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Do you smell it? Can you close your eyes and foresee it? Can you feel it on your skin? I think. I hope. I'm ready just to whisper it. There might be an autumn at the end of this summer. It must be. It hasn't been 100 degrees outside for like a week. Is this the post-hundreds? I thought it might never come.

This is the weirdest week.  It's like it didn't even happen. On Saturday morning, i helped with childcare for a special meeting at my church. On Sunday morning, i helped with childcare for a regular meeting at my church. On Monday morning, i had jury duty, which took up about as much of my time as if i had gone to church. By Monday evening, i was feeling funny and sniffling a little, after which i went into a fog of head-achey, sniffly, coughing, fevery, sleepy discomfort, from which i awoke this morning. I also missed church on Wednesday - and thus, choir practice . About an hour ago, i realized that tomorrow is Friday. Can i get my week back anyone?  I think i missed it. Updates from before and during the fog: Jury Duty :  I was not picked to serve on this case, and i was thankful for God's mercy because this was a case the details of which i would have very much wished to forget.  I was doubly thankful when i got sick - that i was not sick and in jury

  You didn't even know today was a holiday, did you? Well, it is.  It's National Honey Bee Awareness Day.  Are you aware of Honey Bees?  Hmm?  Hmm? No seriously, are you? Honey bees are one of the absolutely most important creatures on this earth.  As in, if they went extinct, we probably would too, important. Now, i'll tell you something else you probably didn't know.  Honey Bee Day has it's own website.   nhbad.com How 'bout that! And if you'd like to help support honey bees and not inadvertently kill them off and cause the extinction of mankind, you can check out this page about what non-beekeepers can do to support the healthy population of honey bees in our world. Seriously, please support the honey bees and the beekeepers.  They're very important!

Back in the days when my daily occupation involved dressing up nice, interacting with people, and getting bi-monthly checks for my trouble, i did so at the local courthouse where i used to live.  During my 7 years working for the county, i learned a lot about the legal system, from the inside.  I was one of those clerkish types at a counter or on the phone for several years.  Then i was one of the clerkish types sitting next to one of several judges during court.  And then for the last year and half or so, i was one of the clerkish types working in a specific judge's office, appearing in court to deal with criminal defendants and lawyers, scheduling court dates, making important phone calls, and generally doing the judge's bidding. But never, in all those years of watching proceedings and shuffling papers and typing information, did i get to serve on a jury.  I've gotten an inside view of many different aspects of legal proceedings - but never this one.  I talked to, ins

Today is my mama's birthday! I'm not going to reveal her calendar age, but whatever it is, it's the new 35. Next week, i turn calendar 35, so i'm probably like 15 or something.  I'll let you know. In honor of my mama's birthday, and because it was calling my name, i used some leftover scrumptuous yard bird to make myself a chicken salad sandwich.  So yummy! This is a pretty rare occasion in my world because my darling dislikes almost every mayonnaise-based food.  I LOVE mayonnaise-based food, and i have missed chicken salad sandwiches. When i was a younger girl, my mama would cook a whole chicken and then used the breast meat, which no one (to my memory) at our house ever ate, to make chicken salad.  There would be a big bowl of it in the fridge, and we could have some with crackers, or on toast, or sometimes secretly by the oh so yummy spoonful. Sadly, i'm not sure i've made chicken salad at all since i left home.  So this is a truly momento

And here's a group shot.  Aren't they adorable!  I never get tired of baby chicks.

