reasons why it is not good to ignore your garden

   If trying to grow things organically, you can end up with cucumber plants bearing leaves that look like this:

This is because I never used row covers and  got a bad infestation of cucumber beetles. Of course, this was not a good year for cukes - this is the largest I have had so far...

The amaranth is doing well

 - even the dog thinks so!

 The squash can take a trellis that you think might last one more year and prove you quite wrong. 

This is why...

 

We will be eating squash this winter!!

Does the dog look intimidated or is it just me?

This is the year for tomatoes - but only 4 have gone red -  Sept will (hopefully) be about canning tomatoes!

Official garden inspector

Wishing you a bountiful Fall!

As if life weren't busy enough...

    Today is the first day of classes at our college.  The students are back and Main Street is crowded again.  I have mixed feelings about this.  It is so peaceful here in the summer when the students are gone.  Parking is easier. Friday nights are less crazy.  However, I love teaching and working with the students.
    So my husband and I are starting back into our  school schedules.  Of course, this is about two weeks before our children return to their school schedules.  However, the high school team sports have begun their practices, so there are cross country and swim team to  juggle.  Add to the mix that I open a show tomorrow night, and am in dress rehearsals, and things get a touch more cramped.
    Just to make things interesting, today the pavers are coming to re-do our driveway.  We will not be able to walk on it for 24 hours, nor drive on it for 3 days. This should be fun.  

of fishes and snakes and fires

   Celebrated our youngest's 7th birthday yesterday with a few of his friends.  Invited 9 kids, got one invitation returned as "not at this address" (so much for the phone book) and never heard from 3 of them.  So with enough supplies for ten, we had a birthday party with 5.  Much easier, I am certain.

     We had a fishy theme, since my son loves fishing.   First, they made tee shirts with fabric paint and stampers I made from fun foam.    We ate gold fish and an octopus landed in the onion dip!

    Next we "fished" in the pond on the patio.  Not as much fun as it could have been when their  lines (made from cotton kite string) got wet and then tangled! Ooops!

Tee shirts drying on the bushes behind the fishermen!

  We did a ballon race, shot water guns all over them place and smacked a rather menacing looking shark pinata.

One of the easier pinatas we have had. 

Our future herpetologist - look at that smile!

    In the middle of all this, my son caught a snake in the yard.  First he got it by it's tail.  He reached out to grab it's head and it bit him.  He stuck with it (it stuck on him??) and eventually got it behind the head for folks to see.  Then we put it in a butterfly  viewing cage and everyone got to look.  When time came to let it go, my son donned gloves!  He did take one off and put his fingers near the snake's mouth so he could "feel its tongue" before finally letting it go.
    Cake and gifts came last.  The cake was a candy covered masterpiece with Skittles for scales and pull apart Twizzlers on the fins and tail.

Nicholas helped with the scale placement

Why we are not all still shaking from the sugar overload is beyond me!  Between water, a hammock and a puppy, they all had fun.
     Since school starts soon, we also had a summer cook out for my daughter to have some fun with some friends.  Again, I was astounded at the number of people who did not reply to the invitation at all.

Making s'mores!

Manners, people, manners.
     This was pretty subdued - not water squirters, just food, music and a fire in the fire pit. It got quite chilly, high 40s last night, so all the young girls in shorts were freezing.  When we gave them  jackets and a fire, it got much better!   At around 10:30 they all went home, except one, who slept over!
     Summer is a good thing!