Popsicles and Putterin'

This summer sure isn't like the past ones the Summers have known.  School work and clinical hours are keeping me on my toes, but we try to make sure that our weeks are sprinkled with fun, a priority in our household.  Back at the end of May, I took a class that was sandwiched into two weeks.  It was 5 hours a day every week day for two weeks.  On top of that, two hours of commuting every day, homework, and an online Biology class I am also taking, we were knee deep in strawberries.  That is about all I could do for two weeks: school and pick strawberries.  We got about a gallon every day for two weeks.  It was insane and forced us to be creative in the culinary department. We had strawberry goat cheese sandwiches, strawberry bread, strawberry and peanut butter sandwiches, smoothies, strawberries on chocolate pound cakes, pancakes with strawberry, strawberry cobbler, strawberries on biscuits...and the list goes on.  I am beginning to feel like Bubba and his shrimp.  Anyways, I digress.  I took that class, plus I am currently still taking an online Biology class, and I began my clinic placement.  I am working with two preschool age youngsters this summer and performing some diagnostics two days a week. The experience is eye-opening. It is exciting to get to put a years worth of theory and learnin' into practice!

(This is what it looks like when I do schoolwork and the wheels are turnin'.  Wheezy is my Biology muse!)

Other noteworthy events:

-Mother's Day:
We  had grilled chicken with spinach pesto, gouda mac and cheese, kale salad, and blackberry cobbler with homemade ice cream.  It was a little chilly for yard games, but everyone was feelin' fine.

-Savannah with my mom and brother, Mark.  We stayed on Tybee Island and enjoyed beach time, fried seafood, and trips into downtown Savannah!  It was a very relaxing trip!

-End of School!  Summertime!  Sam submitted his National Board Certification portfolio and took his test!  We should hear back sometime in November. He worked hard, and we are hopeful! Celebratory dinner: eggplant chickpea burgers, kale salad, mashed cauliflower with cheese, and triple chocolate pound cake con strawberries!






-Father's Day:


















We again grilled out.  This time we had  pork chops, grilled veggies, hash brown casserole, yeast roles, and banana pudding cheesecake.  This time we got to enjoy the weather, eat outside, play yard games and watch the chickens!  Dinner and a show and the Summers'.



-Our 4th Anniversary:  That's right, four big ones!  We didn't do anything too big, for we are always celebrating!  We ate at Biscuitheads for breakfast and walked around Beaver Lake.

 

("Flower Anniversary"- Sam picked them from his mom's rose garden)

 

 

  S'mores!  Need  I say s'more?  The messier, the better!














Surprise cherry tree!  There is a cherry tree that began producing cherries this year in our back yard.  I was not super excited at first because I was already tired from the strawberries. Sam was begging me for homemade cherry turnovers, so I reluctantly did it.  I have to say, it was the best idea he has ever had!  They sure weren't pretty, but oh so delicious!

Presently, we are just relaxin' and watching the garden grow and are trying not to turn the air conditioning on yet.  We may head to up D.C. for the 4th of July.  We also have a pretty big trip planned for the end of summer.  The Summers are going European once again!  This time, to Ireland!  We have been anticipating this one for a while, and we are excited that my younger brother Mark will be joining us!  Our adventures will take us to Dublin, Kilkenny, Cork, Dingle, Galway, and back to Dublin. 

(This is Wheezy assuming the position to cozy up to the tile floor, the coolest thing in the house!)

