The blueberries began turning this weekend and on Sunday we picked almost a gallon. We have several different varieties and all start bearing at different times which makes the growing seaso… Read More

Planting seeds. That’s something I have done for most of my life. Before starting to school, Grandma Watson (my great grandmother) lived next door, and I visited almost every day. My m… Read More

We vowed at bedtime last night that we would sleep in this morning, but at 5:45 a.m., daylight slashing through the blinds awakened me. I thought I would slip out of bed and let Jilda s… Read More

The laughter has subsided, and the all that's left is the swooshing of the dishwasher.  Both Jilda and I look like street people tonight. Neither of us counted the number of people who… Read More

My knees are screaming – YOU SHOULD HIRE YOUNG PEOPLE TO DO THIS KIND OF WORK!!!  But I don't listen to whiny knees. But then my back chimed in...and then my elbows. I'm hard head… Read More

A line of thunderstorms are slamming through and the lights are flickering. I don't think it's that severe but as a safety precaution I'm going to post a picture tonight and shut this baby d… Read More

Tonight's post will be a short one. We're selecting a winner of the scholarship we give each year to a senior at our alma mater who has college plans. This year is the ninth year w… Read More

The teakwood loungers and the Adirondack chairs winter in the barn, but when the angle of light changes and the days get warm we put them out to better enjoy summer evenings.I had to knock o… Read More

Hello. My name is Rick Watson, and I’m a food junkie. I grew up in a family that loved to cook and eat, so they got me hooked early with cathead biscuits, red-eye gravy, and ham f… Read More

We're having a family/friends fish fry this coming Saturday. We've had it planned for months. This is the third annual Rick & Jilda Fish Fry for friends and family and the guestlist is g… Read More

Tonight we are weary, but we had fun today. I tried to give away the bass boat, but I think my reputation preceded me as the hometown crowd wasn't having any part of the giveaway.I hope you… Read More

Jilda and I are playing the Horse Creek Jubilee festival tomorrow afternoon. We drew the last slot at three p.m. Normally, the last group that performs is the finale. In a sense we are, but… Read More

Forty-two years ago this afternoon, Jilda and I got married on the front porch of the preacher's house in Brewton, Alabama.Like most everybody who sticks it out, there were some hard times… Read More

This morning all the bowls we use from day to day were sloshing around in the dishwasher so I'd pulled this one from the top shelf and mindlessly poured it full of flakes, milk, and honey.As… Read More

Many years by this time, it's hotter than Satan's shovel here. But this year has been different. Cold fronts have moved rain further south and as they move off to the southeast, they leave i… Read More

I opened a wooden jewelry box this week that has been a fixture on my desk for 40 years. I was looking for an old pocketknife, but what I found was a piece of paper that represented a milest… Read More

The garden is looking beautiful. We'd fretted that the squash wouldn't come up because there was a gully washer came the day after we planted the garden, but today when I stepped down, they… Read More

Twenty years ago we would have played the Natchez Trace Festival and accepted the invitation from one of the folks there to come to their farmhouse for an all-night pickin' party. But today… Read More

Jilda and I have been getting our gig faces on this week. We've practiced hard this week. A funny thing about practicing any particular skill. You work for months without noticeable improvem… Read More

Last night Jilda made black-eyed peas, mac & cheese, and cornbread. We thought our nephew and his family that just moved back from Mississippi was going to supper with us, but as I glanc… Read More

This afternoon during a lull in the meeting I was attending, I rolled the chair over to the window to have a look at the clouds. The crystal-clear skies were blue with fluffy white clouds la… Read More

It felt like home here this evening. Jilda put spare ribs, potatoes, and sour kraut in the crockpot to slow cook all evening while she went to work. When I came home at 4 P.M., the house sme… Read More

The other day when we walked the air felt as thick as grits. Halfway up the hill on our return lap both Jilda and I were huffing. It should have come as no surprise because thunderstorms wer… Read More

I was saddened to lose the peep a few days ago, but as luck would have it, another one hatched out. I backed the lamp away, put water, and a small amount of food in the cardboard box and thi… Read More

A pear tree that we planted several years ago fell victim to one of the many blights that attack fruit trees here in the south.I spent a summer trying to cut out all the bad spots but I ende… Read More

I saw my first dogwood blossom this morning. The pollen started and Jilda didn't want to walk today so I shoe'd up and headed out.When I rounded the barn, the dappled morning sun hit one of… Read More

As I’ve gotten older I’ve found that I’m slow to anger, but standing in line at a fast-food restaurant recently an inconsiderate young woman in front of the line pushed me… Read More

Even though the temps are chilly at night, spring has arrived. I say that because the hundred year old oak trees at the barn that are as wise as Ben Franklin are greening.Years of fickle win… Read More

One of the things I'll be focusing on the coming year is habits. I had some habits I'd been holding on to for too long and they weren't taking me in the direction I wanted to go. Some of the… Read More

It's written in ink on our calendars. If we're wishy-washy about an event, we pencil it in, but when it's in ink it will happen. I'm talking about our annual trip to the beach on my birthday… Read More

Last night was a late night...it was New Year's Eve, but my college team also played in a semifinal game against Michigan State last night in the Cotton Bowl.  Our team was readier than… Read More

Spending New Years Eve with friends was what we did for many years, but driving on that night in the wee hours of the morning is treacherous so we started celebrating the occasion at home.&n&hell…Read More

Meetings took me to Alabama's edge today. I could have thrown a rock to Mississippi, or so it seemed.  Long stretches of road with open fields of sage with scattered pine.I passed an an… Read More

We met friends in the city today and lunched at Chez Fonfon, which is a French bistro near Five Points South in Birmingham.One of our friends we ate with today is a chef and he said that one… Read More

The clouds moved out yesterday leaving a clear blue sky. I walked a few hours before sunset and at one point, when I peered up through a thicket of trees,  a vapor trail as thin as a th… Read More

The cooling temperatures finally have me looking for sweaters instead of shorts, and I’m glad. It was obvious we were in for a wild weather ride last week when the tiny yellow stars of… Read More