A LITTLE FUN & RUSTON'S PRIDE & JOY

We are going to have a little fun-not just BORING what Lora is doing all of the time-a LITTLE CONTEST! The "GENUINE FOLETTE POTTERY PEACH PIE PLATE" will be the give away-shipped or delivered to your front door by YOURS TRULY(whichever is faster & cheaper). The contest and rules are at the bottom of this post-so you can either fast forward or read all of the other mundane comments first.

This is the Follette's Pottery Store that is one of Ruston's fine artisians. We actually have quite a few! If I have to ship this out, they promised to pack it JUST RIGHT so that it will not break.

I took a little road trip this morning out to the Mitcham's Peach Orchard & Peach Shed. As the crow flies, it is probably only about 3 miles or so from my house, but the trip would be well worth it if I had to crawl on my hands and knees.

When you get to "The Orchard" you find trees such as this laden with WONDERFUL peaches. Now I am not bragging-this is fact-THE BEST PEACHES IN THE SOUTH! Do you remember the pictures I posted around Easter with all of the peach trees in bloom? Well Mother Nature was kind and we had no late frost, and now we have an excellent crop. The trees are being infected with a root rot fungus that they have not found a "legal cure" for, since so many chemicals are now banned. Unless a cure is found, the trees will all be gone within a few years. THAT WILL BE A SAD SAD DAY!

This is the basket of peaches that I bought. Think about biting into the peach and the juice dripping down your arm and face as you savor each and every bite. OH HOW I WISH I could post the smell and taste of this little wonder! The best peaches are yet to come, but the early peaches are still delicious!

They have a "Peach Store" that stands by "The Shed". You can buy all kind of peach delights inside-including DELICIOUS peach ice cream from the Louisiana Tech Dairy.

This is the way you buy your peaches. You walk up to the shed which is filled with the sorting and cleaning equipment and ask the nice ladies there for your choice of purchase. As I stood there waiting, I slowly inhaled the wonderful aroma of those sweet little darlings (THE PEACHES-NOT THE LADIES).

This is "The Crew" or part of it after the day's work has been done hours ago-since it was 9 AM when I took the picture. The man second from the right is the farm owner-Joe Mitcham-PEACH GROWER EXTRAORDINARE!

If you don't live in Ruston-you need to come-JUST TO GET SOME PEACHES!

Now for the contest:

What do you think the total number of miles I RAN & WALKED in 2007 was.

Rules: Give me a number rounded to the nearest tenth.

1. You must guess on the comment section of the blog-you can't just come up to me and give me a number-since the out of town readers will not know that I didn't give you an unfair advantage or give away the number.

2. You have to give me initials or something when you guess-so I can give you the credit.

3. One (1) Uno-guess per person

4. The Closest WITHOUT going over (You know "The Price Is Right" rule.)

5. In the event of a tie-the person that guessed the correct number first will win.

6. The contest will last until Monday, June 16 at 6 PM CST.

I will notify you of the winner and give you my email to send me shipping instructions.

REMEMBER-walking & running-not including biking and I AM NOT SUPERWOMAN!

HOT WIND!

ON THE GARDENING FRONT

Yesterday when I went to visit with The Boersmas, Friend Helen, said she wished she had Zinnias in her flowerbed that is right outside their den window. Helen & Dale are home bound with her nursing him 24 hours a day-7 days a week. A daunting task that she does with great care and love. There is very little I can do to help them, but planting flowers-THAT I CAN DO! I called friend, Sonja-Gardner Extraordinaire and she met me on Dogwood street and we weeded the bed and replanted it with Zinnias and Vinca. It was beautiful when we left and Helen was appreciative.

ON THE WEATHER FRONT

We have a HOT wind blowing and not just a breeze-a full fledged wind that is blowing limbs down and generally making a mess of the yard. The bad thing about the hot wind is that it is drying out all of my plants. MORE WATERING!

ON THE COOKING FRONT

I tried a new recipe tonight. Pork Tacos with Corn-Jicama Salsa & Guacamole
When you go to the grocery store DO NOT ask where the Jick a ma (twang on the end)! It is Hick a mah. The nice produce man was most kind and did not laugh at my gaff. My family takes GREAT delight in my misprounciation of any word. Well to be honest-I am well known for mispronouncing LOTS OF WORDS! HEY-I have a red neck-just check it out when you see me again!



Jicama-all parts of the plant except the root are very poisonous. HUUUMMMM It has texture like an apple and a surprising taste.

Jicama Chopped

Corn-Jicama Salsa

Guacamole (Left the Avocado Chunky)

Finished Product-Fold & Eat. We found it very good. A light and delicious meal-different but good different. I guess it must have been alright since BC ate 4 tacos.

ON THE EXERCISE FRONT

I walked 5 miles this AM with Miss Long Legs Sandra & Miss Fast Foot Fall Jennifer and my tongue was hanging out before we finished. Sandra was on her way to her "Running Class". WHAT A WOMAN!

ON THE HOME IMPROVEMENT FRONT

I finished sealing & tinting the deck today. The deck is on the South side of the house-the wind was blowing out of the South-since I had shorts on- my legs are a beautiful shade of cedar. I also have cedar spotted running shorts. SIGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!

BACK IN THE SWING!

