Sunday Evening News

Nathan enjoyed Vacation Bible School this week at Rocky Hock UMC. This was the first one they have had in a number of years. The theme this week was Studio Go! Game Show and they learned bible verses and that God is with them wherever they go. He made some beautiful crafts that I will treasure for life. They also collected money for the Adult Activities Center in Waverly. The commencement was held this morning and Nathan was excited to wear his tie, but after an hour in it at church he complained that it was choking him. ("Get used to it, Buddy", I told him)

Miss AnnaBelle after her swim. I couldn't get a picture of her this time because I held her in the pool, but she was not hesitant to jump right in. She is fearless, I tell you! And she has the scratches and bruises to prove it. She's only been walking on her own for about a month now and now she wants to run everywhere she goes and of course that big head always wins and knocks her to the floor or into a piece of furniture.

Nathan swims on his own now. He even goes to the deep end in a heartbeat. Now if we can just get him to jump in! Oh the fun he has waiting for him!

We put up a clothesline that we found in one of the barns. I hung out sheets this morning and the smell was better than any dryer sheet could do. I have wanted a clothesline for sometime and we came across these posts the other day while exploring in one of the barns. It's amazing what you can find in some of these barns. We found the original front doors from the 1840's and a number of books from the 1920's and 30's. I'm sure these kids are going to find all kinds of stuff in the coming years.

The sunflowers are starting to bloom in all different sizes and varieties. I picked a bushel of snaps on Friday and will have to pick again tomorrow morning. We are picking squash, cucumbers and zucchini daily. We went to Papa's this afternoon and George fixed a magnificent dinner. Barbequed Chicken on the grill, marinated zucchini strips on the grill, snaps, fried squash, cucumbers in vinegar and cornbread. It was so delicious.

Thursday Stuff

We've been keeping busy this week. Nathan is in Vacation Bible School at Rocky Hock Methodist Church and having a great time. We've been picking vegetables daily from the garden and the butterbeans have started blooming. Choo Choo's kittens are getting bigger and I'm hoping to find homes for them. The children have been driving them crazy and run to me for protection whenever they approach them on the back porch.

For Everything There Is A Season

After a long hard fought battle, George's Uncle David died from Esophageal Cancer early Friday morning. The top picture is George as a baby and his uncle on the right. "Red" was 9 when George was born to his sister (George's mom) in 1957 and when George was growing up he always considered him an older brother. Red was born and bred in Wakefield, Va and was very well known and loved in this tight knit community. The first time I saw him was when I started dating George back in '92 and there was this picture on the refrigerator of a young boy on a red rider that he had converted to a motorized wagon with a 1.6 hp engine. I asked George's sister Susan, "How old was George is that picture?" she laughed and told me it was their Uncle David, "Red" to everyone. It really did look like a young George. When I finally met Red at my first family get together, the resemblance blew my mind. He and his wife knew one of my sisters, Susan, who was a dental assistant at the time in Wakefield and their children went there for their dental work. We instantly hit it off.

He was a really neat guy and we shared a common interest with our love of basketball and baseball. He was a huge Duke fan, me Carolina. He despised the Yankees and I love them. But we would smile and laugh whenever a conversation pertaining to sports was launched and it always ended with us agreeing on something. I will miss that smile he always had on his face. In 2004 his only son was killed in a car accident. He was only in his early 20's. In the years following that he still managed to smile after suffering a pain no parent should ever have to endure. He leaves behind his high school sweetheart, and a daughter who is expecting her fourth child in a few weeks. He is finally at peace and with his son. Red you are going to be deeply missed.

The garden has tripled in size in less than a week the second picture was taken on the 14th and the third picture was taken on the 19th. We have received around 2 inches of rain in that time and the fertilizer we added in between tillings has paid off! We are picking squash, cucumbers, snaps, spinach, parsley and zucchini daily. The zinnias are blooming along with the sunflowers.

My two garden rats could ride the golf cart around this farm all day long. Tomorrow is Father's Day and we have Daddy George's card already made. We were going to the James River but it has been extremely hot and humid that we might just hit Papa's pool after the funeral services.

