Fall, Florida style

After Thanksgiving dinner, we almost always go for a walk. Florida fall is different in that we don't get very many changing leaves, but it is a beautiful time of year, nonetheless. These pictures were taken in the woods near my uncles property near Ocala, FL.

My brother and his daughter. I waited and waited for them to be framed "just right' in that grapevine.


Mistletoe in the trees.


A sky this blue is rare in FL, because of our high humidity.

This is an old wagon trail. We saw lots of deer tracks, but no deer.

Thanksgiving Day

At the top of the list of things to be thankful for is my family!

We celebrated Thanksgiving like we do almost every year, at my aunt and uncle's house. My aunt had the week from, well, you know.....and still managed to host everyone with a smile on her face.

The "adult" table. My mom Lynda, in red, her brother Jerry in blue, Faye, Vicky, Randy and Steve

The "kids" table. We really didn't intend for it to be segrated like this, it just worked out that way. My neice Rachel in blue, neice April in black, Jacki and Mike.

My brother Randy, and my crazy uncle Jerry.

Last weekend, Jacki and Mike came over so I could show Mike how to make pepper jelly. They grew the peppers themselves, and had them cut and seeded before they got there.

It's best to cook this outside, since the mixture is potent! It's basically peppers, vinegar, sugar and pectin. Steve hauled out my dad's old propane cooker, and it worked great to cook the mixture on. Those are pineapple plants in the pots behind them.

Here we are filling the jars. You have to fill them, wipe the lids, seal them and then get them into the canner quickly, to avoid contaminating anything.

The finished product, before we put the lid on. You can see the chunks of red pepper in there. Mike used hotter peppers than I did with my jam, so it will be interesting to compare the two, to see how they taste.

Sam (on pillow) and Shelby. I think this is the closest they have ever been to each other. They were NOT happy to have me disturbing them with my flash!

After David and Emily's honeymoon, they traveled here, and we had a party for them, for our friends and family who weren't able to travel to the wedding.

From left: my brother Randy, and his daughter April (green shirt)

My nephew Nick (tall one in the back), and his wife Lacey (plaid shirt)

David and Emily

Steve's mom, Myra

Jacki and Mike

Vicky and Steve

A couple more wedding pictures. These were taken by Emily's friend Brandy, and she was gracious enough to let me use them.

I've never seen so much birdseed in my life! Their car was full of it!