Oh my have we been shucking peas.  I shucked about 10 gallons of pods the past two days and Mr. & Mrs. Veteran Haymaker just did about 9 gallons. 

Mostly the handsome farmer Neal (and now the in-laws) does the picking.   I know that you can’t see his face but you’ll just have to trust me on the handsome part.  

Then I (and now the in-laws) do the shucking. 

Huh?, well … this just in!  Veteran Haymaker was out picking some more peas.  Hmmm … more shucking is happening as I type.  Exciting stuff huh?  :) 

Before this next batch that just arrived, I have just over 5 gallons of shucked peas ready for preserving.   Needless to say I will be blanching and freezing this evening.  Good thing I love peas.

A few things to share … you know, cause I can … cause it’s my blog.

• The other day I was doing laundy, like today … which is what reminded me of this little ditty. As usual I was also doing something else while doing laundry … that is always that case it seems. So during one of my “load shifts” from basement washer to mainfloor laundry room dryer, I brought up a pound of hamburger. I put it on the dryer knowing full well that it might slip slide and away on me, but it was cold and had to be put somewhere. When I opened the dryer I found a load of laundry from the last time I did laundry … that happens a lot around here as well. As I was moving wrinkled clothes out and wet in the hamburger slid into the dryer … why it didn’t fall onto the floor I wasn’t sure. When the frozen hamburger fell into the dryer it made the light go on … the light that has never worked in my dryer. The light still works and I am again reminded that multi-tasking is a good thing. Isn’t that so odd though? It still makes me chuckle when I see the light. I never knew why it didn’t work, figured it either didn’t have a light or else it was broken. Who knew that all I needed was to toss a pound of frozen hamburger in with the clothes.
• Today while doing laundry I put Loren’s work and farm jeans in the washer and went about everything else I was working on.  Figuring the load should be done I went down to do another one of those “load shifts” and thought (outloud even) … Huh?, these are really dry?, how long has it been done?” … short pause before I realized that they weren’t even washed.  Apparently just putting the soap in doesn’t do the job, that pesky little start button has be to be pushed. 
• A non-laundry tidbit … I switched Evelyn’s bottles from “slow flow” to “medium flow” yesterday.  In a word … she HATES them.  I however think that they are great because she drinks one so much faster and well, I have lots to do.  The problem however, is that she has only drank 2 bottles in the last two days without crying.  She really doesn’t like that she has to drink and swallow so quickly, she also doesn’t like that she can’t lay and drink at her leisure between short naps.  The medium flow say “3-6″ months and well, preemie or not, she is 6 months next week, she should be able to adjust to this right?  When she isn’t super tired she drinks like a champ, smiles and all … when she is super tired, watch out.   I think that she was super tired all day today. 
• Speaking of Miss E. … those two bottom teeth have yet to break through.  We feel in her mouth and think “maybe?”, but we can’t tell and we can’t tell from looking when we do happen to get a glance in her mouth.  So we are assuming they are close but not yet.  Overall she has been fantastic during teething … just a few moments where she shares that she isn’t a fan of the process. 
• I am getting  a cold.
• The other day I was running late for work … shock I know!  It happens everyday so I can’t honestly tell you which day it was.  Anyway, to top off my lateness I couldn’t find the keys anywhere.  I looked high and low, near and far and nothing.  Finally I found the spare car key and the spare work keys and made it to work much much later then I am normally late.  About an hour later I went to find Evelyn’s pacifier in her car seat, it was sitting right next to my keys. 
• I am making another batch of cinnamon rolls for a bake sale tomorrow.  Not sure that making a batch of cinnamon rolls on a warm summer night is the best plan.  
• I have just sneezed 5 times in a row.
• We are having a rummage sale at the church tomorrow … because I work just steps away from the church basement I went early and picked up lots of fun stuff.  Stuff like another pampered chef cookie scoop, some great frames, a few baby items, and few tops for me, a sweatshirt for Loren, and a bunch of old VHS movies for our VCR when we watch movies in the winter.   I was feeling a bit guilty for taking all the good stuff so I left a big bag of random fleece fabric that I want.  If it is there tomorrow afternoon it’s mine! 
• I have 18 pints of strawberry jam on my counter, 4 pints & 2 quarts in the fridge … it is yummy.
• Did I tell you that Bessie is expected to have a calf sometime this month?  When the chickens are out in the afternoon they roam all over the place.  A few times this week I have looked out and there are a couple right near her and they look like a calf.  A chicken calf I guess … should I really share all my random-ness?
• My bread for the cinnamon rolls is huge … looks like it raised well … oh yeah, warm summer nights will help that whole yeast issue.
• The washer beeped and the dryer dinged … guess that means I am done here.  Have a great day everyone! 

Evelyn and I went out to the garden tonight for some photos as promised a few days ago.  Unfortunately, this has been my first trip out there since I thought I would weed and since baby was in hand arm, my rows have yet to be weeded.  Which is why this is only part 1 of our garden.  I thought about taking pictures of the rows yet to be weeded and I just couldn’t do it … the weeds far out number the beets and the carrots and a little weeding needs to be done in the corn, cabbage,  and melons so those rows will have to wait. 

Here is the garden …

I gotta admit that it looks pretty darn good. 

Squash

I skipped the broccoli because those rows are in “mid-weeding” as well.

Tomatoes

Onions

Red Potatoes

Red Potatoes Purple Flowers

Russet Potatoes … which look in pretty sorry shape but at least they are weeded!