A few notes from Farmer Sam:
Well, let's see.  I've got a few minutes here.  Just coming in from chopping down a locust tree that was blocking the cherry trees from getting enough sun.  I feel almost like George Washington, minus the wooden teeth.  I don't know about you, but the chickens like to spend the afternoon having a dirt bath.  Apparently, it's good for the pores.  Might just have to try it.  It's hilarious to watch.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "The greatest service which can be rendered to any country is to add an useful plan to its culture."  While I have yet to actually "add" a new plant to the world, I have been inspired by Jefferson's words to really cultivate anything I can find.  Example one: the cherry trees.  Example 2: lots and lots of lady slipper wildflowers found on Kellie's parents rental property.  Example 3: lots and lots of wild blueberry bushes also found on the rental property.  Example 4: Two Angel Trumpet bushes/trees given to me by the neighbors.  Example 5: Lots of asparagus roots also give by the neighbors.  Example 6: Adding another row of strawberries.  (Because a gallon a day just won't cut it!)  Example 7: Rattlesnake orchids found on the rental property.  Example 8: Squaw root found on the rental property  Example 9: Renegade dogwood trees found on my parents property.  and I'll just say the entire garden for Example 10.  I dug up a ton of wild blueberries and ladyslippers from the woods behind the rental house Kellie's dad is fixing up.  Hope they make it.  Right now, they are struggling.  I was thrilled to see that two of the blueberry sticks I planted last year actually lived.  What's in the garden? Onions, cabbage, lettuce, beets, corn, squash, zucchini, cucumber, tomato, peas, volunteer watermelon, peppers, sunflowers, eggplant, and yes, strawberries, plus other berries (raspberries, loganberries, black currants). 

Other tidbits of info from me?  Well, I'm hoping to finish carving the bear I started carving last summer.  My dad and I are going to start cleaning/fixing up his old 1930's Ford Model A.  If you haven't done so already, put these things on your summer to-do list:
1. Watch a chicken take a dirt bath.  Hilarious.
2. Read a western by Elmer Kelton (he's about the best western writer out there besides Louis Lamour, of course).
3. Drink apple cider vinegar (with the mother, not your mother) every day.  Have we already gone over the miracles of acv?  Oh, man.  It's awesome.

And here's what not to do this summer:
1. Get pooped on by a chicken.  It's happened about 3 times so far.  The wife does NOT like to wash those clothes.  Here's a picture that really captures the moment:

To really appreciate this picture, note Elphaba's booty in the air.  Then note the brown spots behind my left shoulder.  Talk about perfect timing on taking this picture.  Ok, I'll close for now.  Ready to go try one of those mint lemonade popsicles we made today.  SEE you next time!

Which Came First?

 

As with writing an essay, you should never start with your most poignant argument or point, so we will therefore not be starting this blog off with our most exciting news. 

Oh the Ides of March, and Oh my achin' bananas!  I had a birthday-- the big 2-8, and just so you know, I just got inquiry in regards to my 10 year high school reunion.  Yes, it is that time.  I am no spring chicken...  I had a good birthday...the actual day of was a little stinky seeing as how I had to sit at a conference for 8 hours AND I forgot my toothbrush for when I finished my coffee, but once that was over, commence the partyin'!  I arrived home to a lovely family birthday
(including my little brother from D.C.--nice present).  We had barbecue chicken pizza from Asheville Pizza, and for a second year running, Sam's most wonderful strawberry rhubarb pie! 

I got some much needed certificates de pampering-- a massage and facial.  Hey, a girl just needs that sometimes!  I also go a new pair of yoga pants with a homemade paper promise of a "moveable feast" around Asheville to be redeemed over spring break.  For this "moveable feast" we went to Bouchon for brunch where we had mimosas!  Then, we strolled around downtown and went to the French Broad Chocolate Factory and took a tour.  It was pretty interesting; the couple who owns it is super innovative and know their chocolate!  You get to taste some, too.  Highly recommended.

The next March wind blew in my brother, Tim, and three nieces from the north.  Although I had 2 tests and two projects due that week, I managed to squeeze in a little q-time with them which included park, ice cream, mall, dollar tree, and RUB ON TATOOS!  They are a hoot! 

With March also came MARCH MADNESS and blooming orchids.  Sam and I filled out brackets...let's just say, my bracket was victorious.  I did have to do a little bit of research, though.  All of my orchids are also blooming and are very pretty.

Right on the tail of that, we scurried down to Folly Beach, S.C., right outside of Charleston, with Sam's parents.  Luckily, Sam and I had the same spring break.  Unfortunately, there was a cold snap.

