Catching up...and whatever

 So my blogging got side-railed this week, and probably last week too, I didn't check to see the date of my last post.  I've not been getting much sleep lately for one reason or another, my back is trying to go out for one thing, so I've been in a bit of a haze during the day.  

I also am trying to get things ready for a couple of vendor events coming up in the next few months.  A friend and I are scheduled to set up at the Celtic Festival on Sept 7th.  I always love going there.  The calling of the clans on Friday night is always moving.  

I found some Pioneer Woman brand velvet yarn a few weeks ago, so I have made a handful of octopi:


Ellen wanted googledy eyes on them, but I prefer the more traditional stuffed animal eyes.  Haha...  Ellen saw the googledy-eyed one and laughed and laughed.  

The velvet yarn is a pain to work with.  It's workability, as it were, varies with the color.  The green on the left is much more slick than the blue.  The blue kind of drags as you are trying to work with it. 

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Ellen is off to school and, aside from the usual mild social issues, she is having a great time.  We are volunteering with Project Graduation, which earns student participants a small scholarship at the end of school. A parent is required to volunteer as well; for at least 3 events.  Ellen is working one event tonight; a split the pot at the volley ball game.  I have yet to find the list of events we are supposed to volunteer at; they have the lists available through a QR (??) code, which my phone will not access.  Ellen will have to sign me up for my events.  

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The main part of the garden is winding down.  I am still getting peppers and tomatoes, and a few yellow squash, but the rest is kaput.  The okra didn't produce very well.  It all sort of fizzled.  

The pumpkins did well, as they should have after all the hours I put in killing the squash bugs on them.  I got over 20 of them.  The green ones will ripen in time.  My friend Google told me that as long as they have begun to turn color on the vine you can harvest and they will continue to ripen. 


 Cantaloupe are the exact opposite; they have to ripen fully on the vine.  My didn't get a chance; the opossum got them all, even the ones I tried to cage.  I don't think I will bother with either cantaloupe or pumpkins next year.  

The sweet potatoes did fabulous:


I have a few things coming on for a fall crop:  cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans and turnips.  A friend, Enrique, gave me his ornamental pumpkins; which you can see in the foreground.

The plants were stressed a bit at being transplanted so late in the season, but as you can see they are blooming and have one little pumpkin on a vine.

We shall see if they will have time to develop.

I do have a few spaghetti squash, as well, but for some reason that doesn't excite me and I haven't bothered getting a photo of them.  We used to be enthused with spaghetti squash, but the last time we had it there was a deal of leftovers.  I might try cooking one of these up.  A couple of them are actually huge.  

That is it for now.  Time to wake the teen and get busy with life.  Laundry awaits. 



Comments

Donna. W said…
I’m tired of trying to garden too. It’s just too difficult without rain. So there are weeds growing that I ignore. We are getting enough tomatoes for eating, although I have to cut parts out of some. And peppers, too, are always coming on and surprising me. I planted turnips; it amazes me that there is no rain and I haven’t used the soaker hose on them, but it seems like every little seed must have come up and are now growing. Today is our last of the super high temps, and it looks like in the next ten days we’ll be cooling off. Of course, there are very few chances for rain.
August 29, 2024 at 6:45 AM
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