And the Beat Goes On......

I had my 6 month checkup at MCV yesterday. With the kiddies in tow we left early for the capital city in hopes of being seen earlier. But in fact we were seen later.....much later...about an hour later. I came prepared with the ds's, coloring books, snacks and the coupe de grace...balloons to play with when we made it back to the examining room. Dr. S told me what I had already confirmed in my head, my pancreas has stopped producing enzymes. I've had pancreatitis for over 10 years now and the poor thing has finally puttered out. It did give a good fight, though, and the one golden lining in this disease is that my acute attacks that land me in the hospital will not be as frequent, but a constant, dull pain will take it's place. Luckily my meds handle this pain. Since the pancreas is not producing enzymes I will have to take enzyme pills with every snack and meal from now on and watch my blood sugar levels because diabetes will be setting in. I have already noticed symptoms of that, yet I only remain in the pre-diabetic stage right now. Whew....

Wednesday we took the ferry across the river to Busch Gardens. The kiddies are starting to become familiar with the layout now, but we discovered The Land of Dragons near Oktoberfest and spent most of the afternoon there. I have such a deep love for BG having practically spent most of my childhood summers at the park. Some of my older sisters and brothers worked there back in the 70's and 80's so we got alot of free passes and took full advantage of them.

My little man is getting so big and right before my eyes. He can hardly wait to be 44" so he can ride more of the rollercoasters. Each time we go he runs to the measuring booth to see if he has grown any taller in the last week!

Superman paid a visit to the house the other day hair slicked back and all! He has been begging for some hair gel and finally reminded me in Walmart. He told me to make sure and put a curl in the middle. That hair gel is some serious sticky stuff and holds like nobody's business!

The past week has seen record breaking temps in our region with highs over 100 degrees. And in addition we have still not received any measurable rainfall. My poor garden is wilting away. We are going to drain one of the wells tomorrow morning and soak the butterbeans.

You Say Tomato.....Well Me Too!

These are the smallest tomatoes we have ever grown on the farm. It has been a very dry summer and though they are plentiful, sweet and delicious, they're just.......small.

Nathan and AnnaBelle helped me pick them. Nathan did a good job, but AnnaBelle is still learning her colors and LOVES to pick the green ones.

After a quick sit in the hot boiling water they peeled off so easily and were so full of meat they looked like little tangerines.

I decided to just chop them up and place them in freezer bags. We have plenty of freezer space but not much shelf space in our house. My dream kitchen will one day have limitless shelf space along with a big island workspace. Ahhhh one day, folks, one day.

I put up six quarts of tomatoes from about three-quarters of the ones sitting on the table. Some were just too small to boil and deal with so we'll use them on sandwiches and in salads. Oh I can smell the homemade soups George will be making from these tomatoes this fall! Yummy, yum, yum!

Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon.....In the Summertime!

We spent last weekend at the river digging for sharks teeth and fishing. Nathan caught a nice red throat and a beautiful red eye bass. We cooked out on the grill and THEN it started to crowd up. Usually we take the boat but didn't this trip deciding to stick close to the bridge. We dug for some teeth and found a few chips. All of us are looking forward to going again this Sunday.

Wednesday I took the kiddies to Busch Gardens. Geezy peezy it was a hot day. We stopped at the Sesame Street Forest of Fun first and the kids were greeted by these characters. AB gave everyone a hug several times and also high fived them when they went to seek shelter in the cool AC of a store. I can't blame them, can you imagine having to don one of these on a 95 degree July day in Hampton Roads?

Ye old Fest house in Oktoberfest. The food is still great and I was pleased to see mini-pizzas with fries for the kiddies. I let Nathan pick any dessert he wanted, and of course it was the biggest. He and I ate a quarter of it and I let AnnaBelle eat the whipped cream. That thing is HUGE!!!

We are in the middle of a drought in our region. The last significant rainfall of an inch or more was more than a month ago. We have been getting a few days with a quarter inch of rain, but you can see the damage has already been done to the corn crops. Our butterbeans are still making it. We've been able to utilize one of the several wells we have around the farm. We'll haul the hoses down to the garden and it takes about 3 hours to completely cover both gardens. It has to be done by hand because the pump and pressure are not strong enough to use a sprinkler.

Nathan found a great walking stick on our trip to put our mail in the mailbox. It is so incredibly hot today that we are seeking refuge permanently, inside! Tomorrow is the Pork, Pine and Peanut Festival at Chippokes. Think I'll take the gang out there for a while. They have some of the best bbq I have ever tasted and beautiful crafts from local area merchants.

Hot Fun in the Summertime

I was lucky enough to snap this picture while busy in the garden. I had just finished picking snaps when I gazed over at the smaller garden to see Nathan and AnnaBelle picking flowers. She was struggling to pick one when her brother told her he would help her. He picked the prettiest one in the row and handed it to her while she told him, "Tink you, Na Na."

The hummingbirds must be breeding again because they have me filling the feeders three times a day. You can walk out on the deck and be buzzed by at least 4. I have never seen as many as we have had this year. And with cotton planted all around the house they will probably be staying a little longer than usual until their flight back to South America.

George had a low key birthday on the 4th. We grilled brats and bbq chicken and relaxed on the farm. The boys went fishing at a local pond and caught quite a few bass and bream. Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, or can you? Last week's temps were in the high 70's low 80's with no humidity. It was gorgeous weather and we took full advantage of it. Now the temps are record highs with today possibly hitting 103.

What you can't see are her knees which were completely covered in marker. Well, at least she did get more on the paper, or did she? And I was sitting at the computer desk which is right beside this table, totally engrossed in the History ChannelLast night's sunset was spectacular! I especially love the whispy white clouds that are playfully dancing across the sky. Stay cool this week friends!