The new House.

It has been awhile since I posted anything to the blog. I have been so busy with the house and after losing Skeeter, I have not felt like writing. Since my last post, the house has come a long way. We have for the most part finished the electrical wiring, plumbing, got the emergency generator installed, the sub-floor installed, insulation sprayed under the house and some of the sheet rock hung. My buddy Eddie and I are installing the H/A/C ducting at present. We will be getting the inside walls sprayed with insulation next. I think once all the sheet rock has been finished Janene will be happy. She is getting excited, looking for tile, carpet, paint colors and even new furniture. So, I would say Janene is ready for me to get finished, but since I am doing this myself for the most part, it takes a while to get stuff done. I am in hopes that we can have the house ready to start moving in maybe by spring. You can see photos of the house in progress on our photo page. See the website below.



If you want to drop by, come on down. We are staying in our camper most of the time. There are so many thieves out there wanting to steel copper wire and construction materials off the jobs, we decided to live here. Yep, if you know me you know I have my trusty ole 357 magnum and shotgun by the door. On a funny note; I installed a bell in the camper and connected it to a wireless photo eye up front at the road. It goes off when somebody comes in the drive. The other night it went off two times at once. So, here I go out with the spot light and gun. Yes, in my under shorts. I shine the spot light all around and spotted the burglar. It was a big fat black opossum. He was high tailing it out of there too. Guess he heard about the crazy guy in undershorts.



Then on the human side, we got a delivery from Ford Lumber last week. Two guys brought the front door, only it was 6:00 a.m. in the morning, still pitch dark, and I was sound asleep. Yep here I go out in my undershorts with the gun. Believe me those guys started hollering to me, letting me know who it was.



Now for other news. You know I have always been a dog person. Not much use for cats. Well, Janene's cousin lives about a quarter of a mile across the field. He has a tabby cat that comes to visit on a daily basis. His name is Festus. Festus comes to visit daily and has now brought a family to live here. His wife and son are as wild as any Farrel cats you ever seen. Janene feeds them and they come twice a day for food. They will not let her get close to them, but if she does not feed them on time they come to find her. She has named the momma ( a calico) Scatter, and the son Buckwheat ( he is black and looks like a Buckwheat) Now Festus came up the drive the other afternoon bleeding from the mouth. Some ASS HOLE shot him in the mouth. We had given Fetus up for dead. But remember a cat has nine lives. Monroe ( Fetus' real owner) came to get him. And after a week in the animal hospital and over $500 Festus is back on his feet and doing well. He looks a little different since the bullet blew half his jaw off. His mouth looks a little side ways. Oh, while Fetus was in the hospital Monroe had him fixed. ( That means his nuts were cut off) Once Fetus healed up and back on the prowl, nothing has slowed him down. He still visits every day. It appears that he has not missed the important part of his back side either.



One more thing, we needed several loads of top soil. Also when it rains we get flooded out at the barn. So, I had the big idea to dig a pond to hold the run off water and have all the top soil we need. I could not help myself when Janene ask me if I was going to put blue gills and catfish in our new pond, I had to answer her by explaining that we need water in the pond first..... She did not appreciate my humor. Well that is about it for now. The farm is coming together. We know that her dad, James, is looking down proud as can be. You seen this was his dream to make this place his "Sugar Farm".



And that is it from Down on the Sugar Farm.

