Look what I found!

I went out to the backyard to take a picture of the pumpkin patch because its looking so good. On the way I noticed how big the grapes are getting. So I thought I'd take a picture so I could brag a little. They were supposed to be seedless, but never trust the tag in the pot apparently.

Then I noticed that I have some cherry tomatoes that are just about ready for Mellie to fight me for them.

As long as I was in the front garden I thought I'd checkout the cucumbers. I haven't tried cucumbers in the front garden because they are vines and I thought they would get out of hand. I was right. However, I was very surprised to find these huge examples! I thought I might find some tiny little ones just starting. Surprise!

I finally got to the pumpkin patch. As you can see, I was running the sprinkler. Pumpkins are thirsty and we want them to be as big as possible for my nephews who worked hard planting all those seeds. I think the patch is coming along great!

Then back up to house where I was once again pulled toward the front garden. Mellie was staring at the fence at the green beans. How could I deny her one of her biggest pleasures of summer? She LOVES green beans.

And two rows over are the peas. I might as well let you see everything that's ready or almost ready to pick.

Well, that's it. Things are growing and it won't be long till it's time to harvest! Jill

Yet another trip

Back from another week in Cherokee Village, Arkansas. We were there for a week and got a ton of stuff done again. Our place has an old air conditioner. I am happy to report that it works because every day the temps were over 100 degrees. Here in Manitowoc we heard the temps were almost as high. I think we chose the best week to go because the humidity is really low where we were and there were NO MOSQUITOS!. We watched the fireworks on the 4th and I didn't get a single mosquito bite - that was a first.

We also did a little recreation this time. We took a morning and went to Mammouth Spring.

It is a state park and it is really nice. Alyssa always likes to visit the gift shops wherever we go, but she also enjoyed feeding the ducks and pigeons.

Like I said, we got a lot done. More than we thought was going to be possible to be accomplished, in fact. We brought down the kitchen cabinets with the intentions of just getting them there so that we wouldn't have to pull a trailor again. However, Don got them installed! They don't have the crown molding on them or the other trim, but close enough that I got all the dishes and other necessities in them! We were even able to measure for the countertops.

Don's and my bedroom has all the furniture in in. We brought down our bed from here which is a full size. I've been wanting a bigger bed for years and full size bedding is getting harder and harder to find. Soooooooo, we got a new set for here and its a queen size! It's a firm mattress to boot! Mom made the awesome quilt on top. There is also a smaller matching quilt that I plan to hang up on the wall opposite the bed. The blue and yellow theme is so happy feeling.

Talking about quilts made by Mom, she also made the ones in Alyssa's room. They turned out so nice and Alyssa loves the black and white theme. Purple is the accent color. A very fun room for our teenager.

Not all of the trim is complete, but we also have all of the living room furniture in. I need to get some pillows and a rug to get the color theme going. But I'm just so happy that the main pieces are in place.

Got the mirror hung in the bathroom. That really opens it up and makes it feel bigger. The electricity for the exhaust fan and the caulking is done. I made the shower curtain out of a blue and natural colored toile. I think it turned out pretty good.

And do you remember my post about the little upholstered foot stools I recovered? Well, here they are under a console table I found on target.com. They look great in their new home. Need to get some pictures and what-not on the walls, but it's really coming along.

Looking forward to our next trip down. It will be a lot more relaxing because there isn't much left to do on the inside to complete it. While there we did get some bad news. Our neighbor and self-proclaimed neighborhood watch leader, Smitty, passed away. She apparently had cancer which she hadn't told us about. In May she had surgury and never came out of it. She will be missed by us. She was unique and was our very first welcoming committee when we arrived. In the next couple of weeks we will be going up to Athelstane to our camper. Alyssa LOVES to go fishing with Don up there. I go along to take pictures. According to Alyssa that is my job. We are also having another game night. Eric is looking forward to it I'm sure (notice how I got your name in there, Eric?). My pumpkin garden is going great guns. Hope to get a picture on here of that soon. Hope your summer is going well! Jill

