After the Storm

I had another acute pancreatitis flare up last weekend and spent a couple of days in the hospital.
I should have known last Friday the 21st that it was going to be a long weekend, but with pancreatitis you are used to pain, so you just suck it up and hope the meds will help you out. You limit your diet and try to rest the pancreas. Well my pain level got out of control Sunday afternoon and I looked at George and he knew the routine. Before the kids it was a little easier to just hop in the car and head off to Richmond for treatment, but now we have to plan for the care of two precious gifts given to me through this madness and it's times like these that make me feel an emptiness and helplessness that just makes the pain worse. I've had to put George through this illness and I've seen his face with that look of worry and concern and each time I get sick he always follows my lead and is my biggest adversary when combating doctors and their lack of knowledge when dealing with this disease.

I've seen that look of concern in Nathan and now in AnnaBelle and it just hurts so much. Nathan cried at night for me and asked his Daddy to say a prayer for me. He slept on my side of the bed. It was tough to see them visit on Monday only to leave crying, but if one good thing came from this ordeal, AnnaBelle got some bonding time with her Daddy and that made me happy. She has been stuck to me like a tick since my last visit in June and cries when I'm out of her sight. Now once I'm gone from her sight for a while, she's fine. But this time she really got to chill with her Daddy and cuddle in his big arms in the early morning and evenings.

Yes I am truly blessed to have these two beautiful gifts from God. They brighten my dark days of illness with love, laughter and smiles and I am so lucky to be at home to savor it all.

We planted snaps the day before I went into the hospital and this picture was taken Thursday. Talk about some super soil and the seeds were a 2 year old unopened southern states bag we found in a drawer in the mudroom! Can't wait to can them!

My sweet Miss AnnaBelle Farrar lets me do anything to her hair. She has a tough scalp like her Daddy and loves for me to brush it. It's about as much girly girl as she is because I think I have a tomboy on my hands. She has more scrapes, bruises and cuts than Nathan. He plays so rough with her and sometimes she comes away crying, but its very brief and she often goes back for more!

Yes things are starting to get back to normal around here, well, what normal is at Woodland, it could be different at your home!

I picked tomatoes last Thursday and decided to freeze them for winter soups. This was my first time and it was the easiest vegetable oops maybe fruit that I have done so far. After boiling a few for about a minute I dropped them in a cool bath of water.

The shock of the cold water makes them so easy to peel. I peeled the core and any bruises they may have had.

Once I peeled them I chopped them up into even sized chunks.

Then I put them in quart sized bags and froze them. I put up 10 quarts from the tomatoes I picked. I can't wait for winter soups. We have the butterbeans, snaps, corn and will only have to add carrots. That is the only crop we have not had success with here at Woodland. We are planting collards, kale and red potatoes this weekend. I am going to try making Watermelon Rind next!

It's Better to Be Safe Than Sorry

What's a little girl to do? We worked in the garden briefly today before the storms moved through and broke open a watermelon for the kids to eat. When I handed AnnaBelle her slice she wouldn't hold it. So I had to put it down on the back of the golf cart.

She is now gun shy to eat watermelon for fear of a wasp stinging her.

I couldn't get her to hold it no matter what. Can you see the dark clouds approaching from the southwest?

Oh well, hopefully she will not remember the trauma for too long, because she really likes the stuff. But believe me, if it's around she'll find a way to eat some whether I hold it or she adapts to the situation and finds another means of not having to hold it for herself.

Vacation Time and Other Things

We planted another row of snaps before we left on vacation this past Friday and they are already 2 inches high. George plowed the garden and we picked over 20 watermelons along with two 5 gallon buckets of tomatoes. The butterbeans are hanging but still need to fill out some. Tonight we are getting a good soaking of rain and with tomorrows expected heat and humidity I imagine there will be plenty to pick this weekend. We might slip away to the river with the kids and dig for sharks teeth, too.

My garden spider friend is still hanging around the cucumber trellis and has spun quite an impressive web over the last few days. He or she I don't know which, is a valuable asset and several bad bugs have been caught in its ever expanding web. I'm not a spider person, hate them, any size, period. But this one has intrigued me with its beautiful vivid colors and its large size.

Miss Ellie Mae enjoyed her trip to the mountains with us but was certainly glad to get home and back into the routine of things. She was very well behaved since we had to sneak her into our efficiency room at the lodge. The morning after we checked in, the maid came by and knocked on the door, the growl alone would have sent one running. When we opened the door she was halfway down the corridor. A couple of hours later when we left for the reunion we checked to see if our keys worked, no luck, and after working the night before. The first thought that came to my mind was that we were busted. I called the front desk and told the woman of our problem, when she asked what room I hesitantly said the numbers. Someone came within 10 minutes, fixed the door keys and told us that they were having several problems that morning with the key swipe cards. Whew, what a relief, but to play it safe we hid her in the car when the maintenance guys came and took her with us to the reunion lunch. On the way back to the lodge that evening we imagined a big sign on our door stating, "Don't even try it, we know about the dog, please see the front desk for your luggage!" We are still chuckling about that incident.

