Greetings on this sunny, already very warm Sunday at 7 a.m. There’s an excessive heat warning for us for the next several days – nothing compared to Arizona or California, but us Washingtonian’s are not used to 90 degree heat – unless of course you are talking about the middle of August, then yes, it’s expected! Last summer we touched the low 100’s, so I’m not sure what the big deal is about 90’s.

I wanted to take a quick moment to touch base about the garden, the not failed FLOWER garden that is. I’m so very thankful that I did not indeed pull out the Snap Dragons or the Godetias. They both turned out to be amazingly beautiful, as did – almost – everything else. Every year I fret and cry over the dang garden, and every year it turns out that there was indeed no need to be so dramatic about it – perhaps there will be less drama next year….?

I’ve picked several buckets full of flowers for many large bouquets, even sold two buckets to a neighbor for a small wedding she was having in her yard. I’ve picked some to dry already, and have loads more for the rest of the summer.

The things that actually pulled through:

• Bells of Ireland
• Zinnias
• Snap Dragons
• Golden Amaranth
• Asters
• Godetias
• Frosted Explosion
• Strawflowers

Things that struggled:

• Ruby Amaranth (which is weird because this is unusually very hardy here)
• Blue Monday Sage Salvia (which has been a hit and miss here since the first year of doing so well)
• Pride of Gibraltar (again a bit weird because it really likes it here, there’s several from just reseeding)
• Green Jewel Amaranth (not so strange I can’t ever seem to get it to grow)

The food garden was a bit hit and miss also, but we used last years seeds that I purchased but didn’t put in, so it’s not a huge mystery why some things did ok, some things failed and some things did well.

Interestingly enough, the pumpkins are doing very well this year, I’m thinking it was the warm weather early on that helped those out a bit. Lots of white pumpkins this year, the kids will be happy, as am I!

We harvested loads of green beans yesterday, ended up with 17 quarts of them to store in the freezer for the winter. It will be nice to have squeaky beans in the dead of winter to remind us of our summer harvest.

My daughter and I picked blueberries at a local farm on Friday, ended up with 6 pints of blueberry jam. I have already stashed away 6 pints of raspberry jam from our own bushes this year, and processed a bucket full of transparent apples from our three year old tree for 6 pints of applesauce to stash away also, it was a fully loaded tree that was breaking limbs from being too heavy, thankful we could use some of the apples before they all went to waste. We still have several other apple trees in the old orchard, as well as four pear trees that have fruit for us to process this year also. Our three year old prune tree is giving us fruit for the first time this year, I’m hoping it doesn’t all fall off before we get to sample it!

The corn seems super happy, but we will see if it produces. The zucchini went nuts, a bit out of control really, but it usually does. We need to harvest a bunch, they are mostly the size of my calfs – which I must admit are rather beefy, so you can imagine that the zucchini is a bit wild!

The sugar snap peas failed – twice. Leeks, beets, carrots, and chard fully failed. Not sure if it was due to the early heat, late planting, old seed….or the combination of all of it. The good news is, we will be okay, but a little bummed that those crops failed. I’m not a fan at all of beets, but it would have been nice for Joe to at least have a few in his life since he’s been beetless for five or so years now – gasp – poor guy!

It’s been a busy summer – lots of adventures – big and small! A few visits with the grands to my moms to do crafts with Gigi. Planning on a trip to the fair, the movies, and a camping trip with the grands. Hopefully school clothes shopping this year, I failed in that department last year, so I’m hoping I can do better! We took some borrowed teenagers to Bonaparte National Forest this year again – our 4th year going, and have plans on many more to come! Several boat trips out to the lake to enjoy an easy day on the lake, swimming, resting and relaxing. A bit of clay here and there, hoping to do a bit more before school is back in session in less than 17 days ((sigh)).

On the clay side…..I purchased a spot and am paying a 30% commission for any sales, in a booth at the NW Washington Fair, interesting experience so far. I had things set up, where one of the main people told me to set up, only to find out later that all of that stuff was put on the bottom, in a corner where it is difficult to see unless you know I am there. Also, someone who sells rings in the booth, took not one but two of my dishes and filled them up to display her rings. I expressed my opinion of covering my designs to sell items that are not mine, to have the person say “just take the rings out, I’ll figure something out later”…..I’m not confused as to whether or not someone else would have been offended, I don’t regret having said anything. I’ve only sold four pieces so far in the 36 hours the booth has been open, but strangely, I’m not taking it as a reflection on me though, because I’ve sold much more in much less time, it just is what it is – the crowd it’s been attracting is looking for stickers, sweatshirts, hats, and other items – whose creators are well known and have put a lot of capital upfront. It was certainly a learning experience, a bit painful when it first started, but I’m sorting it out and things will be just fine. I have an event in November that I need to get busy creating items for, so I should be sign off and be gettin’ busy!

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit – have a wonderful week! Until next time – hugs to you!