SKEETER

SKEETER
“The Boat Dog”
12/12/1997-5/5/2008

BREED: RAT TERRIER
COLOR: WHITE/BLACK/BROWN
LITTER: THREE PUPS
BORN: DATE: DECEMBER 12, 1997
PASS FROM

THIS LIFE: MAY 5, 2008

MOTHER: SPOOK

OWNER: LONNIE YOUNCE
FATHER: SPOCK
OWNER: LONNIE YOUNCE

ORIGINAL HOME:
NAME: CAUDE GARDNER

PUT UP FOR ADOPTION: DATE: LAST WEEK IN APRIL 1998

ADOPTED: MAY 30, 1998
BY: CHARLES & JANENE WITT


STARTED OBEDIENT SCHOOL:
JUNE 8, 1998
SOUTH ALABAMA K-9
DAVID JONES

COMPLETION: JUNE 17, 1998

Skeeter was one of three out of the first litter his mother had. She killed one, with a girl and boy to survive. The Mother rejected the pups, and they were bottle fed by the owner until they were three weeks old. At that time Mrs. Gardner purchased the boy dog and named him Skeeter. He was weaned at the age of three weeks and taken home to the Gardner's. He proved to be too fiestie for her grand children, and she put him up for adoption with the veterinarian in Foley. Dr. Henson placed him in the Loxley clinic. Mrs Amy Middleton, and employee of the clinic took him home with her for a couple weeks, but with her number of pets already, he did not work out. David Jones, a trainer knowing that I wanted a rat terrier to replace a long lost buddy, Buster, contacted me and told me about about skeeter. On Saturday, May 30, 1998, at 2:00 p.m. and interview was scheduled for Skeeter to evaluate Janene and I. He upon seeing us for the first time played a little hard to get, but he knew he had a permanent home this time, and decided to go home with us. He some how knew he had a home he would be treated like royalty. After a very bad start to life, he knew he had it made.

Skeeter came from a long line of terriers of some 30 years coming from Louisiana. Lonnie Younce has kept a real tight blood line on the family and it was not his intent for the litter to be sold. Skeeter's heritage proved to be a very loyal, intelligent , and faithful blood line. Un-like most terrier dogs Skeeter was not a hunting dog, but in fact his main funtion in life was protecting his master.

About a week after finding his new home, Skeeter was enrolled into an obedient school for training. He spent two weeks with David Jones for training. When Skeeter came home, he went back for practice session two more times. Due to the nature of Mr. Jones attitude and training techniques, it was decided to not take Skeeter back to Jones. His training ended. From then on, he would live his adult days on the river in royalty. He loved to ride the wave runners, and boats. He practice safe boating by wearing his coast guard pfd.

During his life, he was a well travelled dog. He never missed a chance to go for rides. He travelled with us from the swamps of Louisiana to the southern most point of Key West and all points in between. He went with us every where. On a few occasions he had to stay behind, and we found a place in Loxley that had "Doggy condos" so he always had a nice place to stay. Although, he did not like to be separated for us, and would not eat or drink while we were away. So we got to a point that if Skeeter could not go, then we did not go. The R.V. was purchased so that Skeeter had a place to stay and could go with us at the same time. He has been to LA, GA, FL, TN, and MO just to name a few states he has seen. He was at home any place we were. He even lived in a number of places. from Styx River to Gulf Shores, to the Bon Secour river, the Foley. He was even getting used to the idea of moving up to the farm and I do believe was looking forward to that move. He never forgot where he had been before too. Whether it was the river home, the vets office, or the farm. When ever we would get to some place he knew, he would announce that we were there as soon as we approached the drive way.

Ne never missed a chance to go for rides. He dearly loved going riding on the boats. He could hear the boat lift going down and come from now where and be waiting on the boat to hit the water. And if the boat was sitting in the water and he could get on the boat, you would fine him just sitting on the boat waiting just in case some body was taking the boat out.

He only had one thing that he hated. He did not like being locked in a closed area. He hated it to have a kennel door locked. He would stay in his "house" when he needed to, but he did not want the door shut and locked. Same for a truck or car. He would sit and wait for you as long as it took, but he did not want the doors shut, but to keep him comfortable the A/C was left on all the time. He was never locked in a hot vehicle with out the motor running and A/C on.

Over the years he developed the desire to talk like people. He tried his best to talk. He did have select people he would talk to. He would not just talk to anyone. I never will forget the first person he talk to some one outside of Janene and I. Clarence Waller was staying with us after Ivan. We were doing clean up and one night he decided to talk to Clarence. Clarence could not believe it. At night he would lay on the bed and call Janene or I to come on to bed. He loved his "family time" on the bed at night before going to sleep. He would sit and talk to us. Then when it was time for lights out, he would always wait until the last light was out, then the T.V. off and in about five minutes when he knew we were about to go to sleep, he would ask to go outside to wee wee.

He had his favorite people too. He would get real happy to see his friends come to visit. He would show them his newest toys, play for a few minutes, then go lay down and be a nice dog. He never pestered them, but when they would get ready to leave, he would get real mad , want to fuss, and nip at their heels. As to say, "don't go." He never seem to like other dogs though. He would ignore them and would not associate with them. There was one dog that he did like. Norman Pierce would bring Bagger around and Skeeter liked him. Some times I would think he thought Bagger was a life toy. Speaking of toys, He loved any stuff toy that would squeak. He would drive Janene up the wall with his squeak toys. He developed a liking for blue Walmart bags. Some how he knew that every one came with a new stuffed toy. His favorite toy by the way was a Pelican. Some how he knew I had a thing for Pelicans. So he did too. His favorite treats came in those Walmart bags too. It was chicken strips and we would call them "Turkey Jerky" and of course he never turned down a "beggan strip".

