Garden Goods and Outdoor Stuff

Radishes...long overdue for harvesting.

I planted my first seeds in the garden on June 8, 2013. For some reason that I have no memory of, I thought to wait for 60 days for the radishes to be ready for picking. Perhaps I was recalling one of the other vegetables that I planted. The radishes were ready at 22 days. OOps. Well, it's only been 30+ days...

This is my first 'fruits' of the garden so far. They are super yummy! Spicy and good. Not as much actually came up as I'd hoped but it is a start. I had to replant all my other seeds, since the garden is not faring well this year. Also a critter of some sort (perhaps a deer, going by the tracks in the garden bed) ate all the tomato and beet tops. Fortunately, they all recovered and are growing again but it's a set back. 

After I harvested these radishes, I planted more seeds. It is supposed to be dry and warm the next four days, at least. I'll have to try to remember to at least give them a sprinkling of water.

Otherwise, we've been working on making our backyard 'better'. There was a bare patch of ground -except for weeds and some annoying rocks- that we've since leveled somewhat and placed flat larger rocks down. This week dh bought some river pebbles to fill in the spaces that were left. We didn't have enough larger rocks to fill the entire area like we'd wanted. 

Back patio. It's larger than it looks. Don't mind the recyclables over there that look like trash.

And in that area we are going to put our wooden picnic table that my dh and f-i-l made 8 years ago. It's been carted around quite a bit! It's not a light table either. 

There's still some work to do on the table. It's been sanded and was washed ready for staining...and then it rained. And rained some more. We have to resand it and wash it off. It should be dry the next few days though, so it will get a nice coat of durable stain. Better than the previous we hope. It had a 'life' of at least 5 years or so it said. It's been just under 2 years and it needs redone. 

It will fit somewhat snugly on our back patio but it will be nice. I'll be sure and take photos when it's finished and in its place.

Some Outdoor Stuff & Messing with Photovisi

It’s been a good weekend. Minus the part when I woke up not feeling well so stayed home from church, had/have heartburn later and still have stomach issues tonight. The rest was great

I mowed the backyard today- which is not a big deal really but I like doing it. Especially since we have a riding lawn mower. We have a very large backyard. I would not want to mow it like we used to- with a bag that had to be emptied ever two rows. Um, no…

Here are some photos from outside:

My garden area- in progress of course. The left is a somewhat ‘before’ photo and the right is what it looks like now. I got very exhausted and called it a day. More work to do tomorrow! *The background image Lee took a couple of weeks ago. That view will now be blocked, sadly, by a house that’s being built in our line of sight.

And here’s a wee little toad. Lee and Fox found it while moving some rocks away from the lawn. I moved it to a safer location. I hope!

Finally, here is our lone tree. I love this tree. It is tall and beautiful. Even in the winter I think it is beautiful. Someday I’ll even know what kind it is

Thanks to Julieanne at Joy in the Journey for the heads up about Photovisi. There are a lot of neat features and templates there and it’s free!

Down by the River…

After lamenting that we do not spend enough time outside, I suggested to the kids that we visit the North Platte River that runs through our town. Somewhat surprisingly, they emphatically agreed that we should do just that.

The usual path beside the river was blocked not far by people fishing (I think) and we didn’t see much way around them without disturbing them so we didn’t stay on the path long.

The water this year had been way over the normal height. Even for the high years, I have heard this years rainfall surpassed those. You may not be able to tell where the water was not long before this photo was taken (most are from my camera). In the next photo you can see the waters edge. The wetness from the overflow was observable and could be felt on the path.

It has since receded some but I hear that many lost farm land due to the flooding.

That is one of my favorite photos. I wanted to pluck those grasses out and weave them! (of course, I’ve never done such a thing before –plucking the grasses or weaving lol) I’m not sure but it looks like the grasses that are found around cattails. There were no cattail remnants however, so I am merely thinking that is what it is.

The lighting and the lower quality of my camera doesn’t show the shimmer of this rock. Where it looks ‘pink’ reminded me of polished copper (like a copper kettle). Lee pointed out this rock. Just imagine the gurgle and rush of the water as it runs over it. And we figured out at least one thing that calls the river its habitat.

There were two boys searching for more while we were there.

And there were little ponds all along the rivers edge. Places that normally are dry and accessible –not so much now.

I will end this post with a few last photos.

Finds on Paper Route

So every Monday while dd is doing her paper route she always finds me flowers … always. They get put in/on my visor in my car and then they wilt. And die. Then I get petals and dried flower in the car. But I hope she doesn’t stop giving them to me

This past Monday she found a few things for me …not just flowers.

Fuzzy flower: (I’m not sure what kind of plant it comes from or what it is really called- do you know??)

Feather: (it isn’t an ‘awesome’ feather but I like it anyway)

White flower: (again, I don’t know what kind…can you tell that I am not very savvy on botany?)

And finally, a silky soft seed pod:

Surprisingly, (and wonderfully) these held up quite well for a couple of days…in a very hot house. I kept meaning to take photos of them on Monday. But I forgot. I finally took photos last night. The white flower’s petals were more rigid when Lee gave it to me. The first ‘flower’ that she gave me (the fuzzy one), still looks like it did when she found it.

These little things are the highlight of the paper route. Definitely.

Saturdays are for being Outdoors

Although I'm still not feeling 100% better, today was so nice that I just had to get out. I took the kids for a walk (read that: they took me for a walk!) and also took dh's camera to see what I could catch :) It's beautiful out but really not much to take photos of. The sky is a beautiful blue with fluffy white clouds. 

I love when it is clear like today; everything seems brighter. To start of my photo montage, here are ones that have color

Followed by photos of my kiddos :) And if you wonder why there are more of Lee than Fox...well, he's a boy and it's difficult to photograph a constantly moving target. I have quite a few but... they are more of a blur lol

And the rest of my photos from our outing 

 

I was hoping to see more birds but mostly saw the black birds that are prevalent around here. And some mourning doves. The one photo of the dove was the best of all my bird photos :)

So that's that and I'm worn out now. It's a good idea- I know it is- to get fresh air after being sick but perhaps walking aways from home isn't that great of an idea. Nap time... calling me... ah...