Russet Potatoes White Flowers

Peas

Nice huh?  I wonder how many hours have been spent out here?  Too many to count I would guess.  Sure is pretty though and having the delicious homegrown food makes all the work worth the effort.  When I get to the weeds in the last 1/3 of the garden I will take more pictures.

The jam is done …

How did it go? 

Hmmm …

I don’t even know where to begin.  I think that this is better left unsaid. 

 Just know that the jam is done.

Look what I got …

Strawberries obviously.   Unfortunately they are not from our farm … but this one … www.nelsonshineproduce.com  Someday we hope to have our own strawberries but they are time intensive, like everything else of course, and we just can’t do everything right away.    So this year we purchased berries.  There were 3 of these flats … 36 pounds.  I didn’t pick them though, I figured it was worth the extra cost to have someone else on their hands and knees this time around. 

The plan is to make some jam.

 

So far though, we are only up to the “mashed strawberries” stage … turns out that 36 pounds of strawberries picked up on the 4th of July weekend was a little silly.   But soon, very soon … just like getting those last two rows of weeds taken care of  … we’ll have jam of some sort.  The freezer jam/canned jam debate is still going on … in my head.   I might just have to try some of both this first time around, since berries abound.

Lots of weeding has been happening in the garden this year.  Knowing that we will need the produce for baby Evelyn once those little teeth come in has been a great motivator.  Last night I went to check out the garden since it has been a couple of days since I have visited.  Farmer Neal has been spending plenty of time on his hands and knees and Veteran Haymaker and Mrs. Veteran Haymaker spent some time out there as well. 

During my visit I was shocked and how great it looks.  I told Loren that it is hard to believe that it is our garden.  Unfortunately the mosquitos were horrible and I wasn’t going to head back to the house for the carmera.  But, I plan to get some shots tomorrow … but first I need to finish the carrots and the  beets.  

Plan on pretty shots of the pretty garden in the near future. 

 

Never too early to start right? 

It sure is fun to watch “story time” happen around here.

I know, I know … I always say that I am done posting these but can you blame me …

I honestly can’t help it. 

I thought it would just be the above ones with her cute belly showing and her cute strawberry outfit … but then there was this …

Oh my.  It’s been a little warm the past few days and yesterday I changed her diaper and laid her down to get something comfy to sleep in and this is what I found, just moments after she went down. 

And then … awhile later after she was back in clothing …

Maybe tomorrow I will give up taking sleeping baby pictures …

maybe …

maybe not.

I am pretty sure that when I showed your our peonies from last summer I also titled the post “penelopies” but that is pretty much what we call them here.  Farmer Neal actually calls most every flower a penelope but especially peonies. 

This year was a little bit more work to view the peonies however.  See, mowing the yard became less and less of a priority when planting a garden and trying to keep up with the weeds, oh … and that whole raising a baby thing became more of one.  Needless to say it got out of hand … and the grass became a bit long.  

But one day Veteran Haymaker was here and mowed north of the driveway …

 

It was bad folks … really bad.

But it got better …

Much better.

While he was out there Loren stopped in the house and I said quite excitedly … “do you think that I will get to see my peonies today?” … I just figured that the front yard would get mowed as well. 

 

 It wasn’t pretty …

But the house side still stood tall which made me sad because I have been hoping we could get it mowed for such a long time.  When that didn’t happen, I did what I had to do … I begged and pleaded to have it mowed.  It wasn’t pretty, there was a little lot of whining involved and a lot of “I just want to see the peonies before they are dead!” voiced, and of course there were plenty of sighs and looks of “if I could mow I would but I can’t so won’t you please just mow!?”. 

A couple hours later I heard the glorious sound of the lawnmower … the begging paid off and it was clear that the weeds and the huge list of things that really were more important could wait until the following day. 

Farmer Neal came in a bit later and said “guess what I found?? … Penelopies!!!!”. 

 

So the flowers were found! … it was great.  Half of the front lawn is still long because lawn mowers aren’t really made to cut a field of hay and something more powerful will have to be used on the other half, we put our little mower through more then we should have but it looks so much better.

 

So pretty.  Having to wait to see them makes me appreciate them all the more.  I love penelopies peonies.

You have all had to deal with a cranky coworker at one point or another in your life right?  Was yours as cute as this?

Miss E. was not a very happy girl at the office yesterday.  Those darn teeth coming in and people stopping by and preventing her sleep were just about enough to put her over the edge.  Over-all she did ok but not as great as usual. 

I often get asked “so what does she do at the office with you?”.  The other day (when she was not a cranky coworker) I took some pictures of her and they should (mostly) answer that question.

She does a lot of sleeping which I don’t have a picture of.  I think that I have used up my fair share of sleeping baby posts for awhile here, and there are likely more to come in the future since I just can’t help myself when it comes to posting sleeping baby pictures.  For now though you will have to use your imagination. 

When she isn’t sleeping, she is doing this …

She sits really well in her little corner of her bassinet and she is just so darn cute when she is sitting like this because she is just so darn happy to be sitting.

Here is a larger view for you to get a better idea of where she is … my desk is right across from her … where the chair is, it’s a pretty tight space.

When she isn’t looking at me, she is often chatting with this fellow … she loves him … she loves him a lot.  I don’t know what I would have done with out him and his brother the frog.  Well, they aren’t really brothers but since they came in the same package they are close enough to brothers.  She has had some great conversations with them … if only I knew what they chat about.

But when she isn’t chatting with one of her “guys”, she mostly looks at me … with this cute face. 

Yeah … I think I’ll take a cranky coworker every once in a while when I get to see this the rest of the time.