I am not pouting...I am not pouting...I am not pouting...

Yeah...I am so full of it. I am pouting big time. :(

See this?

Yeah, you know that old saying--pride cometh before a fall. That's me. Oh yes, I was ever so pleased with myself. This is how I spent my Tuesday...and believe me, it took a big chunk of Tuesday! But in the end, I had five beautiful pints of applesauce made from apples from our very own tree. Oh yes, I was feeling proud! Yes, the words "domestic goddess" even escaped my husband's lips.

Oh, but the fall. The fall was hard. Yesterday I discovered that the lids had not actually sealed, as I had originally been convinced that they had. I've no idea where I went wrong. I'm guessing it was really more than that pride thing. ;)  Anyway, I admit, I cried a few little tears as I dumped out all my hard labor.

I feel sort of guilty that I already counted this towards my new 50x50. But Rich picked me loads more apples yesterday, so I'll make another attempt this week. And that will even things out, right? If I succeed, that is.

feeling fruity (yeah, what's new, huh?)

A day late. Again. My excuse is that our farmer's market is on Sunday mornings. That's really not a good excuse though, because I don't think I've ever actually posted pics from there anyway. And we haven't yet gone this morning either. No, a more true-to-life excuse would be that I'm scatter-brained.

Seems to be a heavy on fruits kind of week...

I canned another 4 quarts of tomatoes, bringing the total up to 9 quarts so far. Should definitely at least double that by the time the rest ripen up.

Our peach tree, which we'd given up for lost a couple years ago, actually produced some beautiful peaches this year! We've harvested about 15 juicy, incredibly delicious peaches so far. And there's a few more out there to come. The squirrels have had their fair share as well. Normally, I'm not even a huge peach fan, but these are just so yummy! (That whole "I grew it myself" thing, I guess.)

Our rogue melons look to be about ready for harvesting, too.  (We didn't plant any melons this year, because we've never had any luck with them in the past. But these guys just popped up in the garden--from seeds in the compost, I guess. Seems to be the way to go. :P ) In fact, Rich picked this one yesterday. 

And there's a couple others in the garden that we should be enjoying later this week as well.

And finally, we've been eating apples straight from the tree for weeks now. But yesterday I went out and picked a bunch...in hopes of making and canning applesauce this week. Wish me luck! I'll likely be making apple crisp this week, too...first time this season...mmmmm...

And now...well, I'm actually off to the farmer's market. :)

For more deliciousness, head on over to Heather's place. And thank you again, Heather, for hosting Saturday Farmer's Market--it's just so fun peeking into other people's markets and gardens and kitchens. :)

from garden to cupboard...

My wonderful mom came up Wednesday to give me a refresher course on canning. (It's been many a year. Since I've canned, that is. Not since my parents have visited.) We had a wonderful time all around...and I'm positively giddy with what I have to show for it. :D

Fresh picked from the garden.

 To the canner. Yep, that's my lovely mama.

To the jars. Just five jars this time, but there's plenty more tomatoes to come.

To the cupboard. My incredible new-to-me vintage cupboard that my mom just found at an antique mall. Yeah, I know you can't see those tomatoes inside it, but I just had to show a picture anyway because I am so freakin' in love with my new little cupboard. :D


Now the question is: Can I do this all by myself next week?

this simple salsa...

is literally the best I've ever had. Though I may up the jalapenos next time, as it's not terribly spicy. (Yeah, I know the picture isn't making it look particularly appetizing, but I swear it even looks good in person.) And as I said, it's just as plain and simple to make as could be. Best of all, much of it came from our own garden. :)

Fresh Garden Salsa:

4-5 medium to large tomatoes, diced small
2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced (not from our garden, though I hope we end up with a good harvest this year)
1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped (not from our garden)
juice from 1 lime (not from our garden, though I wish we could grow limes here)

Mix it all together. Mash lightly with fork. Stir again. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour (though it gets even better after a day or two).

we'll be eating well tonight

Fresh-picked from the garden this morning. We're going to have chips and fresh salsa for an appetizer, a veggie plate, spaghetti with fresh homemade sauce, and green beans on the side. Yes, I need Rich to go pick more tomatoes (I can't reach them all). And I'll have Annie pick some of her cherry tomatoes for our veggie plate. And I still need to pick the green beans. But I just couldn't resist taking this picture anyway.

more from the garden

Well, we did get the farmer's market this morning, but didn't buy a whole lot. Couple dozen eggs and some apples.

