Updates and Books

With green beans behind me now I patiently await the arrival of red tomatoes. I have tons of green ones so the question I have now is will they turn red before the weather turns too cool. I am hoping so because I have been nurturing these plants since the middle of March and I really want to see them all turned into spaghetti sauce!! :) I also have almost 200 corn plants as well that I am hoping will add up to a lot of corn on the cob in my freezer.

Here are some updated pics of my garden: 







 







































 I sure have done better in years past on the weeding, but this summer has kind of taken on a life of its own… teaching two kids to drive, heading into town three days a week for drivers ed, and having my honey gone a lot (he is currently remodeling one of our rentals and it needed everything replaced and redone. He spends just about as much time working on this as he does working his regular job) and this means that I am keeping the wheels turning here at home almost solo or so it seems :)… and there is always so much to keep on top of and get done. 



 One of blessings we are experiencing this summer is that our son Jacob is putting his 16 year old teenage boy talents, skills and energy to work to help us out. Normally Tobin spends the summer bringing in wood from around our property for the winter. We need around 6 cords but have made it on less with a mild winter. Tobin got started with this project prior to us finding out we would have a vacancy and a total change of plans for the summer. Since then Jacob (who always has helped dad in the past) has taken over the job. He heads out on the tractor with the chainsaw and brings in the wood. Then he cuts it up and stacks it in the wood shelter. So far he is about 2/3rds of the way done. There is nothing like real, useful, and necessary work to give a kid purpose in life and he seems to be enjoying the process and the knowledge that he is providing our family with something valuable and much needed! 
































On another note, my daughter Emily arrived back home last Monday!! We were so happy to have her back. She had been in So. California for 6 weeks staying with some wonderful friends. She came back tanned, excited about life and figuring out the next direction she wants to go. She came back home to take a mid-term test otherwise I think she might has stayed longer! LOL.. She really liked it in California. Besides working on her school work she did some volunteer work at an art center with kids and for the local city hall doing office work. Now she has a couple other “irons in the fire” and is ready to see what life holds for her next… aside from finishing the last 2 ½ classes for her degree.

Books
I know I have mentioned it before but I love to read fiction. I like non fiction too, but for me the best relaxation and vegging out comes when I pick up a book and get lost in the story.


My book tastes seem to run to cozy mysteries (think “Murder She Wrote” type stories), and forensic mysteries/thrillers (Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs are two of my most favorite authors), and plain ol “gum shoe” type stuff (think Perry Mason of days gone by).


I recently found a series of books that I have been enjoying quite a bit (and so has my daughter Leanne who is reading them as quick as I am finishing them! LOL ). They take place in a fictional town called Alpine Washington. Well that really hits home of course (however Alpine is outside of Seattle in the story, and I am quite a bit south of this) however, I have had fun reading the names of places that are familiar to me. These books would fit in the cozy mystery category. If you like this type of book you might want to check out the Emma Lord Mystery Series by Mary Daheim.

That is all from the Homestead today!! Hope you are having a great weekend..

Comments

  1. Your garden is lovely. We live in Indiana, and so I think must be further south, but I have noticed that so often, the first frost is then followed by many frost-free days. So if it threatening to frost, it is very worth giving the tomatoes some light protection, and then they can be uncovered when the sun is well up the next day. A hard freeze, of course, would be different. Your reading tastes run very close to mine. How wonderful about your sons helping so much! Love the pictures!

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  2. We are learning more every year about gardening on a raised bed garden. Our heirloom tomatoes did not do so well and a friend told me heirlooms can have trouble in raised beds because they become so big and take up so much room... there is always something to learn.

    I made basil vinegar for the first time, using the instructions from the Franklin Springs West Ladies Herb DVD. So easy and YUM!

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  3. What a beautiful garden! Thank you for sharing your book recommendation.

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