Busy Summer

It has been a whirlwind of a summer so far!  I spent a week at camp with 2 of my grandchildren (don't tell but we snuck back home to sleep in our beds at night).  Then there was a week spent in the woods with my husband camping redneck style, followed by a week working in VBS.  This week I've been busy canning salsa and blueberry jam.   Whew!  It makes me tired again just thinking of it all!

Below are a few highlights of our camping trip.

He really enjoyed panning for gold, but alas no luck this time.

He caught a few fish

We did a little Dutch oven cooking.

This is the after shot of the meal above.  It looks a lot more appetizing here doesn't it?

At least one morning of camping calls for homemade biscuits, don't you think?

Now this wasn't cooked in the Dutch oven, but it sure was good!

This may have been my favorite part.

It was beautiful up and down stream!

Things have grown up a lot since our last trip.

We were surrounded by beauty, and the birdsongs were amazing!

...and her nest of eggs

Sweet little momma bird...

Up until now you thought I was kidding about redneck camping.

But, hey, it's not too bad inside, especially when he puts the ac in that little hole in the wall.

We even watched old episodes of Daniel Boone projected onto the side of the trailer.


It was one of the most relaxing trips I've had in a long time.  I took my chair out into the creek
and sat and read, and just let the water swirl all around.

I could have stayed for another week easily!  I didn't see a soul other than my husband for 6 days.  

The Great Outdoors, (sometimes)

Sorry for the hiatus I' ve been away enjoying the wonder of nature and the abundance of rain.  We went camping and encountered a little precipitation along the way.  That's okay though because I enjoyed laying under the canopy and reading to the orchestra  of raindrops.  

During the clear times I wandered around  peering at the vast contrast of colors and textures, sounds and smells.  It was great!  

I typically don't like the heat and this keeps me from spending as much time out of doors during the summer months as I do during the other seasons. 

 Yeah, that's wimpy, but I'm just not fond of sweating!  I know, I know southern girls don't sweat they glisten, but call it what you will I would rather obtain my glisten from inner beauty, not outer temperatures.  

Anyway, Little Buddha (an affectionate name given to my husband by a friend of ours) has been after me to go camping with him for a while.   I knew we would be near a very cold stream so I agreed.  I am really glad I gave in this time.  It was 

so relaxing.  

Some of our family came out on Saturday and visited with us at the camp site.  We did a little Dutch oven cooking, trying out a few new recipes and a stand by or two.  To me everything taste better outside.  

I took some photos that I hope I will be able to paint soon.  The light freckling through the woods was really beautiful in the late evening.  I'm not a very good photographer.  When I look at some of my photos I wonder what I was trying to capture.  The one photography rule I know is take lots of pictures something is bound to be keepable eventually.  Occasionally I luck up.

The rain made the stream too muddy to swim most of the time, but it also kept the air from being unbearably hot.

It was a really nice trip and I'm actually looking forward to going back maybe in the fall.

Camping Trip

I spent a lovely weekend camping with some of my family.  We enjoyed the many wildflowers that were blooming and the pleasant weather of spring.  We cooked simple meals on a grill my hubby rigged up with rocks and a few sticks of wood, and other things we cooked in the Dutch oven.  Nothing taste quite as good as food cooked and eaten out of doors.  We sat around the fire in the evenings and listened to the creek gurgling, the whippoorwills calling, and the sound of a distant train.  

Forgive the placement of the pictures.  I can't figure how to make them go where I want them.

My middle brother and his wife

my parents

Hubby