The Fighting Okra

The Bouldin/Clardy family garden had an interesting rookie year; some items were quite bountiful, while some had a dismal showing, to say the least. Thankfully one of our more fruitful ventures was one of my all-time favorites: okra!!
I knew from the beginning that if our okra did well, I wanted to make hot pickled okra. And I knew I would need my mother's help in doing so. She was very gracious with her time and knowledge, and walked me through my first canning experience.

We used a combination of two recipes, adding in what we had available, and substituting for things we didn't. Our garden was over-run with cayenne peppers, so we added a few of those in each jar. Some jars we used dill weed, and some we left with just garlic, cayenne peppers, and/or jalapeno peppers. 

We had to wait 5 weeks to taste the fruits of our labor; definitely a lesson in delayed gratification. But last week Mom and I were able to open and taste the slimy little veggies...and they were delicious!!! A tad tangy, full of flavor, and with a good deal of heat, although I wouldn't mind if they were a little spicier. I will probably add more jalapenos to a few jars next time.
Oh and this blog post title? Just a little tribute to my affinity for Delta State University, home of the ''Fighting Okra". Not kidding.

Make new friends but keep the old

My new niece is pretty neat.
At first she looked like a little mini-me of her sister.

But now she is developing into her own little person......and she is so precious.

But I sure do have a soft spot for niece number one. Cause you know...her little personality is really starting to come out...and I think she is about as normal as I am.

 I just love her.
And her little sister.

Settled

I'm so excited to be blogging right now. My brain is continually swirling with creative juices and things to talk about and share, and it's been weeks since I'd had time to do anything about it.
The hubby and I have been quite the nomadic couple for the last few months; making me uber pumped about being at home right now.
Take a look at how many weekends we spent away from home this summer:
May 1 -- Knoxville; wedding
May 7  -- McMinnville; Mother's Day
May 14 -- Home; Jamo's finals
May 21-- McMinnville
May 28 -- McMinnville
June 4 -- McMinnville
June 11 -- McMinnville
June 18 -- McMinnville; home for half of Saturday
June 25 -- Home
July 2 -- McMinnville
July 10 -- Home...but threw a baby shower/cookout, so it wasn't very relaxing
July 16 -- McMinnville
July 24-28 -- Florida with the Bouldins
Aug 6 -- Em to Knoxville for baby shower
Aug 13 -- J to Atlanta for bachelor party
Aug 20 -- Em and J to Knoxville
Aug 27 -- Home, but helped host the Clardy Party
Sept 1-5 -- Charleston, SC for a wedding
Sept 10 -- Knoxville
Sept 17 -- Gainesville, FL

Sept 24 - HOME!!!!

Jamo and I should probably prepare ourselves for more busy summers like this in the future. Since our families live in different cities, no matter which town we end up calling home, we will always have to travel to visit the other family. And I'm sure once winter gets here and we begin hibernating, I'll be longing for an exciting weekend away from home. But for now we're as happy as pigs in mud!!

Here is what we've accomplished in the last 20 hours: (the hubby and I are a great team!)
Lawn care for both houses (mow and weed-eat), Mazatlan dinner (first time in 6 weeks), slept in till 9 a.m. (amazing), all laundry cleaned and put away,  washed the car, dusted living room furniture,vacuumed all floors, mopped the kitchen, cleaned bathroom cabinet (much needed), ran errands in town, and cooked and ate brunch (pancakes, sausage, and eggs).
Now we are settled in for an afternoon of college football, blogging, Volquesting, maybe napping, hopefully crafting, cooking, facebooking, and a dinner of steaks, potatoes, and fried okra.
OH, and I got the latest Southern Living magazine in the mail today.   I'm so happy I could cry.

Birthdays

I love birthdays. Love them. At the beginning of the year, I'd hoped to blog about every one's birthday; but time became scarce and forgetfulness rampant, so my plan didn't come to fruition.

However, in my family's normal fashion, I photographed every birthday festivity. I don't know how your family celebrates birthdays, but our festivities are steeped in tradition; simple and common maybe, but we do the same thing every time. And I love it.
We eat dinner, usually a meal of the birthday person's choice including their favorite cake, sing Happy Birthday, blow out candles, take pictures of the candles being blow out, and then open presents. I can't count the number of times I've heard my Mother say, "WAIT!, don't blow them out yet...I have to get my camera!" Happens every time, almost as if her forgetfulness is part of the tradition.
A few years back I organized years worth of our family photos into photo albums for my Mother. There were many pictures that weren't labeled or dated, but I could always depend on birthday photos to tell which year it was by counting the number of candles on the cake.
Following in my Mother's footsteps, here are the photos I captured from this summer's birthdays. A few of the pictures are from my Mom's camera.

Sadie.  May 10, 2011

Everybody gets Thank You hugs

Laura.  May 29, 2011

You can't tell, but Sadie is singing her little heart out.

Jesse.   June 20, 2011

Gary's creative "Dump cake" for Jesse. It's a camp-site favorite.

Our make-shift '22'

Supervising.

Singing.

Yum!

Robert.  June 28, 2011

We steered away from tradition a little for Robert's birthday. You see Robert was on a diet, a very strict no-carb-ish diet, and requested to not have a cake. His self-control is impressive. But it wouldn't be a birthday if we didn't sing and blow out candles, so we decided to make Robert hold his candles.
It worked perfectly.

Singing.

Sadie loved it.

My mom and I are like paparazzi.....to each other.

The Bouldin's celebrated Justin and Nana's birthday together. Justin's is July 3rd and Nana's is July 5th. I wasn't quick enough with my camera, and only caught a few shots. I should have channeled my mother and halted the birthday celebration until my camera was aimed and ready. Oh well.

Happy Birthday everyone!!

I'm still here!!

AAhhhh blogging............ I've missed you!!
As I expected, this summer has been quite busy for the hubby and I. It's been a wonderful summer, but very, very busy.
I've taken a ton of pictures and can't wait to catalog what we've been up to this summer. But since my computer moves at the speed of snails, it's going to take me a while to sit down and upload two months worth of pictures.
But stayed tuned...cause I have a lot to share!