Tomatoes, Baked; Not Stuffed!

I started all my tomatoes from wonderful seeds, had the best starts to put out EVER in my history as a gardener (35 years). They went out under the tomato pavillion I've written about in previous blogs. We had very warm weather for several days during which I FORGOT to open the ends for ventalation. I was too busy with the finishing days of homeschooling. The poor, pitiful plants got seriously baked. My precious son, when I showed him, is the one who humorously told me they should be stuffed before baking; bless his pointed head! Below, you see the effects of the baking.

Three of my starts wouldn't fit in the pavillions, so they got placed in 'walls o' water' containers. Mercy! I have three pretty good looking plants, but even they are stunted by the cool, wet weather.
My real beauties, the squashes, which I blogged before quite proudly for their progress and flowering aren't in great shape either, as you can see that the cool, wet weather has done them wrong too.

Fortunately it IS pea and lettuce weather. You can see the weedy pathway. Due to excess water run-off from the beds it is too wet for me to get out there to pull them. They are mostly wheat, and easily pulled up at any time, but it is my worst looking garden in the history of my time as a gardener. Connie has asked for this blog. Now you know why I've been reluctant to create it.

One good-looking squash below is from seed Connie gave me from her dad. It is fairly wimpy looking too, in my estimation.

There you have it Connie. Save yourself a trip up here. There is nothing much to observe, unless you are into nasty gardens!

My Great-Grand Cutie

On my road trip west I had the GREAT pleasure of meeting my Great-Grandson! Below is Cameron Cole True.

He has eyelashes as long as spaghetti noodles, and his mother tells us all that he is a very good baby who sleeps when he is supposed to, eats well, laughs and smiles. I saw all of that and more.

I wish I could be as happy with my garden. The cool weather and endless rain have stunted the tomatoes and squashes. The slugs are abundantly feeding on what does grow. The peas and lettuce are fine, but they always are. I'll post some pictures of them tomorrow.

Filled Up

When my son and grandson visited just after school was out time stood still. They are a delight to me, and it was fulfilling to watch them interact with cousins/siblings. There was a marshmallow roasting contest, a four-wheeler race, eat fests, and time to look at and enjoy small children discovering caterpillars crawling on the forest floor. When they whisked themselves off for Kelly's new job at Coke I got 'down' with dear ones and a big painting project. The pictures below do not do justice to the green on the right or the Italian texture on the red wall. I love it!

As soon as the painting was finished I packed up for a trip west to see my son's family, my daughter's family (minus the hubby in Iraq), my sister, brother and mother. Whew! It was a whirlwind of travel in Oregon and Washington. Below is Isabella helping me pack the car when I left to return. Don't you love how little girls will dress themselves up. She wanted to wear her Barbie heels to shop with me, and she did; but I don't know how she remained upright.

This is the view from my son's home in The Dalles, Oregon where we watched a pirate ship (used in the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean) go through the locks at the dam. As it docked at the marina, we drove down to look closely, question the crew, and marvel at the smallness of the ship. It is a replica of one used for early exploration of the Pacific Northwest. When you click on the picture you can get a better view of the ship itself.

On returning home I brought along three of my grandchildren for a week's visit. Oh, my, what a passel of fun they were. Two girls and one boy livened up the house, meal-time, and daily activity level. When we returned them half-way, in Walla Walla, Jay's daughter Lovella and grandchildren accompanied us because the kids loved each other's company so much. Evan was devastated when we had to turn around to come home. He was tired of riding a long way, he was missing the kids, and told us sadly and sweetly he'd " being needing a puppy."

I had bought river shoes on sale for the grand kids because it is hard to explore rushing creeks in flip-flops. The shoe store in town had a sale, so I bought three pair. On our first outing to the Snake River, Brianna (above) lost one. I was so disappointed! So I prayed that when we returned the next day the Lord would reveal it to us. He did!! Orion was feeling on the bottom for rocks and came up with the shoe and a big smile. I gave him $5 for that treasure. He bought himself a meal at MacDonald's.

Which reminds me: While at Kelly's I was awarded the pleasure of taking Marcus on a trip by himself to visit some old school-teaching buddies in Wasco. On returning, and hungry he saw a MacDonald's out the car window. His response was to suck in a big breath and announce, "Look what I found, Grandma, a MacDonald's!" It was so cute that I stopped for an ice cream cone.

I'm not going anywhere in the very near future, but will get on with painting more of the house. My studio is the exception when it comes to vibrant colors. The upstairs will be serene shades of blue.