Jesse took three days of vacation last week and we went nowhere. It was heavenly. More bike rides, more dinners by the pool, more swimming, more playing, more lazing reading. Have you heard enough about that yet? It’s our summer version of Groundhog Day.
But today we had nothing on the docket so I decided to steal another craft idea. I was terrible at drawing the owl. TERRIBLE. I tried three times to do one for myself before finally settling on an Easter Egg. Violet drew both her’s and her brother’s before the set to work painting them. When we were done with that we played with oil pastels and then I used a Sharpie and drew out names for us to paint in. We all got bored with that about half way through but we spent a good hour or so painting and it made for a low key start to the week. I think we need to find something that doesn’t involve painting – perhaps using up some of the large quantity of felt that I have stashed away.
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I have green beans. So many green beans. And few wax beans. Next year I need to actually take this gardening thing seriously because it’s a great deal of fun to walk outside with a bowl and pick enough green beans for us all to munch on with our sandwiches for lunch. At this point, it’s basically just a pit of weeds and once the beans are done, I MAY hold out for the pumpkins (they are flowering anyway) but I think the rest of the things I’ve planted are lost.
Also, I decided I was going to start composting this year so Jesse bought me a glorious rotating composter for my birthday and I think I’m doing it wrong. I just have a big mess and flies. I read somewhere that even if you do it wrong it does eventually become what you are looking for, so fingers crossed. Otherwise I have a very expensive barrel of nasty trash in my backyard.
I so love your photos. And we are the kindred spirits of gardening. Mine is sad, sad, sad. Except for the onions. For some reason, we have glorious onions. Everything else? Meh. And I’ve thought about composting, but it’s always seemed a bit mysterious to me and I’ve been afraid I, too, would end up with a smelly mess and flies. 🙂 I’m much better with crayons and paints.
I’m very thankful that it isn’t smelly. I’m sure I’d just give up if it was, but I definitely have flies. We even put screen in the aerator holes but it hasn’t seem to make much difference. And I’m glad I’m not the only so-so gardener, I seem to be surrounded by people who are good at it! N
Thank you for all ththe nice comments on my photos. I really need to do a better job printing them and putting them in albums. I love digital because it allows for so many pictures but the downside is I get lazy when it comes time to print them!!
With regards to the compost, I assume you’re adding “brown” materials as well as kitchen scraps? If so, you’re likely doing just fine. Our pile isn’t pretty either – we have flies too (mainly fruit flies, I think), and sometimes, when we don’t have enough browns it starts to smell. But I too, have read that you really can’t go tremendously wrong – it will all eventually decompose no matter what you do to it 🙂
I hoped you would comment! I’m glad it will eventually get there. We have been adding browns though not a lot (I heard the ratio should be about 80/20?). It’s funny because it has two sections and the one I’m currently filling looks more like what I’d expect than the one that’s “cooking”.