Stocks of Tobacco Drying

 Today's another Friday Favorite Fotos: 

This one is from October 2018. Shirley and I were traveling along I-8I I believe it was, going from Virginia to Alabama to visit my son. I've seen a few tobacco fields but smoking was losing it's hold on people to a great extent in more recent years and I wouldn't see as many. On first sight we didn't know what we were seeing but soon discovered that it was tobacco drying out in the field stacked like a bunch of teepees. Of course, we had to have a picture of it. 

Years and years back, when my kids (who by the way are grandparents now so it was awhile) were young and their Dad, Elbert, was a sailor and we moved around alot, we'd stop in Tennessee on many of our trips to visit my husband's sister and her family. We often stopped by to see her husband's dad and mom,too. His Dad grew tobacco and I remember one time we stopped and found him out in the tobacco field planting his tobacco plants. Elbert just grabbed a bunch of seedlings and helped Mr. Hinkle get them all in the ground. Here is a picture I got from my niece of her Dad plowing their horse/mule.  

Have you ever worked in a tobacco field? Maybe picking tobacco worms off the plants, or planting plants or even maybe seen a field of tobacco growing? 

It was a thrill for me to see those shocks of golden leaves spread out all over the ground back in 2018 for it brought back lots of memories for me. 

Living Alone and Loving It

 

Mercy Me!

I opened my eyes this morning and through a blur I tried to focus on the digital clock nearby. Surely that couldn't be right but it was! 

It was 10 o'clock. 

Living alone is something some people hate, others relish it and you might say that I am one of the relishers. I've never minded being alone. There are times when I'd much rather have my own company than that of some people I know. And, goodness knows, I've spent many, many years giving to others,  being there for them and now I guess you might say that I am selfish. I 'relish' those times when I can do pretty much darn well what I please. It's freeing. it's exhilarating. 

So, how does a person live alone and enjoy it! 

1. You can do whatever you like. You are the boss, the CEO of your kingdom.

2. You don't have to do dishes every day. The sink holds quite a collection until you run out of clean silverware.

3. You can eat whatever you want, when you want. Or not. 

4. Bedtime doesn't have to be when someone else says they are sleepy. Heck, you can go to bed at six if you want to, or stay up all night long. Have an all night party, one invited.

5. If you don't want to get dressed, you can wear your jammies all day

6. You can watch whatever you wish on tv. I wouldn't suggest scary  movies... remember you are alone, the boogie man might get you.

7. If you want a pet, fine. If you want 10 pets that's alright but just be sure they don't wander over to the neighbors house. They might not be into pets like you are.

8. Who said you have to make your bed every morning?  It's a waste of time.. you are just going to crawl back under those covers in another few hours anyway. Use that time to do something fun.

9. There's no one who disagrees with your decisions, your politics, your religion. So, no arguments.

10. Enjoy YOUR life. You deserve it. 

Michael Stacked a Peck of Peppers

 It's Friday Favorite Foto Day!!

Today I chose a picture that is interesting in the fact that it doesn't look real. Like, I mean, how do you stack peppers. Peter Piper picked peppers but I don't believe I ever heard of him stacking them. 

But, leave it to my son who is quite the gardener. He takes after his Daddy who loved to plant and harvest. I don't know which was best at it but I sort of would lean in Michael's direction, not his Dads. 

Michael has been square-foot gardening for some years now and every year has quite a bounty to feast from. Here he is with his sister, Shirley, inspecting his veggies. 

I was visiting and he'd gone out to gather the peppers,

 

he came back on the patio and proceeded to stack three on the patio table. 

I love the different reds and greens in his display. 

Fall, a time of Joy

 Fall, to me, is a time of joy mixed with a tinge of sadness. I think the sadness comes because of the passage of time. To me that is important for I am on the downhill slide of life and I guess I want to hang onto it for as long as I can.

But...that time of joy. The heat dissipating, the changing colors, things and people in a flurry preparing for a winter which lies ahead. That all is a cause of joy. And, the birds that fly overhead in search of a warmer winter, the butterflies that take a long sip of nectar from flowers now in their passing days. It seems to be a time of preparation and also a time for reflection. I gather my 'nuggets' and store them away. those nuts of happy memories so that I might drag them out and live them again on a cold snowy day. 

Each day is filled with new discoveries and yesterday I witnessed something I had not seen on my balcony before. A Cloudless Sulphur butterfly happily sipping nectar from the last of the lantana blossoms. I got so close and watched it in awe. That memory was one of those nuggets that I definitely will pull out when I am wrapped in a warm blanket watching the winter encase us all. 

Some Missions Accomplished

 I finally found my storage box with my Fall decorations in it!! 

I don't have much. It doesn't take much these days to keep me happy. I don't need every inch of my apartment cluttered with stuff... anyway, I did a couple things. 

This is my table decoration. Yes, I know .... it's not time for the pilgrims yet but she is holding a pumpkin so I guess that counts, right? 

I made this little fall arrangement and set it atop my jewelry cabinet

There's a couple of things sitting here and there but I didn't take pictures of them. 

And, on to other stuff

I stayed awake a lot last night. I am not like most authors who plan out their books, have a notebook filled with ideas of how it will go, know the plot from beginning to end. Most of my chapters are thought out in the middle of the night, one by one. I let my inner voice take me on this writing journey. 

Well, last night I started thinking about the next chapter and hours later I had every chapter written in my head . 

I like the direction it is taking and I am quite excited to move along and get it done. But, I am not telling... not one hint. Sorry, you'll have to wait 'til it's published. 

We got little effects from the Hurricane whatever his name was that hit the coast. By the time it got to us it was just rain and not a great deal of that either. Sure feel for those closer to the coast, though. My son in north alabama wasn't hit bad either. 

I made some new snacks for my football watching on Saturday. It was Pepper Jelly Pinwheels. 

The tortillas worked fine and BTW I used 2 instead of one and it worked great. But, I wonder how they would be using crescent rolls instead of the tortillas. 

Guess that's all for this Monday Morning. Hope you have a wonderful week. 

'Tis Apple Picking Time

 Recently I was bemoaning the fact that I felt a need to perk my blog up a bit. So, I have decided to make Favorite Friday Fotos. Today happens to be Friday so I am off and running with my new idea. I wonder how long this one will last. I do tend to try new things way too much. At least, that's what my daughter says. 

                      This is my favorite photo of that day!

In October 2011, after my husband had passed away in January of that year me, Shirley, her hubby John, her daughter Brittany and Brittany's little one, Dylan drove over to the Charlottesville area of Virginia to explore Carter's Mountain. 

It was a great trip but I was so sad at the number of apples that had fallen off the trees and were just lying there rotting. I wanted to pick them up (bees and all) and bring them home to save what I could.

 They have yummy apple cider doughnuts!! 

and tons of apples to buy

And, the wee one had fun discovering his first patch of pumpkins.