I have a few extra minutes this morning, so i can post before church. Yesterday felt like three days.  Three good days.  It was so lovely. The alarm went off at 6am - on SATURDAY - so you're not expecting a relaxing day, right?  Well, we got up early to get ready for slaughter and all that, and i told you how that went yesterday.  But then we were finished and completely cleaned up by like 10:00. Unexpectedly, my darling decided to make the most wonderful lunch.  He went to the store and bought corn tortillas and on-sale avocados to make corn chips and guacamole.  Yum!  I combined mine with some hamburger meat and cheese for some unusual nachos, and they were wonderful! After all that, we were both sleepy and full as ticks, so we took a nap!  It really was the most peaceful day! That was day two of yesterday. After i woke up, and my hubby was still sleeping, i got it in my head that i wanted to get some pictures of Rocky.  You know Rocky, my one prize rooster (not that h

I think you're going to love this. About a month ago, i told you about the darlings, Lily and Edgar in A Story About Two Little Chicks .  In the comments of that post, some of you protested the upcoming fulfillment of Edgar's destiny (dinner). Today, as i foretold, was our Second Summer Slaughter 2010 (SSS'10).  And Edgar was on the schedule to join his peers in that great big freezer in my house. (*Warning, this is the part where i share some slaughter details.*) I wasn't there, so the details are a little hard for me to describe.  But from what i understand, this is how it happened.  It was Edgar's turn at the hatchet.  The slaughter-master, still perfecting his method and having some trouble with an inferior hatchet, decided to put Edgar in the killing cone, a.k.a. empty bleach bottle nailed to a tree, and use the knife like we used to.  So he put Edgar down in the cone, pulled his head through the hole in the bottom, and prepared to cut the jugular vein.

For inquiring minds, a quick update. My broody chicken started hatching sometime today, while i wasn't paying any attention.  And she's still hatching cute little babies as we speak.  She had 11 eggs as of yesterday, one sweet baby hatched, then somehow died, so there are 10 possible hatches to oogle over tomorrow. And now i'm going to bed so i'll be fresh in the morning for our Second Summer Slaughter (SSS'10).

Recently, my church started having choir practice for anyone who wants to be involved.  We meet on Wednesday's an hour before church and practice for 45 minutes or so, usually. This is one of the highlights of my week. I don't know exactly why, but i have always loved choir practice.  I don't care if we ever sing in front of anyone or not.  I love the practicing part.  I want it to last longer than it ever does, and i want it to take place more often than it ever does. Singing praises with other folks who want to sing praises is just grand fun.  I can't help it. We've been singing for about a month, i think.  I think we started out with 6-10 people. The music minister who's leading us, one night, called us The Coldspring Celebration Mass Choir . This past Wednesday, there were three of us. The other woman, faithful to sing in the choir, besides me, has been singing on stage with the Sunday morning worship leader for as long as i've been goin

This is another dish that is made from our fresh homemade ingredients, and it makes my hubby so happy about dinner that he can't stand himself.  It's pretty easy.  Here's what you do. Start with your collection of fresh, still green, cayenne peppers. Cut off the tips and slice them in half. Clean out all the insides and wash. You can do double duty for your chickens by saving the insides in a bowl.   But  please, be smarter than me and wear some gloves, unless you want your fingers to feel like this when you're done. Next is the batter:  In a mixing bowl, pour one cup of milk. Separate three large eggs.  You only need the whites for this recipe, but if you save the yolks in the fridge (wrapped tightly, of course), you can have extra yolky eggs for breakfast tomorrow. Add the egg whites. One tablespoon of vinegar.  Mix that and set aside. In a separate container, mix 1/2 cup of flour and one teaspoon of salt. Dip the washed cayenne pepper pie

Ironically, after all that drama about the heat and summer hibernation and whatnot, i got a burst of energy (and i think the temperature dropped a tiny bit), and i've been working outside for the past two days.  Hallelujah! I really enjoy working outside, so this has been very refreshing. I think i am about to have chicks coming out of my ears, and my beautiful outdoor brooder has been unfit for habitation.  So, i really needed to do something about it.  Yesterday, i got it cleaned out and hosed out and left to dry.  Today i sprayed it for bugs, got the floor painted (or more like soaked with globs of paint) and the linoleum cut to size and nailed down (they're chickens; they don't mind the nails).  I don't know why that level of accuracy didn't occur to me when i painted and linoleumed the brooder the first time.  Maybe i was in a hurry.  But i'm very happy to have it done now. It's a good thing it's a chicken brooder and not something i don't r

