DEER PICKLE

   Early this morning I went down to my garden to water my crops. I brought a good old cup of Eight O'Clock coffee with me to enjoy while I sprayed the garden with the hose pipe. While I stood there sipping my coffee, I glanced over at my black eyed peas. Two days ago I noticed I had peas on the vines that were almost ready to pick. My wife and I had planned on picking them in a day or so and having them with some rice and chicken.

   But as I looked at them expecting to see fat bulging peas ready to pick, instead they were gone! The pea stems looked liked someone went through there with a pair of scissors and cut off all the peas. Closer investigation revealed DEER TRACKS in the middle of the pea rows. I couldn't believe it. I was infuriated! How dare they! Those were my peas. A minute later I noticed a cucumber laying on the ground near the trelis they run up on. I thought it must have gotten too heavy to stay on the vine and simply fell off. WRONG!!! Some deer ate half of my pickle!!! SEE ABOVE PHOTO FOR THE EVIDENCE!!

   This means war!!! I normally only hunt them during deer season, but if they are going to go after my food source I feed my family with it's on!!
  

SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN'S SOCIAL CLUB

Announcing the initial offering of membership for the Southern Gentleman's Social Club. A club for people who appreciate and celebrate the true old timey Southern traditions and lifestyle. It was founded when a buddy of mine and I realized the way of life we grew up with would soon die off if someone didn't make sure it was passed on to others.

   We celebrate the true Southern values God , family ,and country. We'll take you to local festivals, BAR-B-QUE cookoffs , music festivals, and Church socials. Little league ball games, local parades, fishing tournaments, we will share recipes, wedding and birth announcments, and obituaries. When time and schedules permit we'll gather around a camp fire and enjoy some good music,  food , and  beverages.


   Members will recieve a monthly newsletter with updates of coming events , photos and stories of last months events , stories of the true southern lifestle , and member news ( we want to know what's going on in your life too!) . You'll get a cool members card and a decal you can put on your truck and make your Yankee neighbors jealous!!! Just kiddin! We welcome everybody.

   Membership is $15 bucks for a year. We're gonna mail out the newsletter so you'll actually recieve it by snail mail. That way you can save it and enjoy it all year long. Anyone interested can E-mail me at bullfrogbottom@yahoo.com we'll get you the rest of the info there.

   Hope to see ya around the campfire there!

Jim Cobb Coleman.

  

NEW GOALS

   Have you ever been jealous? It's not a good thing to be. I even know it says in the Bible you should not be. I realized the other day how jealous I was of someone else. Not really jealous of them, but of the way they live and what they have achieved. By that I don't mean their possesions, just how they were able to get where they wanted to be.

   I was talking to my wife, "BIG MOMMA", fussing about how no matter how hard I work I never seem to be able to get to where I want to be in life. Everyone else does so very little and every thing they want seems to fall into their laps from heaven. Why do I have to struggle so. What have I done to make God so againist me that I can never get a break? " BIG MOMMA" told me the person I was speaking of had found the secret to their success. They had found something they loved to do and had found a way to make a living doing it. Everything they did was designed to get them to their main goal. Before they got to their main goal, they had little goals that incrementally took them where they needed to go.

   That's when it hit me, how right she was and how stupid I have been. Unintentially, I have wasted alot of time keeping me from being where I want to be. No more! Today is going to be a day of rest and planning. A time to sit down and set new short and long term goals. I am not really jealous of my friend I spoke of earlier. I'm proud of them and proud for them that they worked hard and have achieved their dreams. I am just ready to reach some of my dreams.

   From now on everything I do from this point on will be one fluid movement toward a single destination. My main goal , my dream , my fantasy is , was , and will always be to be able to live my life the way I believe God intended us to. Farming for the table, raising your own livestock, hunting and fishing to feed your family, and being able to spend time with your family not working so many hours a day at a office job that you don't really have a life. Time is fast passing us by. My baby boy "PUMPKIN HEAD" just graduated  from Bullfrog Bottom High School last week, my parents are in their mid-70's, time is precious. Too soon life spins by us.It's past time to slow down, settle in and aim small at the main target of life.

   Let's trim the fat and get cookin!!!

Jim Cobb Coleman.

TOO BUSY TO PLOW, NO PROBLEM

    I miss a few days of working in the garden, because of my day job and my son graduating high school, and the kids try and take over the place. I mean can you imagine! A couple of days off and you walk down to the garden and catch the goats trying to hot wire the tractor and go for a joy ride.

    Well here it is May and it's feeling like July. The temps are already in the 90's. You can step over a few feet into the shade and feel a 20 degree difference in temp. Even Miss Daisy Mae the goat has been hitting the corporate water cooler alot more often.

   My peas are growing and will soon be ready to pick. The yellow squash are producing very well. I've already gotten about 4 good messes. The white acorn squash should start making in a few days. The pepper is blooming and we are ready for some hot stuff. A few tomatoes are on the vine, and when they get a little bigger, I'm gonna have some fried green tomatoes!!!

   Stay dirty my friends!

Jim Cobb Coleman.

Almost Home

   Once I cross the river I know I'm almost home!!! Not where I live, but where I belong. Iwas raised on this river. I have been fishing it since before I honestly could walk or talk. I used to swim here before the alligators came here and all you had to worry about was cottonmouths. When my boots hit that red clay, I smell the pines, I see the deer and hog tracks, I'm back.

