I've missed my coffee...

It's been over a month since I joined Company Girl Coffee and I've missed you girls! Not that I haven't attempted to post. I think there are at least 2 sitting in draft status. Last week, I actually had a good excuse - my BFF was visiting! The same one I submitted photos of for the Company Girl book! You may have seen this when I posted it last weekend, but if not, here's the whole group of us girls:

Maybe some future BFF's in there, too? David had wandered off before the photo.

We've also been busy with homeschool. This week completed week 7 of kindergarten. David and I are totally enjoying it! Someone asked me the other day if it was hard. So far, the hardest part is trying to find things to occupy Elizabeth while David does his worksheets (math & handwriting).

I've never had a fall garden before, so I wasn't sure what to do out there. I've cleaned out everything that was done and planted some more squash and am trying snow peas. More than half those, which I direct seeded, were eaten as soon as they sprouted. I assume it was rolly polly bugs. I think I may still have time to try lettuce again...

In my "spare time" (hahahahahah!!), I've been working on a Fall Recipes Cookbook to sell online. I had really hoped to have it completed by October 1, but... "spare time"... yeah.

This is the Amish Baked Oatmeal. It is really good! My sister blogged the Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake for me. And that reminds me... I'm off to make some Harvest Muffins for breakfast! They'll go good with coffee!!

Company Girl Coffee on the Road

I'll have a decaf white chocolate mocha to go this morning, 'cuz I'm on my way to

Yeah!!! I go every year with my mom & sister-in-law and this year Rebekah will take her turn to attend Women of Faith. Elizabeth went with me in 2007 and David went in 2004 before I became a blogger.

I am so excited that Steven Curtis Chapman will be there this year! I have ALWAYS wanted to see him in concert, but this will be my first chance. Stay tuned for pictures when I get home!

Garden Note - I started pulling up the tired plants this week. It was just time.

Friday Coffee Revisited

I have missed coffee for several weeks, but today was cooled by last night's storm & I actually thought about coffee this morning. But it just wasn't that cool. And I don't know how to make an ice-blended white chocolate mocha at home yet, so I had none.

I gave a pictorial garden update in yesterday's post. Click or scroll down to see all the goodies I've picked & made this month. I finally used up all my tomatoes with a batch of salsa that yielded 5 pints of salsa. Then I picked this last night:

And then I picked this tonight:

Good grief! Those tomatoes just keep going & going... Not that I'm complaining. Last night's storm knocked over a lot of tomato plants that had been staying upright pretty well, so that I was able to reach deeper into the tomato jungle. The storm also blew over some pepper plants, the basil, and the yellow squash. Several stems on the butternut squash were severed, so I had to pick those 2, ready or not. I think there was some hail when the storm first hit. By tonight, my yellow squash appears to have broken at the stem when it blew over. The fury of summer may be finally slowing down my produce.

Last week I shared Rebekah's 3-month old photos. Don't miss those. They're absolutely. adorable. (of course) : )

This week, my 5-year old got a back pack in the mail from Dad's alma mater. The card with it started, "As your child turns 5 years old and prepares for kindergarten, the ACU Alumni Association wants to help mark this exciting time with a special gift - a child-size purple backpack called a CatPack."

I didn't even make it to the first comma before I was crying. Never thought it (starting kindergarten) would affect me this way... And now he's gone on his first vacation without Mom & Dad. He went to the coast for a whole week with MawMaw, Grana & Papa, Marlene & several of his cousins.

I've been rounding up the kindergarten curriculum all week. I gave David a math placement test & he scored a 48. I know he would have scored higher if he hadn't gotten bored with it by page 2, and I though 4 pages of math questions seemed like a lot for a kindergartner. Oh, well. I figured, we'd just start with kindergarten book 1. Then as I was looking up the books, I realized I'd given him the first grade comprehension test! Suddenly 48 was a much better score!

The same day David got his new backpack, Elizabeth's flower girl dress arrived. She. looks. beautiful.
Elizabeth is outgrowing her baby bed. Rebekah is outgrowing her bassinet. And I was prescribed bifocals. It's all going by way too fast.

