We've been working in the garden more....hoeing...
....setting up trellises for the cucumbers.
We repurposed some of the picket fence we took down from around the back yard proper...and Jas fashioned these handy - and very useful - trellises:
Just five days after I took those first pictures...the cucumber plants now look like this:
I'm having to train (and re-train) the vines and tendrils which way to go...but it's actually fun!
This is the first summer since G's arrival that we've had a garden. The first summer he was only two or three months old when it was time to plant, and we were just getting our feet under us as first-time-parents-to-a-newborn...so a garden was kind of the last thing on our (sleep-deprived) minds. And then last year we moved right in the middle of what would have been the growing season.
The children are older, actually very helpful...and enjoying all this as much as we are.
We have fun going around spying and counting new squash....
...and cucumbers.
We've actually already harvested our first yellow squash and many more are almost ready. I forgot to take a picture of that first squash, but it sure did taste good! Daniel said it tasted better than the ones at W@lmart!
Now that we're done with school, the children and I typically get outside every morning right after breakfast (before it gets too, too hot) and get some work done.
We recently cleared out the planter on the back of the sunroom:
And now I don't know what to plant in there:
Any ideas???
On our to-do list for Saturday was to take down this section of fence that separates the backyard proper from the garden area.
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| That is an ever-expanding burn pile you see through the open gate |
We plan to put up - about 8 feet past the original fence line - some of the shorter picket fence we took down elsewhere. It will be cute, give some visual separation between the garden and the "backyard", but give more room here in the backyard.
The fence is in 8-ft sections...and it is hea-VY. It was slow-going on taking it down and moving it.
And then the slow-going turned into no-more-going. I won't name names, but someone accidentally stumbled and ended up injuring me (the children call it being "damaged"):
I was done with fence-moving for the day.
Being the first-time-pool-owners that we are, Jas and I did not maintain the pool as we should have over the winter. Lesson learned. The pool is (at my request) supposed to be my domain, simply because I have more time here at the house. During these past few weeks as we've gotten the pool back in shape, I have now become intimately familiar with pool maintenance...and that will never happen again!
The children were *ecstatic* when the pool was officially opened for business on Thursday...but I did get them to stop long enough to snap their picture before they jumped in...
...or dove in...
...if that is what you can call LK's maneuver here.
Elisabeth and Gabriel decided to enter a little more gently...
G is loving the pool.
He squeals with glee at the top of his lungs when he gets in.
I'm so thankful for this pool. I never dreamed we would ever have a pool...and I feel like it is a special blessing from the Lord.
G is not scared - not one bit - of the water. He jumps off the steps and just toodles around in his little arm floaties.
Soooooo....after talking with Mrs. E this morning at church, our little guy is starting swimming lessons today. She taught our older four how to swim, and I'm hopeful she can help with our littlest guy now!
Saturday we woke up to.....no water.
Rats. Totally not what we had on our to-do list for the day.
After checking the breaker box inside the house (which was fine) Jas and the boys headed out to the pump house...
Oh, the things I take for granted!
It must have been so much fun for the children to get their hands on some farming. I was raised on a farm myself and I love every single moment of it. I kind of miss it now that I live in a big city, but I do go to the old nest at least once a month. Your produce all look so good. Anyway, that's one nasty injury. I hope it has healed by now. School season is starting again and I can just guess how hectic and fun it is for all of you. I wish you all the best with that! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDarren Lanphere @ Mirr Ranch Group