We hope this newsletter finds everyone doing well.
We have a few things to write home about that was a little out of the ordinary for us.
The beginning of June brought a month long case of poison oak with the children. Brian's didn't last all that long but Heather has a few patches yet to rid.
Delayne & Heather are highly allergic to poison oak & ivy, Brian is somewhat and Misty isn't at all.
Needless to say, when Delayne or Heather gets in a bunch of poison oak or ivy, there's a vigorous routine of applying itch relief and helping them to ride it out.
Hopefully this will be the first and last case of it. At least for this year anyhow.
In May & June, Delayne was helping to restore and early 1800's plantation home to it's original condition.
As an extra "thank you," to all who contributed to the renovations, the homeowners held a Ball in their honor.
On June 16th, we attended the 1800's Ball in Athens, Georgia.
The Ball was specifically centered around the year of 1825. This Ball & date was mirrored after a Ball given in that home for Marquis D. Lafayette. (For those with the Hodges Family genealogy records that Aunt Opel shared, this name should ring a bell with you.) :-)
There was Minute dancing, side-saddle horseback riding, a time period fashion show, a barbecue dinner, etc.
Very different from the parties of today. :-)
We were very excited to be invited & to attend this event.
We worked very hard making our 1800's attire for us to wear.
Delayne donned a long black jacket with a blue vest & matching ascot. Heather wore a long dress with a full length apron and ribbons in her hair. It was very fitting for a young lady of that time period and even for today. Misty wore a long gown with rose patterns which included cremelins and of course, the ol' hoop skirt.
(Why ladies back then intentionally wanted to look bigger, is beside me. hahaha)
Brian was the ol' fuddy dud. He wouldn't dress up in those clothes but he did look very sharp, dressed out in black western wear.
Our garden is just about to run full speed in production. Very soon, we'll be picking, shelling & canning up our first round of beans. We have beans, corn, 4 kinds of squash, okra, tomatoes, cantaloupe & watermelons growing right now. We'll be growing other vegetables as soon as these are finished producing.
We have also been blessed with our fruit trees & bushes this year. We picked over 2 dozen of peaches (not bad for small 3 year old trees,) we've picked over a gallon of blackberries that were the size of quarters (along with picking about 2 gallons of those that were wild.) We also have pears & apples growing on our young trees.
We have already canned 30 pints of plum preserves & jelly this month too.
Well, that just about covers everything that's been going on with us over this past month.
We hope everyone is living their lives to the fullest and is enjoying every blessing that is given to them.
When you count your blessings, don't forget to count even the smallest of them. Sometimes it's the smallest of blessings that can bring the biggest amount of joy to our lives.
As always, you all are in our thoughts and prayers and we send our love and best wishes to you.
Love,
Delayne, Misty, Brian & Heather
Issue 8
July 1st, 2001
Birthdays / Anniversaries
in July..........
(1) Kay - 1 July (M)
(2) Bob & Wendy's Anv - 6 July (D)
(3) Brian - 19 July (D&M)
in August..........
(1) Grandpa F - 2 August (D)
(2) Landon Jr - 21 August (D)
(D) Delayne's side (M) Misty's side
HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !!
