Meandering through the garden, thinking about the summer so far.

10 year old's pool garden. The Lemon Cucumber has taken over!!

Hello!! I've been struggling to blog often, with all that I have been doing this month. We were planning to study all summer long, but in reality, we've only hit the books once in the last 2 months. You know what? It feels good!! 

It's not that we haven't been busy. We've been busy almost any day we haven't been sick. We had a creeping flu bug come to visit, and the bugger stayed around for almost 2 whole months, hitting some people 2 and 3 times. We've continued attending classes for Taekwondo over the summer, and the children are about to have another belt test later this week. We also have summer session of Homeschool Co-Op going on. The kids have been working on their swimming skills, and last weekend the Music Theory classes started up as well. The kids are so happy with our Friday schedule.

You can see tomatoes growing, the carrots are still struggling, and the cherry tomato plant has gone crazy. I need to find a way to cage it after the fact.

I have been busy with the house, too. We have all been busy deep cleaning, pulling out the fridge and getting under and behind it, lifting the top of the stove, and mucking that out, and steaming carpets. I've gotten a lot of clutter busted, and I've had a lot of clutter resurface, it's a constant battle. When things happen (like a down pillow exploding in the drier), we have been using the opportunity to do maintenance tasks that had been neglected in the past (like moving the drier and cleaning out the air path). 

6 year old's pond form garden. The strawberries are thriving and the vine-type volunteer is suspected to be Cucumber.

In order to help with the housework, I created an alter ego on FB. As that ID, I post challenges, motivations, and reminders. I also created kid challenges, to help kids learn to work on their responsibilities a little bit every day (instead of leaving it to the last minute). You can find River Heartsong on FB and send her a friend's request, just send a message, telling that you are from the blog, needing inspiration and help. :)

This tomato plant has 100's of baby tomatoes, and very small leaves.

I also realized over the last few weeks, that people come to my blog from EB related sites. I didn't think anything much of it at first... Until I realized that perhaps some of those people would rather hear about the one thing I barely write about, our EB. I'll work on that. Right now, there isn't MUCH to report about, because we stay inside most of the time. The big girls are getting strong enough in their TKD, that they are starting to damage their knuckles and tops of the feet during drills. The funny thing is, they have me slap on a border, and dash back out on the floor. They care more about the class than they do their injuries!! <3 after="" and="" bathe.="" fix="" get="" home="" p="" properly="" them="" up="" we="">

Garlic Chives in between the tomato plants.

I ended up finally deciding to make a page on FB for "Me and My Butterfly 3". It was a hard decision, mostly because we are not as severe as other patients. Then one day, I realized that EB has many forms, and each form has a range of severity. That alone is a GREAT reason for my girls to have a page too, because we are raising EB awareness. I intend to use the page for EB Awareness, posting updates and prayer requests for my children, and other butterfly children, and occasionally, I will use it to fund raise. Right now, I have joined in the efforts to sell raffle tickets for a chance to win 6 tickets (all expenses paid) to AUSTRALIA!!! Tickets are only $20. All proceeds go to Butterflies and Bandages to help EB families and help fund research for a cure.

This tomato plant is the twin to the one in the Topsy Turvey, a control, so to speak.

The kittens have gotten big! They are now scampering and climbing all over the house, and even the scared one is coming out more, and purring over getting petted. We meant to find them all homes, but the kids got so attached, we ended up giving them all names. Now to figure out how to get them all fixed, as we don't want another kitten problem in a few months.

14 year old's "3 sisters" garden. Corn, Squash (pumpkin), and Beans. 

Honestly, there is not much else to update on. I have been quite busy between all of that and babysitting the extra toddler over the summer. She has gained 5 pounds, 5 inches, and 50 words in her time with us. She has learned so much, like sharing, caring, and communication. I am so proud of her young momma, and hope that she stays in touch after they move to the other side of the country. <3 p="">

Oops. Well, the white corn is tall. Turn your head. Sorry.

Well, Enjoy your wanderings through my garden. Feel free to send River Heart song a friend add, and go like "Me and My Butterfly 3" of FB. God Bless you, and have a great day!! <3 p="">

Garlic, chives, and last Cauliflower plant.  

Oops. Well, this is the Tomato Tree. That red one should be done tonight :D

Cucumber growing...

Watermelon growing...

Well, I had hoped that this was the cantaloupe, but it seems to be shaping into a mini pumpkin.

