gerber daisy

I have had most of my grandmother's plants now for about a year... and most of them are doing ok. I had to let the fuschia go, but I took some cuttings and have been successful (so far) in getting them to grow. I'm just loving the gerber daisy, though... the flowers are so beautiful! I'm not sure it's supposed to last over winter, but it died back last winter and came back this spring, so maybe I can do it again this year.

Constitution Day

So, I missed posting on Constitution Day (September 17)... but it's never too late to appreciate and study the Constitution. You can get a free "pocket" copy of the Constitution here, or you can reread it online here. Do your part... be knowledgeable about your governement, rather than letting crackheads run it for you! Take an active role... vote, write your senators and congressmen... and don't forget the state guys, too! You can go here to find your representatives. You don't have to wait until the next Constitution Day to do something... you can do something every day. Just make sure you do something! Afterall, it's your government.

missing cake!

Yeah, yeah... I pulled a stupee and forgot to take a picture of the cake I made this weekend. So, I took a picture of what remains. With a little imagination and explanation, you'll get the picture (haha, pun intended)!

The cake was in the shape of the US, with the southeast corner in white, decorated with the Gamecock "Block C", the Kentucky "UK", and the Auburn "AU." The rest of the cake was green with white, labeled yard lines. I was lambasted for not putting hash marks on the cake... but I was proud of a fellow bandgeek for pointing out my mistake. =) The selection of SEC teams came from the people present at a football gathering last weekend. Again, sorry for an incomplete picture!

latest canning experience

So, here are those Cinnamon Cucumber Rings I mentioned in a previous post. I've tasted them, and they are ok... they do taste like a cinnamon apple ring. They are crisp, and sweet! I can't eat a whole one by itself... I'm going to see if people will actually try them at Thanksgiving. I had another run of these in large cucumbers, but they are so time consuming, I just didn't take the time to do another one this year. Maybe next year, when I'm finished with school!!

anniversary pictures!

The first place we visited:

This monument houses a log cabin that was originally believed to be Lincoln's birthplace...

...but sometime after the cabin was rebuilt inside the monument, it was discovered that Lincoln was not apparently born here. It is indicative of the type and size of cabin Lincoln was born in, though.

Next, we went to:

The cabin you see in the background is about all there is to see there. Next...

... the Maker's Mark Distillery!

Alpine and I dipped our own bottles, and we think our bottles turned out the best of everyone there that day! Alpine got a huge run...

... while mine wasn't as huge, but was equally as good.

Then, it was on to...

Here is the difference in the two warehouses... the Maker's warehouses are dark brown (they appear black), while the Beam warehouses are white-ish. They say that the mold that grows on the bottom of the warehouses is a sign of the right conditions for the aging of their whisky.

I believe that each one of these barrels holds around 53 gallons of bourbon, and each warehouse holds around 20,000 barrels... mmmmm!

Our next stop was the Kentucky Capitol Building. It was HUGE and magnificent:

The House and Senate were located at the top of their own grand set of stairs...

Senate

House

Kentucky Supreme Court Chambers

On the way out of Frankfort, we saw:

And this is the original Capitol Building. I guess this is why they made the new one so HUGE!

And lastly, we saw the infamous Wolf Creek Dam, which very well might burst at any minute. They say that it would flood parts of Nashville if it were to go... and the people just down-stream of the dam would be up shit creek, so to speak.

anniversary trip

(No pun intended...I know, that was bad!)

I'm not posting pictures yet, but wanted to get a "kudos" out there to Alpine sooner rather than later. While we were touring the Jim Beam Distillery, another visitor from Texas stepped awkwardly off the sidewalk and twisted (and possibly broke) her ankle. Alpine came over and assisted the distillery staff in assessing and tending to her ankle. The staff was so impressed that he would assist this lady - someone that he didn't know - as much as he did, they gave him a discount whatever he bought in the gift store. If there's no other reason to buy Jim Beam products, this is a good one. They were sincerely appreciative and repeatedly told us how appreciative they were. Nice people... and you don't have to buy the bourbon - they have an absolutely wonderful candle that is just right for the upcoming fall and winter seasons. It's apparently not on their online website, but you can call and order it, and they'll ship it to you. It's well worth it!

remembering 9/11

I have so much I should be doing, but can't seem to peel myself away from the television... much in the same way most of America was glued to the television seven years ago. As much as I don't really want to watch it again, I also don't want to forget. None of us should. We should always remember that day... the extreme sadness, fear, anger, disbelief, patriotism... not only to honor those who are no longer with us, but also to learn from what happened. Be alert and aware of your surroundings. Always have a plan. Take care of others in need, but be responsible for yourself. Be as prepared as possible. For anything. For everything. It's easy to say, "Ah, I'm just going to (where ever)... nothing bad is going to happen." Yeah - those people that worked in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and those who got on a freakin' airplance that morning, never would have thought anything would happen. Never let your passion disappear... if that happens, you're in big trouble. Add to this whatever you see fit... just don't curl up in the fetal position and do nothing. You know the saying... fool me once... it is the responsibility of all of us to make sure that America is not fooled again.

