Catching Up

Once again I have been delinquent in posting to the blog. So, I will do a quick update to catch everyone up.
July – Brian had his 20 year high school reunion so we drove back to Colorado for the weekend. The kids got to spend time with Grammie and Kate and other family. Brian reconnected with some friends from way back. I just sat back for the ride.
A few weeks after that, Grammie and Kate came to Utah to hang out with the kids for a weekend. We started by celebrating Brendan’s 5th birthday. It was just family, but tons of fun. Then Brian and I drove to my dad’s house in N. Idaho to get my piano and bring it home. We meandered our way up, visiting Craters of the Moon National Park and the taking the scenic route through southern Idaho. We didn’t get to spend more than 2 nights with my family, so it was much too short a trip.

Sela has been transitioning away from naps. Most days she still takes one. This is what happens when she doesn't:

August – We continued to harvest stuff from the garden and enjoy the last bit of summer. Lots of yummy food - salsas, tomato phyllo pie, pesto. A picture from one of the harvests:

Brendan started soccer this month. I was delinquent in getting him signed up, so in order for him to play Brian had to agree to be the coach. I am still giggling about this.
Brendan attended a “summer camp” which included swimming lessons. He had a ball for these two weeks. The last day of the camp, the kids jumped off the diving board. Brendan overcame his fear and actually jumped in. Good job, Brendan!

September – Brendan started kindergarten. We were supposed to be in the afternoon session, but it turned out we moved to the morning. Getting him up and moving in the mornings is a challenge, but I think it will work out better in the long run. Sela is attending preschool two mornings a week so I can do some school work. This was Brendan's first day of kindergarten (I didn't think I would cry. I was wrong.):

Brian and I made and canned some salsa from the tomatoes from our garden (supplemented with some from one of our dear neighbors – see the pics of what she gave us below). Another friend shared some plums with us, so I made freezer jam with that. And yet another friend shared some Persian cucumbers (I couldn’t tell you what makes them Persian, so don’t ask!), so I made some Russian dill pickles with those. The recipe is one my step-mom used when I was a kid. I remember loving those pickles. Turns out, I still do, and Brendan agrees. We ordered pizza for dinner one night and while we were waiting for it to be delivered, he asked for some pickles – then proceeded to eat half a jar all by himself.

October – The garden has slowed way down. Several things failed, but the tomatoes and strawberries were a huge success. And I loved making the pickles, so we will be rethinking what to plant next year. It is supposed to snow this weekend, so I am guessing the garden is done.
Brendan’s soccer season finished up just before the first snow. Here are a few pictures:

Sela has begun to refer to Brian as her “daddy-friend.” It is about the cutest thing I have ever heard. If only she would hold onto that thought as she grows into a teenager. Sigh. Both Brendan and Sela have put Brian in favor. He is the one they want to put them to bed. I rather enjoy this bond they have growing. We may not totally enjoy Utah, but Brian gets to be home so much more and that means a great deal for the kids.As for Utah, the best part about it is the scenery for sure. The colors of fall are just glorious on the mountains. There is a picture below that just doesn’t do it justice, but if you look closely you can see the blend of fall yellows, evergreens and one of the first dustings of snow on the mountains. I can (mostly) see this from our kitchen window, and more so when we drive through our neighborhood. Lovely.

First Harvest

We had our first harvest! I noticed peas – actual peas! – ready for picking. And then some strawberries, too. Dang. I grew food. Real food!

The sugar snap peas are on the outsides, corn a little closer to the middle. The lone plant in the middle is what is left of my pumpkins after the birds got the sprouts. We finally had to put up a bird net.

The strawberries are tiny, but, OH what a mighty flavor.

Brendan helped pick the peas. Notice his full mouth. Smile. We “fought” over the take after we rinsed off what hadn’t already made it to his mouth.

I wanted to grow a garden to get him (and maybe Sela) interested in veggies. I think this only works because he doesn’t actually realize what he is eating is healthy because it tastes so dang good. Mission accomplished!

Snow & Sprouts

It is April 25th. Today is simply beautiful – clear skies & sunshine. Yesterday, not so much. It snowed like crazy – and then the sun was out. And then it snowed again. And then the sun came out again. Sheesh. Welcome to spring in the west!

And then this morning I saw sprouts! They are peas! Or they will be if I don’t kill them in the next few months.

Fence Builders We Are Not

Today, we have finished filling our garden boxes and put up a fence to keep out dog and kids. You can see that I will most likely not make my living by building fences any time soon. Let’s hope my seeds do better! I have planted peas, garlic & carrots. The tomato baskets are just placeholders until the right time to put those in. I am going to add corn, pumpkins, basil, and strawberries. Oh, and two (maybe three) watermelons. Why watermelons? Well, Brendan wanted to grow something, so we bought a 99 cent kids peat pot with watermelon seeds. And darned if the seeds aren’t growing! At least two, maybe three. We’ll see how it goes.

Look for more updates as thing (hopefully) grow!

Garden - Part 1

I have decided I want to garden this year. Not because of any great love of gardening, but because I want my kids to know about where their food comes from. I am also hoping maybe they will be more interested in veggies if they have a hand in growing them. We’ll see how it goes.

I really like the idea of doing raised beds as a way to clearly define the edge of the garden as well as making it a bit easier on my back. I was inspired to do this by some dear friends of mine. They also gave the advice to just try it. If something doesn’t work, you do it differently the next year. They make it sound so easy!

This weekend Brian and I finally put together some of our plans and began to actually create this “masterpiece.” We started by cleaning up the yard with a bunch of raking. Then Brian build the boxes, we put down some weed barrier and then added some good top soil and a thing called Bumper Crop – an organic additive suggested by the local garden people. This stuff has all kinds of fun things in it – like chicken and bat poo. YUM!

We only had enough time to get one load of dirt, but that will get us started. We didn’t actually plan anything yet, which turned out to be a good thing. The dog decided she likes playing in the dirt, so we are going to have to find a way to fence it off. Goody, yet another thing to do! Oh, and speaking of things to do, we have to figure out how to water the plants, too. We left our hoses in Colorado, so that’s on the list to get.

I have to admit I really enjoyed the dark, rich looking soil once it was in the garden box. It just looked neat. It was a great feeling of accomplishment when we finished, too. Hopefully, this feeling will last and gardening won’t be too tough. I’ll let you know!