He was amazing little guy. You had a hard time realizing he was a dog and not a little boy. People who did not like dogs and would tell you so even liked Skeeter. He would make friends with people easy. Just like many dogs, he knew a person's character and if he did not like a person, you could bet you did not want to be friends with them either.

Skeeter has now passed from this life. He died on May 5, 2008 a little after noon. He was 10 1/2 years old. Skeeter lived a full and good life. He was a devoted and extremely faithful little buddy. Skeeter did have a tuff time health wise. He had a growth removed from his right foot back on November 6, 1998. At that time he was neutered. The growth came back as Histiocytoma. Then in 2006 he developed cataracts. Dr. Campbell referred him to specialist from Jacksonville, FL. His first visit was in Pensacola, where it was determined that he needed cataract surgery. It was discussed whether to do both eyes or one. Dr. Brown influenced us to just do the right eye. So, on January 2, 2008 Skeeter under went surgery in Jacksonville, FL. The surgery was a complete success. It took several months for him to get back on his routine. He had to wear a funnel shape collar for the duration. He did without any complaining; but did not like wearing it. He had to continue on eye drops then the rest of his life. Now Skeeter was not one to take medicines easily. But some how knew that the eye drops did good, so he would stand and let you put them in with out a fuss.
We noticed that he was having arthritis problems in his joints during the year of 2007. Then during our trip to Key West in October, he got progressively worst. So in November, on our return we took him to Dr. Campbell for an x-ray. Dr. Campbell advised us that he had three bad vertebra and that he was loosing his use of his hind quarters. He said there was nothing we could do except makes him comfortable. He was started on cortisone tablets and shots. This made him much more comfortable for awhile. He would wake me up at 6:00 a.m. every morning to get his medicine. Then in April, it was time for his annual shots and check up. Dr. Campbell came in with bad news; Skeeter’s sugar was off the scale. So, he immediately put him on insulin. Again, Skeeter proved what a trooper he was. He would let me give him the shots with out fussing. We managed to get the sugar down, but not before Skeeter quite eating. He went from eating everything in sight, to not wanting any food. His last meal on his own was Danny’s fried chicken. He had to be hand feed from then own. He spent his last days resting with his buddy CW at home. He knew the end was near, and wanted me to hold him all the time. He would go to my desk after his medicine and sit under my desk a wait for me. He gave me all the love he could those days. Even though he felt so bad. Then it got to where he did not want to take his medicine, he wanted to sleep in, so he quite waking me up at 6:00. Then on the morning of May 5th, he had gotten up, and was sitting in the living room waiting for me to come out. He knew this was his last morning, I know now. I can still see him lying by the couch looking at the bedroom door. He came into the desk and lay there waiting for me to pick him up. He died later that morning at the office of Dr. Campbell in Robertsdale. Many thanks to Judy and Dr. Campbell for their compassion and help.
Skeeter is now laid to rest at the Sugar Farm by the barn. The end of the story, but the memories will last forever.