Last school dance as a 9th Grader

Last Friday Alyssa went to Wilson's last dance for the 2011-12 school year. It was a very special evening for her, so we got a gorgeous dress for her a couple of weeks ago and some silver sandals. She looked absolutely beautiful! She went with her good friend Hailey. They call themselves twins. Other than blonde hair and cat-eye make-up, I don't see it. But they think it's fun and that's all that matters. Hailey's boyfriend got to be sandwiched between the twins. What a lucky guy! Saturday I did my annual walking of the Bellin Run Race. I didn't beat last year's time, but it was REALLY hot and I got a blister on the heel of my right foot (first time for a blister in the at least six times I've walked it). I'm blaming that . . . . That's my story and I'm sticking to it! And finally, ERIC He won't make any comments on the post unless his name is in the entry. Whatever makes him a happy camper. . . . . Hope you are enjoying your summer, Jill

A Smattering of Everything

This summer my garden is really getting off to a fast start. Generally on Memorial Day my flower garden is just starting to awaken. Not this year. My irises are already blooming big and gorgeous. Makes me wonder if this will be a good year or a bad year for my garden. Maybe everything will be bloomed out by mid-summer!

My lupines below are almost completely done blooming. They were spectacular. The picture just doesn't do them justice.

We were up at our camper near Athelstane this weekend. Our family really enjoys 4-wheeling. Just as we were getting started on our ride a rider coming from the opposite direction came full blast on purpose into a huge puddle and splashed the muddy water all over me. Instead of getting upset,I decided it gave me license to go through the middle of every puddle for our entire ride. Alyssa wouldn't be outdone, though. Once she saw I was the wettest and dirtiest, she took it as a personal dare to outdo me. She did a great job!

Yesterday it was our annual planting of the pumpkins. My sister and nephews came and we planted the back garden in record time. The boys really wanted to plant corn for some reason, so we did that first. Hope it comes up!

Don has a buddy. They ran around on 4-wheelers while the real workers planted.

Last week Alyssa had her last chorus concert at Wilson. She really enjoyed the two years she was in chorus and loved her teacher, Mrs. H. Alyssa will miss her when she's up at Lincoln High School.

Looking forward to summer. So far so good! Jill

Chili Cook-off

First chili cook-off Don and I have ever hosted and I think it went really well. We invited four couples to come on over and bring their favorite chili. Our friends Dave and Jody played a little joke on me by first pulling out some Hormel chili in a can before pulling out their crock pot. I thought they were kidding at first, but they were being so serious.

After introductions we got right down to business and starting dishing out the chili to be tested. I made up some ballots with five different characteristcs to judge.

If we host another cook-off, I am going to weight the different criteria. What's the most important thing about food? The taste!! I'm going to weight that one heavy. Why? Because my chili got the fewest points, but was the only one that was totally gone by the time I got the ballots counted! Funny! Our winners were Dave and Jody. Their chili was really good, too.

My empty crock pot - I didn't get any other than the taste I took prior to the party.

Don did an awesome job with the trophy. I got a hourse shoe and he did the rest. Dave's brother and sister-in-law won a chili cook-off my brother had several years ago. We decided we would consider that the firt competition and that they were passing the torch.

Eric also came up with the awesome game "The Old Married Folks Game", not to be confused with "The Newlywed Game". However, I think it was more fun. Eric did a great job with the game and MCing the event. Dave and Jody took home honors on this, as well.

Don and I have decided we are definitely doing this again! Jill

Little Update

Last weekend I did a little more garage sale picking. I'm really happy with the furniture I got. The telephone table may need a little work, but I love the style. Plus, only $15!

I did a little sprucing up on my porch this week. After getting the pots and plants at Walmart, I found the fabric at Hobby Lobby and thought the colors would be perfect for some pillows. div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">