Fall Vacation

I'm a bad blogger. I started this post weeks ago and just couldn't seem to finish it! Ugh. But here it is finally. I'd had a hard time deciding what to blog about next, but we took a trip down to Galveston so I picked that.

We went down to Galveston to stay in my Aunt and Uncle's canal house in Jamaica Beach. We love it down there, and I was curious to see how things were going after Ike. I had been back once since the storm - last November, barely 2 months after Ike hit. There were piles of debris everywhere. Boats were still pushed off to the side of I-45. The Strand was fairly empty except for a few places who were cleaning up. It broke my heart, but I think it wasn't as bad as I had expected. It was unnerving to drive down the Seawall and realize I had missed my turn at 61st. The landmark fishing pier was gone!

But, just like after the 1900 storm, Galvestonians are picking themselves up and rebuilding. I've been told the city and country are broke. FEMA hasn't actually paid anything, or very little. But individuals are fixing, remodeling, moving back in.

Which brings me to this visit. It was really hard to find Ike damage! I mean, really, it looked good. We didn't go all over the island, but driving down the Seawall, down the West End, it looked pretty normal.

Here is what's left of the pier on the west end of the seawall:

And here is a house in Jamaica Beach that didn't fare so well:

But the island looks good and I am so glad that it is coming back!

As for our vacation, we didn't have superb weather, but we didn't let that get us down! Our house we are generously allowed to use by my uncle and aunt is Absolutely Fabulous (yes that is actually it's name!) and so we just used the hot tub instead of the pool since it was cool and rainy. It sits on a canal so we got fishing poles and dead shrimp bait and the kids got to have their first fishing experience. They LOVED it! And we all caught fish!

Of course we had dinner at our favorite place, Mario's on 61st, and then another night we ate at a place just past Jamaica Beach called "Nate's". GREAT fried shrimp there!

On our way home we made a detour over to the San Jacinto Battlegrounds. We didn't have a long time to spend, but it was a nice quick trip and we will go back when we have time to tour the Battleship Texas.

Okay, I'm done now. I promise to write something more exciting soon! My fall garden is coming up nicely and I need to make some jalapeno jelly, so guess I'd better get busy!

Fall Gardening

I admit, I am NOT a great gardener! I plant things and pray they will grow. It does help that Mark knows what he's doing when it comes to composting, fertilizing, etc. I mean, maintaining 92 acres of golf course is a LOT harder than our 3 raised beds! LOL

This year I decided to try planting a fall garden. So far so good - it's just a little crazy because my summer garden, which should be all ripped out by now, it still producing! All of my peppers are just going crazy - we have jalapeños, banana peppers, bell peppers, and some mystery pepper like a cubanell? I dunno. Anyway, we are also finally getting a little okra and our tomatillo bush/tree/plant is just full!

Here are some picts I took today:

Broccoli

Kale or Spinach, I can't remember

Bell pepper

Red and Green Cabbage

So, we'll see. I still have grasshoppers munching away, and Monday I pulled two horn worms out of there. I normally use Greenlight Neem for pest control, but lately we are getting just enough rain that I think it's washing off. Guess I need to spray more often.

Happy Fall, y'all!

Flu talk

I don't think there's anybody that isn't talking about the flu, and I mean THE FLU, H1N1. It seems scary, but is it really? You hear about seemingly perfectly healthy children and adults dying, but then there are many who had an underlying health problem. Since I didn't really want to have seasonal flu shots (we normally don't get them), much less the H1N1 shots, I started my research for ways to boost the immune system naturally to give us the best chance at staying healthy. There are all the basics: wash your hands, don't touch your hands to your face when you are out and about, try to stay out of enclosed areas, and get plenty of rest. But what I found out that I didn't know was that low levels of Vitamin D are crucial to fighting off disease. You can Google it yourself - I recommend that everyone should do their own research. But basically there's a study by Dr. Cannell who worked in a psychiatric ward. His patients were the only ones in the hospital who avoided a flu that swept through. They were all on 2000 IU Vitamin D a day. I like to read articles on http://www.drmercola.com/, and Dr. Cannell's website is http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/. Now, I'm not saying don't go get a flu shot, but I am saying that you should research it for yourself. It's easy to take the Vit D. My kids have 1000 IU gummies and they take 2 a day. My hubby and I take 2000 IU gelcaps. One interesting thing I've heard is from Dr. Oz. He was doing an interview for CNN, and they asked if he would be getting the H1N1 shot. His answer, and you have to listen quickly, is that he will be getting the shot, but his wife and 4 kids WILL NOT. "At home I'm a dad, not a doctor." Curious, no? So he is getting it because he has to, but he won't give it to his own family? I'd like to hear more on that. Anyway, I hope you will go search for yourself. I ran across a quote from Buddha today that was great: "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."

Let me introduce myself

So, I feel really weird about this. I mean, isn't there an element of conceit that goes along with blogging? What on earth do I really have to say that is important, that other people would read? I don't know...I'm just saying.

I guess I'll start by introducing myself. I'm a southern girl, born and raised in Texas. Technically that makes me southwestern, but let's not split hairs. I am married and have 2 great kids. My husband is awesome. I teach preschool but by degree I am a graphic designer. I graduated from Texas Tech.

Okay, so none of that is very exiting, I know. But here's the thing. I mostly have 2 passions, and they are cooking and being healthy. As I've traveled along in life, I have come to realize that what you put in your body is critically important. I've researched foods and diets and supplements and it's taken me down several different paths. I used to NEVER eat bread. Now I do, but it's whole wheat, homemade when I can do it. I also used to promote Splenda, but now I stay away from artificial sweeteners, I admit I was wrong on that! LOL So, I have a lot of information I like to share, and it would seem that there are people who do take an interest in that information. And my Mom put a thought in my head by showing me The Pioneer Woman's site. Mom told me I am doing the same things, she is just getting a lot of pub for it! LOL

Which leads me to this blog. I guess I'll try it and see how it goes. I need a central place to post things - right now I post on Facebook and my 2 Yahoo groups, but that is hard to keep up with sometimes. So now it will all go here: the recipes, the picts of my gardens, the health information, etc. Follow me if you will - I can't promise greatness, but every once in awhile, maybe, just maybe, you'll learn something you didn't know or find a new favorite recipe.

God bless your day!

SarahBeth