The Last of the Summer Tomatoes

Farewell, old friends. I'll see you upon your return next summer. In the meantime, I look forward to greeting your fall cousins, although they are mere imposters of your succulence and grandeur, but in your absence they will suffice!

The Final Product

Black-eyed peas, sliced tomatoes, cornbread with a pat of butter -- it just doesn't get much better!

Jackpot!

Finally today the farmers' market had black-eyed peas -- after two months of waiting. This is what is called a "mess" of peas.

Six hours later and the peas were almost all shelled. I had sore, green fingers!

Washed, blanched, and ready to go in the freezer (nothin' like fresh black-eyed peas on a cold day in January!)

113 Degrees at 5 p.m.

I had good intentions of going for a walk to look for the picture of the day. However, with 113 degrees at 5 p.m. I stayed inside to see what I could find. Several years ago I did a number of counted cross-stitch angels. This is a detail of one of my favorites.

Evening in the Hood

This is my first attempt at a nighttime photo. I think I'd better pull out the manual and do a little studying (or just go back to the food pictures!).

A Plate of Parsley

With 1100 pages of proofreading, there wasn't much time to scope out photo ops today. I think food pictures are the prettiest ones anyway!

Back to Work

I put the red cup next the stack of proofreading that came in today just for some perspective. Four and a half inches of red cup equals 1100 pages!

Home Again

Emerson and his mom met me at the airport and he was sporting a big gap in his mouth! This was his first tooth to lose and he was still very excited about the visit he got from the Tooth Fairy!

Country Road

This is my favorite country road. Mother's house is around the curve at the top of the hill on the left. In deep summer the branches of the trees on either side of the road meet each other creating an umbrella of cool, refreshing shade.

The Carhouse

This is the last "original" building left on the family property. It is fondly referred to as "the carhouse," which I gather was the terminology which we now know as a "garage." It was built in 1926 to protect my grandfather's new Model T Ford from the elements. It looks so small, but in 1926 I guess the autos were pretty small compared to today's models. It is barely standing but Mother refuses to have it torn down because of the memories it brings. It looks like someone is storing rolls of wire in the interior (Mother's land is leased to a local rancher and he can do with it what he chooses -- within reason, of course). I thought the starkness of black and white did justice to the old carhouse.

Special People

My oldest friend Judy (oops, I meant to say my longest friend Judy) came for a short visit today. She and husband Butch drove all the way from Houston just so she could spend a couple hours with me. He was even good enough to go hang out somewhere else so she and I could have some girl time. Judy and I met in the first grade and were best friends during all our growing-up years. We even went to Brownie Scout camp together when we were about nine. It was such an adventure (although the camp was only about three miles from Judy's house, we thought we were at the ends of the earth). We were just as cute and talented and smart as all those girls from Tyler and Longview! I have decided that Judy is really Meryl Streep in real life and that she just works for Shell Oil Company and hangs out with Butch as a ruse to avoid the papparazzi!

Today was Mother's 88th Birthday! Doesn't she look great! I was tickling her to make her smile!

Hotel Garrison

The Garrison Hotel, in my home town of Garrison, Texas, is a stunning Victorian building that resides right next to the train tracks. I can imagine in days gone by visitors stepping off the train and checking into their room for the evening, although what anybody ever did in Garrison is a mystery to me. In my elementary school days, I recall it being a town of about 1500 people. Today it has about 850 residents. The hotel was closed for many years but it has been restored and now on certain days of the month it serves lunch (only and always chicken and dressing is on the menu!) and is the favorite place for Valentine's Day dinner for the locals!

Jubal

Mother's No. 1 friend!

Garden Angel

Mother has a giant oak tree in her front yard. It survived the fire of 11 years ago, and this beautiful little ceramic angel guards over the foot of the mighty oak and peeks out through a beautiful green vine that winds its way toward the sky up the trunk of the old tree. I must confess to you: Mother's home is not the neatest, prettiest place in the neighborhood, but if you look around, take the close-up shot, crop out the clutter, it's pretty amazing what you will find!