Vacation and catch up on the farm...

We went on vacation to the beach for a week and had a wonderful time. The ocean is therapy for my youngest son he loves the beach and the ocean. We stay out on the beach for 4 hours at a time and then we come in and go out and eat and go to Brookgreen Garden and Hunting Beach State Park.  We always have a great time we loved to be able to stay the whole summer at the beach and come home early  September. That would be my dream come true. Because of the hurricane Matthew last year they built up a sand mountain we had to climb to get on the beach.

This is a 3 story on stilts condo complex and you can only see the 3rd floor from the beach because of the sand mountain they built 

Clay 1st day on the beach

Farmer and Seth 1st day on the beach

Me and Clay 1st day on the beach

Clay doing his thing

Seth

we saw dolphins 

Farmer and Seth playing corn hole

We saw a lot of alligators this time Huntington State Park

Clays favorite thing to do a Brookgreen Garden Sheep!

Ugly bird at Huntington Beach

My first ever blue jay 

We had a wonderful time on vacation and I have a lot more pictures but most of them are the same as we always take while at the beach. 

When we got home on Fathers Day we went to Albemarle to City Lake Park and had a picnic and took a hike. It was so hot and humid but we had a good time.

Farmer and his boys on Fathers Day

water coming from the damn for the lake.

We had a wonderful day hiking also a funny happen while hiking. We had never been on the trail and the one we took was short but  it went straight up a hill. Clay and I were walking together and taking are time up the hill. About 1/2 way up the hill he got hot and decided to sit down and said he was done. He was so funny.  He got up and finished the trail. 

We are starting to have stuff coming from the garden. This is a baby spaghetti squash on the vines. We have several and I can not wait to have one. We have a bumper crop of zucchini. I am excited I am going to try a new recipe everyday. 

We picked these today

Spaghetti squash

zucchini 

Sweet Bella aka "Blackie" had a name change was taken to the vet to have her spayed. When my mother in law called to check on her she had passed away in recovery. She had 3 kitten which were old enough to be weaned and they live in the barn. 

Bella "Blackie"

Kitten 1

kitten 2

kitten 3

Yesterday we went out for a mule ride on the farm and we came up on a skunk. 

Look how red his tail is and how white his back is

We took a evening ride in the car and I got a picture of a bachelor group of bucks The picture is not real clear but you can see their horns.

Today we went to pick the garden at grandmas and there was a fawn in the pasture on our driveway.

The fawn is so pretty

We have been getting green beans and we dug up some new potatoes. I have got to start back on my diet tomorrow. I have not eaten my best since vacation. Now that veggies are coming in I hope it will be a lot easier to eat healthy. 

Thanks for stoping by and I hope you enjoyed my post. Love to you all.

Stuff to talk about....

I have so much on my mind I don't even know where to start. First and foremost My healthy eating sucks. I just don't know what to do anymore. I have been reading inspirational weight loss bible studies. I am not giving up on God by the way. I am starting a new bible study next week.  I have tried a 4 week diet and lost 6 pounds the first week and that was it. I tried the 3 day detox and I got down to 185 pounds but that did not last either. I weighed this morning I weigh 189.6. I have thought about trying weight watchers again. I thought about doing the 4 week diet again but I am fixing to go on vacation and to tell you the truth it was kinda expensive and a lot of chicken.  I know slow weight loss is good but I really am tired of only losing 10 or lest pounds a year.

I am sitting here feeling sorry for myself watching a documentary on people who are 90's and over. A 100 year old  lady Ida Keeling ran a 100 meter race. She started running at age 67. I grumble that I can not run and she was getting it done!! I know I can exercise and I could be so much better if I could just get the rest of this weight off. Well that is enough about this.

Our garden is looking so pretty! This is our zucchini. We have some tiny tomatoes coming on.

Spaghetti squash

zucchini

Tomato

see the little tomato

Buckwheat

Buckwheat

I can not wait until our zucchini starts coming in I tried a new recipe and it was delicious. They were grilled cheese zucchini patties.  

here is the picture of it.

This is from Delish on Face book. I am not sure how to share the link but here it is.

 http://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a52458/zucchini-grilled-cheese-recipe/

INGREDIENTS

• 2 c. grated zucchini
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 c. cornstarch
• kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil, for cooking
• 2 c. shredded Cheddar

DIRECTIONS

1. Squeeze excess moisture out of zucchini with a clean kitchen towel. In a medium bowl, combine zucchini with egg, Parmesan, green onions and cornstarch. Season with salt and pepper.
2. In large skillet, pour enough vegetable oil to layer the bottom of the pan. Scoop about 1/4 cup of the zucchini mixture onto one side of the pan and shape into a small square. Repeat to form another patty on the other side.
3. Cook until lightly golden on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Remove from heat to drain on paper towels and repeat with remaining zucchini mixture. Wipe skillet clean.
4. Place two zucchini patties in the same skillet over medium heat. Top both with shredded cheese, then place two more zucchini patties on top to form two sandwiches. Cook until the cheese has melted, about 2 minutes per side.
5. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve immediately.

Well I guess I will close here. Thanks for stopping by I hope that you made it past my whining .