  I think it actually snowed in Asheville while we were gone.  However, it didn't feel much warmer at the beach.  Nevertheless, we did brave the chill to enjoy some walking on the beach.  We also did some shopping, ate a lot of really yummy food-- Poogan's Porch, fried oysters, CUPCAKES!  Additionally, we saw some neat sights. We went to the Hunley Museum and saw a Civil War submarine they had recovered as well as went on Gullah tour and got to see a different side of Charleston.

Once spring break was over, the race to the finish line for my semester commenced.  I now have three weeks of class left before finals.  That means that I have three projects, a research proposal, and an exam all the while trying to prepare for my five finals.  Ayecarumba!  It will all get done; I know this.  The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is two weeks off between spring and summer sessions.  "I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN..."



We also went on a hike that turned out to be just what we needed.  We hiked up Stone Mountain in Dupont.  It was a beautiful, warmish day, and the trail was pretty deserted. We just let the sun hit our faces and listened to the quiet with the occasional gust of wind.  We followed this up with a visit to the new Oscar Blues Brewery in Brevard.  We took the tour; it was fun--also a neat operation.






AND FINALLY-- our most exciting news.  I will let Sam, the born again chicken farmer take it from here.  I say born again because the below picture will speak for itself...

 

POWER ANIMAL: The Rooster

  Farmer Sam's bit:
That's right.  As you can see, I'm no spring chicken when it comes to chickens.  I mean, looking at this picture, not all that much has changed except for the glasses, and I'm thinkin' about bringin' those back!  Yes, I remember farming chickens when I was just a wee lad as seen here.  I believe my Mom said my first word was actually me mimicking a rooster crowing.  What can I say about chicken farmin?  It's intense.  Those four buggers we have are a mess!  Here's the rundown.  Serena is our Buff Orphington, and she rules the roost.  She's a good week older than the others and twice their size, but she doesn't know how big she is, so she just bulldozes her way around.  Blair is our Australorp.  Australorps hold the record for laying the most eggs in a year.  Guess how many???  Guess again.  364!!!!  Crazy!  She's been a bit timid, and we think she might be like our cat Weezy who gets nervous and poops in Kellie's hand when she tries to hold her.  Then there are the twins.  Plymouth Barred Rocks.  We haven't settled on names for them.  But they are sweet.  Things have been a little intense in the brooder stage.  Trying to get the temperature right.  Trying to keep Serena from literally flying the coop.  Trying to keep on of the twins from flipping over the water bowl ONTO herself, soaking her and trapping her under the bowl at the same time where she stayed for maybe 20 minutes.  I would image it's a lot like having a baby.  They just poop and eat.  A LOT!  It makes me a nervous mother hen really.  However, it's all really exciting.  Today I built a couple of perches for them to go in their coop.  It's a coop de ville, if you will.  Very fancy work from Kellie's dad.  It's modeled after one I saw on the internet selling for over a thousand dollars.  FYI, they can be made much cheaper and much better than a thousand dollars. 

Other than the chicken news, the garden is underway.  Greens, broccoli, celery, onions, beets, carrots, and peas have been planted.  Don't tell anyone, but I might have accidentally planted a row of corn, mistaking the seeds for peas.  There's a logical explanation though.  I was really excited to start planting, the seed packages look REALLY similar, and both peas and corn were covered in this red stuff so it was really hard to tell.  Could have happened to anybody.  Give me a break, I was just really excited to start planting stuff. 

 

 Blair on right and unnamed twin.

For the twins we are thinking Beezus and Ramona, Laverne and Shirley, or Mary Kate and Ashley--Thoughts?

 

Spring is here--and it couldn't have come any sooner after that cooler than usual March.  Flowers are blooming, herbs are in the ground, and the hammock is in the tree. The porches are also looking inviting after Sam and I gave them a good cleaning today.  Don't forget to get outside and soak up a little sunshine!  Boy do we have the fever!

See you later!

Christmas in March...Why not?

