reach for the sky

reach for the sky, originally uploaded by MonicaSmoot.

snake skin

snake skin, originally uploaded by MonicaSmoot.

I found this on Sunday while I was cutting back the overgrown jasmine. Actually, I found a lot of this. He must have been a big snake. I think it was pretty old though, because it was falling apart. I found it on the top of the fence underneath the jasmine, right next to the gate where the kids go in and out. Let this be a lesson to me about keeping my yard in check.

new life

new, originally uploaded by MonicaSmoot.

I worked in my yard this weekend. It had been neglected for far too long. I still have so much to do but I need to get more yard waste bags, and an electric hedge trimmer would be nice, too. Still, things are looking better.

Weather update: We haven't seen much rain the past few days but it's very hot and humid. The bugs and the toads are running rampant in my yard. I'm sure the snakes are, too, but luckily I didn't see any live ones.

thinking local

Good year, originally uploaded by MonicaSmoot.

Lately, I've been thinking about the importance of buying locally grown foods. We have many options here and there's even a farmer's market across the street from my office on Wednesday afternoons. So it's not difficult to find locally grown food here.

But I've also decided that we should grow some of our own food, too. After Labor Day, we'll start preparing a small section of the yard so we can grow a few cool weather vegetables. I won't need to get a tractor. I'm thinking a 4X4 square foot garden will be plenty, at least to start. Time to dust off the Square Foot Gardening book that's been sitting on the book shelf for years.

Mother

Mother, originally uploaded by MonicaSmoot.

Free ranch chicken at Boggy Creek Farm. We saw a couple of very young chickens running around and it looks like there will be a few more soon.

Cascade

Cascade, originally uploaded by MonicaSmoot.

One of the benefits of all the rain we've had this summer is the abundance of flowers. Photographing flowers is not my passion but I have been taking more pictures of them lately. It's hard not to.

Red Hot

Red Hot, originally uploaded by MonicaSmoot.

farm boy

farm boy, originally uploaded by MonicaSmoot.

Long time, no see! Been busy. That's my only excuse.

Tomorrow morning, I'm planning to take the kids to Boggy Creek Farm. They want to see the chickens and I want some good organic, locally grown produce.

Oh, and it's raining.

iFriend

iDeanna, originally uploaded by MonicaSmoot.

I took so many photos in NYC that I've spent the past couple of weeks since I've been back processing photos. I'm glad I didn't set my camera to RAW format because those photos take longer to process than photos taken in JPEG format. Ignore what I just said if you aren't a photogeek, or don't care.

We're going to visit family in South Carolina on Saturday. I'll switch my camera back to RAW for that trip because I don't expect to take as many pictures there as I did in NYC. I hope I don't have to eat my words.