Catching up (photo heavy)

Things have been hectic recently.  Life, garden and family have conspired to keep me from posting.  But I thought I'd try to play catch up.  As I mentioned briefly last post, we spent the weekend at my parent's. All my siblings and all but one nephew and a niece and her husband were able to make it at some point during the weekend.
Here are some photo highlights:

We started the weekend Friday night at my brother's house with a barbeque while people arrived from all over the country. The weather was almost perfect.
Saturday, we reconvened at my parent's home.

We had show and tell.  Dad gave a demonstration and tutorial on his gas to propane conversion on the riding mower.

Games were played and there was much laughter.

In the evening, we all went out to dinner at the old school.  This is the original school (built in 1927) where Dad and all 4 of us children went to school.  Dad graduated from here and we went to school K-6 after the school district consolidated and this became only an elementary school.
We had an Italian dinner that my brother won as at auction last year at the Mennonite Relief sale.

The food was fabulous and prepared and served by ladies my sisters and I went to school with.

The building was purchased in the early '90's by a gentleman and his wife and they have been slowly remodeling and converting it to other uses.  We had dinner in their living room which was my former 5th grade classroom.  They have done a fabulous job on the parts that have been remodeled.

They even used some of the slate from the classroom blackboards as countertops in the kitchen.

After dinner, we got the tour.  The building now houses, not only their living quarters but another rental apartment, a preschool, a law office and an athletic club.

The old cafeteria is now the weight room. Above is the kitchen and lunch counter.  The room seems so, so much smaller than I remember it as a child.

 We also got to see some of the parts that haven't been remodeled yet.  Above is my 4th grade classroom.  The one with the REALLY COOL fire escape.

 The fire escape slide from the third floor.  I remember getting to go down this during a fire drill- it was AWESOME!!
After dinner, we all collapsed into a food coma because we had eaten so much.
Sunday, brought more fun and exploration.  My brother brought his geiger counter and the nephews had fun checking out the uranium vase.

The yellow green color in the vase is due to the use of uranium in the glass.  And, yes, it is radioactive.  Fortunately, you would have to sit it with in your lap for an extended period of time for it to be a problem.
One of my nieces was there with her husband.  This was his first trip to the midwest so we took him out exploring on the farm.  Crawling around in the barn we made many discoveries.

We spied baby swallows up in the rafters.  I love how its eyes seem to glow.
We made it home safely last evening and collapsed. V had baked birthday brownies for me since he didn't think we would appreciate cake after all the food we had been having all weekend.
Today after dinner, we decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and V declared "mandatory outdoor frolic time".

 The sand riding arena makes a fabulous venue for a mean frisbee battle.

But sometimes a search is necessary in the creek when a frisbee goes over the fence.
Now, after a busy weekend, a long day at work and an hour of frisbee, I'm tired.
But, I think I'm finally caught up- at least with family stuff.  I've still got garden updates and other stuff to report on but hopefully now life will slow down a bit so I can catch my breath.

Back from a wild weekend

We spent the weekend at the home farm with my parents and family.  All my siblings and most of the nieces and nephews were able to be there for the weekend.  Sadly, V didn't go as he was feeling ill all day  Saturday and wasn't up for it.  Not only did we celebrate all getting together but Friday was the birthday of one of my nephews and today was my birthday.  What a better way to turn 50 than surrounded by family.
More later.  Sleeping on a hide-a-bed right under a chiming clock all night was not very restful and I've got a full 6 day work week ahead of me.

But here's the whole crew.

Busy

I've been busy and will be so for the weekend... back in a few days!

But I'll leave you with a photo of a lovely sunset of a few days ago.

Yucca

Growing up, we always had a cluster of yucca plants growing along the edge of the yard.  They were always fascinating to me and as I grew up, I learned more about them and still think they are fascinating.
When we moved here, Mom and Dad gave us a tiny little yucca plant that I planted by the front gate.  It has been slowly growing away for the past few years.  And this year, it is finally blooming.

 The central flower spike isn't in full bloom yet.

 You can see all the blossoms still left to open.

The flowers are simple, yet elegant little bells.

But, in 'yuck' rather than yucca.  Below is K12's reaction when informed that this summer, like during the school year, there will be no computer or video games during the week.  Oh, what mean parents we are....

Poor thing.  He will have to read books, play outside or otherwise entertain himself.  And both boys were informed that the words "I'm bored" or "There is nothing to do" will be met with lists of things they can do.  Yesterday was a rough start but I think they will survive.