My Boy Skeeter

Have you ever had a little buddy? I have been blessed with several. Even though I have loved and treasure each one, they have all been my favorite at that time. I guess My all time best friend is Skeeter. Skeeter is by far the most faithful, the most loving and has been the most attached. He has become the most treasured gift from God I can say I have ever had. His love represents the love of Jesus. He looks to me as his master just like we should look to our lord as our master. His never ending love represents the love we should have for our master. His devotion to me represents the devotion we should have for our master. He looks to me for his every need and trust and has faith that I will provide for him. Just like we should look to our master for our every need. When he hurts, I hurt just like our master hurts for us. And when he is hurting, he will come to me and wants me to hold him and comfort him. Just like we seek comfort from our Lord. I guess that God blessed me with Skeeter as an example of his love and a lesson of what a relationship we should have with our Lord. You see without prayer and comfort from our Lord, we could not make it through our tough times. That is why when we are in need we tend to go to the Lord even more. When we are comfortable and everything is going smooth, we tend to get lax in our prayer life. We should always be constant in our prayer. When all is well, we should be constantly thanking God for our daily fortune just like we are in constant prayer when we need his help.
Yes, Skeeter is getting old. He has health issues now. He developed cataracts, and God granted me the means and the doctors to get his eye sight corrected. Now he has arthritis in his back and it is hard for him to get around. We have him on medications to ease the pain and to keep him mobile. The vet did not give him much chance to walk. But through prayer, God has granted Skeeter more time to walk and be happy. Thanks to God, he has the medications that is keeping him on his feet. He can not run and play like he did before, but he can still maintain a happy life and provide the love he was sent to me to give. If you ever had a pet like Skeeter, you know how hard it is for me to know I am going to have to soon give him up. We know that we are but temporary here on earth and that we all are put on earth to die. Sad to say but true that dogs have a much shorter life expectancy than we humans. I am selfish like anybody else. I ask God to give me a little more time to enjoy Skeeter's love. I know he is preparing me for the time real soon when he will require me to let him have back my little buddy. I dread so much that day. When I see Skeeter having trouble walking, but still so very happy to see me, I thank God for that one more day with him. I do miss him being able to go everywhere with me. You see he has to stay home, being quite and resting now. He can not take long walks. He can not run and play with his favorite toys. He has trouble just walking outside to go potty. On cold rainy days just like our old joints hurt, his hurts worst too. Old age is by all means not the "Golden Years". They are hard and sad no matter if you are human or dog. I may not have ever had children, but Skeeter is every bit as important to me as any child that you may have had. Trouble is, a dog's life goes by seven times than us humans.
So, God thank you for Skeeter. And for helping Skeeter maintain a little joy and happiness in his time remaining on this earth. Thank you for the additional time you are letting me have with him. Help me to be strong and understand that I must give him up soon. Help me with the pain, for I am selfish like any other human being, and do not want to give him up.
And THANK YOU my friend for sharing my pain and listening to my story. If you have a little buddy like Skeeter or if you ever have a chance to give a little dog a home, remember that he will represent the Love and devotion we should have for our master. I know now why a dog is called man's best friend. I may never have another dog, for at my age I can not stand the pain of loosing such a wonderful gift. In my years on earth, I have had to give up way too many "best friends" both K-9 and human. It hurts when you loose them. I truly treasure every one of them. I am constantly reminded of them and treasure my memories.

(Now as an up-date: All the prayers in the world did not change things. As it turned out as you will read the next blog post, Dr. Campbell was right. Skeeter did not make it. He lost his battle with health on May 5, 2008. Oh, the pain in having faith that God will be there and help, but when he chooses not to answer prayers for what ever reason it makes one think about things real deep. We are here but a moment. All things are his that made them and when he calls for them back, we have no chose. All the prayers in the world no matter how sincere and how much you plead and ask, nothing will change. And loosing some one or some thing you dearly love hurts so deeply. Pain of loosing never goes away, we just learn to live with the pain and tolerate it. In reality, we are here just to survive and wait until the time when he calls us to come home. )

And that is how it is,
from down on the Sugar Farm

An update from down on the farm

Have not said much about the house and barn project lately. Since I am up early and the better half is still snoozing, I sit here with a cup of coffee thinking about STUFF. Don't you just hate it when you wake up real early and can not go back to sleep? So, I will give an up-date on what is happening down on the Sugar Farm.
Thanks to my buddy, Norman (Stug) Pierce, we are getting the barn wired for lights and electricity. He and I have been working when we can running conduit and wires. Soon we can say, Let there be light. As for the house, well that is another story. Janene and I labored to get the dirt and sand fill under the house, thinking Peanut was going to get started soon on the framing. How wrong that was. Well, you see Peanut has been very sick. Between being sick and all the rain, he called yesterday and said he is so behind in his jobs that he may be another three months getting around to us.... ugh. Well back to the drawing board. We are now talking to more framers. Who knows when we can start now?
As for the FARM. The citrus trees for the most part may have survived the cold freeze. Although the Lime and lemons may not make it. They look a little sick without leaves and the bark turning yellow. I got some blue berry bushes and grape vines from my friend Bill Davis. Maybe if the rain stops soon and the ground dries enough, we can get them planted. The garden has got way too much rain too. I had high hopes for some new potatoes, but thanks to the abundance of rain I do believe they may not make it. Can you believe we have had so much rain this winter?The farm is beginning to look more like a lake. Onions and garlic are surviving the wet though. And the cabbage is looking good in spite of the soggy ground. Got some herbs started in the garage, got high hopes for them. Just my luck, we have had such mild winters, and dry weather for so long, then when I start planting stuff we get the coldest freezes and wettest weather in years. Soon it will be good Friday and we will try for planting the rest of the garden. Wish me luck.
Oh, cousin Monroe Nelson told me that the bamboo bush he has at his house originally came from my father-in-law's farm. He dug some of it up from in front of the old barn. He is going to give me some to plant. He also gave me to display an old pull plow that came from Grandaddy Palmers. My daddy-in-law plowed many of acres with the old plow. Years ago, I dug up some of the banana trees out by the old hay barn. I have moved and transplanted them everywhere we have lived. Now I have them planted by the new barn. I want to preserve as much history as I can of the old farm in the memory of James Palmer. He may have been a father-in-law, but in reality he was like a father, he was a best friend, a mentor and a very wise man. He made me feel like his real son. I will have to write about him some time and tell you about what a great guy he was.
As you see, now much to report. Just fighting the winter blues. Can not wait for the spring and pretty days to come. Maybe then we can get some real progress going. Like they say, its always some thing and it is never easy. And thats it

