Place veggies that have been cut up in a shallow baking dish that has been drizzled with olive oil.(Potatoes, broccoli, carrots, onions, squash – whatever you have that you like).Sprinkle generously with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt.Toss – coating the veggies with the oil and salt.Place uncovered in preheated oven.Toss several times during the baking process.
About 15 minutes later, put 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil in a baking dish for each Tilapia Filet that will be baked.Place each filet in the oil and then turn over to coat each side.Sprinkle generously with Dill Weed and salt to taste.Also drizzle fresh lemon juice (I sprinkled lemon powder) over each filet.Place 1 -2 garlic cloves that have been chopped very fine over the filets.
Bake uncovered (while veggies are baking) for 30-45 minutes until flaky at the touch of a fork.Turn the filets over and sprinkle more dill and salt over the filets about half-way through the baking time.
After you get all that going, make some cornbread and add that to the oven to bake with everything else.
While you’re waiting for everything to bake, make some Cole Slaw.Shred whatever amount of cabbage you want.Add some shredded carrots and chopped onion.Make the dressing by using equal parts of white vinegar, sugar, and oil – I used veggie oil – I suppose olive oil would work, too – just never tried it.I made enough for about 4 servings and used 2 T of each for the dressing.
See if the grandkids can find what made me almost go into cardiac arrest yesterday. This was one of three that we saw. What I didn't get pictures of that sent me over the edge was a Black Widow Spider (both she and her potential offspring are now dead, and I'm assuming her husband is, as well) and a Black Snake. Yes, there is trouble in paradise. Actually, we're thankful for Mr. Black Snake since he has a taste for rodents and poisonous snakes (or so we've been told). I just hope he's not right beside the porch when I go outside anymore. Joe saw him at the end of the driveway last week. Joe sprayed something lethal around the house to take care of spiders, etc. It had better work! He's in the process of building a trap to catch the family of water snakes. Ugh, ugh, and double ugh!
On the way to RR yesterday evening to water the grass, I asked Joe this question: If you could have anything in the whole world - big or small - what would it be? His answer: A grapefruit tree! You gotta love this man!!!
This was the month that the Andersons and Holly came for a visit.I joined them in Oak Ridge for a good old work-in-the-yard-day at the Whites on the 7th.I visit best when there is something to do, so these are my favorite ways to visit.Debby was pretty sickly during that entire week so she wasn’t able to go with me.In fact, Bryce and family had been in for several days and she hadn’t even been able to see Baylor and Kyndal.After a few days Leah, the kids, and Holly came over our way and spent a week or so with us.It was nice to be with them in their comings and goings and see Ally and Jayce in their somewhat normal routines. Of course the good-byes at the airport pulled at the heart strings but I was glad to see them going to their homes and the good husbands who love and care for them.
Debby perked up a little and we finally had the Bryce family over for a while.Baylor and Kyndal are lively kids to have around.Bryce has several job possibilities he is exploring.In the mean time I think he is keeping everyone supplied with fish for the table.
My old buddy Arthur Hale continues to have problems with his heart.One night Adrian called me and asked me to meet him at his dad’s house.He wanted me to join him to give Art a blessing.His fluid retention (congestive heart failure) is so bad that he gains and looses 5 pounds of fluid each day.The diuretic that he takes to remove the fluids also drains his body of needed potassium.That puts him back in the hospital for that problem.Each time his defibrillator kicks in it actually damages his heart a little more.It is only working at about 15% capacity at its best.Gretchen has written a nice tribute to her dad at her blog.
We are now into a dry spell at Shangri La Farm.It is hard to believe that only a month ago we received 7 inches of rain in less than a week.During the biggest downpour, we spent the night at Rocky River.Debby wanted to be there if the house floated away.We watched it rise steadily.Eric had called early that morning to tell me that he had gone by Little House on his way home from work, about 8 a.m., to see how high the water was.He was concerned that I might want to move my tractor that was parked in its usual location (I thought safely above the water level).When we arrived, I did move the tractor as an extra safety precaution.Good thing!A little before dark the water got over that spot.The river is usually about 30’ below the level of the house.During the night it got to only about 10’ below.The water was into the edge of the field across the river from us.
I found some Bermuda grass sod at a local sod farm for $65 per pallet.One pallet covers 240 square feet.When I went to pick up my one pallet, the weight of the sod nearly flattened my rear tires on the ¾ ton pickup.So, we had to take half of it off and I made two trips.It was still a lot of weight.Bermuda is a soft, fine bladed grass.It spreads by underground rhizomes.Leah helped us unload the truck and lay the sod. It has really done well -- except that the moles have discovered how easily they can navigate underneath it.There is such deep shade at the back of the house.The sod farmer told me that the Bermuda grass would do OK there.I hope he’s right.
Our little garden has produced spinach, onions, broccoli, cabbage, and English peas.The corn has not come up because it hasn’t rained in two weeks.There are green beans coming on—both Kentucky Wonders and Cut Shorts.There are also some Lima Beans that will be blooming soon.The tomatoes look good, but they always do at this point, only to disappoint later on.I am just not good at growing those things.We also have an assortment of pepper plants growing.It looks like we will have a good grape crop and a few wineberries.My few little peaches have dropped off the trees and my two cherry trees have died.I received an email from the local nursery specialist from the University of Tennessee Extension Service stating that a lot of cherry trees had died in the nurseries due to excessive spring rains.I didn’t know that could happen, but it must be what got my two young trees.
We got to go to the Katie dance recital.She was the star of the show!The program lasted for nearly three hours.I don’t know why they didn’t just let the Katie troupe do their two acts at the beginning and then dismiss!She was sure cute!
