the weekend before Joe's 39th birthday

water
in the garden

a little of each
tomatoes:
indigo rose, moonglow, yellow cherry, gold metal, cherokee purple, and dester
plus a few okra

each day we try to have a little 'art time'
for a few days it was 'watercolors'

The Wake of a Beehive
BYOB
it's dead, collapsed
died while I was in Wildwood
here all the scavenger honeybees arrive and take
we scooted right up close & occasionally got whacked
in the head by a heavily-ladened departing bee
totally non-aggressive
they're just here to steal

helping her set her arrow on her bow
learning a split-finger hold

kept vigil with the corpse till sundown

waiting on the boilin' pot

one gourd plant
the largest I've ever seen
it's roots are in the old compost pile & under the chicken coop
hundreds of feet of vines and many gourds
and it's only July
this thing will grow until the killing freeze in November

mexican sunflowers, zinnias, & 15 pepper plants up front

purple basil
which really no one will eat
except me sometimes
BUT
I've found it is a really great filler for cut flower arrangements

lush Anasazi beans

anise hyssop
which I started all from seed
the bees and wasps LOVE LOVE LOVE it
I do too
a bit from it each time I'm near it

rosemary    purple coneflowers

coneflowers

Indigo Rose
tomatoes
nearly black on the top
and orange on the bottom when ripe

Santa Fe School of Cooking's Fresh Tomato Salsa

This is my go-to fresh salsa, that's being made several times a week now out of garden picked tomatoes, peppers, and onions.  It's out of the "Santa Fe School of Cooking" cookbook.

"Before the opening of the Santa Fe School of Cooking in December 1989, Bill Weiland, a local Santa Fe chef, was hired to help develop the first few recipes for the school.  Susan Curtis, her husband David, and Bill congregated to test and taste a number of recipes.  This "basic" fresh tomato salsa is one of the first recipes used at the school and is still very popular.  Serve this salsa with chips or on tacos, enchiladas, or fajitas."

4 to 5 plum tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano, crushed

2 serrano chiles, finely chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic (optional)

3 tablesppon coarsely chopped fresh cilantr

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice or cider vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)

salt to taste

Mix all.  Let the mixture six for 20 minutes to meld the flavors.

Blackwater River trip

We just finished up a three day canoe trip on the Blackwater River.  The headwaters of this river are in the Conecuh National Forest in Alabama, then flows directly into the Blackwater River State Forest in Florida - making it one of the cleanest rivers in the nation.  "Blackwater River State Forest is known for its longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem, which, in combination with the Conecuh National Forest to the north and Eglin Air Force Base to the south, is the largest contiguous ecological community of this type in the world."

Great trip with few other people on the water.  Lots of swimming & fishing.

up top at the put-in

Great pic of Levi!
Notice as we go along the river gets larger - here at the top it is smaller and shallow.  It is a sand bottomed river with tea-colored water.

big sandbars around every bend

A break for a swim and a drink.

A quick shelter made for a passing thunderstorm (thank you Joe) - brought my knitting so passing the time with a few rows.

Bluff along the river with a stand of Longleaf pines.  Levi fishing out of the boat.

My view for most of the trip - Joe ahead with Levi, and Indigo in the front of my boat.  The kids switched some, but mostly stayed this way.  All along the way little feeder streams add to the river - this is toward the end of the trip where the river is much wider and deeper.  My favorite part was the first half - smaller, more intimate, and shallow.

Papa's 90th Birthday

all the first cousins

Papa & his 6 great-grandchildren

June pictures

Still getting grounded after our 3 weeks away.  

Going thru some of the pictures from the last month.

The awards ceremony the last week of school.  Levi got all 'A's all year long!
And just got into the gifted program at school. 

Carrots left to flower - I'm loving the bloom as a cut flower & will continue to plant them for that purpose.  They look just like a queen anne's lace.

In Minnesota - Levi and Cookie.

Uncle Roger & Levi - while in Minnesota - Uncle Roger teaching Levi about propellers.

cozying up

Nature Center - Zoo in Minnesota - with Aunt Bette & Ken in background.

This is an 85-pound ball of twine that my great-grandparents collected at their home in Perry, Iowa.  June & Frank Appenzeller are in the picture above the ball.  This was an amazing museum located just a few miles away from there farm.  Walking through it I recognized many relics that Grandma had at her home.

Sarah, Carrie, Beth - recognize the washtub??

Different types of barb wire used in the area - the kids looked at this awhile.

remember her little rugs?  loom made

what was left of the big red barn on the farm in Perry - sad

bedtime stories with Granddaddy

in the shop