It Always Looks Bad In July....

...but look a little closer. After a three week road trip my heart was missing my garden and my head was filled with what I was going to do when I got home.

Calls home were filled with bad news...Mom-In-Law,"Oh, your garden looks terrible....I had Victor cut back all the vines around the edges and it looks a little better....but nooothing and I mean nuhhh-thing is producing....you are going to be so disappointed......blah, blah...the buuuugs are sucking everything dry and the buuhhgs...blah, blah, etc..." Me, "Well, we're having fun."

When I did see the garden, I was wondering if I accidentally planted Kudzu instead of Asian Long beans, and the weeds had grown as aggressively as every. Upon closer inspection I did learn that it was indeed long beans not it's Asian cousin. They have taken over it's corner of the garden and really isn't producing anything. I'll give it a little more time....but the melons!

Melons love heat. All of the melons are doing great. There are a few eggplants developing, and the peppers are producing like crazy. I have bells, pimentos, and chilies. Some pumkin vines are growing nicely and should produce pumpkins in time for fall.

Here is Tera holding a huge banana melon she grew.

Moon and stars watermelon.
If you look a little closer among the weeds you'll discover...another banana melon that's just about ready.
Satska's sweet melon.

Oriental Silver Line....

Here is what the inside of the banana melon looked like. I think we picked it a little early. All the flesh that was orange was sweet....In the back ground you can see a few figs that were left.

So I cut the orange part off and gave the rest to the chickens.

Very cool and very yum ....just like that.

Looooooooooooong Road Trip!

Sewing Room....um...Closet

Byron has transformed the little former "nursery" closet into my very own "Sewing/Craft Room". This amazing tiny space now organizes all my sewing, craft, garden, and hobby stuff. My Mother-In-Law always said I could fit New Orleans in Westwego! Really, it's amazing how much "junk" can be organized to fit in a small space with a little thought....and de-cluttering! The chair came from a salvage store that re-sells old hotel furniture. They have some really great stuff. I bought three very sturdy cafe chairs for $25.00 a piece. This is one of them.
Now I have a place to display all the vintage notions I have been collecting. The buttons and yellow yarn are from my Grandmother Tera's sewing box, the binding is from a bag of bias tape given to me by a friend, and the rest my daughter Seleste brought home from Grandma Rivero's house.

The boxes organize odds and ends, magazine holders organize: magazines, instruction manuals, and patterns. All of my reference books sit right at hand now.

My first repair was soon brought to me. I should have this Barbie skirt sewn up in no time Talia. That's a pic of Byron when we first were married playing his trumpet. By the way he's in California right now playing. Knock 'em out Baby.

There's plenty of handles and nooks for tucking all the cute things my girls make me. Including this bead bauble Talia made.

Baskets on shelves hold my yarn and fabric. Um, yes, I need to put the outlet covers on. Just noticed in this pic....and Byron needs to put the floor molding on.

A few titles...and I like 'em all...especially the SKIRTS! book. I've made several great skirts without a pattern since buying this book.

Seleste painted this awesome lacy owl.

The other side.

Now, excuse me....I'm going to make some knit skirts for my little girls for vacation!

Simple Summer Day

The hot days of summer are here in south Louisiana. We are not many miles from the oil spill activity...a fact I try daily to push from my mind. If there were something I could do I might dwell on it. Just the thought of it makes me feel nauseated...and the the actions of our bureaucratic government make no sense in the least...since there is nothing I can do about that until the next election, I guess I'll have to push that out of my mind as well.

Instead I'll look at the bright blue sky, deep green grass and trees, and vibrant sun and pretend that just miles down the road an epic oil spill doesn't exist. The things I can do something about are right here at home. During the summer my attention turns to keeping the garden productive and tidy while keeping our cool.

Talia my 10 year old made these delicious blueberry muffins from frozen blueberries Byron's uncle brought us from Mississippi a few weeks ago. She did a wonderful job and the muffins were meltingly, eye rollingly delicious. Perfect way to start a bright summer day.
Keeping the house cool in the summer is pretty simple...keep the heat out! I like to put something in the solar oven on sunny days. It's a double blessing...the heat stays outside and I'm not using natural gas to cook, just the nice free sunshine. Free sunshine energy is abundant this time of year!
Getting the garden chores done early is a must. By mid-day it is simply too hot to safely work hard outside unless you are in the shade. I pulled the popcorn stalks and prepared this bed for planting. Sunflowers or striped cushaws are going to fill this bed.

Summer days are also perfect for installing flocks of recycled metal flamingos in the front garden. My sister Monique bought these for me for Christmas! Thanks NeeKee (even if it is six months late, hee hee) for bringing your sophisticated Maryland style down to us bayou babes. There's this great little town near my Sister's home called Luckett's. I think, anyway look it up if you're near D.C. That's where she bought my pink flock.

Summer days are also great for watching butterflies on the butterfly bush....

...and watching Killdeers hatch in the rocks on the driveway. This little puffball was up and running on toothpick legs in no time at all.

It's also a perfect time for drying laundry outside....again, the heat stays outside and I'm not cranking up the energy bill.

...and that also leaves time to notice Talia introducing Flossie to our dog Camira...Talia!!! Close the window your letting the AC out!!!!