Babywearing Roundup & Friday Coffee

Wow, what an incredibly busy week this has been! We've had something going on every single day, plus work at home. I would like to take time to participate in the babywearing roundup that Adventures in Babywearing is hosting today, though! And I miss my Company Girls' comments when I don't do Friday Coffee!

So, first: Babywearing!

This is my Ergo on vacation with us! First is fishing off a jetty in Palacios. She was asleep at that point.


Next we're at McKinney Falls State Park. She was out like a light when we got there. I got her into the Ergo, walked around for a while, and used the bathroom without waking her! In both photos, I'm using the infant insert and in this one, I've got the hood up, blocking the sun from her.

The Ergo is so comfortable for out being active! The weight is distributed well across my back & hips. I loved having the shade to cover her from the bright sun, too.


Next is an Ellaroo wrap! I'm still learning how to do this one. I took these photos a few days ago to send to my best friend, who I've been discussing babywearing with since we both had babies this year with 2 other preschoolers. I don't even know what to call the wrap I've done here, but it was amazingly comfortable! I've worn her like this around the house to do dishes, laundry, and outside to check on the garden & animals. The fabric is a light woven fabric from Guatemala and I did not even get hot wearing her outside! The weight is distributed so well across all the fabric that it was nothing to wear her this way. And she promptly falls asleep in the wrap.

Here's my best friend borrowing my sling. This is a pouch sling by Jellybean. My mother-in-law gave me this at our baby shower. It came from Target. I used the sling just yesterday when Rebekah wanted to be up, looking around more. I sat her forward facing like a kangaroo pouch and she watched me make peanut butter sandwiches.

And here she is in a tummy-to-tummy carry in the sling.

I also have an old Baby Bjorn City Carrier. I think it is my favorite for shopping days because I can put the straps on before we leave the house. Then in the car, I snap the front on and I can just hold the baby while I close all the fasteners. I can then wear Rebekah, lift Elizabeth into the seat in the basket and David can walk beside the basket. When we get back to the car, it's easy to unfasten and put R back into her car seat. This way, I was even able to do a recent trip to Half Price Books - a feat I never thought possible with 3 little kids!

I've got some other photos of babywearing when Elizabeth was little here. All of my carriers, except the one I got at the baby shower, were purchased used on eBay or Craigslist at a mere fraction of the retail cost! And I have not been disappointed in any of them. When asked what my favorite carrier is, I have to honestly say... it depends on the situation! : )

So far, my favorite babywearing photo has to be this one of me with my best friend! I'm wearing my Ergo & she's wearing my pouch sling.

For you Company Girls, I submitted that photo to the photo contest, too! : )

Now, I like to share my garden for Company Girl Coffee, so let's go outside now!





Last week we got some keets - guinea chicks!

They've now moved out into the barn, which is where I was headed in the above video when my memory card filled up!

Friday's Coffee & Garden Update is back on!

I've missed coffee & my garden log for a few weeks.
Wanna know why?

It seems like someone is constantly needing something. Diapers, juice, cheerios, breastfeeding every 2 hours during the day, a nose wiped, conflict resolved, more diapers, lunch, books read, accidents cleaned up, laundry washed, shoes on, shoes off, diapers changed, more feeding, oops I forgot to feed the big kid supper, crying and crying and crying... Did I mention diapers? OK, so I guess you get the drift...

Yes, I took a picture of it.

I don't really even have time to be doing this now, but I really want to do a garden log entry, because I'm behind on that, too. I need to for my own records if nothing else. So here I sit doing it anyway. I'm just not going to be able to show you all the pictures that I'd like to.

Here's the garden view as I can see it from my rocking chair... where I spend most of my time, it seems, nursing the baby:

You can't see everything in the photo, but the more I work out there, the more it begins to look like a real garden. It's very exciting! And yes, I do get about 5 minutes at a time during the day to go out & work. Then I take David & Elizabeth with me out to the garden every evening that we can get Rebekah to sleep early. That doesn't happen every night, though.

