Sorry for no posts

Hey All!
I have in been Kingston, Tn (without Internet) since Friday visiting my college friend, Gina. We hoped have a fun-filled weekend of visiting, but unfortunately her husband Michael had to be rushed to the emergency room on Saturday morning. They admitted him, so we spent all day Saturday and most of Sunday at the Roane County Medical Center in Harriman. He is nauseous all the time and in tremendous pain almost constantly. No diagnosis yet, but they think it might be his gall bladder. Just keep all of them in your thoughts! I will write more when I have a chance.

Love to you all,
B

PS Dad, I will have to ask someone about the sound clip-I'm sure it can be done, I just need to know how.

Have a great weekend, one and all

Hmmm, not much action in the old Fold lately, so thought I would post good wishes for the weekend coming up. Hope wherever you go or whatever you do that you have the best of times and enjoy every minute.
God bless us every one! (Echoes of Tiny Tim, eh?)

Welcome back, Phil!

So glad that you are back amongst us again. Now take it easy before classes begin, and enjoy being home in Mot-town. (Ask your dad about Alva, who used to say that all the time.) Love you!

Welcome Home Philip and ZEKE!!!

I'm very, very glad to welcome home two of my favorite "people". I trust that Philip is now safely home to 4450 Woodhaven. I am also glad to report that our little wayward canine came strolling down the road this morning as pretty as you please-a week to nearly the hour that he ran off. Still dragging that leash! It is a true testament to the power of prayer. I had the nuns at St. Mary's praying for him, lots of people in Sewanee, and even a bunch of people praying for him on three online lost/sick pet prayer chains. We're having steak tonight to celebrate! Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts!

Love to you all!
B

Airportman

St. Louis's USO is full of old people. PFC go home (After he goes to Charlotte first...wait, what?)

Latest, Latest

Phil flies out of St. Louis at 4:16 to Charlotte?!! (you figure it out) and from there to Knox arriving at 9:29 p.m. Pray for safe travels. Thaks
shep

Thank You!!!

Hey all, I am so thankful for all your prayers and thoughts going up for me. Not gonna lie...it was a lil bit scairwee, hehe!! But, God is good and I am feeling much better. I'm so proud of Phil!! Been thinking about him today. Wish I could be there. I love my awesome family sooo much! Thank you again!

HUGS,
Leese

Latest info on Phil

Update on Phil today...he graduates in the morning (24th) and is the "honor graduate" complete with singular recognition, certificate, and such, but no promotion. We saw the honor graduates at Camp Lejeune, and they are individually recognized. Kinda sorry we'll miss the one graduation he is recognized in. He leaves Ft. Lost in the Woods bound for St. Louis airport about 10:30 a.m. which he thinks is about 2.5 hrs away. He does not know his flight time as yet since he will not get his ticket until tomorrow when he receives his orders. He has already called his unit in Knoxville and he needs to report there at 10 a.m. on the 25th. So far that's all I know. Love to all,
s

Eventful Sunday

"Leese" had to go to the ER this morning from church and they are keeping her overnight. Stress test in the morning, and then she can come home. So far all the tests look good, and Dr. Rama thinks that her symptoms possibly came from one of her medications being too strong. Of course, the stress test should tell him more. Say a little prayer for her, please. Hugs to all!

Pool Party???

Michael and Sharon wanted me to check with you folks about a possible date to get together at their house. We wondered if Saturday evening, August 4 is possible. Thought I would run that date up the flagpole and see if it gets any salutes! We are trying to plan around Emily having to go back to UT for all the pre-season stuff, etc. Let us know how that date works for y'all.
Love to all,
Soss

Hallelujah!

If I could somehow get a sound clip for the Hallelujah chorus and post it, I would in a heartbeat. I'm just glad it worked. Welcome to the land of the posters!

Love,
B

P.S. Still no Zeke

Well Bee,
I received the invitation e-mail just now, so here goes. I really don't know why today is the magic day because you said you had sent it umpteen times. This is the first time I have gotten this particular screen, so maybe this is the right path. Love to all.

You will always be a LC to us!

Way to go Phil! Sorry the sarge is such a twit. (Although I did manage to find a nice shot of him!) Can't wait to see you in August!

Love,
B

P.S. The rabid sloths were a nice touch!

Thank You, Sergeant. You've Made Me A Martyr.

'Tis I, everyone's favorite weekend warrior, broadcasting from the heart of the Wood. But not for much longer. I am but a few short hours away from my last weekend in Hell. As you may or may not know, yours truly, in a completely unexpected turn of events, ended up being the honor graduate. While others were busy asking Sergeant if they should go ahead and get Lance Corporal chevrons put on their uniforms, I sat quietly by, biding my time and thinking about things like home and PopTarts and at what age Lindsay Lohan was actually possessed by Satan. But mostly home. And PopTarts. After attaining the highest score (a perfect one, I might add) on the final TRAM test and finally finishing training, Sergeant said, "Yeah, you did good. Now go mow my grass." Then, to make a long story short, he called me into his office along with two others and asked who we thought had won. They each pointed at the other, and then he said my name and I was like WHAAAAT and they were both like WHAAAAT and I proceeded to do the Get-Down-Lance-Corporal-naNAHnaNAH dance and then Sergeant was like Shepherd you're getting promoted NOT!!! and the 2nd Place was like SWEET and Sergeant was like NOT!!! and 3rd Place was like SWEE- and Sergeant was like NOT!!!!!! and said he won't promote 1st or 2nd because we're Reservists and he doesn't like Reservists and we're like WTF??? and he says that 3rd place won't get it either because 3rd place is just too low and 3rd place is all like WTF??? and then we were all told to get back to mowing...and then he shot my dog and fed my first-born to a pack of rabid sloths and left my PopTarts in the toaster too long. And that was the end of that.