from down on the Sugar Farm.

Charlie the Pelican

At our place down on Bon Secure River, we had a special guest come for a visit His name was Charlie. One morning I was on my dock throwing a cast net to catch bait. Charlie came swimming up as to tell me he needed my help. You see, Charlie had an injured beak, and looked to be hungry. So, we fed him and he took that as an invitation to stay. We had a local neighbor that came by about that time and had some left over bait in his boat. So, Charlie got some more breakfast. I missed the shot of the life time. When Doug left that morning, Charlie perched up on the bow of his boat and rode up river to Doug's dock. Well Charlie would come back everyday for several weeks. In fact, he seem to know when the best times were for a meal. Then his beak started to heal. Charlie seem to feel better as he started getting more aggressive. He would follow you around, he would walk up the dock to the porch, and get rather angry if you did not have him some "fresh catch". So, we had to ween him, and he understood it was time to move on. One day a pretty young thing came along and caught Charlies eye. He decided that is was time for him to move on and took up a mate. Charlie was gone for a week or so, then one day a shrimp boat came by draggin his net on top of the water. The boat had been out all night shrimping and was headed for the docks. Behind was a bunch of birds including a lot of pelicans. Once the boat was tied up to the dock and the pelicans were fighting over the by catch, then this one lone pelican picked up and flew down to our dock. He circled, then landed on the dock and walked up to us. We gave him a little snack and he as if to say thank you, took off, flew a circle around us, then flew back to his new family. We have not seen Charlie again, only to think about him when we see a pelican roosting on the channel marker number "24" next to our dock. My wife will call out "Charlie" but no answer. Charlie is now off making new Pelicans and fishing.... Happy Fishing Charlie.

from down on te Sugar Farm........................

A Fart?

Dont' you just love those E-mails you get today. People can keep in touch with each other and never say a word. You can be next door to some one and never see them, never know how they are doing or how they are feeling. But keep in touch with jokes, and E-mail forwards. Now, most of the junk you delete, but now and then there comes one that makes you laugh or touches you in some way. This following I got the other day and yep, kinda touched me and made me laugh. Check it out and I bet it brings a smile to your face too.

A Fart:

A fart can be short, Or a fart can be long,

Some farts have been known To sound like a song......

A fart can create A most curious medley,

A fart can be harmless, Or silent , and deadly.

A fart might not smell, While others are vile,

A fart may pass quickly, Or linger a while......

A fart can occur In a number of places,

And leave everyone there, With strange looks on their faces.

From wide-open prairie, To small elevators,

A fart will find all of Us sooner or later.

But farts are all bad, Is simply not true-

We must never forget....... Sweet old farts like you!

Kinda brings a tear to your eye - right?

Hehehe. Well bet you think I have nothing else to do huh. I foward this to a buddy and he sent back in return this reply: Uncle Joe's favorite remark when he farted was "better in the wide wide world than in a narrow gut".

Now I have a new saying for the future when appropriate. Thanks to Gary D and Joe F. Now if you have a funny FART story feel free to add it. I am sure that it will be intertaining.....

Just for laughs from down on the Sugar Farm..........LOL

What is a Friend?

