Houston, We Have an OKRA!!!

 

YEA!!!!!!

There are actually THREE okras in that particular

patch so far...

I don't have high hopes since we interplanted 

them with the beans and they got a bit (a LOT)

stunted, but hey.

An okra is an okra!

Also....

Time to pick beans!

Isn't that the coolest thing ever?????

A Week of Goodbyes

 We decided that we should just let the insurance

company total Rod's car.

He will drive the big black truck and we will

update the Trooper's information and I'll drive that.

I LOVE the trooper!

And he might get a paint job!

He got new seat covers...

And new tires!!!

*but he doesn't get his tag until Monday...

And we also decided it was time to let Kyle's

faithful and wonderful dog Shadow go.

She was deteriorating quickly.

It was quick and painless for her.

And sad and painful for us.

But that's what love is.

RIP dear Shadow.

Thursday Garden Update

Good morning!

It's Thursday.

I'm eating my oatmeal and waiting for Soni's call.

 

Just came in from admiring our garden.

I am in LOVE with the sweet potato flowers!

(Speaking of flowers, there were 3 okra flowers this morning!!!)

And the tomatoes are slowing starting to turn yellow.

(the correct color for these... lol)

And what garden tour would be complete without

the riot of color that is the sunflower / zinnia bed?

LOTS of flowers on the pickling cucumber.

Only 1 tiny fruit though...

Wonder why we are only getting male flowers????

And a spaghetti squash!!!!

We are keeping an eye on him!

And putting up a panty hose sling for him later today.

Happy Thursday!

Bye Bye Beans!

 The Slenderette beans were pretty heavy producers

and really delicious.

I think we will do another bed of them next fall...

But for now they are done.

The rattlesnakes have another week or two...

the tops of the plants are still flowering like crazy.

So as long as you have a stool, you can still

harvest 5 lbs or so every couple of days.

But the others got pulled last night.

There were a lot of them!

We want to amend the beds and maybe change out

some of the drip water lines that seem to be clogged.

(Hard water woes...)

And then we will replant in okra.

(pretty much the entire garden is going to be okra

over the heat of the summer... about all that will grow.

Well, maybe some sweet potatoes too...

We'll see.)

The cows were extremely happy for the snack!

Well except for "big red" who simply MUST come over to

check out anybody who dares to approach his fence.

Excuse me...

are you on the guest list???

Oh, ok.

Silly steer.

Full Freezer!

 I've been slacking in the freezer dept lately.

So I fixed that yesterday and today.

Now there are 5 trays full of Cowboy Grub,

4 trays of roast with mashed potatoes, gravy & veggies,

4 trays of jalapeno sausage and egg noodles

and 4 trays of beef stroganoff and rice.

Oh, and 8 "McMuffin" sandwiches for breakfast.

Whew!

And, of course, about 20 pounds of frozen beans.

(And Kyle is out there now picking the last of the

Slenderette green beans... so there will be MORE!)

I feel better.

Random picture of a cool truck in the Walmart parking lot on Saturday.

And a COOL "Tonka" truck in my parking lot at the town

on Thursday.

The guy said it was being used as a snowplough in 

Wisconsin or Minnesota (don't remember which now)

so he bought it for $37,000, brought it down here,

painted it and voila!

A cool toy!

Done Teaching! (for the week... lol)

 Whew!

I finished up this week's (and this month's)

teaching sessions just now.

The evenings I had an average of 28 students

(Thanks Mom, Dad and Rozann for letting me

teach from your places! It was fun!)

This week for the morning sessions I usually

had 7 students.

Which is about normal for the mornings.

But sometimes its harder with fewer!

I taught for an hour this morning with only ONE!

Ugh.

Thankfully the rest of them showed up EVENTUALLY.

Sheesh.

And now I'm done!

Kyle is off on a job with his Cat.

Beau is outside with the other dogs.

So I'm going to make myself something for lunch

and curl up on the couch with a book.

The day started EARLY (5:45) with a rocket launch.

BEST ONE I HAVE EVER SEEN!

They are always good in the dark sky...

See the little bump on the left of the main?

You can actually SEE the stages separating

and then we could watch as it returned to earth and

fired to line up exactly with the ship on the ocean

where it lands so they can reuse it!

I've never been able to see that!

It was amazing!

And beautiful!

And worth getting out of bed for.

Although I went BACK to bed and slept for a 

couple of hours before I had to teach at 8:30... 

LOL.

OH!

And yesterday I finished my baby blanket!

(Or was it Wed? Who knows...)

I was pretty happy with it.

No idea who I will give it to...

I have another ball of the same yarn so I'll probably

make another one.

It was fun.

And easy.

AND Kyle has been harvesting and processing beans!

LOTS of nice long, slender, juicy, delicious

"rattle snake" beans!

Like, LOTS!

And some carrots too...

He's been freezing them in 8 oz packets.

That's about what we eat in a meal.

(the red things are bags of frozen cranberries... I always

buy a BUNCH while they are on sale - I use them in

lots of different things... LOVE cranberries!)

Random picture of me at work yesterday with a TON

of work on my desk but showing off my pretty

new necklace Nancy made for me from "gems"

from the gem show!

OK.

I've got to go get something to EAT!

(I was running a little behind this morning,

see above... and just made myself a

chocolate cherry smoothie for breakfast.

That is LONG gone.....)

Have a GREAT Friday!

Next week should be much quieter (fingers crossed).

Talk to you then!

Rainy Days

 It POURED rain.

A couple of times today.

I was very grateful Kyle was playing

Driving Miss Daisy so he could drop

me off and pick me up right at the door.

It was HANDY!

(And dry...)

I could almost not SEE my desk under the

piles and piles and piles of things that

needed to be caught up on after being 

gone for a short THREE days...

(I only work Tues and Thurs)

so I had lots to do.

And I felt appreciated.

Nice to know they "can't live without me..." 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Anyhow.

Beau NEVER watches TV, so when I caught him

studying the Instant Pot (food you know...)

on a YouTube I was watching, I had to snap a pic.

Don't know if it was the pictures of the food

or the man's voice that captured his attention,

but I thought it was funny.

I have been busy knitting.

I always enjoy it!

And then I finish a project and don't pick

up another one for a good long while

and then I wonder why I quit!

The other day Kyle picked up some really nice

yarn for me to make him another new 

LONG TV watching blanket.

He likes to be able to stretch it from his feet

to his chin (and wrap it UNDER his feet).

And then he turns on his window A/C unit

and it nearly snows in his room.

And he is a HAPPY MAN.

LOL

I'll take a picture when I get it done.

(Gotta finish the baby blanket first.

Who knows, SOMEBODY somewhere might need

a cute little pastel colored baby blanket... 

Surely there has to be at least one pregnant

sister in our ward...)