High Five for Friday...Garden Week 7

Sooo, I totally deleted last weeks post not too long after I posted it..so if you read it, and you see a repeat of some stuff today, that's why.  If you didn't read it, don't worry..you didn't miss much.  It definitely reflected my mood, which was no fun..trust me. I read it after posting and was like no one wants to read this mess..click..delete..goodbye!  Friday 13th and a full moon..got the best of me.  Most of my blah day was stuff that isn't even interesting so I'll spare you the boring details...then my market bread didn't turn out right, and I ended up throwing 18 loaves away.  I was so frustrated! I didn't do anything differently, have no idea what went wrong?  I spent half the day Saturday worrying that my bread baking days were over.

Winston keeps hoping that I'll let him go to the market with me one day.  He's very persistent..and cute.

It was a beautiful weekend with early morning temps in the 50's.

The weather definitely brought crowds of people downtown..

My corn has finally tasseled...if we continue to have days in the 90's like we did this week, then it won't be long at all before it is ready to be harvested.  I so can't wait for fresh sweet corn!!

I found a teeny tiny little baby watermelon..Did you know that watermelon vines were that hairy? It's so cute!  I should name it.

This is the same mater that I showed you weeks ago.  We need more really hot days to ripen them..I have a bazillion green tomatoes.

Lynn and Catie came over and filled up their basket with my harvest for the week. My sweet banana peppers and cucumbers are yielding the most.  

This was the first week I harvested cayenne peppers, as well as a few grape tomatoes.

On Sunday I enjoyed sitting with my Mother looking through old photos of her when she was in high school and college.  Then we flipped through a book that my Great Uncle wrote of our family history.  He dated when our ancestors came on a boat from Wales, he spoke of the day President Kennedy was assassinated. So much history.. I would love to sit down one afternoon to read it all.. I had no idea that in her early twenties, my Mom taught school in Europe.  How did I not know this?  I need more weekends at her kitchen table!

I have an ant problem.  I hate ants.  Don't you hate ants?  I called Kyle yesterday to ask if he filled the bug spray bottle with sugar water as a mean joke.  I'm taking any and all tips you guys have for getting rid of them.  Let's hear em!  It's not a major problem...I mean they're not taking over, I just want them outta here!

Catharina and I had pedicures this week.  It was so, so wonderful! I wish someone would rub my legs and feet every day. 

Later that night we rocked our 5.50 miles and then did squats, wall sits, lunges, step ups, jumping jacks...planks, planks and more planks..push ups, tricep dips..I don't even remember what else..and of all places this happened in my back yard..at about 11:00 at night.  Can you imagine looking out your window in the middle of the night, and seeing your neighbor doing lunges across their back yard?  It was fun, and by fun I mean I only cursed a few times..When we were finished we barely made it up the four little steps on my deck..We both pretty much half walked/wanted to crawl up them, and then collapsed on the deck. 

 I'm still crawling. Jk... but still.. It hurts and I love it!

Kayla and I had a fun date night.  We went purse shopping..never found one..I have the worst luck finding a purse I like..Then we spent a few hours chatting and laughing over dinner.

I finally got to try the filet and mac at Cloud 9.  It was so delicious..you have to try it!

Thanks for stopping by to read about my week.. Hope you have a beautiful weekend!

xo

Carrie

H54F - Garden Week 5

So, I think I'm finally getting this market thing down pat.  The day of market is a breeze...it's managing everything before and after that I've had to work on.  Instead of staying up all Friday night baking I start baking on Thursday. and finish up Friday after work.  I switched some of my chore days around so I can sit down and breathe after market without having to worry about all of the things on my to do list.

We served samples of bread at the market last Saturday...and sold out of bread by 10:30.  Almost every person that tried a sample bought at least one loaf..some bought two...one bought five..  It was fun seeing how the people reacted to it..Each person surprised, many said the word "moist", and several walked down a tent or two to bring back the person they were shopping with to try the bread out for themselves.  As the bread baker it was a day filled with wonderful compliments.

Tomorrow we will have more bread...as well as samples..and individually wrapped slices.  We will have 4 or 5 dozen farm fresh eggs, mint, parsley, sugar scrub..green beans, and maybe a few other things.  Watch our facebook page for market updates.  It won't be much longer until we will have baskets overflowing with produce.

After the market I'm pretty much wiped out.  I'm too excited to get a full nights sleep the night before, then Lynn and I meet at the square at 6:15 in the morning to set up our booth.  So, by the time I get home..this is how I feel.

Last weekend the weather was perfect for reading while hanging out in my little pool.  

I'm almost hoping I get rained in tomorrow afternoon since Orange is the New Black season 2 is on Netflix (as of today). If it rains I totally won't mind being stuck in the house binge watching the entire season.

This fella got a bath and a haircut..The dog, not the boy..It's hard enough to get the boy to take a bath and/or get a haircut...at least with the dog I'm in total control as far as hygiene goes..

I'm terrible at giving dog haircuts, and he hates it..He gets so upset when he's getting his hair cut that his brothers try to to gang up on me because they think I'm hurting him. I'm so glad he doesn't care a whole lot about his appearance because he probably wouldn't forgive me for giving the worst haircuts in the history of haircuts.

I kicked some major tail on my runs this week.  There were a few days that I absolutely didn't want to go, but I forced myself into it, and had some motivation from my bestie even though she's 900 miles away....of course after just a few minutes of running I was loving it, and so glad I got up to go. 

 The humidity this week was 97-98%.  Once I'm in the middle of the hill on my road I sometimes question my sanity, but my legs keep going even when my head is trying to convince me to stop..My legs always win!  I may be completely crazy but I enjoy running on these hot/humid days. I love the feeling of accomplishment I get when my feet finally land in the driveway, and I'm dripping with sweat.

We had a few good nights of rain, which is exactly what my little garden needed.

Between the rainy nights and the sunny afternoons we had another major growth spurt..

I have several jalapenos..

and sweet banana peppers..

My cucumber plants are full of beautiful blooms..

I have tons of baby cucumbers..

I almost fell over when I saw these two big ones.  I got a little excited.

I didn't exactly do my homework when I planted the squash.  I was thinking it would be viney like the cucumbers, but it wasn't..So I have a tomato cage around it, and it's way too late to remove it..

I have some very interesting shaped gourds..

This morning the bees were buzzing around the squash..

See it in the squash flower to the right?

The larger flowers are the male blooms, and the ones in the background are the female..

The bee knew I was there because he flew out for just a second to check me out..

I guess he realized I was harmless, and then he went back in to do his very important job of pollinating my vegetables.

I may be the biggest nerd ever, but this was so cool to watch!!

I have a plant full of grape tomatoes..

and lots of little baby beef steaks...

My neighbor gave me several bunches of beautiful parsley for the market.

I decided to throw some mint in a vase on my bathroom vanity just for decoration.  

It smells great and looks pretty too..

I gathered some mint and lemon verbena in a mason jar as a little summer decor piece on my mantle.  It smells wonderful!!

I pretty much have the cutest garden helpers ever!!

<3

Thanks for stopping by to read about my week.

xo

Carrie