WHAT IS A FRIEND?
Your Heart is your Love, Your love is your Family , Your family is your Future , Your future is your Destiny , Your destiny is your Ambition, Your ambition is your Aspiration , Your aspiration is your Motivation , Your motivation is your Belief , Your belief is your Peace , Your peace is your Target , Your target is Heaven, Heaven is no fun without FRIENDS

The above was sent to me by my buddy Gary Davis, as he knows that I treasure Friends. You see I use the word "friend" very sparingly . You hear people every day refer to another person as a friend. In reality they really mean an acquaintance. You see I think a "Friend" is some one special in your life. Some one that will be there for you till the end. They will be on call for you and be there by your side in the thick or thin. Some body that will listen to you when you are down and out, celebrate with you when you are happy and on top of the world. I have been lucky in life, should I say blessed. I have know a number of people in my life that I consider "Friends". A few has passed on now and I miss them and think of them about every day. Bill Countryman is one of those fellows. I guess he was the one that taught me the real meaning of "Friend." He was like a daddy, brother, mentor, buddy, and just a good all around friend. Bill died in my arms on Sunday April 2, 1988. We were to go fishing that day. He had told his wife Gladys that he was going to surprise me by coming to Church with me, then we would go fishing. Now, Bill is smiling down on me every time I catch a fish.
Since those days, I have been blessed with a few more "Friends" that have moved on to the great beyond. Gene Speed and Clarence Waller to mention the latest. They will always be in my thoughts. Loosing these true brothers has taught me that life is very short and to treasure what you have today, because we are not guaranteed tomorrow. It has taught me too that the most treasured procession you have are not in material things. It has taught me too, and that is why I always will tell you that you were born to a mother and father, in most cases brothers and sisters. That God chose for you. But, "Friends" are your chosen family. You have a chose in the matter when it comes to your really true family. So the next time you say that "so-in so" is a friend, take a minute and think about what you are saying.
Don't forget your four legged friends too. A dog can be the very best friend you have. If you really want somebody to stand by you and actually die for you think about that little guy sitting at your feet. Truly one of Gods greatest blessings can be sitting right at your feet. I could go on for pages on why I think dogs are better than people, but I will leave that to another time.

Some rainy day thoughts from Down on the Sugar Farm.

Skeeter Says

I recieved this E-mail as a joke. I showed it to Skeeter and he said it did not seem like a joke to him and that he would have to agree with the writer. He said that since he could not operate the computer, that I should post these thoughts for him as he really thought there were lots of truths to this. So, on behalf of Skeeter, "The Boat Dog" Here goes:

10 Peeves that Dogs Have About Humans

(1 ) Blaming your farts on me..... not funny... not funny at all !!!

(2) Yelling at me for barking. I'M A FRIGGIN' DOG!!!

(3) Taking me for a walk, then not letting me check stuff out. Exactly whose walk is this anyway?

(4) Any trick that involves balancing food on my nose. Stop it!

(5) Any haircut that involves bows or ribbons. Now you know why we chew your stuff up when you're not home!

(6) The sleight of hand, fake fetch throw. You fooled a dog! Woooo Hoooo, what a proud moment for the top of the food chain.

(7) Taking me to the vet for 'the big snip', then acting surprised when I freak out every time we go back!

(8) Getting upset when I sniff the crotches of your guests. Sorry, but I haven't quite mastered that handshake thing yet.

(9) Dog sweaters. Hello??? Haven't you noticed the fur?

(10) How you act disgusted when I lick myself. Look, we both know the truth. You're just jealous.

Now lay off me on some of these things. We both know who's boss here! You don't see me picking up your poop do you?

EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY. A DOG ALWAYS OFFERS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. CATS HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT!

