The Chestnut Hillbillies

Aunt Bethany knows how to throw a party! It was a wonderful evening with Family! Thanks Aunt Bethany!(Uncle Brett too!)

I live 45 minutes from this! Love it!

Here are a few new Pics.......It's coming along.

There's no better place to find fresh tomatoes than the Amish country....Cuz'n Christi stops by a Farm stand to buy some fresh tomatoes! It's the summer thing to do!

Well, in our case it's Baa Baa Little Goats! Harold and Maude needed a trim. Cuz'n Christi and I did a little "Sheep Shearing 101" We are not professionals and our shears were just not working -so, we got out our scissors and got to clipping. After clipping Maude , I noticed that she had lice.......................gross! After getting them clipped, I shared the information with Cuz'n Christi-Whoooooo Hoooooooooo-We went in and scrubbed and washed and then scrubbed and washed some more-praying that we didn't get lice too! (We didn't , Thank God) But , we've been itching every since

Kids! Those cute little minatures-Nasty , rotten, carrier monkey's -You know they are! Spreading germs everywhere they turn. Jackson started Kindergarten this year . We had a great summer-no colds, running noses, no puking ,just a good ole summer-The kind you want to have. School started with a bang! Jackson was having fun and although he proclaimed on the 5th day..."I'm not learning anything at this school" I knew he wasn't telling the complete truth. Burst of information began to come out of him. He would say "Did you know that 2 + 2 = 4 and 4+4=8 and do you know what 1/2 of 8 is ?" And, last night, it happened -The 3rd week of school-Sore Throat, Stuffy Nose and we were up all night watching Scooby Doo and Blowing the Nose! Kids!!!!!!

I love my Cuz'n Christi-She is Fun! Always up for anything that you want to get into-I really like that about her. This has been a tough visit for my Cuz-Most of our time has been spent in Dentist offices(yes, that's plural) 2 Root canels later and we are back in action! Tonight we rescued "Turk" from the Chestnut Hill Hospital!

Here she is -The latest "Matthew Project"- He is converting an old Barn into our new living space. Our other Mountian House sold in a snap so, we had to move on with our "Plan B"-We bought another piece of property around the corner and down a dirt road- 18 Acres and the biggest barn/arena I've ever seen. Huge-like you could have a skating rink inside or a football field-Huge.

Matthew bought me a cow awhile back and I named him T-Bone! He paid $28.00 for him and we kept him in the barn and all of the neighborhood kids got to bottle feed him and play with him til he just got to big for our barn! well, I guess the day he took off thru the neighborhood and Matthew couldn't catch him was the day that we decided that he needed to go! So, I asked My Amish Boyfriend - Aaron- if he could come and live with him! T-Bone was delivered and he has been at Arron's every since-getting "fattened Up" for the fall! Today , we went for a visit! "T" was happy to see us and Arron invited us over for T-bones in a few weeks! Rule #1- I don't eat my pets-never ever not ever! So, we'll be going to have a nice chicken dinner with Aaron and his family real soon.

You never know what each day will bring and especially if you live at my house! Today - At "the crack of dawn" Matthew got us all up and we loaded ourselves into "The woody" and headed out to the Amish Country to "The minature Horse and Donkey Auction".......I have no words -but, Pictures to tell the story. The END of the story is that we came home with a Pony and a buggy and the kids in the neighborhood are smiling! What a Day!

We planted a small Garden out in the back yard-Mostly so the kids in the neighborhood could see how things grow-That's important. Today ,We picked our 1st Carrots and Jackson and I got busy making " Carol Ann Waltman's " very famous Carrot Cake! (Only famous if you grew up on Union Avenue in Bogalusa , Louisiana) It's easy and this "Made from Scratch" Goodie is one you'll want to tuck away in your recipe book. Great for when your fresh carrots are ready! Here's the 1-2-3 of it.. Carol Ann Waltman's Carrot Cake 2 C. Sugar 1 1/2 C. oil 2 C. grated fresh from your garden Carrots (just kidding , any carrots will do) 2 C. Self rising Flour 1 1/2 C. chopped pecans 4 Eggs Fresh from your hen house (got ya again!) Cream Sugar, Oil together -then add eggs 1 at a time. beat well. Mix in flour slowly and add carrots , vanilla and nuts. Pour in 4 round cake pans and bake at 325* until done. Icing 3/4 stick butter 1 box powdered sugar 1 8oz cream cheese C...

My Mom always grew things and I'm sure that's where I get my green thumb!! Ha, who am I kidding - I don't have a green thumb. What I do have is a great pile of Poop, Horse and Rabbit Poop and it must me really good stuff. My Garden looks amazing and although it's not really Organic I have used no pesticides or any other funky things and I don't have bug problem. The only thing that is causing me problems is a baby ground hog. He is eating my squash and if I can catch him, I'm gonna kill him.

"Rain , rain go away Wendy and Jackson want go out to play!" We are not letting a little rain stop up us from having a great rainy summer day- Little boys are just amazing, Fun in every situation. I love being a Mom.