Just a few of the highlights... The potatoes are growing so fast I can hardly keep up with covering them! The cage on the right (the red seed potatoes) is growing much faster than the other (organic potatoes from the store).

The raised bed in the foreground still has onions trying to make something of themselves, 2 tomatillo plants (replaced after the freeze), and pepper plants. I lost all of my jalapeno plants in the great raccoon raids of 2009, so I had to replace them also. Still hoping my pepper seedlings that I have left will kick into gear and become plants large enough to produce. They're incredibly slow growing and still measure just a few inches tall.

The raised bed in the background has tomato plants that seem to be doing well... after I had to replace all but one of them. My lovely heirlooms - all but one froze. They've been replaced by Roma, Sweet 100 Cherry, Celebrity, Yellow Pear. I still have 2 tomato plants in the "nursery" recovering from the raccoon attack.

I'm trying a cattle panel support system for the tomatoes, as described in last month's Texas Gardener magazine. I love that magazine. I've also got an arch made out of cattle panels coming off the other side of raised bed 2 and hope these Lazy Housewife pole beans will fill it in! Another first time to plant for me - pole beans.

David and Elizabeth already enjoy playing under the arch. I think they'll enjoy it even more as the vines fill in.

Not pictured, we also have Butternut and Spaghetti Squash sprouting, burpless cucumbers and sunflowers. The horseradish has really taken off since the little sprout I showed a few weeks ago

and the Rainbow Swiss chard looks ready to me. I love the beautiful colors.

I have been enjoying salads and sandwiches with fresh lettuce for about 2 weeks now. Hopefully I'll have enough to take a small bunch of lettuce to the Mother's Day cookout at Grana's. I wonder how the chard would be on hamburgers?

Not much blooming now... that will be resolved in future years. I need blooming plants around me. Last week the petunias looked pretty good.

This week, my one remaining rose is blooming.

I planted some zinnia seeds that a neighbor shared with us & they've started sprouting, so we'll have some blooms later in the summer at least.

Rebekah's First Coffee

Good morning, Girls! I'd like to introduce you to the newest Company Girl...

Rebekah Leigh
Born Tuesday, April 7, 2009
1:03 p.m.
Weighing 7 lbs, 13.6 oz
Measuring 20.5" long

Spring, Coffee, Seeds

Let's see how many things I can cover in one post! HA!

First, welcome on in, Company Girls! The kettle is whistling... I've got instant decaff with Splenda and Half & Half so the baby won't freak out.

Next I'll do my garden log and review for The Growing Challenge: From Seed to Seed.

And this week's You Capture photo challenge is Spring. I thought my garden log would provide some appropriate photos for the challenge. It was fun thinking of both of these challenges as I photographed my plants this week!

We had the open house last Saturday, along with a baby shower! Everything went wonderfully. We enjoyed sharing the day with friends, family, and neighbors, and were showered with wonderful gifts for the coming baby. I posted a Virtual Open House and baby shower.

We had a frost last weekend. : ( I did cover my tomatoes, but it was so windy that the cover of Raised Bed #1 blew off. The Roma, which had suffered some stem damage from an insect earlier this week looked like a goner. The Mariglobe tomatoes got frostbite. The tomatillos' & onions' stems were broken by the flapping cover. I cried. Raised Bed #2 was fine.

The next night, another frost. Dad put out the covers for me because I wasn't feeling well. The tomatoes (Roma & Mariglobe) & tomatillos in Bed 1 appear to be gone. Also covered, Raised Bed #2 got frostbite as well. Both Wild Cherry tomatoes look completely dead. The Mortgage Lifter lost some leaves, but I think it will be ok. I still can't tell about the Yellow Pear (that's it in the photo).

Meanwhile, 3 yellow tomatoes planted in troughs at the back of the house were fine, uncovered. Those are the ones I got for free. Go figure. I think the house blocking the north wind helped.

