Welcome to the Blog Plantation Y'all

Our family welcomes you and thanks you for stopping by to visit. We are delighted you have taken a few minutes out of your day to spend with us. We are Joe and Jessica. We have two children and one very regal beagle! We post often and it usually includes details of our Christian faith; life here in the South; entertaining our family and friends; tales of our travels; as well as the daily adventures of having two children. Oh, and our passion for Alabama Crimson Tide Football!
Grab a mint julep, relax, and enjoy the site. Don't forget to leave us a message. You can click under any blog entry to do so. We love to hear from our guests.
(Also, please remember that all writings and pictures are the sole property of the blog plantation and it's authors and may not be duplicated, unless otherwise noted. )

Thanks for dropping by Y'all!




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What time I am afraid I will trust in thee
Psalm 56:3

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Thursday, April 29, 2010

Foodie Friday!

Welcome to Foodie Friday!
This week we are in my parents Loquat orchard

Here is one of the trees

There is so much fruit!
We are going to need a helper
Ahh, here he is


Now for the Jelly

5 lbs. ripe loquats

1 cup water
1/2 cup lemon juice

1 package pectin
5-1/2 cups sugar



Gather loquats when full size, but still hard and only partially turned in color. Wash, remove seeds, and blossom ends. Barely cover with cold water. Simmer covered for 15 minutes Cook slowly until pulp is very soft. Strain juice through jelly bag. Measure 3-1/2 cups loquat juice and lemon juice in a large kettle. if more juice is needed, fill last cup or fraction of a cup with water. Add pectin. Stir well. Place over high heat and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add the sugar and mix well. Continue stirring and bring to full rolling boil. Boil exactly 2 minutes. Remove from fire and let boiling subside. Skim carefully. Pour into hot sterilized jelly glasses, leaving 1/2-inch space at top to cover at once with melted paraffin. (Or pour into hot sterilized jars and seal with sterilized lids.)


Be sure to stop by and see Gollum for more Foodie Fridays!

Thanks for dropping by Y'all!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

How I train my dragons

We, as did most of you I am sure, had terrible weather this weekend.
So my little dragons were somewhat restless.
To calm them we went to the picture show.
We saw
 How to Train Your Dragon.
Y'all this is the cutest movie!
The 3D is unbelievable!
Truly you MUST see this one!
Here are my little dragons as we watched.
3D glasses on!
                                                 The Prince did not share the popcorn
The Princess was really into the picture show
The Prince was REALLY into the popcorn

                                                            Thanks for dropping by Y'all!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Foodie Friday!

It is that time again!
Foodie Friday!
I am so excited to be back up and blogging.
This week we are making an asian salad.
Mother got this recipe from a dear sweet friend Miss Wanda.
You may remember, we have made things from her and her precious husband Capt. Phil before!



This yummy Asian slaw is perfect for the summer!

Ingredients:
6 cups shredded Cabbage
1 bunch of green onions
1 chopped sweet onion
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup sliced almonds
1 package of ramen noodles
toss together (all but ramen noodles)

in small bowl mix
season packet from ramen noodles with
 1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
pour on top of cabbage mixture
break ramen noodles up and sprinkle on top!




Be sure to stop by and see Gollum for more Foodie Fridays!
Thanks for dropping by Y'all!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Tears and fears! Life and fun! Back to normal!

WOW
What a week!
Whew!
Did you miss me?
 I certainly missed all of you!
The move went well, except I learned something about myself...
I was not put on this earth to pull Uhaul trailers
(or drive huge moving trucks for that matter).
NOPE.. NOPE.. NOPE!
Seriously, folks you should have seen me.
I was hyperventalating, crying, and sick to my tummy.
My sweet husband finally had us pulled over took me in his arms and said...
 "honey you have to calm down.
You are not giving your fears and worry to God.
This is the devil and you are letting him win right now.
You have got to give this to God."
 I did and WHAM!
I was good to go.
I pulled that trailer all on my own,
until my Daddy met us and pulled it the rest of the way.
Oh yes, he came to my rescue!
Bless his sweet heart he called in the middle of one of my break downs
and that was it.
 He hopped in his car and drove towards us.
We met and he drove the trailer,
Joe the truck,
and me,
I cruised in the caddy
 LOL
Thankfully we are here, safe, and LOVING life!

Here is some of what we have been up to our first week on the island

Bon fires on the beach



Shopping and ice cream at The Wharf

Playing at the children's park


mini golf!

And so much more!
I cannot wait to share it all with you!
Thanks for dropping by Y'all!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Foodie Friday

Foodie Friday!
We are still in boxes and are now waiting for the truck to arrive Friday afternoon.
With the Princess saying good bye to her friends at school, we thought a treat for each of them was in order. 
This is what we came up with...

Rice Krispy Treats that look like ice cream cones!

Make your favorite recipe for rice krispy treats

scoop into ice cream cones

dip into melted chocolate (the kind used for candy making)
Sprinkle with your choice of sprinkles!
 
 Be sure to stop by and see Gollum 
for more Foodie Fridays!

Thanks for dropping by Y'all!


Wednesday, April 7, 2010

We are living out of boxes!

We are still in the process of moving. 
Bear with us and we will be back next week!
We miss all of you!
Thanks for dropping by!!!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter Sunday at Noccalula Falls



We spent Easter Sunday at 
It was wonderful. 
We had our own SONrise service.
Then played the entire day in God's glorious handiwork!
Check out the pictures.
(it was tough to decide which ones to post we took over 200!)
You can see all of them here

We rode the train, fed the deer, played with tons of bunnies,
and some of us suffered injuries
But it was a glorious day!




The Princess in a daydream


The Prince says
quiet 

He is ALIVE!
Thanks for dropping by Y'all!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

DeSoto Caverns- Easter Egg Hunt

 We took the children to 
the Easter Egg Hunt at 


It is truly magnificant
The light show
will 
WOW
You!
Usually based on the book of Genesis 
It is a special showing for certain holidays

You can take a virtual tour here


 A couple of things you might find interesting


*This and the deepest parts of the sea are the ONLY two places on earth you can experience TOTAL darkness. In fact they have to gradually dim the lights and then gradually bring them back up so that you are not blinded. That is kind fo scary!

Does this look like the lion and the lamb to you?
*DeSoto Caverns the first officially recorded cave in the United States
~December 1796


*The caverns stay at a constant temperature of 60 degrees. 
Because of the 100% humidity inside of the caverns, 
the temperature feels more like 70 degrees

See more of our pictures here

OK so on to the Hunt!!

We panned for gold and gems
The Princess was put in the stocks



We watched the water wheel

No one would race with me in the bath tub race

Greeted by Happy Hernando

Thanks for dropping by Y'all!
Have a Happy EASTER!

Friday, April 2, 2010

Good Friday


Good Friday

Our present church home

has the most moving service one could ever experience tonight


The Service of Darkness

with scripture, prayers and liturgy.
Special music by the Sanctuary Choir and Trinity Orchestra.
 
THEN
The  timpani sounds once for each year of the life of Christ
The lights dim with each strike.

The service ends in total silence and darkness it is amazing!
I wish you all well on this most HOLY
of weekend!
Thanks for dropping by Y'all!