We had our first paying visitors to Little House.Friends of Betsy’s, the Cupps from Knoxville, came to stay a few days.They were such nice people.We are really enjoying our little retreat at Rocky River.
Our neighbor, Linda Woods, asked Joe to speak at the June meeting of the McMinnville Garden Club this morning. The meeting was held at The Cottage. Afterward, we enjoyed some of Diane Morton's delicious food.
Joe and I have been wanting to see Wicked for quite a while. In order to do so, we would have had to travel quite a distance. So, we've waited. And the wait has paid off. It will play at TPAC in September and we have tickets!!! I can hardly wait. http://www.tpac.org/shows/calendar/calendar_event.asp?eventID=6686
May began by dropping seven inches of rain on our part of the world. There was flooding everywhere. The Barren Fork here at Shangri La was out of its banks and Rocky River was as high as we’ve seen it. We spent the night at Little House on Sunday night since school was cancelled for Monday. The river was amazing.
The first of May is also when Bryce and his family left Utah to move back to McMinnville. They arrived Sunday evening. I got really sick with a terrible head cold, or something, and wasn’t able to see them for several days. Joe subbed for me in seminary one morning and I canceled one class.
I was still feeling lousy on Mother’s Day and didn’t go to church. Lori was a sweetie and made the best loaded potato soup I’ve ever eaten. She took it to Grandma M’s and we joined her and her family there. There was some left over so she gave me some. It’s about all I ate for the next few days. It was the only thing that tasted good to me. After we left Mom’s, we went to see Grandma Moffitt and spent some time with her. Leah and her children & Holly arrived that night. They had been at Christy’s and Betsy’s for a few days before coming here.
On the 14th, I took Mom for an eye appointment in Cookeville. It was a really nice day and we made several stops on our way back.
On the 19th, Leah, Ally, and Jayce joined Joe and me at Rocky River. (Holly had gone back to Christy’s). Leah helped us lay some sod in the backyard at Little House. (She may be little, but she’s strong)! When we were finished, we celebrated by having a cookout. It was nice to have them there with us. The kids had fun playing and Jayce particularly enjoyed his time on the tractor with Pa.
I finally got to see Keeley and the kids the next day (Bryce had come to see me when I still had a fever).
We had our first renters at Little House on the 22nd and 23rd. The Cupp Family who are friends of Betsy’s stayed there. We were there to greet them when they came and we instantly liked them. Lori is so outgoing and bubbly. After we left, Joe said that she was a perfect “Betsy friend.” We asked them to leave their comments and suggestions for us. Lori wrote such nice things that I read them several times!
The weather was iffy for Memorial Day, so we didn’t decide until that morning to have a cookout at the river. By that time, Eric and fam & Bryce and fam already had plans. We were glad that Carolyn & Aubrey brought Mom down and Lori & her family and Brett & Aaron joined us. Joe grilled some very tasty burgers over a wood fire. It was a nice time to be together. Later that afternoon, Joe, Patrick, Brett, Aaron, and Ramsey McCoy (he made the mistake of stopping to see what we were doing) struggled to get a really big rock into position against some trees at the end of the driveway.
The end of May saw the end of school which meant the end of seminary for me. I had the best class this year. I loved starting my day with them each morning to study the New Testament before they went to school. Anyone who has a bad opinion of teenagers doesn’t know these kids. They are really top notch. We ended our year with an auction. They were able to buy things that different families donated (either new items or used but good items) with play money they had earned in class since Christmas. They had accumulated quite a bit of “wealth” and were anxious for the auction. A few of them had earned over $800! Of course that meant that a bag of candy went for as high as $200!!! There were gift cards from Sonic and Baskin-Robbins, several bags of candy, desk lamps, jewelry, a DVD, a lava lamp (it went really high), water pistols, an alarm clock, and lots of other things. Instead of meeting in the morning for our last class time, they wanted to meet in the evening. Because we did that, several family members came and everyone brought something for the refreshment table. It was a lot of fun. Adrian was our auctioneer and Joe was the banker.
On the 29th, it was back to the river for another cookout for Brett’s 18th b’day. This time, it was Lori and Will, Blake and Grace who stopped by on their way in from Knoxville, Brett, Gracie, and Jordan. Once again we ate some really good burgers. Lori made Brett’s b’day cake request: Mississippi Mud Cake. It was such a hit and we were so stuffed at that point that no one even wanted S’mores.
The next night, we went to the WCMS auditorium to see Katie in the Paula’s Dance Academy recital. It was quite a production! We got to see her afterwards and she was excited to see us. Of course, we thought she was the prettiest little dancer there.
As always, life stays busy. We’ve picked, shelled, blanched, and frozen several packages of green peas. We’ve also eaten some as well as quite a bit of broccoli. My favorite way to eat fresh broccoli is to steam it and put a little salt on it. Oh my. Joe brought some more in this morning and I have it washed and ready to prepare. We’ve also made more strawberry jam.
The resident farmers have been cutting hay over the last few weeks. The Moores usually cut our field, but we weren’t here when they came this time so they didn’t cut it. Joe talked to the Walker son to see if he wanted the hay and he cut it when he was cutting some more fields around here. I just love to see the big round bales dotting the freshly mowed fields. Every day there are more lilies in bloom. It won’t be long until we’ll be blooming out all over. We sure live in a pretty place.
Brett has had two interviews at the Manchester Wal-Mart. We know that these days there are more applicants than there are jobs, but he’s encouraged that they still seem to be interested in him.