Our garden is definitely having its ups and downs. On the down side, something is going on with our cucumber plants. Not sure what--doesn't appear to be aphids or anything. Really should have taken a picture--I'm sure others (who aren't the fly-the-seat-of-your-pants, lazy, uneducated type of gardeners that we are) could tell me in a second what's going on. Anyway, thus far, the yellow, wilting leaves don't seem to be affecting the flowers or cucumbers at all. So we're keeping our fingers crossed. We've got lots of baby cukes going now. So many that I hope I'm soon trying out Chris' pickle recipe. (Even though I find pickles quite unpleasant, the rest of the gang likes them. :D ) We did eat our very first one this past week--and seriously, I think it was the best cucumber I've ever had. Or maybe that's just gardener's high. :P

Also on the down side, our lettuce is coming to an end. This is likely to be one of the last veggie burgers with our homegrown lettuce that I'll eat this summer.

And on the both up and down side, our beans are really starting to take off. And of course, this qualifies as the "up side." The down side being that we really planted everything much too close together. I'm not sure how the heck we're ever going to get the ones picked from the center of the garden. :(

Annie's cherry/grape/whatever-the-heck-they-are tomatoes are finally starting to ripen up at a faster pace. This is one of her three plants, and they're all equally loaded. (Just wish some of our what appears to be dozens and dozens of big tomatoes would start ripening, too!)

We didn't even try to grow any melons this year, as we've never had much luck in the past. But the melons seemed to have other ideas. Along with several rogue tomato plants, we've got a few rogue cantaloupe plants in the garden. (Seeds from the compost pile no doubt.) This is one of at least three little baby cantaloupes. Who knows, maybe they'll actually do okay this year.

And finally, just a few things picked from the garden this morning. I think I'll be whipping up a batch of spaghetti sauce that those peppers will be going into. And the kohlrabi--yeah, we'll just scarf that down. :)

Many thanks to Heather of Capricious Reader for hosting Saturday Farmer's Market!

a neglected garden, but another room done

 (Many thanks to Heather at Capricious Reader for hosting Saturday Farmer's Market!)

We actually missed the farmer's market altogether this morning...trying to get some chores done and then remembered we had to take Max to a birthday party...and well, it just didn't happen this week. :(

Our garden was a tad neglected this week as well. Just so dang busy with projects around the house. We did eat some more kohlrabi...sooooo good! And we ate our first green pepper diced up in scrambled egg burritos (thank you farmer's market for our ethical eggs). Annie's cherry/grape/whatever tomatoes have started ripening, too...and others have been enjoying them (I don't like tomatoes unless they're in something--I know, silly me). Anyway, here's a few pictures of what's going on in there as of this morning.

We've got lots of tomatoes hidden away amongst the plants, though none are starting yet to ripen.

 Our pole beans are finally flowering. :)

The cucumbers have oodles and oodles and oodles of flowers (the picture shows just a fraction of them), but we've yet to see any baby cukes at all.

And Annie's tomatoes.

And in the flower garden, I've no idea where this beautiful sunflower came from, but it is very welcome to stay as long as it would like. :D

And hooray! My black-eyed Susans are blooming! My favorite flower. Well, tied with daisies anyway.

*****
So, what kept us out of the garden this week. Lots of projects actually. But my biggie was the library...and I am just giddy as hell this evening because I finally finished in there. (Well, finished with what I had hoped to accomplish this summer, that is.)

The before shot (yes, it was a complete disaster...and this photo only shows part of it):

And the after shots (wish the pictures were better, but it was the best I could do):

 I'm so in love with the bookcases Rich built so it all now frames the window. That wall houses non-fiction...history, bios/memoirs, travel, the kids' non-fiction, general science, environmental issues, social issues, animals, natural history...and maybe some other stuff I'm forgetting.

Okay, this picture really sucks. :(  But this wall houses mostly Rich's science books. Everything on top of the side-by-side bookcases, as well as the top shelf of each of those bookcases, holds his evolution books. Science geek. He also has an entire shelf of brain books and an entire shelf of genetics. Science geek. A shelf of dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts. A shelf of ecology. Science geek. A shelf of earth science. And a shelf of animal behavior. Science geek. :D

And behind the chair on the left are some small bookcases which house collections by some of his favorite science/natural history authors...E.O. Wilson, David Attenborough, Carl Zimmer, Oliver Sacks, Richard Dawkins, and a few more I'm forgetting at the moment.

