Rainy day exercise...

It started raining Sunday evening. We are so thankful for it because everything was so dry. Also, the rain has brought cooler temperatures which I love.

The downside is that the dogs are inside all day and have no way to rid themselves of their energy...well, no way that we allow!  So this morning we had treadmill time. They love it, and I love it because they come away tired and relaxed.

The treadmill gives them physical exercise, but the most important thing is the mental challenge. I am a big fan of Caesar Milan, his dogs respect him but they don't fear him.  Dogs need exercise to be happy, period.

We have three treadmill junkies: Charlie, Scrappy and Speedbump. They jump on it and look at me like,,,turn it on,,,let's go!







Violet likes the treadmill but she's been spoiled and wants me to walk with her. Oh well, I need the exercise too.



I'm still working with Corrie. They have to be comfortable jumping on the treadmill and she's just not ready, she doesn't like anything where all of the attention is on her. She'll get there though.

Daisy, our eldest dog, has hip trouble, so I don't let her do this exercise. She is calm enough and she gets her mental exercise constantly because she is focused on home security, and she gets her physical exercise when she and Charlie play stick, etc.

Well, I'm off to clean the house and maybe work on a quilt I have going. Blessings to you all from the holler...

Our little nursery in the holler...

I just have to post these pictures of our new guests we've had in the holler the last few days. One day this week I told JP that there was a momma deer with twins and I saw them grazing up the hill in the area behind the dog yard. For the last couple of days we've noticed just the babies were hanging out in the front yard with the turkey clan. I hadn't seen the momma and thought either they might be orphaned or just maybe she was doing like I've seen cattle do with their little ones, park them in the shade during the heat of the day while she grazes.



They were in our front yard all day today and they kept moving closer to the house. At first they were down by the creek, then they moved to the shade of one of the trees lining our driveway. Well, happy ending, the mom came and picked them up and we watched them go off into the field. I guess we've been given the honor of watching the babies while she goes off on her errands for the day. It's a tough life in the holler--blessings to you all...

Peas and Elderberry Jelly...

Wow, this year hasn't been a productive year as far as our garden goes but we put up a few things anyway. Fortunately, neighbors sharing and the farmer's market made up for what we lacked.

Today is the last day as far as "putting up" for this year. I blanched some purple hull peas and set them out to cool and dry before bagging them up for the freezer.



Next, I got the elderberries we'd gathered along the roadside out of the freezer to make into jelly.



Here's the recipe that I use from TennZen's blog.

I put the berries in a stockpot, covered them with water (just enough to cover the berries), and simmered for 15 minutes. Then I strained the juice into a bowl by pouring through a colander lined with a damp flour sack towel. I don't have a true muslin jelly bag and I find that cheesecloth is too porous and flimsy. Flour sack towels work quite well and they can be easily tied up and hung for the juice to drip.

I ended up with about 3 1/2 cups of juice - just perfect for my jelly recipe:

Elderberry Jelly
3 1/2 c. elderberry juice
1/2 c. lemon juice
1 pkg. powdered pectin
5 1/2 c. sugar

Stir elderberry juice, lemon juice and pectin together. Bring to a full rolling boil. Add sugar and return to full rolling boil. Boil exactly 1 minute. Remove from heat, skim off foam and pour hot jelly into hot, sterilized half-pint jars. Place hot caps on jars and screw on bands finger-tight. Process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Yield: 5-6 half pints

I had about a cup of juice leftover so I made a pint of elderberry syrup for when we have colds this winter. It has so much vitamin C it's as good as Tamiflu!



Speedbump, Corrie and Violet are enjoying the weather that's not so hot.



As you know, the stick game rages on!



So now all I have left for today is laundry and cooking supper! Blessings to you all from the holler...

Never be a Christmas card...

I stood out in the back yard with the pack and a treat bag under my arm to try and get one of those perfect Kodak moments. The best picture I got was this one. Of course, Scrappy is running after something.



Mostly, the outing consisted of me sweating lots in this humidity and the dogs running around totally oblivious. There was lots of this...



And lots of this, one of them is definitely watching Charlie carry his stick around...shesh!



Oh well, I tried. Let's face it, without photoshop we'll never have a doggie Christmas card. Lesson learned, no big dealio.

Have a great weekend and blessings from the holler...

Out with the Shepherds...

Basically I avoid the out of doors in the heat of the day. The air is so hot and thick it makes breathing hard. I really don't know how athletes train/play in this weather. Maybe that's why they're skinny and I am not. Today, though, Daisy and Charlie gave me the "please mom" look when I came in from filling the hummingbird feeder so I grabbed the camera and braved the heat for a few minutes.



We went to the garden to see what was still out there. I have officially given our garden over to the critters. A few weeks ago all of our ripe tomatoes were picked and eaten by birds of every size. Then, the bunnies moved into the zucchini patch so I let them have it. All I want is the few cherry tomatoes we get for eating salads and fresh pasta and today I snagged a couple of slicing tomatoes. The marigolds are thriving :O)



Daisy and Charlie like to go and salvage any berries or tomatoes they find on the ground. Today, they were ready to go back in soon and they were on the front porch before I could get up the stairs. So, I played the mean momma and made them sit while I took one more picture. I love those two faces to pieces. Now, you all know that I love the other four as well but the Shepherds are king/queen of the front yard.





Blessings to you all from the hot holler...