So, this is the promised "Part II" blog, delayed as usual. Here we are, spreading a little holiday cheer in March. I'm sure it much appreciated with all of the gray days.

 

Holiday event one:  Homemade gingerbread house! 

Yes, a completely independent conception from blue print, to construction, to decoration. It was definitely a learning process. Note to self for next year is to decorate the house before we put it together to allow the candy to dry in a horizontal fashion. Gravity poses a problem when you try to adhere the candy when the house is already put together. This is evident in some of our pictures. Also, to be fancy, we gave our house stained-glass windows made with melted Life Savers.

 
Holiday event two:  Christmas! 

 As usual, we spent Christmas Eve with my family:  parents, little bro, big bro and his crew (2 nieces, nephew, and wife).  T'was a good time.  We mixed it up this year and drew names for presents and played "Dirty Santa."  We loaded up with a sweet travel neck pillow, some maple syrup, and wine goodies.  Sam scored a sweet crossbow. 
 
Christmas morning was spent together.  We opened presents, had our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of homemade cinnamon roles, bacon, and eggs, and then opened our stockings.  In lieu of the whole going-back-to-school thing, Christmas for us was a little lighter.  The highlights were table tennis, lots of good books, a foam roller, ear and nose hair trimmer (for Sam), and clothing items.  All-in-all we are extremely lucky and love spending our morning together leisurely! 
 
In the afternoon, we headed over to Sam's parents' house for lunch and to keep the festivities going.  The food was delightful as was the company.











Holiday event three:  New Year's Eve!

 

New Year's Eve was pretty low key for us.  We decided to have a night in and cook dinner together.  We made a wine braised beef brisket, kale salad with bacon and dates, and baked mashed sweet potatoes.  Delicious!  After that, we just hung out and watched the movie New Year's Eve (not recommended) and fell asleep at 10:30 on the couch.  We woke up at 11:30, just in time to get ready for bed, see the clock hit midnight, kiss each other HAPPY NEW YEAR, and roll over and fall asleep.  Yeah, that's how we roll.

Holiday event four:  Sam's birthday! 

 

Since Sam's birthday falls on the third, we had a family celebration on the first.  We did his big 32 up right with black-eyed peas, ham, collards, and at the birthday boy's request, a homemade carrot cake.  Sam got an exciting present:  chickens!  We haven't actually gotten them yet, but Sam goes to a class entitled "Backyard Chickens" this week, and we should be getting them around Easter.  We have considered names, but are not releasing those at this time. 

On his actual birthday, I cooked his requested meal of pad thai, and devised a fun birthday scavenger hunt for him!

In other news, over the break, I started a t-shirt quilt.  I got almost finished before classes started back, but once they did, all my creativity and mess got crammed back into the closet.  Hopefully, I will have a day to finish it up, otherwise it will have to wait until next year.  Here is the layout:



Sam had a pretty gnarly beard, and my semester started back up, and it has been consistently busy and keeping me on my toes.  The classes I am taking are Dysphagia, Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech Mechanism, Professional Issues in Communication Sciences and Disorders, Research in CSD, and Language Disorders Preschool.  I am thoroughly enjoying the content I am learning...and I got a stethoscope!  It is hard to believe that midterm time is quickly approaching and the semester is already half way over.  That has been pretty much the extent of what I have been doing.

March will bring some good times:  my birthday, brothers visiting, and spring break getaway to Charleston with Sam's parents.  We are also going to be adamant about using up all of last year's garden stockpile, both frozen and canned goods, to clear the way for the fresh veggies that are in the not so distant future!  Until then, we will be here cuddling cats to stay warm, looking forward to spring time temps!

A note from Sam:
 Well, I don't have a whole lot more to say that hasn't already been eloquently described by my lovely wife.  A few items she forgot to mention are....