And finally, not showing in this picture (but I think it might show up in the next one), is another new bookcase Rich built. This one holds our house and garden type books.

The closet houses a sagging shelf of National Geographics, our reference books, two shelves of Annie's books (she has most of hers in her room), and Rich's fiction.

The big bookcase in the middle holds Gray's books (though he has a smaller bookcase in his room as well). The little bookcase on the top is also a new addition Rich built.

And finally, the skinny dark brown shelves hold some of Max's books. Our reluctant reader also has a bookcase in his room.

And the final wall...well, it holds my fiction. As well as a few of my favorite other possessions--my Poppets, my beautiful handmade Calpurnia (thank you again, Jason!), and my homemade folk artsy coyote (thank you again, Annie!).

Someday we will get the room painted and add molding and a few other things, but for now I'm just happy to be able to hang out comfortably in there again. :D

what is so hard about this

This is not meant to be whining. But I must say that I am feeling an overwhelming amount of frustration. Not so much the kind of frustration that is laced with anger, but more the type that is infused with sadness.

The things I dreamed of accomplishing this summer just aren't coming about. It's not like they're big dreams. Just many small, simple things. For my small, simple life. (And I mean that in the most positive way.)

It seems like no matter how much I plan, no matter how hard I try to keep things organized, everything just comes apart at the seams anyway. Nearly three weeks into summer and the house is nowhere near where I'd dreamed it would be at this time. Our summer education plans have been haphazard at best. I've barely made a dent in next year's school work. And I've done no crafting at all. Truly, this just leaves me feeling depressed.

I feel like I need to regroup. But really, I'm not sure how. I'm not sure where exactly it is that things are falling apart. No, it *definitely* didn't help that I was dreadfully sick for the past five days. No, it didn't help that we had to attend a family reunion for three days. And the kids' activities--track camp, book club, soccer four nights a week--yeah, that kind of stuff takes up time, too. I don't know, maybe now's not the time to worry about it. I'm still not really functioning right because of this damn virus...and maybe when I'm really feeling better, my brain and body will be raring to go and things won't look so pathetic.

You know, in fact, I'm not going to hit that publish button tonight. I'm going to wait until morning, when hopefully I will be able to look a little more clearly at what has gone right so far. And maybe I'll even have some fresh ideas for getting back on track.

Goodnight self. Sleep well, would you?

*****
Okay. Well, I wrote the above two days ago. I'm still feeling like somewhat of a failure...but I've decided that letting that get me down will get me nowhere. Instead, I'm just going to hop back on board with my original plans. Tweaking here and there. No, this entire house will not have been through its thorough cleaning before mid-August. This was my goal, because this is when my dear friend Chris arrives. But I've got to stop stressing about deadlines. And I know for a fact that Chris is not coming to see our house, he's coming to see our home--and that is always in business, tidy or messy. :D

If things had gone according to plan, Max's, Gray's, and Annie's bedrooms, as well as the library, would have been through their super-weedings/super-cleanings. While progress has been made in every one of these rooms, Max's is the only one that is actually finished.

His before photo:

His after photos:

--finish sorting through every little thing in room (to trash? to recycle? to give away? to keep?)
--decide what kind of containers we still need for organizing and put everything away "in its place!" (and I didn't even need to buy any new containers--found a way to make everything work with what we had :D)
--build bookcase
--get lamp
--wash all bedding
--wipe down walls
--wash window
--dust
--vacuum


By next weekend, I do hope that I'll have "after shots" of the other rooms. Gray's room really is close to completion. (Well, the "completion" I envisioned for this summer anyway.) And both Annie's room and the library have dents made in them, but both still have a ways to go.

Heather at Capricious Reader has started a new feature--Saturday Farmer's Market! So fun--a look at what everyone's growing in their gardens, buying at their Farmer's Markets, cooking up with all their fresh produce. Mmmmmm...

(Thank you, Heather! And thank you, Chris, for telling me about it!)

And if I'm looking at the bright side, I should mention that the garden is growing like crazy!!! We've munched down all the radishes, we've been eating lettuce like crazy, we've had raspberries to munch, and Rich ate his first jalapeno last evening. And soon we'll be eating Annie's cherry tomatoes, and green peppers, and kohlrabi, too! :D

And here's Annie standing in front of the garden...finally wearing the dress I made her! (And now that she's finally put it on, she's decided she absolutely loves it. Thank goodness! And Kara, she loves the socks, too!)