Wednesday Notes

The garden has really taken off. We're thinking of putting a vegetable stand at the end of the lane where Nathan and I can hang out. He wants to use his cash register and has already designed the signs (in his head!). Or we might sell them at George's cousins' peanut store in town. We will have so much after family and friends get their share and Nathan can learn some math while I work on my tan! ;) We have been getting rain just about every other day and it's been good soaking rains that a garden loves.
While working outside last weekend, AnnaBelle found herself a half eaten Milky Way that Nathan left in the golf cart she ate the whole thing. Just look at that face! Tonight as soon as it was dark enough we lit sparklers. George bought them at the local dollar store. This was the first time Nathan has ever seen one and his eyes lit up with excitement at the sight of the falling sparks.

We're going to blow up the wading pool and break out the slip-n-slide Friday. The temps are supposed to be in the 90's for the weekend. George wants to dig for fossils on the banks of the James River on Father's Day so we'll pack up the boat with the grill and a small tent and maybe fish for some catfish. It's so peaceful on the water and it will be so fun to see the children play on the beach.

My Little Country Boy

My rambunctious, carefree son who never ceases to amaze me with his wit and charm.

Nathan Andrew Turner you are truly the apple of my eye.

AnnaBelle Farrar Turner

Just a video I put together for my little girl who along with her older brother, have shown me so much happiness and joy.

Norfolk Zoo Trip June 2009

On Wednesday I loaded up the kids and met Jessie and Calli at the Norfolk Zoo. I took Nathan for his first time in 2007 about a month after my Mom died and with so much on my mind then I really didn't get to enjoy myself. But that was the exception and this time allowed me to really soak in the park. It is still under construction in some areas and will open a HUGE Tiger and Jaguar exhibit and an area dedicated to Australia's native wildlife. We peeked through the burlap fence to spot a male and female Kangaroo.

The children were amazed with the giraffe, which tried to lick AnnaBelle through the glass, and the elephants. This one in the picture was in the movie "The Color Purple". The Red Panda made a rare appearance but the Lion was my favorite. He was taking a long nap on a very hot day. I think the temp in my car read 92 when we took a break for lunch at Lafayette Park.

When we returned I let the kids play in the fountains located at the entrance into to the park. This was all Nathan wanted to do as soon as we arrived and he ran around from fountain to fountain. AnnaBelle just enjoyed getting out of the stroller and walking around and it didn't take long until she splashed in the water. I can't wait to go back, again.

Snakes and Garden News

We walked outside the front door to get on the golf cart the other day and were greeted by this 5 ft long black snake right next to the house. George usually doesn't like killing the black ones because they are so beneficial around the house, but this one has been eating all the bluebird eggs from their houses on the trees around the farm so he had to go. I think the bluebirds tweeted a little "thank you" song after they saw what happened.

We have received over 5 inches of rain in the last 2 days. I am so glad we got the butterbean poles, wires and twine up before all of the rain. We went out today and fed the runners up the twine and might have to replant a couple of hills. We picked 5 squash and have blooms on the snaps so they will be ready for picking in a week. We also have small cucumbers forming that are about the size of your pinky. Tomatoes are blooming along with the zucchini and half of the row of sunflowers survived the mole.

Just waiting on the sun to pop out because it never showed itself today and it was unseasonably cool. Tonight there is a full moon shining across a foggy wheat field and the frogs are croaking at full strength. The lightning bugs are blinking and the kildees call in the distance. Summer nights are beckoning.

When The Cat's Away

Spent a few days in the hospital with another flare up and glad to be home. While I was away a mole decided to tear through the sunflowers. He bored right down the row and nibbled at the roots enough to kill off half the row. I was so disappointed to see that when we took our evening golf cart ride last night, so we decided to go to the Agri-Center in Petersburg today and bought a mole trap and some spray, and decided to set up the trap first to see if we can catch him.

Luckily it didn't bother anything else in the garden, but you never know what can happen. We put up the first row of posts and wire for the butterbeans. Each row is over a hundred and twenty feet-WOW! That's alot of butterbeans, but believe me what I don't freeze, family, friends and neighbors will enjoy.

The children relished playing in the dirt this evening while the posts were going up and once we were done I quickly plucked them up and dropped them both into a warm bubblebath. I had to wash both of their hair twice because of the clumps of dirt! They should sleep well tonight.

The moon is waxing so I took a picture of it rising over the horse barn. June is called the Strawberry Moon because they are ready for picking around the full moon and that is exactly what we plan on doing this week. Just have to oil down the wheels on the wagon to pull the kids and its off to one of the local farms. Blueberries will be ready for picking too and there is a farm only a couple of miles up the road. Yummy the delicious pleasures this time of year!