Other bad news - the peppers that were transplanted into the garden? Too early. This truly is a learning experience! Luckily I had a lot of pepper seedlings. Here are some of the ones that are left:
I thought their leaves were having some kind of problem, but it turns out that those first leaves that appeared when they first sprout are starting to fall off, just leaving the true leaves behind. That makes the plants suddenly look smaller again! This one below is a firecracker pepper, which will be a pretty plant, so I put it in a pretty pot.

And of all the seeds that I had great success germinating, I'm having more trouble keeping them alive & transplanting them. I have moments of thinking, "Next year, I'm just buying plants," followed a little later by feelings of "I can do this!" Dad has a greenhouse that's not put together right now & even he mentioned using part of it for vegetable starting in the future. Maybe that would help. I think part of my problem now is that they dry out so fast on the porch with the wind we've been having.

And now, something has been digging little holes into the dirt in my pots (seedlings and larger pots!) on the porch at night!!!! Apparently this cat is not doing his job defending my plants at night! It's not him, because his paws would leave a bigger hole. Could it be a mouse? or some type of insect?

Now, some better garden news...

The carrot seeds that I replanted after David dug them up the first time are sprouting. I have no idea when I need to thin them. I don't think we'll be getting a lot of carrots out of this one pot, but it's still fun to see them grow. Elizabeth loves carrots, too. We'll enjoy whatever we get.

The lettuce garden on the back porch is still growing well. All the seeds came up around the edges of the pots. I wonder if maybe the seeds floated to the sides when I watered them in? I ate one of the tiny leaves Thursday evening. It was good!

A couple of bunches of Swiss Chard are still looking good. They've enjoyed the recent rain.

That's all the seeds. The potatoes also got frostbite last weekend, but they look like they'll come back. Onions are still growing well in the raised beds & troughs. I was tempted to pull one of Grandpa's the other day...

Dad will be excited to see this one (he's been at work) - the horseradish root I planted for him has sprouted!


Now on to the flowers! We don't really have much blooming this week. But we were given this beautiful geranium at the open house by one of our neighbors. The color is amazing and the plant is huge! This photo has not been edited at all!

I had purchased a 6-pack of petunias a few weeks ago & put those in little pots on the front porch to welcome our guests. I lucked out with a pack that was all different colors. (perhaps you've noticed I like things colorful around here) We had white, bright pink, red, deep purple, pale pink and one hasn't bloomed yet.

I think this is a claret cup cactus that we moved here with us from West Texas. The blooms were just starting to open.


I can't remember which post she commented on, but my bloggy friend Heather @ Not a DIY Life asked if the kids garden with me. (Her Ladybug is a few months younger than my Ladybug.) They love being outside with me and I do have some kids gardening tools.

David has a kid-size hoe and I've taught him that we want grass in the back yard, but not in the garden... and that we want sunflowers in the garden but not in the back yard! So far, he's done pretty good attacking the right thing in the right place. And when I say "attacking" that's really what it looks like. We've worked on controlling the hoe to actually hoe a weed, but when left on his own, he just attacks the plant (or the ground), leaves it maimed, and moves on to the next one.

I do most of my potting on the back porch. I have a big flat bucket thing that I set pots in while I'm working & it contains the potting soil mess. Elizabeth has a little hand rake and likes to scrape in the dirt in my work area. She also likes to fill little pots with dirt, pour it out, and do it again.

I use a watering can to water my seedlings & pots and MawMaw gave Elizabeth a little watering can at our first baby shower, so she also enjoys watering things. I don't want her watering the seedlings, so I usually ask her to water the flowers. She gets so proud that she's able to help, proclaiming, "I helpin'! I water flowers!"

As I forked some hay/compost into my potato cages this week, Elizabeth also threw in handfuls of dirt. I usually don't mind most of their help as long as they're not adding rocks or moving rocks from where I want them. We have a big pile of dirt that usually gets their attention that they dig & play in, also.

As they get older and continue to be outside with me and Dad, I'm sure teaching them about the plants and how to take care of them will just come naturally. It's all a learning opportunity. David understands about compost, recycling and how earth worms help the soil. And of course, they know that ladybugs are the good guys, so don't squeeze them! Dad is also looking forward to the day when David will be old enough to teach about lawn mowing!