WTF, indeed.

Now I must depart, for the lunch break is nearly over and I have to get back to buffing the floor in SSgt.'s office and wondering why he even bothers to buff his heinous floor in the first place.

I wish everyone well, I hope Zeke returns from his sojourn soon and with pictures, and I shall see you all on Tuesday.

Lance Corporal Phil.....NOT!!!

No Zeke Yet

Thanks to all of you for your good thoughts so far. And yes, Jenny, it made me laugh. Thank you for the comic relief. Dad, I re-sent that link. I'm crossing my fingers, toes, and eyes in hopes that it makes it to you this time.

Love,
B

Missing Zeke (He's the one on the left)

Hi All,

Hopefully by the time you read this, Zeke will be home safe and sound. He broke free while a neighbor was walking him yesterday around lunchtime and he and Zella took off for the woods. Zella returned sometime in the middle of last night, but so far no Zeke. We are especially worried because he still had a leash around his neck when he took off. There is not much but woods out here and we hope he has not entangled himself. Jason, Zella, and Little Pig are out looking as we speak. Just keep him in your thoughts and prayers!

Thanks!

B

Storm's A-Comin'

There is a big, dark, creepy storm on its way here, so I thought I would stay at work a big longer and grace you all with a few words. Hope everyone is having a good Wednesday! Is Rusty feeling any better?

For those of you who would like to add picture to your postings (like this one I took of a big, dark, creepy, railroad bridge) it is as easy as sending an e-mail attachment. When you are writing your post, look for the button that is located to the right of the spell-check button. When you put your mouse over it, it says "Add Image". When you click it, a screen will appear that gives you the option of browsing for an image (much like you would browse your computer for an document/image to attach to an e-mail message) or using an image from online. (To use an online image, you just need to add the URL address.) Once you find the image you want to use, choose the layout and size, and Blogger will upload it for you. Take care, everybody!

P.S. Due to success (I hope) of this blog, Jason is going to try and set one up for his family!

Trial post

Never mind me; I posted already tonight but it hasn't shown up....just trying again to figure out what went wrong, if anything. It simply may not have shown up as quickly as I expected, but just in case I was only sending huggin's to everyone and wishing you a happy hump day tomorrow.

Hi, y'all

Less than two hours and it will be Wednesday......doesn't time fly when you are having fun! (Or out of school for the summer!) Good to see a post from Jonathan and Ellen when I signed on tonight.
Huggin's to everyone, and happy hump day coming up!

Welcome Jonathan and Ellen and Help for Erin

Welcome, welcome, welcome. Now if we can just get Dad and Cynthia up and posting. Erin, once you log-in, you should see a link to "Edit Profile" on the right-hand side of the Dashboard screen under your name. If you click that, you can change your display name. Make sure to save the changes and you should be good to go, E-rock. Are we going to hear from "El-Money" (Ella) too?
I have to say that Jason is responsible for 98% of the garden. He also built a greenhouse so we can have some things year round. I will try to post a picture of it. Feel better, Rusty!

What up hommies!

Hey y'all! How's everyone doing? We've enjoyed reading all the happenings via the back posts of this blog...way to go Cari!

We're keeping wicked busy up here in the near arctic. I'm chasing snakes and Ellen's picking plants. We've been doing lots of canoing and spending time downeast on the coast of late (the breeze there keeps the skeeters down). We did our first sea kayak trip this past weekend...pretty cool (literally, since the water temp is a whopping 55degF right now!...and that's summer temps!).

Hope Rusty is still recovering well. And Phil, hope your last days in the middle of nowhere go well...safe travels home!

Take care everybody!
Jonathan and Ellen

"I been sick, you know"

Poor little dog. Brutus bit Rusty Saturday afternoon, and Rusty had to spend the rest of the night at the emergency vet clinic. He didn't enjoy waking from anesthesia at all, but he's feeling a little better now. We have to watch him closely so he doesn't lick his stitches or else he'll have to wear the cone, and he certainly was not a fan of it. He isn't, however, minding sleeping between me and Wesley one bit!

Good to Hear from Everyone!

Hey Everybody,
Thanks so much for taking part in this! I'm so glad Erin and Sossie have joined us. Sossie, that's really nifty about the name of the farm. I just came up with the blog name, but it makes it so much more special to know that it has a historical tie with the family. Jason and I just got back from a pick-up drive with the doggies. (Jason drives and I sit in the back with the dogs. He has this harness system rigged up for all of them). And of course they made us stop for ice cream! It was a really lovely night. Our blackberries are coming in full force too. Jason just made a cobbler with some of them and the rest went in the freezer. Things in the garden are really coming out too-corn, peppers, tomatoes, watermelon (watermillion as Aunt Joe would say) and my first pomegranate is now an inch long! This is an earlier picture of the garden.