The Early June Garden

I haven't done a garden update yet.  Most of the garden is still pretty small- read here not even up yet- but some things are doing really well.

 The broccoli is looking good

 As is the kale- in spite of the heat we've been having off and on.

 Sadly, the spinach isn't taking the heat well and has bolted.  It will become chicken feed over the next few days.

 The potato plants are huge and I should probably hill them again soon.

 But, amazingly enough- the tomatoes are starting to bloom.  Above are the first blossoms on the yellow cherry.

 And the makings of a huge Black Sea Man tomato.

 I'm really liking the landscape fabric I put down this year for mulch and weed control.   I'm contemplating covering it with hay for extra moisture control but I'm worried that that may provide too much habitat for the voles that have plagued us.

Justine and I spent part of the afternoon weeding most of the pollinator garden set into the main garden plot We would have finished but it was HOT out there (mid 80's today and very sunny).  We planted perennials in a spot where there was lots and lots of gravel in the soil.  I was so excited to see many beneficial insects out there.  We saw ladybugs- the REAL thing- not the asiatic ones, assassin bugs and a praying mantis. Very early this spring I found a praying mantis egg case near an old stump and moved it into the garden space.  I was glad to see that it hatched.   I have yet to deploy the birdbath that usually sits in there.  Maybe tomorrow.  I need to finish weeding part of it and I want to get some new mulch to help keep the weeds down.  I also still need to finish weeding the onions.
Much weeding was done this weekend.  The boys helped me weed the potatoes and kale yesterday.  I was impressed at how many questions I15 asked about the insects he found- whether they are good or bad.  Who knows- maybe he is our future farmer.
I'm off tomorrow.  I hope to get up early and get out to weed before it heats up too much.  Then, on the list is sorting K12's clothes to sort out those that don't fit anymore.... and more laundry... there is always laundry.

Playing with my camera

We had a fabulously clear night last night.  Even though the moon isn't quite full it was giving a spectacular display.  I was playing with the zoom on my camera and thought I'd share.

 As the sun was setting, the moon took on a slightly orange sheen.

 As it got darker, the sky took on a beautiful soft black color and the moon glowed.

Have I mentioned recently that I LOVE my new camera??

Independence Days

Week... something or another... I've totally lost track.
It feels like it's been another busy week here.  But we made it through the month of May!  Woo Hoo!  June will have its own challenges with being very, very short staffed at work, a family reunion weekend, my birthday and keeping up with the weeds in the garden.  But, as always, we will survive.  But, it's Friday and time for the Independence Days update.  I'm actually going to post on time this week!  Truly amazing so here goes:
Plant something- little tomatoes and peppers from Mom and some summer squash- that's about it.
Harvest something- spinach, a few strawberries, a few sugar snap peas before they were devoured by a hungry bunny, herbs and eggs (at least 44 this week- I forgot to record a day so my count is off)
Preserve something- nothing I can think of
Waste not- The usuals plus V made sure the children went through their backpacks when they got out of school to recycle everything they could.
Want not- nada- nothing I can think of for storage or preps.
Eat the food- used one of the last few jars of tomatoes that I got from Mom after mine ran out for spaghetti.  Eating from the freezer much of the time.
Build Community Food systems- 4 dozen eggs went out this week.  3 sold at work and one as a thank you gift for Justine's violin teacher (who was thrilled)
Skill up- nothing. Having a student with me at work, I've been doing much more teaching than learning this week.

Even though I have been excruciatingly busy I don't feel like I've accomplished much around here.  Of course, last weekend was a bust because of my back and other commitments but I didn't get out in the garden as much as I would have liked during the week.  My potatoes need weeded and hilled, my kale has also been overtaken by weeds and as I mentioned earlier- bunnies ate my peas, even though I have the area fenced.  So much for fencing...
But, the tomatoes and peppers are looking great.  I'm hoping that last night's rain will help all the little seeds I planted last week sprout.  After over a week I have yet to see any melons or squash emerge.  Of course, it is entirely possible that the %*!# blackbirds and grackles have snapped them up as soon as they emerged.  Grrrr....  I've never had the birds be this bad before.  I wonder if it's a product of the warm winter that there are just more of them...
Anyway, work was draining today and I'm short on sleep after Justine managed to lock herself out of the house in the middle of the night (after releasing a big moth that had been trapped in her room keeping her from sleeping).  It took me a good hour to fall back asleep and 5:30 came awfully early this morning.