from a dogs point of view from down on The Sugar Farm

There are two kinds of Food

Did you ever realize there were two kinds of food. There is the kind of food you sit down to that is only meant to satisfy the hunger pains and to survive. Then there is the kind that you sit down to and enjoy digging in. The kind that you really enjoy eating and later feel guilty cause you ate way too much.
The first for instance. Who ever sit down to a bowl of cereal or a bowl of oatmeal, even a bowl of cream of wheat. Now talk about boring. I had much rather sit down to a couple eggs with hash browns and some good ole fried bacon or sausage. hey, what about some good ole buttermilk biscuits on the side with some real butter and syrup. I like to take some real butter, pour a good helping of maple syrup on top, take your fork and mix it up real good. Melt all that butter into the sweet syrup. When the syrup gets that creamy blond look, then take one of those good ole cat head biscuits and start sopping. Now, that is a breakfast. No dad-gum wimpy cereal for me.
Now, for dinner? ( You city slickers call it lunch. What you call dinner, we call that supper.) In my previous blog, I talked about how to build a perfect sandwich. And that is cut into stone. Do I need to remind you? That is mustard on the bottom next to the meat, and the mayonnaise on top next to the "Salad". Mix in some taters and you have a fine lunch. OR better yet, a plate of good ole fried chicken, mash taters w/ gravy, peas, and corn bread with a big ole glass of sweet tea. Now that is lunch. But if you want to just exist, you can stick a bowl to can soup in the microwave, get the bowl so dad-gum hot you can't touch it, pull it out and crumble some saltine crackers in the soup, and take a bite. Then you find out the only thing hot is the glass bowl you have the wimpy soup in. Maybe have a good ole cold glass of water for a beverage. That is what I call eating to exist.
Now for the main meal. Yep, I said main meal. They say the most important meal of the day is breakfast. If that is the case, why eat a bowl of cereal or a piece of jelly toast? Just wondering. Now back to the supper. You could take something out of the freezer, half ass thaw it, and slap it in a skillet. Never once give any thought to seasoning. Cook it so that it looks done. While this is going on, you put some left overs or some vegetable can goods in the microwave. In about 10 minutes you have supper. Don't have any taste, still frozen in the middle, but hey it satisfies the hunger pain until bedtime.
OR, you could take the rib eye out of the freezer and completely thaw it out to room temperature. Put some of your favorite seasoning on it, marinate it in some Italian dressing, maybe add a little liquid smoke and and beer to the marinate. While that is going on, fix a big bake potato, and some good green salad. Open a bottle of Merlot or better yet a big ole glass of sweet tea. Once the steak has marinated, put it on a very hot grill, and cook it to med. Now that is supper. Now something you can just only survive on, but some thing you can enjoy. Oh, better take the Nexium, cause you will really enjoy that supper most of the night......
You see, my ole buddy, Gary Davis, told me one day. He said " Brother CW, I have known a lot of good folks in my day. Have eat with most of them. Most everybody I know eat to survive, you and Janene are the first ones I have met that survive to EAT". How true he was. One of the things have to do in life is eat. You have to do it every day. So, why not make it fun and enjoy eating. When you get old and have to give up your hobbies, you can always sit down to some good viddles and enjoy your day.

from down on the Sugar Farm. Happy Meals.......

Just some good thoughts.

The following is not something I thought up. I have a very good friend that from time to time sends me things via E-mail. This is one of those, as I call them "Gary's Wisdom's". He gets these "thoughts" from a friend of his and passes them on to me. I am very grateful for my friends and specially for Gary, better know as Sonny.
Here is his E-mail:
Do more than merely getting through this day. Jump into it fully with vigor and enthusiasm.
Do more than merely getting through your work. Find real joy in making a difference.
When the purpose behind each day is just to get it over with, that dismal purpose can begin to take over your whole life. By contrast, when you put a little bit of joy and positive purpose into each moment, you get a whole lot of great and wonderful things filling your world.
It only takes a fraction of a second to change your whole life and your whole world for the better. Are you ready to go beyond merely surviving and to fill each thought, each word, each action with the most magnificent possibilities of life?
Life is exactly the way you choose to see it. Wherever you may be, whatever you may be doing, you have the opportunity to immediately and completely make life truly great.
Open your eyes, look around, and awaken to all the best possibilities. Now is when you can live with all the richness you're able to imagine.
Thanks Gary Davis for this wisdom and for being my friend. I have learned many years ago. Friends are our chosen Family. What would we do if we did not have Friends? I am truly a blessed man. God has given me many good friends and I feel as if I have a very large family with lots of brothers and sisters. If you amen this, I hope you cherish your friends as I do and consider them your family.
from down on the Sugar Farm.

