Mother/Daughter Retreat and Harvesting

Lydia and I enjoyed a Mother/Daughter retreat day on Saturday.  The theme was "feminine genius" with a focus on the four female doctors of the church.  The kids exchanged charities, which are little handmade mementos.  Lydia and I made psalteries (a medieval stringed instrument) in honor of St. Hildegard von Bingen, doctor of the church: 

They are magnets, and they took way longer than anticipated, but Lydia was thrilled to give them out.  She also enjoyed roasting s'mores:

This picture was taken right before the circle was filled in on all sides by girls holding sticks of flaming marshmallow.  The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed ourselves very much.

Lydia enjoys taking pictures of the cats.

Also, the chicks and Mama Hen have been out and about in the yard.  There are still four chicks, so we are excited about that.

I still can't believe that the cats actually choose to climb onto the trampoline with the kids.

This huge butternut squash was hanging from the trellis Nathaniel made for me.  It weighed in at 4 pounds!  It is the second one I've harvested so far.  The first weighed 3.1 pounds.

And here it is next to the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin, which weighed in at 12 pounds.  I have three more of theses pumpkins still growing on the vines, and all are looking healthy right now. 

Mama Hen and Chicks

Mama Hen has hatched four chicks, and we are very excited.

She is still sitting on a couple of eggs, so we are giving her a bit more time to see if we get more chicks.  In the mean time, she and the babies have been sectioned off away from the other chickens for their own protection.  We plan on keeping them sequestered for at least another week and a half, maybe more, depending on how things go.

Kids and cats play on a trampoline on a drizzly, wonderfully cool morning.

We are so happy to have temps in the 70s after a couple of weeks of 90s.  And finally having some rain is great for the gardens.  We are still harvesting plenty of tomatoes, and the green beans have really gotten going lately.  

Book Review - Finding Lady Enderly by Joanna Davidson Politano

I loved this book.  Joanna Davidson Politano has quickly become one of my favorite authors.  Her latest book, Finding Lady Enderly, is another book I didn't want to leave.  She creates memorable characters and uses such beautiful language throughout the book.  This is a story that stays with you.  The characters felt true to life, and the the themes of brokenness and identity are easily understood.  The story reflects faith in God without being cloying or inducing eye-rolls. Politano's writing is mesmerizing; I love reading her prose!  It is hauntingly beautiful.  This story involves mystery, romance, and suspense, but the author's voice is what truly sets her work apart.  Well done!  I highly recommend this book, and I look forward to reading more from this author.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.  (And I had this book marked for purchase in case I didn't get a free copy!)

Around the yard

Sir Panther looking regal again

The yard is full of food and quite a few flowers right now.  Lydia found a tomato worm, and before she fed it to the chickens, she wanted to record it:

She put the pencil next to it for scale.  She wanted to show it to her friend, because they "are scientists, and we keep track of stuff."

This one isn't in our yard, but it's in front of the history center garden that the kids helped plant in spring.  They love checking on it.

Jeff is here.  He likes the canoe.  

Fun

I've noticed lately that my kids tend to say things that you won't hear out of other kids' mouths.  For instance, Lydia shouted as she ran out the back door, "I'll eat my pig hearts after I do the ropes course!"

Lydia and her friend on the ropes course

We have a diy ropes course in the backyard, courtesy of my creative husband.  He took an old hose, and created a ropes course that Lydia spends loads of time doing.  She's had several friends on it as well, and it is holding up nicely.  

As for the pig hearts, my younger three kids love pig (and chicken) hearts fried up in a bit of bacon grease. We just bought a hog, which arrived in boxes, and the kids were eagerly asking for the heart before I'd even got all the pork unloaded.  For the record, Elijah won't try it, and thinks his siblings are nuts.  Nathaniel and I don't eat them because Malachi, Gyunay, and Lydia love the heart so much that it doesn't seem fair to waste any on us.  (I did try one; it was pretty good.)

We also visited a local farm to play on their playground and buy a bushel of peaches.  It turns out that a bushel of peaches is about 50 pounds.  This sign was on the goat pen:

Of course, we loved it.  Also, Malachi caught a leopard frog, and Lydia commandeered it:

The kids had a great time.

Malachi let himself have lots of fun.  Elijah was too "cool" to play at first, but he did do the corn maze, and eventually he was talked into racing his siblings in the human hamster wheels.

This little bus is full of corn in the back.

It was hot, but we had a ball.  We were the only ones there most of the time.  

Jeff's Canoe

Lydia has been eagerly helping her dad refinish a canoe for Jeff.  They have been working on it in the evenings, and it is coming along.

The Queen of All Birds

Lydia enjoyed being the Queen of All Birds very much.  Her performance in Puss in Boots went very well.

She was also a baker, in a scene that Gyunay and my nephew found hilarious:

The bakers are standing on chairs as mice overrun their kitchen.  The boys laughed and laughed.  Overall, the kids did a good job.  Lydia talks about doing it again next year.

Horse Lovers

My nieces and my girl wanted to horse ride, so my sister and I took them for an hour-long trail ride.

My sister and I were sore and hot afterwards, but the girls were still full of energy and loved the ride.  

Also, here is a family picture from our vacation:

And Malachi had a short summer concert on the bass:

July Harvest Totals

July is always a good time in the garden, because even when some crops fail (this year - cucumbers), others are sure to be thriving.  While most people are having a poor year in their tomato crops, I am having the best year yet, and the plants are still healthy and loaded, so I expect lots more to come.  I am very excited about the tomato harvest - it's over 30 pounds already, and I didn't get the first ripe tomato until about mid-July!  Also, the squirrels have eaten several of my best ones, so the plants are really producing well.  Other plants are looking good but are delayed, so there should be lots of beans in August, but almost none were ripe in July.  Overall, I am thrilled with the gardens, but I am always tweaking things for a better harvest next time.

Beans, Dragon Tongue - 5.3 ounces
Blackberries - 2.5 cups (last year the plant was severely damaged during house painting, so less crop)
Cabbage, green - 1
Carrots, Little Finger - 22
Eggs - 135
Herbs - cilantro, dill, mint, oregano, sage, thyme
Kale - 1 bunch
Kholrabi - 1
Onion - 1
Peppers, Bulgarian - 2
Potatoes, Irish Cobbler - 1lb 7oz
Potatoes, Kennebec - 1 lb 3 oz
Potatoes, Red Pontiac - 2 lb 6 oz
Radish, Daikon - 3
Radish pods
Squash, yellow - 2
Sunberries
Tomatillos - 1 lb 3 oz
Tomatoes, cherry (Golden Nugget and Mexican Midget)
Tomatoes - Black Beauty - 3 tomatoes, total 1.2 lbs
                 - Black Krim - 26 tomatoes, total 15.2 lbs
                 - Black Vernissage, 14 tomatoes, total 1.3 lbs
                 - Emmy, 1 tomato, total 7.4 ounces
                 - Golden Jubilee - 7 tomatoes, total 3 lbs
                 - Mortgage Lifter - 16 tomatoes, total 7.2 lbs
                 - paste - 3 tomatoes, total 3.5 ounces
                 - St. Pierre - 12 tomatoes, total 4.3 lbs
                 - unidentified - 2 tomatoes, 4.5 ounces
Watermelon, Sugar Baby Bush - 1
Zucchini, Tatume - 2 (total 2.5 lbs)

I've been planting a few things for a fall/winter harvest.  I've never done very well at that, so I am attempting to grow more this year.  We'll see.