Nathan was glad to play in the dirt again!

Miss AnnaBelle was stung by a wasp for the first time not long after this picture was taken.
We cut open a watermelon for them to eat and a wasp that was hanging around her head immediately went for the watermelon she was holding and stung her on the palm of her hand. She screamed and shook her hand. I took her inside to check her reaction. George's side of the family has reactions to bee and wasp stings so I grew concerned but it was short lived. I checked for the stinger, squeezed and didn't see it and then put an ice cube on it and then let a wet tea bag sit there for as long as a 17 month old would allow. She only swelled up a little on her palm and was ready to go back outside for some fun in the sandbox.

I took this picture the evening we returned from vacation. I love the wispy cloud color transformation.

AnnaBelle found her some mountain rocks to play with at the 4-H campground where the reunion was held. It is a wonderful facility for a family function. The kitchen is equipped with every industrial appliance you could think of and outside are bbq pits, a sanded volleyball court, a full size basketball court, several baseball fields with a batting cage, a nine hole golf course, and all kinds of holding pens for livestock. We had around 100 relatives attend and I was named the new historian for the family. It is quite an honor and I hope I can do half as good a job as the past historian, Kathy Ray has done. She has compiled a two volume set of the Parsons History and Record and I am so glad I can rely on her help, because I know I will certainly need it!

Tori Belle brought along her blow up castle and the kids had a really good time playing on it, even in the heat because it was so hot during the day. Nathan's lips are blue stained from drinking berry kool-aid!

This is a view of Germany Valley in the Allegheny Mountain chain of West Virginia. It is loaded with dozens of caves and cave development. It was settled by German families in the late 1700's and then Pennsylvania Dutch and Scots arrived and set up farms in the limestone valleys. During the Civil War it was divided with the Germany Valley sympathizing with the confederates while the Seneca Rocks area (not too far away) sided with the North. It is a beautiful stop on our yearly trip with the elevation reaching 2100 feet.

This is Seneca Rocks and is one of the most popular scenic locations in West Virginia.

Wind Energy is big up this way and there are mixed views on its presence. I find them amazing to come upon and then stand beside. They tower a few hundred feet and dot the mountain side in Tucker County.

This is another picture of Germany Valley.

This was taken at the 4-H Campground the evening we arrived. We were waiting for dinner to be served and decided to take a walk around the place since we had been sitting and riding for quite a while. They slept good that night, but not as good as the night we came home and they were comfortably nestled in their own beds. It's nice to get away but it's even better to come home.

Wrapping up Last Week, Start of a New One

It was a fun-filled week last week. We opened our first watermelon and it was a hit!

AnnaBelle could eat watermelon all day long, but it has to be on the slab. She won't eat pieces that I cut up and put on her plate.

We had a play date with a friend and her two girls here at the farm. It was so hot outside but the kids had such a good time playing together. Nathan fell asleep around 5:30 in the evening.

She came into the room with Nathan's Clark Kent/Peter Parker glasses and I had to snap a picture!

Ahhh yes they get along..........sometimes!

I've been enjoying the Yankee/BoSox series that started last Friday and ends today! Hope to be taking out the broom after today! This series has seen the Yankees win their first game against Boston this season after going 0-8 against them. It has also seen an end to A-Rod's home run drought which was at 72 at bats since he's knocked one out.

And this guy, a common garden spider, scared the wits out of me when I was picking cucumbers earlier in the week. He has a wicked zig-zag web he's made and was nice enough to pose for a pic while I held the camera with trembling hands.

I picked a variety of flowers from our garden and arranged them in a canning jar. We have had some beautiful huge marigolds and colorful zinnias along with a mixed bag of sunflowers. I'm able to have fresh cut flowers every day. I placed this arrangement on the dining room table.

George tilled the garden and pulled up the snap vines so we can plant another row. Nathan loves it when we till the garden. He runs behind George and rolls around in the freshly dug dirt. It's his idea of a slice of heaven!

We spent Friday at Papa's pool. AnnaBelle would jump right in if I let her and she tries to wiggle out of my arms when we are in the water. She doesn't want to be constricted or confined to holding anything. I will have to find a new flotation device for her because her current one "ain't cuttin' it".

Nathan didn't have the courage to jump in on his own so his Aunt Patty gave him a little push and in and under he went and when he submerged he was so mad at her and I. But he held his breath as we discussed all week and never swallowed any water. He cooled off after a while and was back in the pool.