1. We finished a 2000 piece puzzle of Washington Crossing the Deleware!  Holy smokes was it crazy hard.  We can slap down a 1000 piece in NO time, but this one took us forever!  It got to the point where it just wasn't fun.  It was all gray and blah.  A cool picture but not a cool puzzle.  But we just HAD to complete it to say we could.  It was a true test of our marriage and resulted in a success....minus about two pieces the cats stole/ate or we lost because we had to constantly move it.  Yeah. During the day we had to move it into the bedroom so the cats wouldn't destroy it.  Ok, so Delilah wouldn't destroy it.  Have you ever tried moving a 2000 piece puzzle?  I don't think so. 

 2.  I've been so lucky that my wonderful wife has let me accompany my dear friend Mathew to TWO Civil War shows.  One in Dalton, Ga, and one in Salisbury, NC.  WOW.  So incredible.  I won't bother with putting too many details here, because if you're like my wife, you probably aren't that interested.  But Mathew and I had a blast.  I was able to pick up a Confederate bayonet and some bullets.  By far the coolest Civil War related thing I've gotten lately is a picture of my great-great-great grandfather, "Devil" Tom Summers, who fought in the Civil War in the 4th NC Infantry.  Receiving this really made my year.

3. Pretty excited about my chicken class.  Pretty excited about gardening.  Pretty exciting about being done with National Boards.  Pretty excited about Charleston.  That's about all for now.  I'll leave you with something else I was pretty excited about, but the wife wasn't.  For my birthday, my wonderful wife let me have a mustache:

 A little side-by-side comparison of my with a mustache and my great great grandfather, John Berry, with a mustache.  "Devil" Tom had one too.  I'm just sayin', they run in the family and it looks pretty swanky.  It's a mustache tradition!

Autumnal Atonement: Part Uno

Here I am working my keyboard mojo, again.  I don't know that I have had reason to put my fingers on the home keys since my break began back in 2012.  This blog will be an attempt to capture what happened up through the Winter Solstice.  Four months is a lot of time to cover, so one blog can not satisfy all that has happened.  With that, I hang my blogspot head in blogspot shame and attempt my blogger atonement. 

Fall was muy bonito this year.  Sam and I snuck away one weekend for a hike up through Black Balsam to enjoy the bursts of color.  'Twas a pretty day.  We took a picnic, and on the way back home, we decided to stop by Westville Pub for an annual Catawba Valley Pumpkin Beer.  Other celebratory fall musts was a traipse through the Elida Corn Maze.  We got all 12 hole punches- score!  We can add reading the corn maze map to the list of things we learned this year (not an easy feat or easy on the feet!).

Up next was our The Summer Halloween Party Before the Party.  We sort of slacked on parties in 2011-2012, so we decided this would make up for it.  The problem with throwing a party concerning a much celebrated holiday is that everyone else is throwing a party which causes conflicts.  Either no one comes to your party because they are throwing their own party, or people RSVP to your party with every intention of being there, but alas, they stop at two other parties before planning to make it to yours, and wind up not making stop number three.  It happens.  We understand.  Hence the "Party Before the Party" was born.  Brilliant, yes!  We had a Halloween party a few weeks earlier than might be appropriate, but our selling point was that you got to try out your costume before Halloween.  Anyways, we had food and a bonfire, and an all-around good time.  Sam was a pumpkin, and I was a peacock, and we of course, tortured the cats with their traditional costumes just long enough to snag a picture!

In the weeks leading up to Halloween, Sam and I carved pumpkins, a yearly tradition.  However, this year,  I was tired of the same ole patterns that come in the books that you can buy, so I decided to design my own.  In an attempt to avoid school work probably, I set to work sketching out patterns for Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein that I found online.   When I finished sketching them, I really wasn't sure how they would turn out, and it turns out Sam wasn't either, but he of course wouldn't say that until after they turned out (in our humble opinions) amazingly well.  You can make your own judgement, but I think we have set the bar for years to come.  It is sometimes a blessing and a curse to do things well (you can ask Sam that as he has acquired some "chores" that are solely his because of his greatness... like making coffee).

