Sunny Summer (Finally!)

The garden is in full BLOOM!Some blue lake pole beans climbing right off the teepee...
Just a few tomato flowers, I think this is a cherry. Hoping for more varieties than last year. We planted at least 5 varieties last year and wound up with only romas... Hmmmm...
This is one of my favorite sections in the garden. The far right row has sunflowers, heirloom cucumber, and butternut squash. The middle row has soybeans, and the left row has a few varieties of tomatoes. Chris recently put in 14 additional cages around some tomato plants, I think totaling around 20 plants. Can't wait to share, save, and possibly sell? Gramps always said he wanted a 'truck garden' which is defined as selling your garden goods out of the back of your truck. I can just see Owen and I hanging out on the side of the road while Chris is at work, with our truck garden!
Foreground: melon, middle ground: tomato, background and all around: weeds.
Quick trip to the garden with a little variety to the basket! Snow peas, radishes, parsley, heirloom cucumber, and my love, kale!
A beautiful sunflower, and a sweet lady inside! Not bad for a little Canon Proshot point and shoot, no? I have been telling Chris I want a wild garden, a little nook of my own to go crazy in that is safe from deer. I am now realizing that our garden IS my wild garden, it just changes every year!
Red potatoes, harvesting a pound or two a week of these, or fingerlings, or russets.
Bean teepee, house in background.

Finally got these pics updated, these are actually from tonight! There are lots of flowers on all of the squash, the original cilantro has bolted, turnips, beets, romaine, mesclun, kale are all doing well. The corn is slowly taking hold, and the bush beans are all about 8 inches tall. The potatoes are lost in a sea of dandelion greens, and weeds, so only to be harvested while wearing muck boots. Sad to say that the our chickens have been slowly hunted over the last 2 months, starting with Pat. Tonight I am bummed to report that we are not chicken owners anymore, despite the efforts to protect them. We will be chicken owners again, but maybe not until next year. Made it about a year without buying eggs. Mother nature is pretty powerful, someone said when Pat was the first to go that the hunter will be back, and yes they were. Still not sure what it was, but it isn't a vegetarian... OK no time for jokes.

Hiking with Owen

The American River is about a 5 minute drive from our house. Owen and I went a little further down the road to one of my favorite hiking spots. I haven't been since last summer, so it was so great to visit a place where I have spent many hours hiking. Owen is such an agreeable companion. We timed the trip between a feed and naps, so it was in the heat of the day. I dressed him in long sleeves in hopes of shielding him from the sun. The hat didn't stay on for long, but the backpack kept him pretty well shaded. I hiked quickly just in case Owen wanted to go back sooner than later. He had a blast, and even enjoyed the halfway point photo shoot. He especially liked the feel of the rocks and weeds. He wasn't a fan of his toes in the water, but it is pretty cold.




Owen is awake now, so best be on my way.

Happy 28th, Chris!

Good morning, Daddy!Chris's parents were both here to celebrate. Wynter watched Owen after a night shift so we could go wine tasting.
Carolyn, Jac, and I at Lava Cap.
In the back room a tasting at Lava Cap.
Chilling out at Boeger. It was not busy at all for a Sunday in June, but that was to our advantage. It was such a gorgeous day with gorgeous people! We had a short bus take us to the wineries. If you are in need of some fun transportation, check out FART (Foothill Area Rapid Transit). Must do more often!

Garden 2011 Follow-up

I am back-blogging as I call it... I'm not organized enough to blog along the way...These photos are from early June. I'm excited to share pictures now, but here are a few of the garden getting started.Bean teepees amidst the rows.
Before being hoed... lots of weeds!!
Baby radishes.

Showering Jac

Early June it was due time to give Jac (Aunt Jac) a bridal shower. She is getting married 7/30, so soon!!She said that she would handle the favors, and that she did! She donated to Paxton's parents... What a sweet gal!
Had to get the fruit basket cake from Ettore's. It is an amazing cake, but impossible to cut cleanly... The fruit on top kept falling over, and the layers split as soon as the piece was cut, but down the hatch it went!
On all of the invites (except hers) there was a request to wear a hat. We were thinking it was going to be a hot summer day, so the hats would be fun and also functional. Well June 4th was quite a cold and rainy day. We still donned the hats, and Shirley provided one for Jac to wear with a veil on it. Super cute and an extra surprise.
This was the spread before the other hostess showed up...She brought three more salads. MMM! Quite the brunch. My favorite was the peach sangria: 1 bottle riesling, 1 bottle champagne, mint leaves, 3 cups sliced peaches, and peach schnapps to taste. We kept "tasting" and ended up using the whole bottle. (To be fair, the punch bowl was huge and I ended up using 2 bottles each of riesling and champagne. IT WAS GOOD! A perfect summery brunch, indoors! Thanks Nancy for the use of your home! Getting excited for the big day, Jac!

Making a scarecrow

I really wanted a scarecrow for our garden and thought that the girls could help me out. Lily was at school, but Ava had a friend over to help. Owen and I found the fixins at the local thrift store, as well as one of Gramp's old hats.
I cut down some bamboo stakes from our plant, and we used them as the arms, legs, and trunk. We stuffed the body with newspaper.
Elise was the professional stake tier! She is focusing so intently.
The girls are always PURE entertainment for Owen.

Dinner With Friends

Linda had us all over to her beautiful home a couple weeks ago. Owen loved being walked around the yard, and I didn't complain one bit! The food was so good (of course!) and the company was so nice. I miss my Mercy Co-workers:(.

Thank you for such a wonderful dinner and visit. Hope to see you all again very soon.