Summer County Living

Good afternoon friends! This post is what bloggers sometimes refer to as "random."  Random is really not me. I typically have a theme...or at least a point.  But today, I just wanted to share some summertime pictures on Gran Jan's Joy. And since Gran Jan's Joy is really a blog about the JOYS of my life, let me begin with my three grandblessings...

Here is my oldest grandchild, Zeke, who will be 2 next month. He is wearing a tee-shirt I gave him that says, "Got Biscuits?"  Couldn't you just squeeze him? He has beautiful long eyelashes and has begun praying out loud for us at mealtimes. Melts my heart every time.

Next is his baby sister, Madie Ruth, who is almost 10 weeks old. She is absolutely precious, a very sweet and laid-back baby. She was ready for a pool outing in this picture. She is beautiful and sleeps like a dream...

Below is my youngest grandchild, Jackson, who will be 2 months old the end of this week and is the cousin to the above two grandbabies. He has so much hair, and nary a bit of it is coming out!  He is a beautiful baby and he and I were decked out in our red, white, and blue in this July 4th picture!

More random...One day last week my husband and I went to a Farmers Market about an hour "down the road." It was a really fun day, and these are some pictures from going the back roads.

This is a huge truck/trailer load of watermelons fresh from the field.  They were coming in by the droves. The town is Cordele, Georgia, known as "The Watermelon Capitol of the World."  Truly. I have never seen so many watermelons in my life, and we bought a HUGE seedless one for only $2.00! 

This is a huge fig bush/tree. Have you ever tasted old-fashioned fig preserves on a homemade buttered biscuit? My, my, my. Truly a Southern delicacy and so good!  This huge bush was behind Calhoun Produce, where we bought some butter beans and crowder peas to put in our freezer. Nothing like fresh vegetables in the middle of the winter.

This is my sweet husband coming out of Calhoun Produce with the goods. He will also be willing to enjoy them when I cook them this fall and winter! He helped me with putting them in the freezer too. We had a wonderful day together.  It is so nice when the agenda is light and easy. Good times for sure.

In case you've never seen a house with a silo in the front yard, here it is. Maybe this is an old family farm and they just couldn't bear to take it down, I don't know. But it was worthy of a picture.

Well, this is a good old Georgia red-clay dirt road.  I love a dirt road on a summer day, especially when it is DRY and has not been raining.  Georgia red clay is something that even extra-action Tide has a hard time getting out of your clothes. (Especially if you are a little boy that likes to slide into home on a field of same said Georgia red clay.  "Momma, don't wash it out, it shows I was "in the game!'")

I would have LOVED to go inside this beautiful old country home. Isn't it amazing? It reminds me of that big old home in Little House on the Prairie. This one is a great example of Victorian (Queen Anne) architecture (1840-1890) and was in a little town called Unadilla. I even like the way that sounds...it is pronounced you-nah-dill-lah, emphasis on the third syllable. There you go! 

This cotton field is directly across the street from my home and is part of a huge farm.  I will take pictures and post them when the cotton blooms and is harvested. You will want to go watch "Gone With the Wind."

This close-up of a cotton bloom shows how the bloom fades to this gorgeous rose color after it opens out so white. The field will be so beautiful when it is snowy white and full of cotton bolls as far as the eye can see.

This is a half-bushel box of the sweetest Georgia peaches from right down the road in Peach County, Georgia. (Isn't that sweet, peaches from Peach County?) These came from Lane Packing.  It is a delightful place and if you are ever heading south on I-75 you should stop for lunch and a tour. I ended up with about 17 quart size bags in my freezer for peach cobbler. Click here for my peach cobbler recipe.

This is a picture of some squash pickles I made.  They are sweet like old-fashioned bread and butter pickles.  They turned out really well and look so colorful.

Well, that is about all the random I have for now.  Hope you've enjoyed this "summer country living" post on Gran Jan's Joy.  The simple things in life are the most special to my heart.  My family, the smiles of my grandblessings, the joy of God's creation and the bounty of summer gardens. As my work week closes in and the pace quickens too much for my soul, I may just have to come back and enjoy these photos again. I hope you will too...

Abiding in Him,

 

John 15:5