What's New on the Farm

We have been busy up on the farm. We have planted three different kinds of satsuma trees, two kinds of lemons, a lime, a pink grape fruit, a navel orange, and a few LA sweet orange trees. Time to plant fruit trees are in the winter. So, we did. Now we are hoping that the extremely cold weather we have had has not claimed them. We have bank them and we covered them with a frost protection material. BUT, they still look a little wilted from the cold. Oh, we planted four Loquat trees too. Now if you do not know what a loquat tree is, I will have to let my bride explain it. Most people don't know you can eat the fruit. Her Yankee grandma use to make loquat pies when Janene was a little girl. The cajuns call them "Japanese plums".
We have a foundation and house piers now. Including a gravel drive way. Our days are spent putting fill sand around the piers for a moisture barrier. We are eagerly waiting the day our framer, Peanut, can get started with the framing.He was by yesterday and it looks like about 30 days out now. So, we have time to get the sand spread. In the mean time, we are planting flowers and shrubs. Got azaleas planted along with some day lilies. Building a big flower bed around our favorite "Chinese Chestnut tree"
As you know the story around the Sugar Farm. Well, my daddy-in-law dug a water well back in the "thirties" when he farm the land and plan to build a house. Well, later years he planted this chestnut tree. That is why it is our favorite, cause he planted it with a seed. Now the tree is over 50 feet tall, and yes the water well pipe is hidden on the inside of the tree as the mighty old chestnut has grown completely around the pipe.
The vegetable garden is coming. We have onions planted, cabbage to plant and yesterday, my bride bought 10# of red potatoes to plant. That is another story, I have to take time to tell.......
You see years ago when I had my carpet store in Bay Minette, I had an assistant. Back then I did a lot of gardening to calm my nerves. So, this one spring when I was planning my garden, my assistant put in a request. She wanted me to plant her some "new potatoes" She was so serious when she ask me too. She thought that "New Potatoes" was a variety. So, I told her that I had plan to plant some white potatoes, but would plant new potatoes instead. She was so happy, until I explain that the joke was on her..... Specially when I told her I was planting some macaroni too.....
Well, that is it from Down on the Sugar Farm...
Happy Planting.

A true gift from God

One of God’s greatest gifts to us is a devoted pet dog. Owning a pet dog has a lesson for us dog lovers. God gave us the dog to demonstrate the love he has for us and the love we should have for him. You see our pet dogs look to us their masters for every thing and all things. In turn they give us their love, devotion and will be loyal to us till the very end.
You see, when a dog hurts, he comes to his master for aid. When he is hungry he comes to his master for food. When he is thirsty, he comes to his master for drink. When we are sad he is there to cheer us up. When we are in danger he is there to protect us even if it is to his death. He is always devoted to us. When we get frustrated and shoo him away, or scold him for doing something bad, he immediately seeks our affection and wants our forgiveness. Don’t we do the same thing towards the Lord? We look to him for food, drink, protection, and health. We look to the Lord for all our needs. When we do some thing wrong and the Lords needs to scold us, we in turn want to snuggle up to the Lord and seek his forgiveness. In turn we should be just as devoted and be willing to fight for our Lord right to death. We should always live our lives so the Lord is proud of us. We should always be found doing his work.
So the next time you look at a dog, remember this. He represents the love and devotion we share with our Lord. He gave his all so we could live. In him we are saved and have eternal life. His blood washes away our sins. The next time you are petting your dog, thank God for him and the lesson he demonstrates to us. I am so thankful that God gave me Skeeter. Skeeter is a miracle and a true gift from God. He has taught me how much the Lord loves me and how much I should love the Lord and how devoted I should be to him. I pray that I can have Skeeter in my life for a few more years to come so I can ever be reminded of God’s Love.
From down on the Sugar Farm

Do we expect too much

We are taught that God will provide for us and that he will take care of us. And yes that is true. Some times we are so confidant of this that we do not recognize when he is sending us the help we need. God does not always work in the way we think he will, or in the matter we want. I am reminded of the old story about the old preacher man that lived out in the county on the banks of the old Mississippi River.
You see, one very wet spring day the old Mississippi River started to rise. It rose over the levee, and kept rising. The old preacher sat on his front porch watching the river rise. Before long some of his neighbors came along in a boat and said " Preacher we are heading for higher ground, better come with us." He said " No, I am staying here, My Lord will take care of me." Well, the water kept rising and soon the preacher had to go to the up-stairs of his house. Another boat came to rescue the old preacher. Again he declined to get aboard the boat. He proclaim " My Lord will take care of me". Before long the water got up to the second story of the old Preachers house. So, he crawls out on the roof of his house. Then along came a helicopter from the Coast Guard. They shouted over the loud speaker, Preacher grab onto the rope and we will pull you aboard and take you to safety. He again decline and hollered back up to the pilot, " NO, My Lord will take care of me and protect me.
Well, the water kept rising and the house drifted down the river in the swift water, and broke up, causing the preacher to fall in the swift water and he drowned. When he got to heaven, he ask the Lord "I have a question". The Lord said what is it my son. He said, " I have always done your work, I have been faithful and done right. When I needed you to save me from the flood you let me die." The Lord said, " My son, I sent two boats and a helicopter and you refused to go. What else could I do .
We can always count on the Lord, but we must recognize when he is trying to send us help. I think we are blinded by expecting the Lord to do all the work for us. We must be willing to help ourselves and let the Lord work through us.