Garden Harvest

The garden turned out pretty well this year. I still have not found a good way to support the tomato plants. At least not a really cheap, good way. I think the best thing would be to buy a roll of that concrete reinforcing wire stuff and make the big cages. The beans recovered pretty well after an early onslaught by a local woodchuck family. (Mr. Dearborn put electric wire around the garden at a height of about six inches. It was effective, but I personally keep forgetting it is there. ZZZAP!) The corn needed fertilizer, but we were trying to keep it organic.

We were hoping to sell most of our produce, but while the rhubarb was a great seller, the garden vegetables have not sold at all, except for one repeat customer who really doesn't eat very much. In a way, it's a relief, because it is hard to do the stand. You put things out, and then if they don't sell, you have old veggies on your hands. Who wants to preserve old produce? Not I! I haven't done very much canning this year, honestly because I really don't feel like it. We did do some beans, and I am in the midst of tomatoes now. We've done a few jars of tomato juice, and now I am doing plain tomatoes, chunked up for soup. I did a few peaches and cherries, too, and froze three bags of shredded zucchini. That's about the extent of my ambition. (Actually, that was beyond the extent of my ambition. I just could not stand the thought of throwing the stuff away!)

The kids have done really, really well with the garden this year. The oldest three truly did almost everything, from planting to picking. (To eating; they are very good at that part!) It's gone a little wild on us now, but I'll take the blame for that one, not sending them out while things were still doable. Now we are just waiting for our pumpkins and gourds, indian corn and cornstalks to get ready, to see if people will stop and buy that stuff for fall decorating.

Sunday Walk

Here are some pictures from our Sunday afternoon walk. Guernseys are very curious cows!

My Son, David

This is a picture of my son, David. We decided to take this picture while he had some face remaining. The black eye, which is mostly healed now, came from bumping heads with his sister, Amanda. The bandaid on his chin is covering the steri-strips, which are holding his chin together. (Fell UP the stairs!) The missing teeth are natural. The scabs on his forehead are of unknown origin. If you have a son like David, I recommend either a dedicated medical savings account or investing in protective equipment, such as a football helmet and mouthguard.

Is This Calaveras County?

Here in Conneautville, we have Homecoming in July. One of the big events, (cash prizes, mind you), is the frog jumping contest. Our kids entered this year, and though we did not win big, we did have fun. The frog gets three jumps, usually encouraged by a tap on the rump, and total distance is calculated by the judges.

Searching for contenders.

The bucket of contestants.

The venue.

The spectators.

At the starting line.

Mark Twain, eat your heart out.

Soccer's Over

Soccer is over! Even though we had four different teams to keep track of, it was not bad. Our soccer league is very family-friendly, only having games on Tuesday and Thursday nights at 5:30 or 7. There must be ten or more fields there together, so everyone can play at the same time. It was a first experience for the girls, and they enjoyed it. Rachel got on a team with one of her good neighbor friends, Jordan. Jordan is in the picture above with Rachel, wearing pink shorts. Amanda's team got outscored over the season about 100 to 10 overall, but as she, like most of her team members, was mainly there for the social occasion and the snacks, she was happy anyway. Benjamin showed great improvement from the last time he played soccer two years ago, as well as from the beginning of the season to the end. He says he definitely wants to
play again, so we were very pleased. David had a good season, though a bit rough-and-tumble, receiving a kick to the gut and the face in one game while he was playing goalie. It was a nice way to spend summer evenings, so I guess I have to say that being a soccer mom is not so bad, after all.

Whose Toes?

Have you been trying to figure out whose toes are whose? That is Rachel on the left, then David with Katie on his lap, then Amanda, and then Benjamin!

Before and After

There are a lot of projects that need to be done here in our new, old home. Most of them are large projects, and ones that I can't or won't undertake alone. (E.G. Dare does not do electrical.) Sometimes, though, a small project brought to completion brings great joy, and encourages me to move on to something else, maybe even something bigger. This summer, I finished the little project of sanding and re-painting the metal outdoor furniture we found here when we moved in. I am truly delighted with how it came out. Hope you like it, too....