10th Anniversary!

I got a beautiful deliver today at work... in honor of my 10th wedding anniversary! We're going on a trip this weekend... nothing major, but it will be fun, for sure. We're going to see the Lincoln Birthplace, the Maker's Mark and Jim Beam Distilleries, and the Capitol Building. It'll be nice to get away for a couple of days and see some new places!

american chestnut update

Out of 10 seeds, I had 5 sprout... only 4 of those grew into "seedings." Of those 4, we planted the two best ones out in a field... what you see is a tree shelter staked to the ground. The cows trampled them pretty quickly and ate the leaves on one tree, but I think the trees are still ok. We restaked and put wood around them to try and keep the cows away from them. So far, it's working! We'll hope that these two survive.




The last two I will plant in pots this weekend. They aren't very big, so I hope (thanks to the suggestion of HODAR) this will help them grow stronger before we plant them in the ground.

more canning

This...

...turns into this, with a little work. (Except that the beans don't miraculously come from tomatoes! Those were grown separately.)

That's probably the last of my beans, but I hope I've got more tomatoes coming before the season's through. More later!

scenes of the season

Hay time... for some reason, a field that has just been mowed and baled is just beautiful to me. See for yourself:

Another beautiful sunset, as seen out my front door:

Alpine got this "kite" from Duluth Trading Co, and it actually flew! I have to say, it's probably the first kite I've even successfully flown. And I never thought that kite-flying was fun!

Now, the next three pictures are nearly identical, just with a different tone. Which one do you like best: color, sepia, or black and white?

Last, but certainly not least, my dogs:

There is no scene to go with this story, but as everyone who hasn't been living under a rock knows, Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf Coast yesterday. Believe it or not, we must have gotten a little portion of that hurricane here in Kentucky! Before you tell me that I'm crazy, let me explain: Generally speaking, weather comes from the west, right? Sure, sometimes warm storms will come from the southwest, and sometimes the cooler storms come from the north. But how often does weather come from the east? That's contrary to the natural flow of things, right? Well, I witnessed with my own eyes (as did Alpine) a nice storm that blew in directly from the east! We heard thunder, saw sunshine towards the west, went outside and saw the low clouds and rain approaching from the east. There wasn't a whole lot of wind, but there was a decent amount. No hurricane forces, by any means, but that had to be the outtermost edges of Gustav. Whodathunkit?!?

my latest cake

The blur on the helmet is supposed to be a bulldog. Yeah, I know... it sucks. I swear it looked better on paper! The cake itself was colored blue... the first time I've colored cake batter! I'll add that picture once I get it.

Go Cocks!

I'm a little late, but we celebrated the 2008 college football season with our own quiet little party! My brother-in-law gave me this chip dish for Christmas last year, and this has been the first time I've been able to use it. Isn't it beautiful?!? The Cocks rewarded our excitement with a win over NC State: 34 - 0! We play at Vandy this Thursday night... once again, on ESPN. Go Cocks!

Some friends, family and I are playing the ESPN College Pickem game. After the first week, my dad and I are tied for 1st! I got lucky, but I generally don't care - it's fun to play, and it's fun to talk about with those who are playing. I'm sure I'll post how well (or poorly) I do each week, so you'll share in my excitement. If you want to play, let me know!

garden update

I canned those Bread and Butter pickles I talked about, and I've started the process for the cinnamon cucumber pickles. I've got 5 pints of beans canning as we speak, will probably have enough over-ripe cukes for more cinnamon cucumber pickles, and I have a watermelon to dry. Oh yeah, and my tomatoes are coming in... I'm not sure I have enough to can, but they've got to be canned anyway! Things are slowing down... pumpkins will be next, and with any luck, some of our watermelons will actually be edible. Then we'll harvest the popcorn and sunflower seeds, and that'll be about it.

I'm getting a chest freezer at the end of the week. My freezer is jam-packed, and I'll need some more space for my pumpkins, when they're ready. Muchless anything else I might buy that needs to be frozen! Garden season is winding down, but there is still much to be done. Not to mention, we'll need to break up the ground again before winter comes, and whatever else we can do to make next spring easier. I'd love to have more of most everything, but I'm not sure that's very manageable. We'll see.