A New Perspective on the SFG

I hardly ever show you the SFG from this angle. 

My favorite farmer's wife (FFW) saw my SFG for the first time last week.  She said she has never seen such a little garden.  Ever.  Coming from a farmer's daughter and a farmer's wife who has seen a lot of gardens over the years, I am taking that as a compliment.  I have been harvesting lettuce for weeks.  I have planted a second planting.

 

The rhubarb, which up to this point I believed was a miniature variety, is coming into its own in the front corner.  I am thinking I could make a quarter recipe of rhubarb crunch.

The peppers have blossoms, although mostly they just drop off the plants after they bloom.  Maybe they are late summer producers.


I harvested some uber-baby carrots today.  Uber-baby carrots are about half an inch long and about an eighth of an inch thick at the top. (Which is another way of saying that I thinned the carrots and ate the ones I pulled out.)  I shared one with the Goob.  It is the first time in his life he has eaten a whole carrot.

Possible the most exciting development is in the zucchini square foot.  The plant itself does not look good. It is growing slowly and the leaves are turning brown.  I did not expect this, as zucchini seems to be a crop that never does poorly.  But today it too had blossoms.  Oh, baby, I have visions of zucchini bread dancing in my head.

And then I have the lemon basil.  I cut some of this fresh on Friday evening.  I used it to season the fresh trout that the STP and the Goob brought home from the lake.  One of those three ingredient recipes I am so fond of.  Trout, Lemon basil, and butter.  It could only have been fresher if I had churned the butter after I came home from work. 

 But it is summer and I don't want to get in the habit of cooking.

No Words

The Patio Debut

The patio was finished by the Fourth of July.  So we invited the neighbors to have lunch with us.  All of the neighbors.  Unfortunately, we had to wait until the patio was actually done, so we didn't actually invite them until the evening of July 3rd.  Most everyone already had plans.   But I had prayed that the Lord would bring whomever He felt should be there for lunch.

  So at noon on Monday the STP and I were alone on the patio (with enough food for about 15 people).  We had already decided who we would invite for supper to help us eat up the leftovers.  And when the Goob went to extend the invite, there was a question of whether they should come for lunch or supper,  and we said if they had no lunch plans (at half past lunchtime!), then they were more than welcome to join us for lunch.  Immediately. 

By the time they arrived 3 neighbors also showed up and so the inaugural use of the patio was lunch for 10 family, friends, and neighbors.  Hamburgers, hotdogs, and sparkling conversation. 

I hung the candles in jars, previously known as the centerpieces from the progressive dinner. 

And I fashioned clever little wire thingys and hung more jars with flowers.

I filled the old washtubs with ice and drinks. ( I have two washtubs because, even though I didn't invite anyone until the night before, I have been planning this patio party for years.)

And I let Dixie use a green glass bowl for her water.  Because that's how much I love that dog (and how classy my patio is).

My neighbor brought me a frog.  I love that woman.

In the evening we had invited our church family to stop in for ice cream. 

When it got dusk, we lit the candles in jars, and the little Jamaican lanterns.

And then we walked to the park to watch the fireworks.

If you missed it, the patio will be here for awhile, so feel free to stop in. ( Don't worry, I have lots of bug spray. )

 Because, by far, my favorite things on the patio yesterday were people.

Oh Deer!

It amazes me that one car traveling North to South and one deer running East to West in a big open space, with no other cars or deer in sight, could manage to occupy the same space at the same time. 

This didn't turn out well for either of us. 

A Very Fine House

I was driving into Dodge City from the south this morning and I saw this cute little house.  And I had to stop and take a picture of it. 

Not only is the front cute, but it has a great patio in the cute little east yard.

 I mean a great patio.

 And a cute little square foot garden.

With cute little chocolate cherry tomatoes.

 And I was just thinking that it's a good thing I live here, because otherwise I would be jealous of the people who did.

Meet My Sister

I was going to post about my patio project, but then I saw this and I got nothing better than that.  I am incredibly proud of my little sister.  Love you Nancyann.

Patio Project Progress

When we bought our first house about 12 years ago I knew it needed a stone patio.  A natural stone patio.  It took the STP 8 years to gather enough rocks and finish the project.  He put his back out in the process.  When we finished it, we sold the house.  The new owners probably tore it out and replaced it with pavers.  I couldn't bear the thought.  I don't really want to know. 
Our new house had a blank canvas for a landscape.  Which is an optimistic way of saying it was a big patch of dirt with a few weeds.  It has not been three full years yet, and we have grass, and flower beds, and baby shrubs and a garden and even a baby tree.  And you may recall that I have patio dishes.  So what I really needed is a patio.  A natural stone patio.  With some old salvaged bricks thrown in to make it look like it has been here forever.  And you may recall that we have a plan.  And we have started. 
So you may be wondering if you will have to wait 8 years for pictures of the finished patio.  The truth is that I have not taken a lot of pictures since we began the hauling and laying of stones.  Because we have passed from the excitement of the first days and the promise of summer days sipping lemonade and iced tea on the patio, to the reality of hot summer days spent picking rocks, and loading rocks, and hauling rocks, and unloading rocks, and placing rocks, and setting rocks.  And every day we say 'maybe one more load of rocks will do it' and 'just one more day and it should be done'.  We have passed through the 'whose idea was this?' stage and are deep into the 'will this ever get finished stage?' of the project.  
Today we hauled the last load of rocks.  (Not that we have all the rocks to complete the whole plan, just that we have hauled our last rock for this summer.  Even though the STP has seen the plan, he is in denial.  Don't mention 'phase two' to him.)  And I think 'one more day' will do it.  No, really.

