Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Tomato sauce





Millie likes to go to the garden with me but choses to rest in the shade instead of helping.













With the extreme dry conditions, we've been watering the vegetable garden regularly, and the tomato plants have been producing a bumper crop.


After canning three large batches of sauce, we still had enough to give away several bushels of both regular and roma tomatoes. 



















Monday, August 15, 2016

New Driveway





Most of our driveway and parking area in front of the house was original blacktop put down in the distant past.












We had patched and sealed it many times over the years.  The parking apron was added in the early 80's.











Also, the culvert at the road which carries water under the surface had collapsed and needed to be replaced.

We bit the bullet and dug up the old and replaced the material from the base to a new surface, along with replacing the drain pipe at the road.


Saturday, August 6, 2016

Peeps and Divas Play Day



Our combined group of members of the Art Quilt People (Peeps) and the Quilt Divas gathered for a play day.  Thanks to Bev for hosting  and letting us take over her barn and lawn.

There was fabric painting, stamping, monoprinting, etc, along with a lot of discharging.

It's always fun to get ideas from watching what others are trying and to swap tools.





 


Thursday, August 4, 2016

Peaches and Peppers







Canning and freezing season has started!

The peach crop was hurt by frost in the early spring, so good peaches are hard to get this season.   But we were lucky to get some beautiful Red Haven peaches from our regular source, and they're yummy!







Our pepper plants are starting to produce, and these are our first stuffed peppers for the freezer. 
They are especially appreciated when you don't feel like cooking and all you have to do is thaw them.

 

Monday, August 1, 2016

Flowers in August






The hot and dry conditions have been hard on the gardens, and we've postponed efforts to keep things weeded.




Here are a few things that are blooming:




The German statice is ready to be picked for drying.









The yarrow is also great for drying.

















MIllie likes to be in the garden as long as she can find a shady spot under the basil plants.














The deck flowers have been watered regularly and are doing well.