Moving right along to November:

Sam's mom had a birthday.  Due to our new budget with me being in school full time now, our gifts to our parents for their birthdays are the gifts of a homemade cake and manual labor.  Back in September, for my mom, I made a chocolate cake, and we re-landscaped her flower bed.  For Sam's mom, though, I made a German chocolate cake.  This was my third attempt at a German chocolate cake, and I must say, I was satisfied at how it turned out, and those who tried it boasted that it was quiet yummy.  Also, Sam's mom became a victim of circumstance as the only candles we had at the time were the relighting ones.  Consequently, it made for a good laugh, which is also a gift!

We were also fortunate enough in November to get a visit from my brother, Tim, and three nieces, Phoebe, Scarlett, and Eden.  They are growing up so fast and are such enjoyable little girls.  Nevertheless, Sam can turn them into screaming banshees with his "I'm going to get you" antics!  Oh, Uncle Sam...you are so much fun!   While they were here, we visited the gingerbread houses a Grove Park Inn, went on a hike to a waterfall in Cherokee, and had an early Thanksgiving celebration.  It was truly great to see them.

Thanksgiving happened...and thus the trail of food begins.  We celebrated Thanksgiving as Sam's parents' this year, my parents joining.  As always, the food was delightful.  Funny story.  Sam and I decided that we would buy a computer on Black Friday this year.  We are novice Black Friday shoppers.  We naively thought that we could walk into Best Buy at midnight after enjoying a late movie and get the computer we wanted, no wait, no throwing punches, pay, and homeward bound.  Luckily, they offered the same deal online, but that night we decided to drop Sam's car off early at the Honda dealership, and then we decided to drive by Best Buy.  People were camping out and lined-up around the building!  Seriously!  Who does that!  I don't know about you, but after seeing that, there is nothing that is worth it to me...especially when I can have it delivered to my house.  Extreme shopping is not my cup. Anecdotal story aside, we got our new computer which has Windows 8 and a touch screen.  Fancy!

In November, I got very sick.  I had bronchitis which put me out of commission for a few days.  I had a fever and was prescribed an inhaler. I watched way to much t.v. and sat around in sick delirium.  I also had lingering symptoms for a few weeks afterward.  I am just glad that it didn't hit during my finals week because I was not able to even think about school work. It was, in fact, the sickest I have been in probably 4-5 years since I had the flu.

The last weekend of the month we went with Sam's parents to Pigeon Forge where we stayed in cute little cabin with a hot tub.  The hot tub was especially nice since I was just getting over being sick....Ahhhh.  We also did some pre-Christmas shopping and went to a dinner show at Hatfield's and McCoys.








The following weekend we got our Christmas tree, decorated it, and  I tackled finals.  AHHHH!  It is not every bit as stressful as I remember it to be, but I can say in my old age, I am a way more focused student than I used to be (not that I ever did anything but acceptable in my undergrad).  I don't mean to brag, but I came out very well grade-wise ::cough::4.0::cough::! To celebrate the end of semester I went out with some CSD ladies to the Biltmore Estate for a free wine tasting...(free- that's college students for ya).  Besides the 10 hours a week of commuting, I can say I genuinely enjoy the program I am in and am very thankful to have the opportunity to go back to school full-time!  I owe Sam one.  I will leave it up to wise Samuel Walker to wrap things up.

Well, winter's off to a wooly start, and the worms aren't the only thing that's wooly this winter.  The beard is getting pretty outrageous.  And by outrageous, I mean grey.  What to tell?  Well, after Thanksgiving, my parents and I once again went to Iredell County to hang out in some graveyards.  Actually, just one, but it was out in the middle of nowhere, as you can see:

 

We found the Williams family cemetery, which is my mother's side.  The cemetery dates back to before the Revolutionary War and most of the 200+ headstones are fieldstones with no inscription.  One of the only one's we could read was the brother of my several great grandfathers, Samuel Williams, who was named after his father.  So I directly descend from a Samuel Williams!  

Otherwise, I don't have much else to add to our autumnal atonement.  Until next time....

Oh!  and...

Obligatory cat picture!

...and Brother Gus sporting the latest in fall puppy fashion!