This is a picture where I had my lawn chair and I was 'trying it on'.  I think it was right after this that the STP stopped laying stones for the day. 
Hoping it will be done by the Fourth of July.  Can't you just see little cups full of cherries with stems?

Before and After

FATHER SON HAIRCUTS

Not exactly extreme make overs, but it's hard to improve perfection.

Big Baby

When the Goob was little bitty and in need of a dresser, the incredible Uncle R. donated one to the cause.  And I stained it with burgundy paint.  (Which looked amazingly pink when it was dry.)  And added rope handles.  And attached a blue hankerchief corner, so it would look like things were hanging out of the drawers.  (How clever and cute!)  The Goob's socks and underwear are still in the bottom drawer of  the pink burgundy dresser where I put them originally so he could reach them himself when he was potty training.  Only the Goob's socks and underwear are significantly bigger than when he was two.  The dresser drawers are unfortunately the same size.  (And things hanging out of them are not so cute or clever.)
Thus, the project of the month:  redoing another donated dresser for the Goob's room.  The Goob sanded and I painted it--blue. (Same rope handles, but I did learn a thing or two about choosing paint colors.)  The only problem was where to place it in the room.  So I looked in the Goob's room and I had this revelation that maybe I could take out the table and chair.  Because the Goob hardly ever used them anymore.

 Because maybe he had out grown them. 










What do you think? 

We also took out the way cool cowboy grooming station that Super Aunt Sara had made him, because the Goob had to squat down to see himself in the mirror.  It was a sad day to see my baby boy's things go to the attic.  Neither of us was ready to tackle the toy box (which was also donated and also painted many years ago),

so we just moved it under the window where it will serve as a bench

 until the Goob leaves for college.







And yes, those things are really in the toy box, and yes, I did cry almost the whole way through Toy Story 3.

This Is The Day

Today was the day we were going to launch the kayaks. 

Every time I tell someone I bought a kayak they ask me if I have learned to roll my kayak (as in flip my kayak upside down and make it come back up.)  Evidently they are trying to merge what kayaking they have seen in movies and summer Olympic coverage with the image of me in a kayak.  I am touched that they care enough about me to raise such concerns, but they needn't worry.  Obviously, we have totally different ideas of what I plan to do in my kayak.  Because I picture a calm secluded mountain lake, and me and the STP leisurely paddling about, and lunch on the far shore.  (Such sorrow that the picnic blanket is no longer in my possession.)  At no time do I envision my kayak being upside down.

Today was the day the plan was going to come together.

I have been searching for the ideal calm secluded mountain lake for the kayaks maiden voyage.  This week I heard that Meadowlark Lake was 'open'.  (This does not mean that the gate was unlocked.  It means that the ice has melted off of it.)  So this afternoon the STP and I loaded the kayaks. And headed for the mountain.   

And when we arrived at the mountain lake there were flashes of lightning and hail. 

Yes, hail.

Perhaps today was the day we practiced loading and unloading the kayaks and enjoyed a lovely ride to the mountain.

We waited a little while and studied the sky and debated whether we wanted to actually approach water that had been ice less than a week ago.   Then we unloaded the kayaks. And then the sun came out and we launched those kayaks. 

And just like that, there we were.  The STP and I kayaking on a calm secluded mountain lake. 

Just the way I had envisioned it.  Next time I will pack a lunch--just in case we make it to the far shore.

Today was also the day we invited friends to share the day with us.  To take our pictures and try out our kayaks and to marvel over the wildflowers with us

and to eat supper with us in Ten Sleep.

 And we didn't come home until the sun set.

Yep, today was the day. 

And I was just thinking that that the Lord's lovingkindnesses are new every morning.  Makes me look forward to what tomorrow might bring.

Another Bloomin' Update

The peony bloomed last week.  (Note peony in the singular)  I rewarded it by chopping it off and putting it in a beautiful green glass vase so I could enjoy it more.  (Note that you can see the table top in this picture.) 

The second bud has refused to open.  I have offered it more water and a promise of amnesty.  Still I am counting the peony transplant project a success for this year.   

The paprika yarrow has come into its own. 

The flame plant is thriving in the hanging basket.  Evidently it helps that I did not water it with vinegar this year.

 The Stella d'oro day lillies are both doing well in the front beds.

And just a teaser--the lupine(a new perennial this year) has the promise of a bloom.  (And the orange daylillies have buds like crazy.)

But possibly my most favorite bloom is in the SFG.  The chocolate cherry tomato plants have little chocolate cherry tomato blossoms.  I can't wait!