Independence Day

Gaston is all decked out to celebrate Independence Day.  He can't go with us to watch the fireworks, so this year he has own.

P.S. Happy Birthday to my little brother!  

Plant Girl's 30 before 30

Lately it seams everyone has become obsessed with the bucket list.  You know, the list of things to do before you die.  Kinda morbid, right?  But, it’s supposed to make you think about goals and working toward them, even if you list things like “visit every continent” but have never left the state where you were born, it’s a goal.  I personally am not much of a goal setter but I recently saw blog where a lady looked back at all the things she had done so far in life to remember she had already done a good chunk of living.  Now, this is an idea I can get behind.  Without further ado, I give you:

Plant Girl’s list of 30 super awesome things I did before I was 30

(yes, I am a couple of years past 30 what’s your point?)

1. Lived in more than 1 state (3 total)
2. Got a college degree
3. Got a master’s degree
4. Fell in love 
5. Bought a car
6. Bought a house
7. Traveled to Paris
8. Traveled to London
9. Traveled to Germany
10. Got married
11. Got a dog
12. Visited the Grand Canyon
13. Caught a fish
14. Became an Aunt (OK so I didn’t actually do anything to make this happen but I’m still counting it!)
15. Experienced loss (on a major scale)
16. Got my first mammogram
17. Lived by myself
18. Lived in the dorm
19. Was a college athlete
20. Got a college scholarship
21. Gave at talk at a professional conference (several actually)
22. Taught a class (many, many classes)
23. Visited 20 states
24. Got a “real” job (you know, the kind with benefits and paid time off!)
25. Stayed in a hotel all by myself
26. Learned to swim
27. Went to my first rock concert (and many more after that)
28. Planted my own garden
29. Worked with my husband to build a deck and a fence and a pergola with a floorgola
30. Got brand new, never before owned by someone else furniture from a real furniture store

Happy Memorial Day

Randomocity

It feels like we have been very busy lately but it also feel like there is nothing to write about so here is a smattering of our recent life and times. 

Captain Y went fishing for the first time in a loooooooong time and caught a Warsaw grouper and a nice red snapper.  Too bad snapper season isn’t open yet so he had to throw it back.

Despite planting late, the garden has really taken off.  Thus far we’ve harvested two cherry tomatoes and a half dozen okra. There are more okra growing, a bunch of green tomatoes and some tiny little bell peppers. 

Our basil plant is HUGE.

I’ve gotten used to seeing odd things when I open the refrigerator.  You never know what Captain Y has stashed in there.  And yet, I’m still surprised when I see something like this looking back at me.  

We had a crawfish boil last weekend.  It was delicious but we forgot to take photos :-(

We went to the spring NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway and had a great time.  The weekend deserves its own post if I can ever make myself sit down and write about it.  

Captain Y went turkey hunting in Oklahoma with some of his buddies and got these two Tom’s on the last hunt of his trip. 

 

 We got to see Scars on 45 play at the House of Blues and stuck around after the show to talk to the band.  This is our second time to see them live; they put on an excellent show.  

This little wren flew into the garage the other day; I think she wanted to use the washing machine, or maybe just help me sort the laundry. 

Hey Look, A Turkey!

 

Or two turkeys.  Or four, depending on who you count.  

Captain Y took me on a new adventure called turkey hunting.  He hunted turkey for the first time last year when a friend came down from Nebraska.  Turns out turkey hunting is really pretty fun.  There is some sitting and waiting (like deer hunting) but you get to use crazy contraptions that make turkey noises and call to the turkeys and they actually come!  In the spring only Tom’s are in season, and they are looking for hens to mate.  So, you can call them in with a hen call and make them jealous with a gobble call.  Really, it’s pretty impressive to sit in the woods and hear them calling; coming closer and closer until they peak their head around a grove of trees.  Then they strut their stuff for the ladies, booming and spitting to impress the girls. 

I’m actually a pretty decent shot with a 12 gauge, but Captain Y had me practice shooting from the sitting position, which was a good thing.  And yet, I still missed. Not once, but twice!  Yes, Captain Y called in a gobbler on two different occasions only to have me miss.  But he got wise after the first time and brought his own gun to shoot clean up.  And cleanup he did.  My second miss was a big Rio Grande Tom that weighed over 21lbs and had an 8.5 inch beard, which I know because about 2 seconds after I missed, Captain Y got it.

  

After Captain Y got his bird we changed locations and ran across several young Tom’s.  One peaked his head around the trees where we were waiting and bang, Plant Girl became a turkey slayer.  My Tom only weighed about 13lbs and had about a 2 inch beard – or soul patch as Captain Y likes to tease.  But at the end of the day, there are two turkeys in the freezer waiting to fill our bellies!  

 

Dude, I look totally legit in this shot! 

Spring Time = Garden Time

It’s March and so far we’ve put one plant in the ground: basil.  We’re late.  In a normal year tomatoes should have gone in the first of March.  Like most of the country we’ve had a mild winter, so tomatoes probably could have (should have?) gone in earlier.  We don’t have time to plant this weekend – plus it’s supposed to rain for the next three days – and we don’t have time to plant next weekend.  We’ll get it done this month, we will.

We have been managing to eat some nice fresh produce.  We bought a big box of strawberries from a local farm stand and devoured them in about 4 four days – strawberry pie, strawberry short cake, and just plain strawberries.  We also picked up some Texas grapefruit and other veggies – some local grown, some trucked in from afar.  A co-worker brought a big ol’ bag of homegrown lettuce to share.  It’s all making me antsy to get the garden going again.  Soon…very soon. 

“Girl Hunter” A Book Review

I finished “Girl Hunter” by Georgia Pellegrini.  It’s a good book, but I have a problem.  I get really excited about a book and build up my expectations to unrealistic levels that a book can never, ever live up too.  And guess what?  The book never does.  This was one of those cases. With that said, I did like the book.  

The stories:  are interesting and she takes a lot of time to explain the lovely scenery and the hunting experience.  I have heard a turkey “gobble his ass off” and she describes it well.  But, I’m not sure I’m the target audience for this book.  I grew up living in the boonies.  We played in the creek, swung on grape vines, celebrated birthdays with wienie roasts, and I learned to shoot (and respect) guns when I was barley a teenager.  I’ve sat with Captain Y when he hunted and watched him shoot deer, turkey and dove.  My parents raised cattle and grew a garden.  I know where food comes from, and it’s not the grocery store. 

The book is organized by hunting trip, so you can easily pick it up and read for a while, set the book down for a couple of days, come back and not start reading again without missing a beat.  I like that. 

The recipes: You can tell Georgia has culinary background and loves to cook.  She takes the time to do things that I never would and cooks things I would never dream of in a million years – pâté? I’ll pass.  BUT, she has some fantastic looking, simple recipes as well.   We happened to have some rabbit in the freezer (doesn’t everyone?) so my Mom and I cooked up the buttermilk fried rabbit when she was in town last week.  Delicious.  Crispy, spicy and yummy.  I’m glad turkey season starts next weekend so we can try out some more of her recipes soon!

Overall: I would loan this book to a friend if they were interested, and I’ll probably pick it up and read pieces of it again.  I’m definitely glad I bought it so I have her recipes at home.  I give it 4 stars out of 5.