Red Bell Pepper plant, recovering again from zealous over-picking by an excited child.

Mr. 4 swears that this is his garden, because his carrots are in it. His carrots are doing GREAT! He also has some struggling bean plants and some rainbow carrot seedlings growing.

Mr. 4, helping in the garden.

Another crooked view of the Tomato Tree (Which will be re-potted into a big bucket soon).

Loaded with tomatoes, yet the leaves are very unhappy.

Lemon Cucumbers forming...

Cherry Tomato bush, sprawling.

10 year old's Tomato plant... Beautiful tomatoes growing, but the leaves are miserable.

Miss 2.5 came out after nap to see what was going on. Somehow, "Cheese" translated to "Rowr".

May Morning Musings

This morning has been quiet and fun. I woke up at 6 am to the 2 youngest crawling in bed with me, and took care of their morning requests, while they drifted back to sleep. Since my mind was already spinning with ideas and thoughts for the day, I went out and filled my coffee mug. I had thought ahead last night, and set it to turn on at 6:00 am, By the time I "found" it, it was warm and ready for me. I am always a little happier when I can bypass the microwave.

I poked my morning things, checked on my stats, and approved a comment. Ahh! I had no idea how much a kind comment on one of my posts can warm my heart! <3 I poked my morning games as I listened to the stirrings of the house. The dogs were patrolling the yard for invading birds and squirrels and coming in to report to the sleeping master. The bathroom was a cacophony of destruction from the playful antics of the 3 kittens. Giggles, mumbles and half-hearted cries of protest would escape the small slumbering forms around me. At 8 am, it was time to feed the kittens, and we had them fed in the kitchen before allowing them their play and roam time. Somehow, that turns into hiding kitten sleeping time, and none can be found for hours. Patience, focus, and remembering the rules is exceptionally hard when there is a fluffy kitten playing peek-a-boo when you are only 4 and 2. I had to coax the stripey one out, I am working on human desensitization with him, and I had to scoop and remove the other 2 kittens from stealing his food.... They were all surprised, him the most, because of once the big fast hands weren't after him. *grin* It's all about making friends.

After the house was up, and my hunny was off on his way to work, I put together the plan I had been working towards. I pulled out the bin of middle sized interlocking blocks for the kids to play with. I pulled out the specialty pieces and put together a few of the trees and things. By the time I had discovered all of the vehicle bottoms, I had 3 kids all around the table, building and exchanging parts and one wandering around with her favorite Puppy piece.

I went out and Ladybug came and inspected the garden with me. She exclaimed over the one cherry tomato turning yellow, and thought about what that might mean. We noted the differences in the leaves of the plants that we were having trouble with, how the old growth looked pale or crumpled, and how the new growth was dark green and healthy. We estimated how much good growth there was, and counted flowers on various plants. I added Epsom salt, coffee grounds and crushed egg shells to the soil (in addition to yesterday's crushed antacid tablets).

Now I have the hose watering the yard for me. Yup, I locked into the on position, and set it on a stand as an instant mister and yard watering devise. The leaky spots water other areas, and one is filling the paddling pool. By Wednesday, the ground should be perfect for setting up the campground. The kids are getting excited; they cannot focus on anything else because of it. That reminds me, I need to go turn off the water in the front yard. I am sure the baby tree and full front section is good and watered by now.

We have more projects to do, more plans to think up, more lists to write, and tasks to mark off. I expect that this week will be hard work, and yet worth every moment. I think the best part is that camping has no reception, so even if they did smuggle electronics, I have the WiFi password, and all the chargers. HEHEHEHEHE (Yea, I know it's in our backyard. We are going to have fun. Consider it a dry run for later.)

I need more dirt for my garden....

Garden Changes and Other Stuff

Flowering Hens and Chickens

The last several days have been busy, with a lot of cleaning projects and adventures. The kids have all been doing great in TKD, and all 4 received their 2nd stripe on their current belts last week. They are up for Belt Testing again next week. If the oldest 2 pass this belt test, they will be invited into Black Belt Club. I am so very proud of their hard work.

The garden is coming along nicely. I posted a video tour of the garden yesterday on FB, but then spent all day cleaning the back yard and re-potting some of my plants. I pulled up the sickly looking Pea plants. Their season is past, and I started 3 months too late. They were a pale green color ~ and I needed the dirt :D I moved 2 of the vine type seedlings into the 2 DIY containers I made (and posted a blog on how to make them, check it out!). I keep wishing I had done the same thing to the bucket my big tomato plant is in, but I have a different tactic for that plant. I will make that one today, and post it up separately when I am done.





