Garden glory

Because it takes an extra step for me to share photos on this blog versus sharing straight to Facebook, I'd not posted here in a long time. But, since I'm in town with wifi and nothing better to do (a complete lie), I thought I'd share some gardening pictures because even though I haven't posted in a year and a half, we are still mostly small-scale homesteading.

Hubby among the okras.

Our grapes finally did something this year! It's because, for some strange reason, the vermin you call deer haven't mowed it to the ground like they usually do.

Peek-a-book, winter squash!

Some sunny summer squash.

Corn! I get so excited about corn.

The requisite zucchini

We have had really nice potatoes this year so far. No vole or insect damage.

A typical harvest: mostly grown, some scavenged (chanterelles).

Dinner is served!

And where you find zucchinis, you can find zucchini products. This was a particularly tasty muffin recipe. Very moist. I didn't need to smother them with butter like I usually do with muffins (because, IMO, the only good muffin is one that has been thoroughly killed by butter). 

Most things have been growing well for us this summer...except maybe tomatoes...even the peaches, which is the next post.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Because my brain is in the shop...

...I'm going to subject you to some random firings of the handful of neurons they left behind to hold me through the week. :}

We had a couple of weird and unexpected hail storms a couple of weeks ago. The one that woke us up in the middle of the night produced marble-sized hail. (Incidentally, the leaves are large sycamore leaves, not maple leaves, so the hail is bigger than you think) -While Annie (Imagine & Create) is watching out for polar bears - doesn't that sound exotic? - we're watching out for the copperheads that have decided to take up residence under our blueberry bushes right next to the house:I just saw some pretty tomatoes over at Cake's blog (Rake Shovel Hoe), which reminded me that I'd taken photos of our own red beauties:
And while we're on the subject of veggies, I had the kids harvest about 10 pounds of corn yesterday. After I shucked them, I decided that they were too pretty to go without a photo:A few weeks ago, dh decided to try making a ratatouille because we were over-run with eggplants. Before baking:
After bakng: It looked better than it tasted, so he went back to making borani with the eggplants we harvested later.

This year has been a bumper-crop year for chanterelle mushrooms. This is just one of the many grocery bagfuls dh and the boys harvested:After cleaning the bag of 'shrooms up, and laying them out to dry:Dh cooked them various ways: sauteed in butter, sauteed with green beans, and, my favorite way, cream of mushroom soup!

It's been too hot to do much baking lately, but we had a piece of carrot cake for dessert when we had lunch with my FIL over at his assisted living home, and that got us hankering for more, so I made one. It was very tasty!Do you have any odd, random thoughts for me? Any grand plans for the rest of the weekend? I hope to read the wonderful stories that Blonde Duck (A Duck in Her Pond) sent my way as part of the gift swap back in July!

Happy Sunday to you!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

We were not alone...

...traveling with us to Vancouver were a bunch of my bloggy buddies! Ok, well, not in person, but their products went with us.

There was Carrie's Spiced Apple soap, Trisha's Winter Wonderland soap and lipbalm (as well as her Crantini soap that she kindly gifted to my sister), Joanna's Champagne Road Wash, Elizabeth G's Dreamsicle lipbalm, and also her cute-as-pie purse, seen here exhausted after daily use in Vancouver:I hope you ladies had fun with me, vicariously!

After our return home, one of our first meals was this lovely plateful - clockwise from top: chanterelle mushrooms from our yard, sauteed in butter; the last of our previous year's green beans cooked with our homemade sun-dried tomato paste; a slice of terrific pizza from Pizza X; our own tomatoes topped with dh's homemade tzatziki made with our own cucumbers.
After we got home, we had to go pick up the materials for ds#1's biology lab course from Meg, so she and I exchanged our pay-it-forward swap gifts. You will not believe the works of art she made! Meg does the most gorgeous leather crafts, and she made me a set of stunning coasters:Each coaster has a different flower, and she even wrote what each flower is on the back of the coaster:Take a look at the wonderful detailing:Many, many thanks, Meg!

I've enjoyed the swap/gifting thing so much I'm thinking I'll have to do it again. Maybe I can organize something like the Christmas gift exchange that kids often do in their classes. Those who are interested can sign up, and I can pair names up by pulling 2 out of a hat at a time...that way, we'd only each have one swap partner and don't have to scramble to make 12 gifts or something. Any thoughts on that, anyone?

I'm looking forward to a moderately quiet week this week. What about you? Any fun plans?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams