changing chrysalis

I am sooo excited!!! She's changing!! I did get the garden time lapse camera and it's all ready to set up when the time is right!!! If I"m not here when I think she's close to emerging, then the camera will do the trick....If I am here, well my old faithful canon will capture every second. She changed so much since yesterday I'm sorry I didn't take a picture. From now on, I'm shooting an image a day. Enjoy Life!

Monarch cocoon

This is the most amazing little treat! Celia spotted this monarch cocoon on our front window. After researching I have found that Munster, IN is right on the Monarch butterfly migration path. They munch on milkweed, which the previous owners planted in our front flower garden (Thanks, Mark and Becky!!! I bet you did that on purpose, huh?)! The cocoon is clear but the color of the pupa is this gorgeous luscious green and the outside is adorned with lovely gold and black specks; the gold is so bright and so fabulous to find in nature!!! As the metamorphosis transpires before our eyes we will watch the pupa change from green to the noticeable Monarch coloring. The stage is 7-10 days and we are already seeing the wings inside. I swear I'm ordering a time lapse garden camera today so we won't miss the butterfly's awakening! If I'm lucky enough to find one online and get it going in time, I'll be certain to post it on here! Yay for mother nature!

Saturday evening

The sky was amazing! I couldn't resist snapping a couple images trying to capture the beautiful light. I feel so lucky that I get to enjoy this every single day. It makes me not want to leave! :)

Saturday, all day

We canned 10 quarts of tomatoes, one quart of pickled jalapenos, and one pint of tomato juice! Next, we are making pickles before these cucumbers around here take over our home!

for Mark and Becky

I'm throwing this pic into the mix simply because it's so funny!! I predict bread in this zucchini's future!!
The flower garden is such a joy! We added a couple of rocks, bird bath, and a hummingbird feeder, but no additional plants yet. I have some ideas for a couple of newbies, but don't worry I'm sticking to the blueprint!!







The grapes were quite successful, minus the japanese beetles! We were infested! Hopefully the milky spore will do its job and end the beetle madness! In my opinion, the white seedless were better tasting than the red. The skin wasn't as thick...maybe this was our fault as "farmers;" we are on a learning curve, you know!


The sunflowers are hanging their heads and our next chore is going to be saving the seeds and roasting them for trail mix snacks! I think we have 30 or so!! And some of them are super beasts!

The gooseberries were plentiful! We really didn't know much about them until we began researching harvest time, etc. We used some of the raspberries next to the sidewalk, the gooseberries, some cherries, and some fresh picked blueberries from Dan and Kelly (two doors down) and made two delicious cobblers. They were a bit tart, but yummo!

Three pears were on the pear tree...one fell off...we haven't eaten it yet, because it is hard as a rock!!

pumpkin?

This incredible garden of ours sure is full of surprises. I love the mystery of a volunteer plant, so I leave many of them to grow in the garden (much to John Paul's despise!). Therefore we have huge sunflowers that run the border of our garden (which consumes all of our back yard!), and sweet yellow tomatoes, bright red cherry tomatoes, kale, and now this...a pumpkin? I thought it was a squash or cucumber...but I am most certain I'm wrong about that. Hopefully we will be carving jack-o-lanterns in a couple of months!

First Day of Preschool

I just realized that I never posted photos of Celia's first Day of Preschool! She woke up at the crack of dawn Monday morning (August 22) rearing to go! She had a wonderful day even though I know she was terrified at first. She is so sweet and so brave, which is what broke my heart. She asked me to sit with her for a few minutes, then after she was introduced to her teacher she thanked me and said, "Goodbye, Mommy." I spent the next few hours wandering around Target and Marshall's like a zombie.