep, sure are, good job spotting them," I say after a quick investigation of a small fern growing out of the side of the bank.

"Hey mom, take a picture." Anna requests. Up a tree she and her brother go, both squabbling over the lime light.

A stump has been smoothed by the water rushing by it on so many occasions. A tree fallen overhead of the creek, a reminder of Hurricane Rita. Orangey, the cat leads the way. There are only a few puddles in the creek bed now, probably left over from the recent rain we received earlier this week. Just enough mud to leave behind a nice set of foot prints from our neighbors the Raccoons.

Adam is all boy. He does this trick of hanging upside down from one of the fallen trees across the creek. Not to be out done, Anna copies, monkey see, monkey do. Austin thinks his brother and sister are crazy.

The high grass shows how long the ground has been dry. This area should be covered with water. Ahead lies a fallen tree that was here since we moved here, it is mostly rotten now.

We get to the trestle, long forgotten by the railroad. The train has not come through our town since the early 1990s. I remember as a child walking down to the train track and laying pennies on the rails hoping to get a squished penny from it, a treasure to a small country girl. With a closer inspection of the old trestle we see that the remains of it was put to good use, honey bees are using it for their honey fort. We leave them alone so they will continue to pollinate our garden each spring.

The little monkeys find the swinging vine, and take turns swinging across the little gully as brother looks on with amusement.

 Dad finds a bucket washed down from the rains, so he takes advantage of it while he waits by our fence for us to catch up.  Donkey also waited impatiently for us to cross the fence. He wants his family in the fence if he has to be in there. We cross into the pasture, being careful of the ornery donkey and head home.

It was a very nice walk without ever leaving our land.

Book, Books, and More Books

Books, Books, and More Books

November 5, 2010

So, I have this addiction. I LOVE books!



My bookshelf



Not only do I love them, I have a fetish that makes me have to have complete sets. If there is a series I must get the whole series, or it drives me nuts. So every time I go to the book store I look for a new book or a book to finish a series. The problem I have is that I like Amish books and I can never remember which ones I have and which ones I need. If you have ever seen the Amish book section they all look very similar, all adorned with kapps and horse drawn buggies.

Here is just a few of my many books.

Wanda Brunstetter is a favorite of mine.

So is Beverly Lewis

See how one can get confused easily? Well today I came across the really cool little app for my iPhone called iBookshelf.

Here is the app page for it : http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibookshelf/id314982342?mt=8.

Anyway it makes a complete listing of the books you have, even books you may want and all you have to do is scan them it with the camera scanner that is on you iPhone. The app only costs $1.99. Now, how cool is that?! So now I can go to the store with iPhone in hand and never have to put a book I want back because I wasn't sure I did not already have it. Yes, I am a dork to blog about it but I am really excited about this app, not to mention I get plum tickled anytime I can find a reason to use the bar code scanner on my iPhone! So, happy scanning and hope this helps out other book lovers like me.

Calhoun Point Trek

Calhoun Point Trek

October 31, 2010

Another day of walking in the great outdoors was on our agenda. We headed out to what Stewart calls Calhoun Point but we had named "Dave's Place" after my brother-in-law David who chose this as "his camping spot." With our packs in tow, we head out on the expanding sandy beach that was created by the lack of rain. We saw a sand piper walking along the shore, we got within a pretty good range of it but we turned away so we would not disturb it from getting its lunch. Austin came across a black caterpillar. I announce "Oh cool a Woolly Bear!", hoping the kids thought I was talking about a real bear but I didn't fool them any. Anna found a set of raccoon tracks "Mom, the back foot looks like a kids foot print!"

Where we was walking, was far enough out that if the water level had been where it should be, the water would have been over our heads. This made for an interesting view of what has been a camping spot before. Stewart walked up to a stump and said " Hey, I think this may have been where we put out our trot lines before."  I looked around viewing the place we would have been swimming and commented, "Well, at least when we come back we don't have to worry about the kids swimming out here, there are no drop offs." We kept walking around the point and we come upon a rocky area.

Adam brings me a rock "Mom, this looks like it has Chinese writing on it!" I comment, "Well more like cuneiform but yes it does look like writing, but I think it is just wear marks." Austin brings a funny rock to me that looks like a skull. Anna is busy trying to get out on the rocky muddy mound without getting wet. "I can do it mom...really I can..."

Then Adam gets up on top of the hill. "Hi, mom!!" Then Anna comes up and takes the hill by storm. "Hee, hee" she says with a grin, the little stinker. 

Out on the next point was a very large expanse of beach. Stewart and I sit on an old log that was a piece of driftwood. It was a very scenic view from where I sat resting. Withs the kids out investigating the beach we enjoyed the peacefulness of GOD's great world. We sat with full contentment watching the kids run races, play in the sand, and look at bugs. Adam comes up and sets with us to watch for a while, of course he uses his monocular so he can see them better. "Mom, Anna is very far away!" he says, looking up I notice his monocular is turned around backwards, on purpose of course.

"Mom, this is Fred. Fred is my friend. I want to keep Fred. I will take care of him and... and..."

Hmmm..."Anna, Fred needs to stay here, this is his home."

"But Moooommm, I like him!"

"Yep, lets get a picture so you can remember him." "OK, now go toss Fred in the lake far out so he can live."

By the way, in case you didn't know, "Fred" is a fresh water mussel she had found.

We had our rest and it was time to head back. Stewart suggests we go back through the wooded trial instead of covering ground we had already covered. Austin found some briar trees that had no leaves, something that must be googled during school. Adam found a piece of a log that looked like a hatchet, so he totes it around whacking on various bushes and trees with his "axe." We walk and Adam swears we are not going the right way.

"What if we are lost. What if we never find our car. What if...What if..."

"Adam, trust me sweety, I know where we are going."

I love spending a wonderful day with my family, I would not trade it for anything in the world. We laugh, learn, and love GOD's beautiful gift to mankind, the outdoors.

Harvesting the Corn

Harvesting the Corn

November 1, 2010

We have tried for several years to grow corn. Most of the time we would get a few spindly stalks with no ears or we would grow great stalks with scrawny ears. This years after our purple hull harvest Stewart had decided to plant some corn just to have something to grow in the pea patch. We assumed it would do poorly as it had in the past but much to our surprise it did really well.

Shucking corn by the pig pen seemed like the perfect place to do the job. They would shuck the husks and toss them to our pot belly piggies and then cut off any bad spots and give them to the pigs or the donkey. Our little piggies thought they was in Heaven.

Adam comes up to me with corn silk on his head and says, "Mom, now I know how they make wigs!" I just love that child's imagination.

We harvested over 290 ears of corn off of this small corn patch. We blanched and bagged right around 50 gallon bags of corn on the cob. Thank you LORD for such a bountiful harvest.