Turnips

I was ready to make my garlic cheese ball for my post this morning and realized Camo Man only grabbed one cream cheese at the grocery...so you know where I am heading to this mornin.

 Would ya like to see what I picked at the 

 'Little House In The Big Woods' this weekend?

Camo Man planted a grass mixture for the deer by the house...

to my surprise there were turnips..

Nice turnips. 

 Guess we have picky deer!

They came in the field to eat, but left the turnips.

 (We also had a over abundance of acorns in the backwoods.)

 I could not let them go to waste. 

 We picked them and gave them away to friends and family.

Did you have a relaxing weekend?

Also you still have time to visit Susie and enter to win one of my shoe totes in my shop. 

 Thank you to everyone who has stopped in and made a purchase or wished me well.

New Years Wealth & Health With Cabbage and Blackeyed Peas

 New Year's Day is not complete in the South

without a big ole plate of

smothered cabbage and black eyed peas.

 Southern tradition is that eating cabbage brings you a year of wealth and the black eyed peas are supposed to bring you a year of health. 

Can't beat a wonderful year of HEALTH and WEALTH

Well I don't know about the coming year,

 but I know that it for sure gave me a week of gas...LOL

 This is our little raised bed garden. 

The cabbage really did well this season.

 Can you see our little strawberry plants?

YIKES...  walked around to pick the biggest cabbage..looks like that little bunny we have been seeing wanted to get a little wealth for the new year.

    Beautiful cauliflower ..yummy fresh

Camo Man has a wonderful way to fix cabbage with Italian bread crumbs and Italian dressing, but I will have to watch him make it and  write it down for you, because he just throws things in the pot.
 But here is another wonderful way to fix your cabbage. 

SMOTHERED CABBAGE

Ingredients
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped ham chunks
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large head cabbage, cleaned and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup water
Salt, Slap Ya Momma, and black pepper to taste

Steps
In a large heavy pot, cook the onions and ham in the vegetable oil over medium heat until onions are wilted, about five minutes. Add the cabbage, water, salt, cayenne and black pepper. Cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes or until the cabbage is soft and tender. Yield: 6 servings.

So pretty on the counter almost hated to cook it.

Does your family have a New Year's Tradition?

Revitalized Roses

Take a look at what a few days of cooler

temps did for my roses...

These are the Knock Out variety.

My favorite is the little cluster of red roses climbing along the fence, not sure of the name of those.

What a happy way to say...'Good Morning Monday',

A VIEW FROM THE WINDOW

Happy Monday... As I sat talking to my dad on the phone..

(He was actually asking why I have not blogged in a week.) 

I glanced out the window and saw this oh so

tiny humming bird down in my lantana.

I thought he surely will not be there

when I return with the camera...

What an unexpected moment.

Anyone who owns a camera just loves these moments.

I managed to sit on the floor in front of the window ... 

change the lens and snap this hungry little guy,

 all while still talking to my dad.

Dad had no clue what I was doing...

So dad this blog post is for you!

Of course... when the conversation came to a point that I asked him to please let me call him back ... the little bird was finished and gone in a wink.

Try to take a moment each day and smile at the unexpected happy moments this week...

It maybe as simple as talking to your dad

or looking out the window. 

Directory to Your Local Farmers Market

This week is Farmers Market Week

Do you have a local Farmers Market? 

 Not sure if you even have one in your area?

Visit the Farmers Market Directory  to locate the one nearest to you.

  Feed your family fresh locally grown items where you actually meet the farmer and play a part in boosting your local economy. 

Did you know there are over 7,000 markets around the country.

Go out and visit your local market this week...
let me know what you find.

Nothing like fresh cantaloupe from the garden...so worth the time and effort.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend  and find time to enjoy something simple.

That's Not What I Planted...

Last summer I added a few new plants to the landscape.

Some did not bloom...

So what I thought was going to be purple agapanthus...

Let's just say does not even resemble them. LOL

No clue what they are. 

 But, they sure are giving the agapanthus a run for their money  

So glad for unexpected surprises! 

 Have you ever had an unexpected garden surprise?

ABUNDANCE...

This was an ugly sand pile  in the side yard that we turned into box gardens.

When I returned home...WOW our little box gardens have grown and are just beautiful. Camo Man has out done himself.

I have gotten wonderful comments from neighbors and even texts messages   about our little gardens. 

This is the zucchini...

Yellow

Green

What to you do with abundance? 

We have eaten it until I think my skin now has a tint of green to it.

Make bread...

lots and lots of bread

to share and freeze

NOW...

Abundance...of tomatoes..

We have Romas and many other varieties

I have a great salsa recipe, but it is not one that you can jar for later use. 

(not to mention, I am scared to  jar)

 If you have ANY tips, suggestions or recipes on how to jar salsa i would love to have it, please leave me a comment...