I am normally a pretty neat person. The one thing I cannot seem to do neatly is paint or anything related to painting. I began the process of water proofing and sealing our deck after having it power washed today. The process should be relatively simple. You put the sealer/stain in an ordinary garden sprayer and just spray it on the wood. OK-PEOPLE-I AM USING A SPRAYER-not a paintbrush, so I should be a few feet away from the liquid being applied. Somehow-I STILL managed to get the stuff on my legs & feet. I have noticed when the painters were here-they NEVER have paint on their hands, clothes, face and any other part of their person. I tend to get it on everything-start on the hair and work down. Not sure what is wrong with my technique-but I lack finesse! The good thing is that my feet and lower legs now will repel water and have a nice cedar stain color.
I tried a new recipe from "Cooking Light" tonight and we both thought is was quite tasty. Easy and healthy-What more can you ask. If you would like the recipe-let me know.

When watering tonight, I noticed this Day Lily had opened up. Isn't that beautiful? Last year we had a wet June and I did hardly any watering. This June has proven to be dry already. Not a good sign for things to come.

When I finished my 5 mile run this AM, I told my buddies I would be returning to PA and would be back about October. When it is 76 degrees and 90% humidity at 5:30 AM, it does not make for a fun run! We walked 2 miles after our run to try and cool down. OK-NOW that sounds ridiculous-trying to cool down in the steamy hot air-but you get my drift. We had 9 people show up for our run. A GREAT group!

LOST A DAY!

I lost a day today to"The James Allergies". I suffered with allergies the entire time I was in Erie, but thought it was due to the new pollen from all of the plants that are blooming there. There blooming season is about 2-3 months behind the Louisiana season. Could it be due to the cold weather there? When I got up this morning, I was in "Allergy Misery". Swollen and itching eyes and so congested that I could not breathe through my nose. I began doctoring myself as soon as I got up-eye drops, zyrtec, benedryl, and a clariton. I finally fell into a "Drug Induced" slumber for 3 hours this afternoon. I didn't let the stopped up nose stop me from walking 5 miles with Babs & Sandra. In case you don't know-IT IS HOT IN LA!

Took a little stroll around the yard late this afternoon to check the status of my plants. The miniature gardenias in the back yard are in full bloom as shown above. Both beds are at their peak and will soon begin fading.

The new day lily in the front yard has its first bloom as shown above. I have 3 new day lilies and will enjoy these blooms.

The lantana that I did not jerk up, as shown above has begun to take over the place. It will not be long before I will have to start cutting it back, but for now the butterflies are LOVING IT!

These are Lilies of the Nile or African Lilies. They are probably just past peak, but still beautiful and on both sides of the front bed.

This is the first caladium bulb peaking through the straw. I SO MISSED pine straw in Erie. It just gives your beds such a clean and neat look.

I would not want you to think all is perfect. The above is an example of the weeds that have show their heads in the beds. Tomorrow will bring some weed pulling. We have hit the watering the plants and yard period early this year. It is normally not so dry this early and that is not a good sign of what is to come for the rest of the summer.

It is good to be home-Allergies or not! Thank goodness for anithistamines!

HONEY, I'M HOME!

There TRULY-is no place like home! I was glad to put my feet on Louisiana soil, but when I got off that plane and the 93 degree heat hit me in the face-WELL!

I offered to leave a list for Camille and Adam, but they respectfully declined. I did call Camille today after I FINALLY landed and was driving home, to tell her one more thing to do in the yard. She just laughed and said, "Oh MOM, I can't believe you are still thinking about our yard." One thing about yards-you are never done!

I am making a mental list of things to do as I sit here. Trying to keep BC from knowing I am making said list since he called me on my way home to tell me to NOT come home and start IMMEDIATELY fizzing. What IS he talking about?

Erie is not a lot unlike home. Most people are friendly, there are lots of trees and lush greenery, rural area surrounds the town, there are pot holes in their streets , neighbors are nice and helpful, there is varying political and religious feelings, and the list could go on. Basically while in Erie, I could have been in Louisiana, EXCEPT it was nice and cool and not stifling hot. Of course in the winter there is NO snow and harsh cold here either. Perhaps if I lived in varying parts of the country, I would find that life is the same where ever you live. I should ask the Food Critic-she has lived everywhere!

As I said before-THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

MUCH BETTER!

SOMETIME IT JUST TAKES A LITTLE TWEEK! Note the window is SO CLEAN that you see my reflection. COOOOL!

THE LAST SUPPER

I cooked Camille & Adam their last Mom prepared meal tonight. I used the "Food Critic's" recipe- Orechiette with Sausage, Beans, Spinach, Walnuts and Cream Cheese which we all loved. Easy to prepare, but unfortunately we do not have all of the ingredients at home. Wegman's Grocery in Erie is something else. I would like to come when I was not always on a mission and spend about half a day just pursuing the aisles. We added a salad with Italian greens and Raspberry vinaigrette and a bagette. It was delicious.

Today was spent pulling together loose ends. I fertilized all of the plants that I planted and the above picture shows how the petunias have already started opening up. A good deal of time went into cleaning those last few windows down stairs to complete the Spring cleaning of the downstairs.

As a finishing touch, I redid Camille's door wreath with Spring flowers. The one thing about taking a picture is that you see what you do not like about it. I will be going out to fix just that after this post is finished.

This is a picture of the clean windows and new wreath on the front door. I am leaving very satisfied with what I finished. There were a few things I would have liked to have gotten around to, but alas, there is always next time. I could leave Camille and Adam a list, but I have a good idea where that list would be filed as soon as I stepped on that plane.

The weather has been wonderful and I do regret that I did not run at all while here. Too much to do and too little time and only so much energy to go around. The week has flown by! I don't realize how much I miss my kids until I get to spend some time with them and then it hits me. I will go back to Ruston and get busy and that will help, but for a few days there will be a HUGE hole in my life.