Some of the dirt went towards the burial of the potato plants. I need to look up how deep to plant them, I left some leaves up out of the dirt for now, to receive nutrients from the sun. One of the potato pots is not deep, and I had to add walls to the bucket to add in the extra dirt. It shouldn't be a problem, as the sun will shine directly in part of the day, and it will encourage them to grow taller.





The bell pepper plant is on the mend! I posted before that it was suffering, and that I was clueless about what to do (I need to figure out how to add links). Well, I was so desperate to stop it from dying off, that I mixed up a batch of Mir*cle Gr*w (not endorsing a product). I gave the bell pepper and tomato plants a very generous watering with that. Of course, I put the open box away somewhere safe, so I can't find it for a follow up dose. 3 days later, I crushed up 1 T*MS (chalky antacid, with fruity flavors- high in Calcium) for each plant I was treating, and sprinkled the fine powder over the roots of each of the plants. I also gave each plant a tsp of Epsom Salts (gotta be specific on that one) and then watered well. The improvement is impressive.

4-6-13

4-17-13 you can see the leaf crumpling and curling happening. It was much worse, before it got better.

5-19-13 you can see the damage done from the leaf crumpling, the growing pepper, and the good leaves coming in on the top.

I used the last of my dirt to help cover some of my more delicate seeming plants. Now I am out of good dirt, and this is a bad thing. I have more containers to fill, more seeds to plant! *grin*

Since I am out of dirt, I might as well turn my attention elsewhere. I spent a LOT of time cleaning up the toys and trash in the yard. The patio area was as bad as some bedrooms can get! Seriously. I found an entire load of laundry out there! When it was done, everything had been organized, set up, and ready to explore. I had the play kitchen along the house, for an "outdoor kitchen", but moved it into the playhouse with the toys all contained in a bucket for them to play with. My 2 year old assured me "I love it mom!" as she was checking it out.



A plastic fruit garden in the window box, and a dish drainer. Right, so the plants get watered while you do dishes. *grin*



To end on a sweet note, I will show you our kittens :) They are doing well, but are still skittish. They are afraid of everything in the house, and not bonded enough to try to return if we let them roam the back yard.

Weekend Cleaning Project

The weekend was busy, filled with deep cleaning and laundry. Hunny started off the morning with mowing the yard and trimming the weeds. I coordinated the kids into tackling the tidy ups around the main parts of the house, and then took a trash bag in to the little girls' room.

The little girls' room hasn't been worked on by me for a few weeks, and it always amazes me how much trash and broken toys accumulates. I started pulling trash and dishes out of the mess. Hunny joined me and I lined boxes and drawers up on the bed, and we started sorting groups of toys into them. Soon the floor had been found from the bedroom door to the dresser in the far corner.

After all the floor was found, I sent the full bucket of little boy toys off to his room to be put away. I pulled 2 buckets of his toys out of their room! I packed away a full box of baby toys, a full bin of stuffed animals, a back pack full of dressup. Most of the bins and boxes went neatly into the closet, where they would keep mess from drifting back in.

Once the bed was cleared back off and stripped, we turned the dresser and rerouted the wires for the electronics, and then we turned the bed too. This gave the room a lot more space for the little girls to play each day. We made the beds with fresh sheets and pillowcases, and set up an empty laundry basket.

By the end of the day, the room looked amazing! The girls were excited to be able to see all of their toys, and promptly started exploring. =)

I love the first few days after a major clean, when we can all easily see where things go, and it is easy to see what is not a part of the room. For the first few days, even the 2 year old tries to help put things away neatly, and the 6 year old enjoys her space.

Major cleaning sprees like this take their toll on me though. I spent all of Sunday in bed, barely able to move, let alone able to chase little people. I am blessed to have an amazing hunny, and outstanding children that take up the slack when I am (rarely) out of commission. Today my back is a tiny bit better, but it is not yet back to nomal.

I do sprees like this on the kids rooms about once every couple months. This spree was more to condense and cull the trash and broken toys out. I wil continue this mission on each of the kids rooms an then all the living spaces too. My goal is to reduce our material goods by 50% over the next 12 months. I hope to have at least one yard sale and put the proceeds towards self suffiency.

But that is a whole different topic, for another day.