   This is where I live. This is where God intended us to toil. In the swamps, fields, and waters to pull out our living, not in a town behind a desk or in a business. We need Mother Nature just as our ancestors the Indians did years ago. For all we gained by technology, we need to realize what we lost. IT'S NOT WORTH IT!!!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

   Yesterday morning I eased down to the garden before I had to take "Big Momma" to work. Everything looked good, except I need to hoe the weeds, as usual. I was able to pick two bags full of squash. One is for us and I'm going to take Mom and Dad a sack full. I love a plate of thin sliced fried squash.

   I have been working a lot of hours on my day job. I know I have not been posting very much here lately, but I hate to only write about every day work. This morning I sat down and figured us out a monthly and yearly budget. I hope to never get caught on the short end of the financial stick again. My goal is to put us into a position where we can live our lives as we have dreamed of . For now this will require an off farm job. But, things can change quickly. Money, as always, is the key.

   I figure you have to get a good financial foundation in order to build the life you dream of. This is my cornerstone.

   I dropped my annual hunting club dues check in the mail today. It is unreal what it costs just to be allowed to have a place to go to the woods and try to hunt. I plan to go down to the club tomorrow and do some clean up work around my camper. The weeds have grown up around chest high all around my hunting stands. If I want to hunt there this coming year I have a lot of weedeating to do this summer. Hopefully I'll have some good photos in the next few days.

   See ya in the fields!

   Jim Cobb Coleman.

MOTHER'S DAY LEFTOVERS

   I hope everyone had a good Mother's Day. We had two days of partying. On Saturday we visited and went out to eat with my wife's Mother, and yesterday we were at my Moms.

   As usual we ate too much at both get togethers!

   I grilled steaks for "BIG MOMMA" and my Momma and Dad. Me and "PUMPKIN HEAD" had buffalo burgers. "Cobb Jr." had to work at the Fire Dept. But, he did text his Momma early in the morning to wish her a good day.

   All the Moms got presents. They got flowers, and gifts, and good food. Everyone that could visited and had a good time. No matter what you do though, you can't repay enough for all the love you received and the gift of life.

   Jim Cobb Coleman.

ALMOST TIME TO EAT

   I walked down to the garden today to see how it looked after the last few days of rain. I need to weed a bunch, but other than that it looked pretty good. The black eyed peas are starting to bloom, and my squash have bloomed and are bearing fruit. Some plants have 4 to 5 young squash on each plant. In a few days I should have some ready to eat. My cucumbers have sent out runners and are blooming. I am training them to run up the trelis I have standing besides the rows.

   After a rough weekend, Dad's out of the hospital and seems to be doing well. His foot is still a little red, but the swelling has gone down. It's tough on him to realize he's getting older. He is not a good patient. Mom needs a good rest after sitting up with Dad those couple of days.

   In a couple of days I will have a little time off if everything holds together. I'm going to spend Mother's Day with my family and enjoy watching the ladies get to relax and pig out. I'll try to do some gardening, and if everything works out, maybe go to the hunting club and do some pruning. I hope you all have a nice weekend too! If you have the chance spend some time with your Mother.

   Jim Cobb Coleman.

JUST LIKE A KID

  Ain't it just like a kid to leave one of his toys out in the rain!

                                                One of the trucks at my son's fire department.

LONG DAY, EARLY NIGHT

   Last night I got home from work late. Around midnight. I had to be back at work at 6am this morning and work until 2pm. I wound up actually getting off around 4:30pm. 10 hours of on your feet, backbreaking work. Man am I tired! Tomorrow I have to be back for another 10 hours. So it's going to be an early night.

   Yesterday before work I was feeding the animals and I stopped to watch the goats playing on the back deck. I had been watering and working in the garden when little patch reminded what I needed to plant next. HER!!!!

   Hope your night is good!

Jim Cobb Coleman.

DO OVER

   Mary, Mary how does your garden grow? Well, right now mine is growing with a few gaps in my rows. I don't know what happened, but there were long gaps in some of the rows I have coming up. Some rows have only one or two plants missing in the row, some have two or three feet of plants that just didn't come up from seed. I'm not sure if it was bad seeds or maybe some type of critter came by and ate my seed after I planted them.

   Either way, I just got through going back and re-planting the seeds I needed to fill in the gaps in my rows. I had to add black-eyed peas, butter beans, and some cucumbers. While I was out there I started breaking some more of the garden ground up to put in my corn and watermelon patch.

   Even though it's only the first day of May it already feals like summertime here in Dixie. It is suppose to be over 90 degrees today. Even though it's still morning time here I already appreciate stepping into the shade for a quick cool down from the heat. It is amazing how going only 2 or 3 feet, from sun to shade already feels like a 20 degree difference in temp.

   We need some rain badly. It has been around 3 weeks without any and the ground is bone dry. I try to water my garden early in the day, so hopefully the plants get to absorb the moisture before the sun can boil the plants. As I water the soil naturally turns dark, but within a couple of minutes of stopping, the ground is gray and dry again like I hadn't even watered. I'm afraid it's going to be a long hot summer! Even our WORLD CHAMPION MOUSER Sissy-girl found a cool place to crash out of the sun. She seemed to say " you think your hot, try wearing a fur coat all summer bud" !!!

   Stay cool folks were just getting started.

Jim Cobb Coleman