She Said. Our garden after the big rain

Last night there was a big rainstorm and some of our tender plants washed away. I tried to put them back in and rake but the girls were impatient to get home, so I couldn't make it real pretty. The part of the garden with seeds already has some sprouts coming up. The radishes and the flowers are sending up little green shoots that look like clover.

He Said. Swimming Field Trip

This morning our middle girl's class took an end of the year field trip to the Shepherd Swim Center in Anderson. I tagged along and watched them have a good time. By the time we left, I wish I had my swimsuit!

He Said. Downtown Sounds

Each Thursday evening in the summer, downtown Anderson has a concert in the area between the old courthouse and the new courthouse which are across the street from one another. Last night my wife and I, along with our children and her parents had a picnic and enjoyed the music. As the sun set, the old courthouse reflected the light of the falling sun. I am so glad to see organized activities that bring people to a downtown that until about 3-5 years ago was totally dead.

She Said. Our garden

My sister-in-law April and I are planting a garden together. Tonight we planted seeds to go along with the plants we put in last week. The three little cousins helped so it might mean all the plants come up in one hole. Some of the seeds were so small they looked like dust - thyme especially. We planted then watered. One of the varieties was Jelly Bean tomatoes. I can't wait for them to come up. They take 80 days to harvest, so we'll be waiting quite a while. When they start coming up we will have to mind that we don't pull them up for weeds. We did buy some plants already started so we didn't go totally from seed.

I've planted tomatoes before but this is my first true garden. We had a friend with a tiller that we paid to till it up. But when we went out to plant a few things it looked like the soil was still very compacted. We had to call in the CFS yard guys to do a soil makeover. My dad got a load of manure in his truck and they got a little more, and it started to look like a real garden with soil that might actually grow something.

I bought some Thai eggplant and some Hungarian peppers at the Anderson Farmer's Market. The man that I bought them from told me that this Hungarian lady snuck the seeds in from Hungary past customs without declaring them, and they are really good peppers. It made for a good story so he got my $2.50 to try them out.

He Said. Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend our family went to the N.C. mountains and enjoyed the beauty of God's creation. Friday night we got a late start and didn't actually leave Anderson for Franklin until 9:15PM. When we arrived at the Sloan's farm, we went straight to bed. Saturday, my son and I rode the motorcycle to Bryson City where they were having a Memorial Day festival complete with live music and yummy junk food!
Around lunchtime Robin, her parents, and our girls joined us at the Deep Creek recreation area of Great Smokey Mountain National Park. What a beautiful and relaxing place. Even though I have been here many times since I was a young boy, I never tire of the relaxing sound of the rushing water. I also love taking a walk and then putting my tired feet in the icy water.

Later Saturday we walked around Bryson City and then finished the day with board games and dinner at the Fryemont Inn before the drive back to Franklin.

Sunday started with heavy rain showers before clearing and turning into a beautiful afternoon. Robin's Dad and I worked on running power down to the barn and then Robin and I ended the day with a short motorcycle ride and then a trip to the dairy queen.

He Said. Farmer's Market special Event

After work this evening Robin, baby girl, and I went downtown to a special event. Everything was sponsored by AG Credit and thus free to the public. We bought several interesting plants for our garden and enjoyed a gourmet burger, salad, and homemade strawberry shortcake. There was live music and even a visit by the SC Commissioner of Agriculture. Afterwards, we walked over to our building on Main Street that we have been remodeling. Each week, we tell ourselves that maybe next week we will finish. Redoing an older building is so much fun, but can be stressful and very expensive. Hopefully, the rent that we receive will cover most of the payment each month on the loan. This picture was taken several weeks ago and much work has been completed since.

He Said. She's Home!

Our children and I are all so glad to have wife/mama back home in Anderson. I know that we are wimps when it comes to holding the family together without her, but we are not a complete family when she is gone. She is exhausted after 12 hours on the train from Washington to Clemson. She came back with great news! She has passed the oral exam in the process of becoming a foreign service officer for the US State Department. This is quite an achievement since less than 5% of all that apply make it this far.
Next for us is passing the medical clearance (all five of us) and she will have to pass the top secret security clearance. She was told that this next step should take about 6 months and then we can be placed on the register. Once on the register, she is eligible to be invited to the A-100 class and hired by the State Department. If everything goes well, we hope to be going to our first post in about a year from now.