An Explanation of My Absence

Hi friends and family. I wanted to explain my recent absence on this here blog of mine. We have had some health issues in the family, and my time and attention has been focused on my loved ones. Please keep my dad in your prayers please.

This Week In My Garden

Here is a picture of my garden from last week May 20

Here is a picture from my garden this morning May 28

OH MAN, OH MAN, OH MAN!!! This garden is growing great! Everything keeps getting larger and producing fruits despite a week of neglect. Plants really are amazing. Some things that are finally making an appearance are the eggplant, green beans, and the poblano peppers. The corn is now as tall as Miss O, so that would put it in the 21st percentile haha. She really loves to walk down the isles of corn now that they are getting so tall, however there were some causalities the other day when she decided to plop her cute little butt down in the garden, squishing some corn stalks. No big deal though, they were a little thick anyways. The okra is also starting to get a lot bigger now that it has been thinned out, and it looks much better. Oh yeah, and check out that tomatillo plant! I have never grown or seen one of these plants growing so I was not really sure what to expect. I have to get something in there soon to control it a little, or it is going to take over my peppers.

 

Growing this garden really has been a very rewarding experience, and most of the veggies are just now starting to pop up!

 

If you have a garden, and would like to share you garden notes and stories, please feel free to leave a link in the comment section. I would love to read them, and see how your garden is growing.

 

 

Memorial Day 2014

Well, it is unofficially summer!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend.

This Week In My Kitchen

This week there has been lots of experimentation in this ol' kitchen of mine. I don't think I made anything this week that I have made before. I gave a go at a sourdough starter, which has been something I have tried many times in the past and have always failed. However, I think it just might have worked this time. We also celebrated a birthday this week, so I made a coconut pie from a recipe that has been passed down from my great grandmother. The directions are literally stir until thickened. I also made an eggplant parm, which is a favorite dish of my Mom's, (it was her birthday) but something I have not made before! SOOOOO good. I used  a jar of homemade pasta sauce from this past summer, plus the eggplant was baked and not fried. We have been eating a delicious chuck roast from the cow we processed back in March. (a grass fed and local cow)

Oh yeah, we have also been munching on some radishes I plucked out of the garden the other day.

Finally, the muffins in the last picture are my way of trying to trick Miss O in to eating ,which is something she has not been a fan of lately. They are whole wheat, oatmeal, and raisin muffins and this recipe is from The best of Cooking Light everyday favorites.

Trying out new recipes is so much fun!

A Dress For Miss O

 

So, do you remember this picture of the beautiful blue sheet? Weeks ago I said I was going to cut it up and turn it into something else.

 

 

 

Well, here are the results of that! It is a dress for Miss O!

She is not unhappy about the dress, this is her new picture face. I took about 5 shots and the face was the same in every one.

Ok, so this is not the most flattering picture of me, but it is hard for me to squeeze in places now that my belly is getting big.

 

I made the dress in a 2T and I thought it would fit fine, but I was wrong! Miss O is tall, but she is so skinny, she was swimming in it. I put the onesie under the dress and it looked better that way, but she had plenty of room on the sides, and she could not keep the straps up. However, I can't complain about this dress being too big, that just means I can pack it away and she can wear it later on. Plus, there is so much of the fabric left, I can always make another one for her in a smaller size.

 

Even though this dress was too big, it turned out much cuter than I expected, and I ended up liking the fabric much more as a dress than I did as a sheet

This Week In My Garden

This is a picture of my garden last week May 13

Here is a picture from this morning May 20

The pepper plants are starting to bloom.

So are the green beans

There are green tomatoes everywhere!

I was kneeling next to these while taking pictures of the tomatoes. So pretty.

The sunflowers are really starting to shoot up.

Plus, all three basil plants have lots of new leaves all over them. I can already taste the homemade pesto now.

 

 

We finally thinned out the okra this week, which was a big deal for us. However, now that they have been thinned, they are finally starting to grown larger.

Everything is getting so big!  I am already planning out recipes using lots of those fresh veggies that will be coming our way over the summer.

 

Do you have a garden? I would love to see and hear about it. If you would like to share please leave a link in the comment section.

 

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

 

Fun In The Sun & Heavy Equipment

Over the weekend our town had a Public Works Open House! My neighbor brought me a flyer a few weeks ago advertising free hot dogs, a giant sand box, and a chance for the kids to look around in the equipment used by city employees. It looked like so much fun, and right up Miss O's alley!

It turned out to be a fun day. I loaded up Miss O, slathered on some sunblock, and remembered hats for both of us. She had so much fun getting to look around in the big trash trucks that she sees on our streets every week! I was excited for her to see the helicopter up close, because we hear it flying over our house all the time, and it sometimes scares her. I hope getting to see it up close and sit in it has eased her fears.

It was a hot day, and after almost 2 hours of climbing up in big trucks and honking horns, we called it a day. But not before stopping for ice cream on our way home!

I am so glad that the city had this event. I plan on taking Miss O and our new addition again next year!

The First Harvest

Haha! I know, I know it sounds like  we spent all day pulling veggies out of the garden, but it is still a little early for that. Soon though! Until then, I am going to eat these peas as a snack. Our pea plants are only doing ok. My mom is already talking about pulling them up and planting more green beans in their place. I think we need to give them just a little more time.

I Love Trift Stores

Over the weekend my mom and I went on a mega thrift store run. We have been looking for a dresser for Miss O for months, and we are getting impatient about moving her into a big girl bed. We were determined this weekend, and hit up just about every place in town. I am happy to say that we did find one!!! (pictures to follow later, we are going to paint it)

Now of course we could not leave the stores without looking at everything they had to offer, so here are the other treasures we found.

Super cute shorts for Miss O!

Also, some dresses for her. I love finding kids clothes at the thrift store. They are always so cheap, and usually in such great shape.

I have been looking at all my fabric lately, and noticed that I don't have any boy fabric, just lots of flowers and such. I found this sheet and thought it was great. However Miss O loves trucks and cars, so it should make both kiddos happy.

A few more sheets to use as fabric. I have big plans for the yellow! Plus, look at that super cute hat! I am not sure which kid is going to get this, but I could not walk away from it!

 

What a good day! We felt pretty proud of ourselves after that adventure!

 

Coming soon.....pictures of things I am actually making from these sheets! Oh yeah and the dresser!

This Week In My Garden

WOW! It is so exciting to see how fast and how much everything is growing! Here is my garden progress.

A picture from last week in my garden May 6

This morning in my garden May 13

Here is the tomato forest! There are 10 plants, and I can't wait to start seeing beautiful red tomatoes show up. Most of them already have little green ones showing up!

We are also starting to get some squash blossoms.

These green beans just amaze me. They have grown so much.

It is kinda hard to see it in this picture, but there is a stick stuck in the ground beside the eggplant. The stick was placed there when it was planted, and at the time was as tall as the plant. Now the plant is way taller!

My cantaloupe are growing slow, but they will get there.

 

So much change is taking place in that small garden space, and everyday there is something new to get excited about. I don't think that the poor watermelon will actually grow. We might just have to give it another try next year. So far everything is looking good, and there are no pest, with the exception of whatever is eating my radishes.

 

I really enjoy being able to look at my garden progress from week to week like this. If you have photos or garden news you would like to share, leave a comment with a link. I would love to see how your garden is growing as well.

 

Happy  Tuesday!