July in August

Despite almost no rain this summer, it has been a fantastic year for the blackberries. I picked 3 quarts, and that was what I could easily get to, there were lots just out of reach. Being ginormously pregnant does not lend itself well to blackberry picking, and because I hate being pricked, my crazy get up included: jeans that had to be hiked back up every 2 steps, B.'s old unlined Carhart, and gloves. All to keep thorn stabbing down to a minimum. Kinda helped. We have lots of old canes, and they are savage when it comes to picking. But 3 quarts picked and frozen? I am thrilled, that's the most I've picked ever!

 You need to do this for BLTs or what my Omama called Cheese Dreams. Slice your tomatoes, drizzle lightly with olive oil, a whisper of fresh ground sea salt, and a few sprigs of fresh thyme if you have it. Bake at about 250-300 for a few hours, until somewhat shriveled. For Cheese Dreams, toast a slice of bread, spread with mayo, add tomatoes, bacon strips and either Muenster of M. Jack cheese. Broil until cheese melts.

 You'd look like that too if you had just finished chocolate cake for breakfast

We did VBS at my in-laws church, this year they "visited" Daniel in Babylon. The Kidlets loved it as usual.

This has by far and away been our best garden. Except for these peas. Pretty blooms, tasted terrible. It may have been the heat, though that's never really affected peas for me before. I'm going to pull them out, have B. till up their spot, and replant with a different type for a fall crop. I hope so anyway.

 These pictures are from about 2 weeks ago, right after B. tilled.

 Pumpkins on the far right, one of them seems to have died. They are those gorgeous blue-green kind that I forget what the are called. They had some heirloom pumpkins at the grocery store last fall, and when they were reduced to a dollar apiece ( I almost spent the $8, just because I wanted it so much. Glad I waited!), I bought 2, just to save the seeds. Hard to see, but there are sad little zinnias (that seems to be the only thing that's flopped this year), peppers, peas. tomatoes and basil which have nearly tripled in size since I took this picture.

I have to look up the kind, but these bush beans are amazing. Nearly 2 foot tall plants, and I should have supported them somehow because they are falling over with beans. Less what we've eaten, I've frozen 18 quarts out of 2 pickings, and need to go back out to pick more today.

Zucchini, more peppers, yellow squash, cukes, watermelon, cantaloupe, and cosmos.

I haven't gotten a whole lot of zucchini, squash or cucumbers, which is fine because we are able to eat it without wasting. I have to fight Honey and Biscuit for sauteed zucchini.

First of the harvest

Chef Salad on a hot day

I took the first big haul of beans out to snap on the back steps while watching the kidlets play, but who wants to play while Mom is snapping beans? Not they!

"Look, I have a mustache"

Muffin cuteness

Beans was hilarious. He would grab a bean, and with elbows out try his darnedest to rip it apart, his whole little chunky self shaking in effort. Then he'd give up and try another. 

It occurred to me as I was sitting and snapping (right before the work crew came to help), that I am living out exactly what I've always wanted to do. With decidedly less land and no livestock, but still, a-right-down-to-sitting-and-watching-my-children-play-while-I-snapped-beans-dream-come-true.

It's been so dry, that there are actually black-burned patches in the yard.

We went for a Sunday drive a week ago, and stopped to look at some chicken coops, which brings me that much closer to the live stock part : ) Though they probably won't happen until spring.

 Can't quite get used to Honey reading to the littles. When? How?

 ...Clean clothes on the line...

 Tomatoes growing out of my compost bin. Honey found a rat in there yesterday. Woo-Hoo.

Jewels recipe for fresh tomato sauce, with my homemade sausage. Divine.

I've done almost NO canning, and that's making me kind of crazy. Maybe I'll hit up the flea-market Monday. Anyone wanna come along?

 I'm still trying to figure out where the heck July went. Didn't we just celebrate the 4th, and now all of the sudden, it's August. I'm due in 2 weeks. Say what? Yeah, 2 weeks, though I go in for a U/S tomorrow, where I'm pretty sure they will say "Nope, the little monkey is NOT head down, we're going to turn and induce next week." Which is fine. I'm used to it, and actually, it's kinda nice knowing "I will have baby on such and such a day." because I can get all the last minute stuff done. Unlike the last 3 though, I have had a LOT of contractions. Hopefully that will mean things move along a little faster.
Well, a certain oldest son is awake and has set up a game of memory for he and I to play, so I must go.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring some sort of baby news!

Shootin'

Last week, on a miserably hot Saturday, B. pulled out his childhood .22 (?) and gave Honey and Biscuit their first lesson. On gun safety, and how open sights work. Safety they got, how sights work, not so much.

Then they geared up

And shot for the very first time.

Biscuit took right to it.

They hit the box, much to our amazement!

But Daddy had a lot to do with that, neither of them having arms quite long enough to hold the gun properly.

Naturally, a girl always shoots in her "leanicktard" and tutu.

(all those little marks are Biscuits, I put his initial next to them so we would know whose were whose)

Much fun was had by all, and the little people who cheered them on from the air conditioned house. (BTW, just throwing this out there, I hate air conditioning. Ya'll can pick your chins up off the floor now.)

Helmet Hair

How many Children do I have? (if you're new to this blog, the answer is 4) How many brothers and sisters do I have? (again, if you're new, the answer is 9. Yes we are all biological, no. B. and I are not out to break my parents record)

So what on earth possessed me, (with 24 years and 10 children, (not counting all the ones I babysat) worth of child knowledge (started when I was 6)) to leave Muffin alone for 10 seconds with a teaspoons worth of syrup on her plate? Because when I came back, she was cheerfully rubbing her hands on her plate, then slicking down her hair with said syrup. Notice her fingers are stuck together in that picture above.
It was turning her hair white as the sugars started to crystallize. I had a wild notion that I would be able to wash it out at the table, but I quickly realized how silly that was, and put her in the tub. Which is when I discovered she loves baths if Big Sister is taking one with her, but stick her in by herself, and its akin to trying to wrestle an octopus. 2 hair washings folks. She made good use of the dribble of syrup.

So I Was Wondering....

Is this something we should be worried about on a 3 year old?!?