Today was the most brutal day. Well, the weather was brutal.  And its effect on me was brutal.  It was one of those days when i can't seem to get cooled down no matter what i do.  Like someone put a rubber suit on me to keep me hot, even though the air conditioner is blasting its very expensive wind at me.  I just couldn't get cool. So while i was outside trying to keep my animals from expiring in the heat (a.k.a. filling waterers) and looking around at all the work i need to get done but can't bear to withstand the heat to do, i think i kind of decided that i should (this is probably the most indecisive statement ever) treat our summer like northerners (or other people who experience actual winter) treat the winter.  I haven't really done it; i've just read about it.  But i hear that they get lots of work done during the good weather and then stop for winter.  No one feels bad for not getting their outdoor work done while there are 3 feet of snow on the ground

I have to start by warning you. This morning when i told my friend, Meredith, about my "VERY exciting news," i realized that the things that are "VERY Exciting" to me don't necessarily ring home with others.  Thus i must apologize if i unnecessarily got your hopes up about my VERY Exciting News.  You might not be quite as very excited as i am. Secondly, i need to tell you that this evening was very sultry, that is the weather outside, was very sultry.  So i imagined that i would tell you a story that starts with, "It was a thick and sultry Monday dusk..."  I have to admit that my sultry intro doesn't really go with my VERY exciting news, but i might give it a shot anyway.  Here goes. ******* My VERY Exciting News on a Sultry Monday Dusk by Beth Rogers It was a thick and sultry Monday dusk in Rogers Country.  A thick layer of sweat smothered my brow as i finished my evening chores and returned to the kitchen.  My handsome husband was hauling in

Today was pay day/grocery day. I love that my husband likes to cook. Yes, those two things are related, along with the next seemingly unrelated statement. Seemingly unrelated statement #3:  This week, my husband's workplace was cleaning out the shop, and somehow from that, he inherited a perfectly functional and sturdy -- though rusty looking on the outside -- barbecue grill that is probably large enough to hold two briskets (*i misspell this word "briscuit" every time*). Normally on payday Fridays, my love brings home dinner for me so i don't have to cook.  Today, he decided to buy meat and come home and grill it for me.  Nice. I'm pretty sure he also wanted to try out his new grill.  Whatever. He had purchased charcoal at the grocery store but underestimated how much he would need for this grill, so he had to go back to the store for charcoal and then ended up adding some oak from our yard to the fire.  (***Incidentally, this "new" grill so

The book of Numbers chapter 14, in the Old Testament of the Bible, records part of the story of the Israelite's travels in the wilderness, before they came to live in the Promised Land. At one point, 12 men were sent to see about this promised land and report back to the people.  The twelve men who came back reported giant grapes, milk, honey, and giant men.  Ten of the men were discouraged.  They forgot their God and announced to the people and to Moses that there was no way they could conquer this promised land. Two men, Caleb and Joshua, believed that if their God was for them, no giant could stand against them. They told the people, "if God is on our side, those giants are helpless against our attack!"  (my paraphrase) And they were right.  They had God's vision in their eyes because they looked at the world around them through the filter of God's promises.  They knew their God was bigger than what their eyes could see and their human minds could contr

In the north, there is a sort of time of stillness in areas where it snows a lot in the winter.  The winter, at some point, just gets so deep and cold and unbearable that everyone hides in their homes and waits for spring. This is Texas.  And we have reached our southern winter.  It has come to the time of the year when it just gets so hot outside that everyone hides in their homes and waits for a cold front - or possibly a hurricane.  We look forward to the evening, when it cools down to ninety degrees or so, so we can go outside and do some chores. One day last week, it was only 85 at noon, and i thought it was a lovely, cool summer day. It's kind of the same. Thankfully, my chickens are troopers and have not let up on the egg-laying. But our poor garden plants.  The cucumbers couldn't take it anymore, and they were pulled up this evening.  My stevia plant, which was looking quite lovely, has simply shriveled before i knew what was happening. The okra plants (whic