Strawberry fields of gold

Well, Ive been in a crappy mood for about a week now and even though I did not want to go anywhere I HAD to. You see once a year in my lil redneck hometown there is this festival that takes place with all its strawberry glory. If you cant tell Im obsessed with strawberries then you must be blind! Im not totally obsessed with them but they do play a big part in my life. My hubbys family, some were/some are strawberry farmers, and my families business provides liquid fertilizer to the local farmers (for a fee of course)as well as shipping all over the US and many other countries, my Pop started the company in his backyard shed. The town I was raised in is the winter strawberry capital of the world, and named after Henry B. Plant and railroad developer, and hence its named Plant City.
The festival Im referring to is the Florida Strawberry Festival. I have been every single year since I was born, we glorify all things strawberry. I have shown plants, and pigs, and cows, I have been in the parade (yes a parade in the name of strawberries), I have parked cars for the school to raise money, I have had my own booth set up for my scrapbook store to sell strawberry scrapbook stuff, and now I have the whole slew of the strawberry life to pass on to my son. My MIL was even the 1960 Strawberry Festival Queen, yes there is such a title I swear, proof below. So today since the festival ends on Sunday I HAD to take KC to the annual tradition before he missed out. I really have been enough to last my lifetime & then some, when I showed animals I was there off & on everyday, when I had a booth I lived there for 11 days from 9am until after 10pm EVERY night.
Last year was KCs first Strawberry Festival and I entered him in a decorated diaper contest, decorated by yours truly, and also in the Most Handsome Boy for age group 6-9 months. I decorated a diaper as Mickey Mouse, you wouldnt have guessed that right? but sadly we didnt win. KC did make it in the Top 5 for Most Handsome out of 32 baby boys. This year, no parade, no animals, no booth, no contests, just FOOD! KC was included with the food, he ate a corn dog, some funnel cake (against moms wishes), strawberry shortcake, ice cream, and root beer! He never never gets soda, but we got some old fashioned root beer out of this barrel so hubby wanted him to try it, he did but he didnt want to try it again.
When you go to the festival and youve lived here your whole life you know everybody, and everybody knows you. Thinking you can go on senior citizens day when theres not a big a crowd, at 1pm in the afternoon and not see anyone you know is a joke! The whopping 2 1/2 hours we were there we saw atleast 15 people we knew and had to stop & talk to. Did I mention I havent been in a great mood, and the thought of explaining my life in the past yr. to someone makes me nauseous. I smiled and talked and said exactly what I thought they wanted to hear so I could make it to my next snack shack as quickly as possible. I didnt come to talk, I came to eat! Wait no thats not right, I HAD to come to carry on the tradition with my son so he knows his strawberry roots, yes thats the reason. We did have a good time though, and Im glad we took KC.

Heres some pictures from last year and this year, mostly last year because my hands were to full for a camera too.

Mickey Mouse diaper I made it

What KC wore for Most Handsome

KC with his Meme, and former 1960 Strawberry Queen

In the strawberry throne

KC eating his corn dog this year.

Prayers for Nanny

Please say a prayer for my hubbys family, his Nanny (moms mom) passed away just a few moments ago. She was 90 years old and had really gone downhill fast since September. She was in & out of the hospital a few times and had to move into a rehab facility. We went and saw her on Sunday morning and she was doing ok and she really enjoyed seeing KC. She lived 3 doors down from us until moving to the rehab place, and after KC was born we always went for walks to see Nanny. She made the BEST homemade strawberry jam, and good chicken & dumplings too! KAS spent alot of time with Nanny to, she used to pick KAS up from school every Monday and Wednesday until she decided she couldnt drive anymore in May of last year. KAS even has Nannys middle name. Nanny had 1 daughter, 3 grandsons, and 3 great-grandkids and they were all her pride & joy! Nanny will be dearly missed by every member of our family, but we know shes in a better place.


This is KAS, Nanny, KC, and Syd at Nanny's 90th suprise birthday in Nov.


This is Nanny & KC the day we came home from the hospital. Since she lived a few house from our we stopped to see her before we went home.

Where I come from

This is what it looks like when it gets cold in my neck of the woods, which is very rare considering how very deep south we are. (Approximately 400 miles from the southernmost tip of Florida) We usually are in shorts and t-shirts for Christmas, and most Floridans lack a "winter" wardrobe altogether. I live on my hubbys family farm land, and can you guess what they grow? So anytime it drops below 32 degrees, sleep is lost, wood is burnt, coffee is consumed, and there is a hum that rolls through our neighborhood from the diesel engines that run the water on the fields. The water provides a protective layer to the plants and fruit so they do not drop below freezing. My hometown is a small farming community, and the winter strawberry capitol of the US. (Any guesses?) Its a big deal when it does freeze down here in the tropics, so we take ice pictures instead of snow pictures. So here are some pictures of KC playing in the ice in the field next to our house. He loved the grass crunching under his feet, he was dancing around, and he even got try some icicles. It got a whole whopping 24 degrees in the fields here, but I did not wake up in time to catch that thermometers reading! Brrrrrrrrr! My hats off to you guys that have made it through 12 below, I dont know how you do it!

And PS - My cuz and Barfly are trying to work things out, hopefully her life flashed before her eyes. I talked to my cuz and he said he just wants his family to be together and he wants to give Barfly one chance to change things. I told him I could understand that, who doesnt want their family to be together? I told him Id support him no matter what, I would be there. I pray things turn around for them.