Short ride...tall roads

So...today we were up with the sun again. More and more green beans to pick, break, and can. I don't think my fingers will ever be the same. We didn't have any run-ins with snakes but we did come across some very strange looking red spiders (made me think of Spider Man) and some fuzzy yellow bugs.
And I'm sure about this now...mosquitoes are from HELL!!

This is a pic of the fun with the beans.

And no, that isn't all of them. I think we've picked and canned over 21 quarts, not to mention what we've ate the past two days. I think my skin is turning green. And if we get a good rain soon (*doing the rain dance*) we will have a ton more. We really do need rain here.

After we finished the beans, me, Mick, and J went on a ride to Tallulah Gorge. Its not too far from the house and we were scouting out places for the fourth of July celebration that Mick wants to have. The place we checked out didn't have what he was looking for. Swimming and a grill. I don't remember the name of the place but this was the only decent shot I got.

We stopped at the scenic overlook after we left the park. Interesting facts...well, not really...but Tallulah (Falls) Gorge is where Deliverance was filmed and Demi Moore named one of her daughters after it (the falls not the movie).
J and I have stopped at this place before but this was the first time I had actually brought my digital camera. I usually carry around my Canon Rebel but today I had my Sony Cybershot.

It really looked like a long and painful fall from where we were standing. J actually surprised me by saying, "I wish we had some parachutes so we could base jump like that guy on Nitro Circus." For a moment I thought she was reading my mind but she actually seemed interested in doing something like that. I guess I'm FINALLY influencing the adrenaline junkie in her! It only took a little over eight years.

Its a beautiful place. Somewhere down below there is supposed to be a suspension bridge that crosses the gorge. J talked about a company that does hang gliding tours through it. Both sound pretty cool to me. Even though, I'd rather do the base jump...lol.

The zoom on this camera kicks ass.

Other than these few shots, there wasn't much else to see. The trees are thick and hide much of the view. Maybe I'll go back in the winter and take some more pics.

Oh...one more pic. This was actually taken on the way there. This Florida girl is used to the flat land. So when I looked out the front window...my first thought was, "Where the fuck is the road!"

The first time I ever saw a mountain was when I was 19. It was also the first time I had ever seen snow and the first time I was ever out of the state of Florida. Its overwhelming at first sight, or at least it was for me. Hell, J freaked the first time I ever drove her out across Alligator Alley in South Florida. She said the scenery - swamp, rivers of sawgrass, and pretty much nothing else - made her feel dizzy. That's about the same way I felt the first time I drove up a mountain.

Farmer Jo!

This farmer shit is educational.
We woke up with the sun and headed out to the garden. I learned that very young briars feel like fiberglass when you accidentally pull on them since they are tangled in the beans. I learned the difference between a garden snake and a king snake and a copper head. I learned that Granny's dog, Skip, looks like a garden monster when he walks up behind you and you only catch a glimpse of him. I learned that corn stalks are kind of fragile and are freaky when the long leaves rub across your ear. I learned that mosquitoes are gonna bite you no matter how much repellent you use. And I learned that picking a five gallon bucket of green beans isn't as easy as it sounds.

Next on the learning list is stringing and snapping (or maybe its breaking?) and then we get to can.

It sucks that I won't be up here when the corn is ready to pick.

Don't tell my mom but fried squash is pretty damn good. And fried cabbage too. The only vegetable she ever got me to eat was green beans.

We have some really nice tomatoes coming in. Onions are doing great. The jalapenos grew nicely. We even have green peppers that will be ready shortly. Soon we will have more cabbage, squash and a ton of potatoes. Deer ate the brussel sprouts and some of the cucumbers.

Speaking of deer...we were chatting with J's Uncle Rob about the young deer we saw at the end of the driveway and he joked that we should have shot it so we would have so meat to go with our green beans. I had to say it...really I did. "Hey, hey. You are talking to a city girl here. All deer are like Bambi and will not be shot."
Besides that, I am an animal lover. Why else would I have two dogs and a cat (since I'm so damn allergic to them)?

As the color comes back to the world

I couldn't sleep at all last night. Even after J's "help" I was still restless. I kept waking up every two hours with weird dreams. One of strangers and ice cream cake and another with all my nieces playing hide and go seek. I'm still stumped on how Ella, the two year old monster, got up in the linen closet by herself.

Finally, at 10:30am, I gave up. Hopefully, tonight I will sleep better. (I know 10:30 seems late but I didn't get to sleep until somewhere around 6am.)

It truly looks like spring around here now. I swear all the trees grew leaves overnight. J said the same thing. We can no longer see any of the neighbors houses and J warned me not to walk out in the woods alone. (I tend to get lost...but I always find my way back. It just takes a while.)

We have three gardens growing. One has onions, potatoes, and brussels sprouts. The one up on the hillside has more onions, green beans, bell peppers, jalapenos, cabbage, lettuce, and corn. And the one at Granny's has carrots, corn, green beans, and some other stuff that I can't remember. Mick says he has to plow again before we can plant the tomatoes. This is all new to me. I can tell you this...they really like the green beans around here but they have to be white runners or something because there was a huge discussion about where to buy the right ones. I'm talking...family meeting on which ones were the right ones.

My writing muse has been on fire. I'm talking inferno fire. This is great because I was starting to go stir crazy again. Words have been spilling out of me like a broken faucet and I've written two chapters in the last two nights.

I read a good book...twice. When I get some extra time I'll write a little something about it.

I think I hear my muse calling...

Tah Dah!

Adjusting is coming along. But boredom is a major obstacle.
J and her dad started a garden. I've helped plant onions, brussel sprouts, and potatoes so far. From what I have been told, we will be growing corn, tomatoes, and green beans too but its not time to plant them yet. I'm obviously clueless about all this and they make sure to pick on me about it whenever they can.

Yesterday, I was educated (the hard way) on briar's. We have two dogs. An 80 pound pit bull named Aspen and a 20 pound mutt named Brody. We took them out for a walk and decided to just let them run around freely. Big mistake. Aspen took off up the mountain and Brody, her little follower, went after her. I ran up the path they took and was attacked by these briar's. I look like Freddy Kruger's plaything. Brody came back when we called her but Aspen, the most stubborn dog I've ever owned, made me look for her. Of course, these briar's are everywhere. It wasn't fun.

There's not much for work around these parts. I'm not desperate to find a job, just bored really. I've been writing a lot and I'm about to start working on my art stuff again, but still, I'd like a little something to get me out of the house every now and then.
So I talked with J's brother, Rock. I used to do tattoo work many years ago. Mostly my friends, really. But its something that still interests me. So, Rock offered to call one of his friends that owns one of the tattoo shops in town. The guy told me that if I get a portfolio together of work I've done and a few of my sketches gathered up, he'd take a look at me. If he likes my stuff, he'll give me a sort of apprenticeship at his shop. What could be better than a job I know I will love? Okay, besides winning the lottery. Ha!

Since I read a lot and I mean A LOT, I was thinking that I would mention my favorite books in this blog. Like a review sort of thing. I'll showcase them on the left side in the Amazon box and if anyone who reads this likes my review, they can buy it from there.

And that's all folks!