Book Review - Something Worth Doing by Jane Kirkpatrick

 

Something Worth Doing, by Jane Kirkpatrick, tells the fictionalized story of real-life suffragist Abigail (Jenny) Scott Duniway.  I really wanted to like this book, but I did not like the main character.  I kept waiting for her character to develop a bit more and care about the people right in front of her, but she only seemed capable of caring about her cause and women she didn't know, to the point of showing nearly constant disdain for her husband, children, and men in general.  Her husband, Ben, was a much more interesting and sympathetic character.  The book is well-researched, with historical details throughout.  I think readers can learn quite a bit about the suffrage movement from reading it, but for me, it was not an enjoyable read because of the main character. I have read and enjoyed other books by this author, but I will not be recommending this one.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own. 

In Our Yard

 

We harvested the cushaw.  It weighs 19 pounds!  While Lydia was posing for this picture, Midnight started crying like a baby.  She doesn't like to see Lydia holding something else, so Lydia took off to hold her.

Gyunay bought me a couple of mums for my birthday and gave them to me early.  He's especially proud of this purple one.

The pumpkins are looking good.  This one is about ready for harvest.

Speaking of harvest, we are going to harvest the rooster soon, so here is a picture of him looking majestic.  He is a really pretty rooster.

And the chicks.  As you can see, the meat birds are about full-sized now.  We will harvest a few of them this weekend, too.

We have been harvesting cucumbers like crazy.  The kids eat 2 or 3 sliced cucumbers a day.  I eat them, too, but we are getting so many that I was able to can 5 pints of dill pickles and 9 pints of sweet relish, as well as ferment a couple of quarts of dill pickles.  Tomatillos are also doing very well.  I canned tomatillo salsa, and more are growing.  I planted some fall radishes and turnips outside, and they have sprouted.  It feels like fall this morning; it is really lovely outside right now.

Lydia Behind the Camera

 

I told Lydia to take some pictures for the blog.  First of all, we have the two toads that she is pet sitting.

She's really enjoyed taking care of the toads for her friend.

Can you spot the cucumber?

Mexican Sunflowers and Golfers

I've grown these orange Mexican Torch sunflowers for the past few years.  They usually get about 5 ft tall and have lots of long-lasting blooms, but this year, this plant really took off!

That is just one plant!  I have a couple of others in the front yard, which are beautiful, but not nearly as big as this one.  I have the 2 yellow Aztec Sun ones as well, which are nearly this big.  All of them are frequented by butterflies, and the orange ones attract hummingbirds as well.

Malachi and Nathaniel went golfing Sunday afternoon.  Gyunay decided to go as well, so they got a cart.  Malachi played really well!

 

August Harvest Totals

 Beans, crescent - 2.7 lbs

Beans, dragon tongue - 4.1 lbs

Beans, runner - 7.1 oz

Cabbage, Brunswick - 1 (1.4lbs)

Carrots - 18

Corn, Buhl - 9

Corn, Shoepeg white - 5

Cucumber, Edmondson (white) - 55

Cucumber, pickling - 10

Eggs - 64

Kholrabi - 1

Pepper, Bulgarian sweet - 6

Tomatillos - 1.1 lbs

Tomato, Black Krim - 7 (2.7lbs)

Tomato, Black Tula - 9 (4.6 lbs)

Tomato, Purple Russian - 4 (10.7 oz)

Tomato, St. Pierre - 3 (1lb)

Tomato, Woodle Orange - 2 (5.8 oz)

Watermelon, Sugar Baby - 1

Plus, cherry tomatoes, basil, cilantro, dill, mint, oregano, parsley, and sage

(Tomato total - 9.3 lbs)  It is such a sad tomato year!

Chicks, Buddy Bean, and Fall Gardening

 I've started seedlings for the fall garden, and they are coming along:

This week, I plan to plant some radishes and carrots in the ground.

Buddy Bean is pretty adorable.

Lydia plays with him every day.  He loves to hop around the deck and explore.  

She's teaching him to sit still on the bench, so one day she can show him in rabbit competitions.

Lastly, we moved the rest of the chicks outside.  They all seem to be doing great.  They forage well.  I've seen several catch worms, and they enjoy the clover I planted for them.  (They ate all the first planting, but I replanted, and you can see the green popping up in the picture.)

Moving Out

 Malachi and I spent an hour yesterday reinforcing the chicken wire in the smallest yard, and then Lydia and Malachi moved the meat chicks out to it.

We put Mama Hen in that yard, too, since she has been really picked on by the rooster and other hens.

She seems to be getting along pretty well with her new flockmates.  The regular chicks are still in the shed.  They are quite small still, but we plan to move them out with the rest in another week.

Around the garden, I am very happy to see my pumpkins growing:

And here are the Aztec Sun flowers, which are the yellow counterpart to my orange Mexican Torch sunflowers.  As you can see, the butterflies like them, too.

I haven't seen any hummingbirds on the yellow ones, but they do love the orange ones.