After a really long, hot summer, we have been rewarded with an unusually long fall.  Some years it seems that we go straight from summer into winter with just a few days of real fall, but this year it cooled off right after Labor Day and we have had a long stretch of cool, mostly dry weather.  The trees in my neighborhood, Hickory Hill, have popped with color in the last few days.  It reminds me of the song, "Let's go out in a blaze of glory".                               11/02/2011

  Recently, a couple of our Hickory Hill Subdivision neighbors invited us over for a "honey extracting party".  They keep bees in their backyards and also take their hives to the north Georgia mountains for a time each summer for the sour wood honey.  They called us over a couple of weeks ago to witness (and help with) the honey extracting.  It was an interesting process and a lot of fun (until you got to the 100th frame).  There are quite a few backyard bee keepers here in Oconee County, GA.     After removing the frames from the hives, the first step is to slice open the honey comb.       Then the frames are placed into the extractor which spins and causes the honey to flow out of the comb and into the bottom of the extractor.       This is honeycomb from where the comb is sliced ope... 09/16/2011

This is some of the produce from our garden.  This year we tried some asparagus beans, shown above.  They are climbers, and produce long, thin beans that taste, oddly, somewhat like asparagus!  So far I've steamed them with a little garlic & ginger.  They are also supposed to be good in stir-fry. Does anyone have any experience with these or any ways to cook them? 07/03/2010

All pictures below are the exclusive property of Diane Boykin.   Yesterday I was out walking our Jack Russell, Sadie, and just had to take pictures of a few of the beautiful trees in my neighborhood, Hickory Hill, in Oconee County.  I'm not sure if this fall is especially colorful or we just forget how awesome fall can be right here.  It isn't even necessary to go to the mountains to enjoy the leaves this year.  I thought I'd share some of the trees with you.         Maple on Ramblewood Place                           Bradford Pear                             Maple in woods                                                                     Huge Golden Hickory Tree                                         When we walked by my neighbor, Mary's house, she had the same idea that I did and w... 11/11/2008