Idabel, OK

The Drought is Definitely Over in McCurtain County Oklahoma

Last summer, Southeast Oklahoma went through a terrible drought. Many cattlemen bought feed through the summer for the cattle because there was not any grass for them. The pastures turned brown and the grass crunched under your feet when you walked on it. Lake levels were low and the heat was almost unbearable.

It brought people to their knees, literally. Many prayers were said about the situation, churches held prayer meetings to pray for rain.

We prepared to have to deal with a shortage of hay and feeding for an extended amount of time..

Then the rains came.. Beautiful wet stuff from the sky, washing away the dust and making the grass grow.

Not only that but this winter has been mild and fairly warm.. so guess what?? We've had more grass during the winter than we usually do. The pastures are usually brown and green mixtures in the winter, with some winter grass and fescue bringing the green.

I saw a headline in the local paper the other day about January being such a wet year this year.. and it's been fairly warm.. we've had good winter grass for the cows.

Just look at these pics taken on Monday of this week. Isn't that the most beautiful site you can imagine after the drought last Summer?

Southeast Oklahoma, It's always a miracle in my mind. I love living here.

Our Granddaughter, Chassy Barrett was selected as one of ten high school students from across the nation to travel, with their adult mentors, to Washington DC for a shadow day at the Department of Transportation. The ten students and their mentors are all involved in Project Ignition in their respective schools from across the country. The students will explore job opportunities, be honored by the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood at a small luncheon, meet with the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, and talk with Washington officials about how Project Ignition youth are demonstrating leadership in their communities through their efforts to improve driving behavior.

Project Ignition is sponsored in the schools by State Farm Insurance Company. The groups of students at Idabel High School has formed CAPS (Community Action Planning students), their group to operate within to promote good driving habits. One of the staged events CAPS did was "I Died Who's Next?" This blog post details that event.

Twenty-five schools were selected to recieve a $2000 grant to implement a safe driving program at their schools. Ten schools were selected from those 25, to receive an additional $5000 to support their participation in the national conference. From those ten, one school will be selected as The National Leader School and will receive an additional $2500.

We are very proud of Chassy and her volunteer community work in this organization. It is a great honor that she was chosen as one of the ten students from across the nation to attned the Shadow Day in DC. We are extremely proud of Idabel High School and their pro-active stance on this issue.

Chassy and Mrs. Creda Impson, the CAPS mentor left Idabel this morning for Texarkana to take an American Eagle plane to Dallas and from Dallas to DC. Chassy has never flown before and was pretty excited. She has figured out that TECHNICALLY when she gets home, she can say that she has flown 4 times.. ;)

Brewing Tea From Your Flower Garden ~ In Oklahoma, you say?? YES!!

I am a Tea Sipper. A Tea Fanatic. I love hot tea, iced tea, lukewarm tea, any-way-you-want-to-serve-it tea...as long as it's FRESHLY BREWED. Don't give me any of that canned tea or in-the-jug tea from the grocery store of convenience store.. NAH! Nasty stuff.. please don't jump on me if you like pre-made store bought tea...we're talking fresh tea here.

My mother-in-law has a beautiful Camellia bush in the flower bed at the front of the house. It is about 10 feet tall, has beautiful waxy leaves and is an evergreen.. brightens up the yard even in the winter. When it blooms, it has gorgeous white flowers.

Recently I ran across something about Chinese tea coming from Camellia Sinensis, a different variety of camelias than my mother-in-law has, BUT looks very similar in the pictures and will grow wherever camellias grow. Some charts say it will grown as far north as zone 7.

The idea of having a bush growing in my flower beds that is pretty AND I can brew tea from the leaves or bark just greatly appeals to me. In fact, in the various articles that I found, there seems to be five different teas that are produced from this plant: White tea, green tea, oolong, pu-erh tea, and black tea; depending upon how you treat the leaves or the bark prior to brewing.

The plant is about 4% caffeine.

So meet my two new tea plants that I'm hoping will do well in Southeast Oklahoma. I have every reason to believe they will. In a couple of months, I'll order a couple more. I would like to have 4 I think. It takes a few years for them to get big enough to start harvesting from without hurting the plants.

Since I'm a Tea Sipper, I've been handed the goose that lays the golden egg!

Moving to Southeast Oklahoma... are you a tea sipper? You're in luck then! It sounds like you can grow your own tea when re-locating to McCurtain County or Choctaw County Oklahoma. Camelia Sinensis is the tea plant that is many families cash crop in other countries. I am so looking forward to the time that I can have that first cup of tea from my own tea leaves!