We had a really laid back morning today, the kind of Sunday morning that Matthew is always hoping for but that we are usually too busy to do. The kids had stayed up late the previous night - they are really into X-men and wanted to stay up and watch #2. They had watched #1 the week before, and the week before that Killian stayed up with Matthew and I and watched the leaked version of X-Men Wolverine (its good....cant wait to rent the real version with all the special effects). Anyways, so because they had stayed up late we had one of those rare mornings where Rowan slept in....until 9am! Still early, but it sure beats the 7am wake up time on Saturday morning. We rolled out of bed, and had muffins for breakfast. While Matthew and I drank coffee and read the paper, the kids played Lego's in Rowans room. No fighting...it was a very good morning indeed. Later we all ended up in our room, snuggling in bed and then watching the kids as they had a costume parade. I only got one picture taken - its of Rowan dressed up in Killian's Indiana Jones (or Indianee as Rowan calls him) Halloween costume:
She was really loving playing dress up with Killian and they kept it up for quite a while. We all snuggled and joked some more, and that's when Matthew made the comment that this is what Sundays were supposed to be like. And I thought....he's right! We should really take more time to just snuggle and joke and hang out, instead of rushing to get stuff done on the weekends. The weekends are for enjoyment after all!
We did have a list of things to get done today, but in the spirit of a relaxing day, we didn't do anything but work in the garden. Which is still "work" but doesn't feel like it. We weeded, planted more corn, radishes and carrots, and tried to transplant some of the extra broccoli, cauliflower and romanescos, but I don't think its going to work. The transplanted ones are looking wilted and weak. At least the original plants will have more room and hopefully produce better now that they aren't being crowded out. We got a lot done, its amazing how much the garden changes week to week. The first batch of radishes are almost ready, and I noticed a green cherry tomato on one of the plants. The peas are getting tall, and the corn is growing like crazy. It will have to be thinned soon too...that's one of the hardest parts of gardening is ripping out perfectly good plants. But I know it needs to be done to keep everything as healthy and disease free as possible.
Oh, and I saw a couple cherries on the cherry tree that are starting to get a red hue to them! Pretty soon we will be up to our eyeballs in cherries...if the birds don't get them first! Dave and Aimee were over this weekend for a BBQ, and Dave suggested getting an fake owl to put on the fence to deter the birds. Its a good idea and I think I will look into finding one, as well as getting up on a ladder next weekend to hang some bird tape. Its a shiny red and white tape, supposedly those colors signal danger to birds, so I figured its worth a shot. I remember last year at Donnas that the cherries were there one day, and gone the next....the birds ate them before she could even get one off the tree! I don't know what we will do with a full harvest of cherries, I supposed I should look into canning some for cherry pie...Matthew would love that!
Speaking of fruit harvesting, strawberry season is coming up next week! I cant believe its here already, its the kick off of summer for us, and the start of the yummy berry season. The other day I told Killian it was coming up, and he said that besides Christmas, his birthday and Valentines day, that strawberry picking was the one thing that he looked forward too all year! I look forward to it too, but its a long day when we spend the morning/afternoon picking the berries, bring them home to wash and hull, and then mash and cook them for jam. It really is an all day project, and with the amount of jam that we go through, and the amount that I am hoping to preserve, I think I am going to need to split it up a little. So my plan is to go once a week during the season (usually 3-4 weeks) and make smaller batches of jam so that its not so overwhelming. I will also save some strawberries to freeze, and of course, I will be making lots of strawberry desserts the next couple of weeks. I am really excited to have our new kitchen to work in this year, with the long island its really perfect for canning, with lots of space for all the supplies. Its perfect!
I have a lot of other stuff I want to be blogging about, things we are doing, planning on doing, and also some educational type links - stuff that I have been learning and reading lately that I would like to share. But I just cant find the time, it seems like we are so busy already this month with only a few days on the calendar that aren't already spoken for. And Killian gets out of school in a week and a half, so there will be even less computer time then. But...I am loving it all. Its so nice to have fun stuff planned with our friends, the (mostly) sunny weather we have been having is uplifting, and we have a lot to look forward too on our calendar. So, I will blog when I can, and be busy living life when I cant!
She was really loving playing dress up with Killian and they kept it up for quite a while. We all snuggled and joked some more, and that's when Matthew made the comment that this is what Sundays were supposed to be like. And I thought....he's right! We should really take more time to just snuggle and joke and hang out, instead of rushing to get stuff done on the weekends. The weekends are for enjoyment after all!
We did have a list of things to get done today, but in the spirit of a relaxing day, we didn't do anything but work in the garden. Which is still "work" but doesn't feel like it. We weeded, planted more corn, radishes and carrots, and tried to transplant some of the extra broccoli, cauliflower and romanescos, but I don't think its going to work. The transplanted ones are looking wilted and weak. At least the original plants will have more room and hopefully produce better now that they aren't being crowded out. We got a lot done, its amazing how much the garden changes week to week. The first batch of radishes are almost ready, and I noticed a green cherry tomato on one of the plants. The peas are getting tall, and the corn is growing like crazy. It will have to be thinned soon too...that's one of the hardest parts of gardening is ripping out perfectly good plants. But I know it needs to be done to keep everything as healthy and disease free as possible.
Oh, and I saw a couple cherries on the cherry tree that are starting to get a red hue to them! Pretty soon we will be up to our eyeballs in cherries...if the birds don't get them first! Dave and Aimee were over this weekend for a BBQ, and Dave suggested getting an fake owl to put on the fence to deter the birds. Its a good idea and I think I will look into finding one, as well as getting up on a ladder next weekend to hang some bird tape. Its a shiny red and white tape, supposedly those colors signal danger to birds, so I figured its worth a shot. I remember last year at Donnas that the cherries were there one day, and gone the next....the birds ate them before she could even get one off the tree! I don't know what we will do with a full harvest of cherries, I supposed I should look into canning some for cherry pie...Matthew would love that!
Speaking of fruit harvesting, strawberry season is coming up next week! I cant believe its here already, its the kick off of summer for us, and the start of the yummy berry season. The other day I told Killian it was coming up, and he said that besides Christmas, his birthday and Valentines day, that strawberry picking was the one thing that he looked forward too all year! I look forward to it too, but its a long day when we spend the morning/afternoon picking the berries, bring them home to wash and hull, and then mash and cook them for jam. It really is an all day project, and with the amount of jam that we go through, and the amount that I am hoping to preserve, I think I am going to need to split it up a little. So my plan is to go once a week during the season (usually 3-4 weeks) and make smaller batches of jam so that its not so overwhelming. I will also save some strawberries to freeze, and of course, I will be making lots of strawberry desserts the next couple of weeks. I am really excited to have our new kitchen to work in this year, with the long island its really perfect for canning, with lots of space for all the supplies. Its perfect!
I have a lot of other stuff I want to be blogging about, things we are doing, planning on doing, and also some educational type links - stuff that I have been learning and reading lately that I would like to share. But I just cant find the time, it seems like we are so busy already this month with only a few days on the calendar that aren't already spoken for. And Killian gets out of school in a week and a half, so there will be even less computer time then. But...I am loving it all. Its so nice to have fun stuff planned with our friends, the (mostly) sunny weather we have been having is uplifting, and we have a lot to look forward too on our calendar. So, I will blog when I can, and be busy living life when I cant!