Dog Sitting

Tim and I are dog sitting for the week.  Tim drove down to South Carolina and met up with our son in law, Nate, who drove up from Florida.  They were meeting to swap the dogs, Lily and Ace.  We had Lily and Ace at the farm a couple of summers ago for a few months while Nate and Jenny were flying back to the mainland from living in Hawaii.  They are great dogs and they know us so well.  Jenny says she has sent Ace to the fat farm.  Last time he was here he dropped quite a bit of weight which was good because he needed to.  She would like him to lose some more weight while here.  We will see what we can do.  I am hoping if I do a good enough job with the dogs then she will realize I would do an even better job if and when we get to have Rory visit.  Jenny just isn't ready for her to go yet.  Tim and I keep thinking someday.  After all we raised her and she turned out okay! With Lily and Ace here this farm really has gone to the dogs.  There is now six!

Cinco de Mayo - Farm Style

Last night we celebrated Cinco de Mayo the farm way.  I actually had not heard of Cinco de Mayo until 1983 when Tim and I were living in California; we were stationed at NAS North Island.  When May 5th came along there were celebrations everywhere and I was looked upon like I was crazy because I had never heard of it.  Of course, at that time, only California celebrated Cinco de Mayo until it became more popular Nation wide in the later 1980's.  Cinco de Mayo is a military celebration in Mexico.  It is celebrating the day the Mexican Army had beaten the French Army.  It was a major victory especially since the French Army was double the size of the Mexican Army.  In Mexico the holiday is not celebrated like it is here in the U.S.  It is a more serious holiday celebrated by a ceremony with speeches and maybe a military parade.  The U.S. version is a party. We celebrated with tacos and white sangria and a discussion of the real meaning of Cinco de Mayo.  It was a good night with good friends, food and drink.  Dessert was good too!

David "Davy" Crockett

David "Davy" Crockett born August 17, 1786 in Eastern Tennessee was a 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician.  He was popularly known as "King of the Wild Frontier".  He was elected to the U.S. Congress twice and served in the Texas Revolution.  His reputation started early when he lived in Tennessee by his hunting and storytelling.  He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1825 but lost in 1831 then to win again in 1833 but when he lost in 1835 he was so angry that he left Tennessee for Texas to join the Texas Revolution.  He was killed at the Battle of the Alamo March 6, 1836.  Crockett had become famous in his own lifetime for the larger-that-life exploits that became very popular due to stage plays and almanacs.  It continued after his death which later continued into the 20th century and eventually television and movies portraying his life.  All of this has made David "Davy" Crockett one of the best known American folk heroes.

Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park

We visited Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park Limestone, TN and had a really nice day.  Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park sits along the Nolichucky river and is a 105 acre park that is centered on the birthplace of David Crockett aka Davy Crockett.  Davy Crockett was a Tennessee frontiersman, soldier, politician and also fought at the Alamo in Texas. The State Park has a replica of Davy's cabin, at the time of his birth,  that has just been moved by the campground.  The park is in the middle of a small renovation to include a village  to show what life was like during Davy Crockett's time.  It also has a nice campground, pool, playground area, picnic areas, hiking trails, boat launch and rentals and a museum.  It was such a nice day that we decided to pick up some sub sandwiches and have a picnic lunch at the park.  There is one major renovation that will be taking place very soon; the name of the park.  The park, going forward, will be called David Crockett Birthplace State Park.  David Crockett never went by Davy.  The name Davy was due to Disney's Davy Crockett movies and song.  There will now be two state parks in Tennessee called David Crockett.  There is the David Crockett State Park located in Lawrenceburg, TN and the newly named David Crockett Birthplace State Park in Limestone, TN.  There will be more on David Crockett tomorrow so check back!

A Taste Of Greeneville

Last night we attended the 28th Annual Taste Of Greeneville in Greeneville, TN.  It was held at the General Morgan Inn a historic hotel in Greeneville.  This event is sponsored by the GFWC Greeneville Woman's Club and the funds raised allows them to continue their mission work around Greene County.  There were 18 restaurants from Greeneville and Greene county serving up their best dishes to be tasted and then voted on the patrons of the event.  This was our first time attending the tasting and we enjoyed the event very much.  The foods served were very good and we walked out full.  The event was well attended as we waited in line for over an hour just to get in.  We had to vote on best savory dish, best sweet dish, best beverage and best décor.  We voted but we did not all agree on the same food and drink which is good because we do have different tastes.  Thank General Morgan Inn for holding the event and to the Greeneville Woman's club for holding the event.  It was a  good evening after a good day. 
We visited Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park and will share our experience in tomorrow's blog.

It's Planting Time Again

Now that we are in May we feel we are safe against any frosts so the time has come to plant the beds in the orchard.  There are five beds to be planted this year.  We are planting much of the same veggies that we did last year: three kinds of tomatoes, green peppers, eggplants, okra, sweet potatoes, green beans, lettuce, two kinds of carrots, beets, zucchini, three kinds of squash, two kinds of cantaloupes, pumpkin, two kinds of watermelon, cucumbers, pickling cucumbers and corn.  We did eliminate potatoes, peas and onions.  The onions were a complete fail the last two years, the peas did not produce as much as we wanted and the potatoes were too expensive to grow compared to what it costs to buy potatoes.  It was a group effort this year;  George and Lisa have planted by themselves the past couple of years but this year Tim and I were actually in town so the four of us were able to plant everything in a little over two hours.  George did buy this great seeder that was going to make planting all the seeds easier but the machine did not work with the kind of dirt we have in the orchard.  So, we did it the old fashioned way, with a hoe, a couple of spades, a shovel and our hands we dug, put down the seeds and buried them all with the hopes that everything will grow.  We are staggering some planting this year so we do not get a bunch of the same veggie all at once which means we will have another couple of smaller plantings to do soon.  Now all we have to do is wait!

The Road Has Been Graded Again

Quail Way is a long narrow gravel road that leads to the farm and since it is a private road, right now, the families that live along it has to maintain it.  Which breaks down to George having to maintain it with Tim and our local farmer friend Larry's assistance.  The road, once graveled and leveled is good for quite a while.  This has been the case with the exception of not using all wheel drive or four wheel drive on it.  What makes the road rough are vehicles not strong enough to travel up the gravel road.  Unfortunately when a car comes that cannot handle or know how to drive on a gravel road it creates ruts like a washboard that make driving for any vehicle tough.  George went to work and used his new tractor with a grader on it to smooth out the road and for now the road is good again.  Thanks George, you did a great job for the first time on your tractor!