Tucker!

Our family has added another four-legged wonder :)

Meet Tucker.  He's a great dane pup.  Such a sweetheart (and a sissy), but we love him!

(9.5 weeks in this picture.... 19.4 lbs)

Look at those paws!

(10 weeks, 25 lbs = growing like a weed!)

Martha Stewart, Eat Your Heart Out....

So unemployment has led to a lot of gardening, canning and baking. 

Froze 15 cups of shredded zucchini

 Baked Grandma Ruth's famous jam filled cookies.  Yum!

Picked peaches with the family (and Cameron... more on that later!)

Cold Packed Peaches

Hot Packed Peaches (think I prefer these...)

And, because the girls asked for them-- Sweet Pickle Slices!

Later this week we're making our first batch of salsa for the year.  We've had so many tomatoes and there are so many more that will be ripe soon :)

Cucumbers Attack

We had a gigantic bowl of cucumbers and I had to do something with them.  Made six jars of pickles and seven jars of relish.  I'm hoping that they all turn out alright (and have been told from last year's pickling that my pickles turn out quite well).  Who knows.  All I know is that I'm excited-- our tomatoes are starting to ripen and that leads to salsa time!

Growing = Relaxing

I'm loving gardening this year.  It has been a source of relaxation and has given me a sense of some kind of accomplishment. Cannot wait for our tomatoes to start ripening.  :)

Round 2 of Green Beans

 Didn't notice how many cukes there were....

 Fairly decent sized zucchini... destined for bread!

Our row of beans

Tomatoes!  Lots and lots of tomatoes! 

Romas 

Beefsteak 

 Mess 'o' cucumbers

Broccoli.... (not sure if it's edible!)

Carrots!

Update on Craziness

I’ve been fairly quiet recently (and it’s not because I’ve been lazy!).  Things are extremely chaotic and I feel that this trend isn’t going to stop.

Our garden has taken off like mad.  I think the majority of the weeds are under control (thank goodness!  Although, I’ve learned that I’m starting to enjoy weeding.  Bizarre, I know). Picked green beans the other night and, had I not been drenched from sweat within a minute of being out there, I probably would’ve picked more.  I spent some time searching for cucumbers and also got a few zucchini (one of those zucchini became our first loaves of zucchini bread for the year—YUM!).  Our tomatoes are coming on strong—so excited!  Cannot wait for a BLT with fresh home-grown tomatoes. 

I have had a bit of an emotional breakdown realizing that everything is flying by.  Last week I calculated out when I would be putting my two week’s notice in for work and realized it was sooner than I had thought—kind of terrifying. 

Work on the house is almost complete (or at least complete enough for roommates to move in).  We spent some time last week and installed flooring in the spare rooms.  I must admit, it looks beautiful.  Learned the hard way that there is an art to cutting and installing trim and, clearly, I do not possess the skills to do so without flaw (that’s what caulk is for!!).  The walls are no longer God-awful purple in the one room and under-the-sea blue in the other—they’re a happy shade of “cream in my coffee” beige (I would love to have a job naming paint or crayon colors…).  We put in ceiling fans, too (there were no lights in the bedrooms before we put those in—it was much-needed).  I hope the roomies like their rooms.

We have appliances arriving at the house this afternoon—bought a new range hood/microwave for the house.  I think it’ll be a good addition plus it will free up some counter space—the microwave I currently have… well… it takes a good five minutes to boil water.

I’ve been at a creative standstill.  Spent some time spinning the other week—have a ton of single-ply yarn that I need to wash and do something with (probably ply it).  Since my Grandmother has been in the hospital, I went to visit home this past weekend.  My mother gave me a bag full of yarn that my Grandmother won’t use (it’s some of the baby soft yarn—Grandma says it’s “too slippery”).  There’s a certain waffle pattern that my Grandma loves to use with all of her blankets—I’m in the process of starting to turn that bag of yarn into a Grandma blanket. 

My mother also shipped me off with four blankets that my Grandma had made recently.  Mom has told me that Grandma keeps crankin out blankets—she has several totes full of blankets that she’s made over the past year.  I’ll never understand the rhyme or reason as to the color selection that Grandma has—perhaps it has to do with her eyesight going bad… maybe she just likes vibrant colors… who knows?  The colors she uses are bright and often times don’t match… at all.  That’s what makes them unique.  The only blanket I have from her that has yarn that goes together is a scarlet and grey striped blanket that she made me.  She made it specifically for me a few Christmases ago.  Means the world to me because I know she does the same thing that I do when I crochet—In the event I’m making a project for someone, the entire time I’m working on it, I’m reflecting on memories of times spent with that person.  There’s so much love wrapped up in a Grandma blanket. 

People say you follow in the footsteps of your parents and grandparents—if that be the case, I’d be glad.  Gardening and canning like my Grandma D and knitting and crocheting like my Grandma Ruth.  Right now that sounds like bliss.

Got Paint?

We do!  This past weekend, we decided to let the girls pick out paint and assisted them in painting their bedrooms.  It was an adventure, to say the least.  The girls have never painted rooms before and, for their first time, I was impressed. 

The oldest decided to go with a camouflage theme.  She picked out her colors and we bought a sponge roller to create the camo pattern. 

The younger two decided on painting two of the four walls pink and the other two walls purple.  They wanted lime green, black, purple and pink dots on the walls.  Very bold colors. 

The camo pattern turned out excellent.  I was worried about how it would look, but after the first coat with the sponge roller, we knew it would be great.

She painted her bed, also.  We keep joking with her that she'll never be able to find her bed frame....

The dots took for-ev-er to put on the walls.  Had to outline them, paint them with white primer and then three coats of color.  I got voted to outline them (since I was the one with the steadiest hand).  They aren't perfect but the girls love their painted room-- so that's all that matters :)

They also chose to paint their beds.  Those aren't 100% finished yet.  They are lime green with black polka dots all over them and their names stenciled on there.  As a surprise finishing touch, we are getting glow-in-the-dark paint to outline their names. 

All-in-all, even though it was a stressful and packed weekend, I absolutely loved it.  Gave me a chance to be creative with the family and to bond with the girls. 

Maggie Moo-- Round Two

Maggie had surgery #2 on the 20th of June.  Surgery day was chaotic at the clinic (or so I've heard-- I wasn't able to be there... kind of mad about that, but it's okay).  The vet had a splenectomy that took three hours longer than anticipated... (I guess the spleen weighed 9 lbs!).  Maggie got her turn around 4 pm and as soon as she woke up, she was transported home.

The vet explained to me that she did the same surgery for this leg as she did for the other leg.  Luxating patella and cruciate ligament issues fixed!-- the only difference was that her right leg cruciate ligament was just torn a little and the left leg (this surgery)'s was completely torn.

She was miserable for the first night-- moreso than from the last surgery.  There are no staples or stitches that need to come out.  Overall, her leg looked more bruised than from last time. 

I'm glad it's done and my little tripod is hobbling around.  We're almost to the point where she can lose the cone of shame.  :)  

Hopefully this concludes Maggie's medical issues for a while....

Garden Update

The garden is finally starting to look good.  We've got tomatoes flowering, green beans on their way, cucumbers and zucchini goin strong.  Earlier this week we cut off round two of lettuce and spinach.  I'm starting to realize just how much I enjoy weeding.  It's one of those strangely relaxing things I get to do...

Little Cucumber...

Zucchini Flowering

All Grown Up

Our furry little wonders have finally moved on :) They're still adorable...

Two days before they disappeared...

The day before they left...