Erin, I can't wait to see those pictures!

Good night everybody, sleep tight!

Cari

Here goes! My Maiden Voyage!

It is midnight-thirty and I just put a blackberry cobbler in the oven; now seems to be as good a time as any to make my very first post (I did comment under one post already) to "The Fold." (Love the name, Bee; I just have to tell you that many years ago your grandmother Mary Nell named our family farm "The Shepherds' Fold." Pop Shepherd never got around to making the sign for it, though.)
Had a wonderful phone visit with our favorite Marine this afternoon. I am so anxious to see him in person! Thankfully, it won't be as long as it has been! We will have to see about a pool party at the Martins' when he gets home; anybody up for that? They are having a church-wide fellowship there tonight ( Sunday) after evening services. Who knows how many will show up for that!
Yum, that cobbler is already smelling up the place. Barney picked the berries from the backyard patch, and I promised to make him a cobbler......well, better late than never! He may have it for breakfast. Wish we could share with all of you.
Now to see if this post shows up......SHAZZAM!!!!!

NO CLUE

Hello all,
So I posted my first blog. Ok I posted it under comments (Phil home). I think I know how to do this now. Maybe in a few months/years I will post a picture. Take care.
erin

What's wrong with this picture?

Patriotism is great, but what's wrong with this picture. BTW, that guy was pinching Wesley's rear. That's why he's smiling so big!

Heard from Jonathan

Just received an e-mail from Jonathan. He seems excited about the blog. He is just about to go out in the field without Internet access, so he probably won't be able to view it until sometime next week. Hopefully, we will get some posts from him. Dad have you or Sossie tried to to post anything yet?

I am the Phantom Publisher

Sorry, I was the one who published your first post. I have that power as the administrator of this fabulous blog (enter deep sinister laugh here).I just thought you didn't realize that it had not posted. In the future I will leave them alone. I just wanted everyone to know that you can start a post, save it as a draft, and then come back and finish it later. It will not post until you tell it to.
Thanks again to everyone for doing this!

B

P.S. What's a "rere" anyway?

"Mah Wings" Reprise

Perhaps you thought that my last post was ended rather abruptly? Well, that's because I had to get off the 'puter to go to formation. I ASSumed that it wouldn't publish what I had written...since I didn't tell it to. Foolish me, I guess. I WILL be graduating AND leaving here on the morning of the 24th, I found out. High Five. I got to ride ON TOP of a tankdozer this morning while it did donuts in the parking lot. Sergeant gives us presents from time to time. High five, Sergeant. We got in trouble on the ride home from work today for singing Journey at the top of our lungs. They stopped the cattle car and a Sergeant came on and called us a bunch of "God***n motherf***ing rere's". But we had harmony. High five, rere's. Oh, and my roommate Anderson managed to bust out the back glass of his backhoe with the bucket. They told us that wasn't possible. Never underestimate what you can do when you're motivated enough. Double high five for you, Anderson.

Later, special kids.

You can never have enough goat pictures, can you Ninny?

Jessamine the goat from Shaker Village in Kentucky

Fourth of Hooly, Mexican style! Cari may have spent the holiday with dogs, but did it include a donkey named Poncho? Hmmmmm?

Bailey gets creative

I was sorting through my pictures and found this. It made me laugh and I thought I would share.

B

When Does I Gets Mah Wings?

According to the class roster, he is Private Sheepherd. However, you might know him as PFC Shepherd. 'Tis I, special kids, and I'm coming at you from that big blank area on your U.S. map labeled "Other".....a.k.a. the midwest. I'm happy to report that it's all good in the Wood. I'll finish my training on the backhoe on Tuesday and will move on to Trams (Forklift overkill, basically) on Wednesday. My scheduled date of emancipation WAS July 24th (and, technically, it still is), but I was just told that I might have to stay here in MO for an additional three to four days afterwards

Findings from the 4th

Talked to Phil late Wednesday afternoon. He was free and about to dive into some pizza. We have already planned a "haunted place" expedition for after he gets home. You have to come too Jenny, and bring your Nancy Drew toolkit. I have a BBQ place in mind for lunch too.

In Sewanee 4th news, this was my first year to run the Annual Sewanee July 4th Mutt Show. People tell me it was the biggest one they have ever seen. We had nearly 60 dogs enter and many canine spectators. Estimates put the audience between 150-200 people. I received a lot of nice comments so I think everyone had a good time. Jason's parents came up and we gave them the whole Sewanee 4th experience- from the Mutt Show to the wonderful fireworks. I hope everyone is doing well. Feel free to post your goings on. If you have any questions about posting, just let me know.

Love,
B

sweet hat phil

Phil's Home...18 Days and Counting

Dad and Phil-Marine Graduation

We are just so proud of Philip and can't wait for him to come home!