Friday Night Leftovers

• While I can hardly believe that July is nearly over, part of me wants September to hurry up and get here. My boys are fighting more than they are getting along and I think part of it has to do with the lack of structure and regular activities such as school for Luca. We're trying to keep busy to keep fighting at a minimum, but I swear some mornings they come out of their rooms fists swinging.

• Last weekend we went to Banff for the day, just the 4 of us. We love that we live a short drive from such beauty and try to take advantage as often as we can.  We went on a beautiful hike at Lake Minnewanka, the boys loved throwing rocks into the water (what is it with kids and rocks?!), we had a great supper in Banff and of course, got treats from the Fudgery and Welch's candy store. On the news last night, I heard that there is now a 4 person minimum group for hiking and you must carry bear spray with you to hike Lake Minnewanka because a mother bear and her 2 cubs were spotted near the trail at the water's edge just this week. Kinda scary to think that were were there just a few days prior to those bears being spotted and we could have crossed paths. Yikes!

• I'm halfway through my summer births. I've got 4 more to go before I take a little break from mid- September to mid- October and then I have 6 more before the end of November. I'm not taking any clients in December and am hoping that this trend continues in the new year!  It is so exciting and rewarding to finally see my business picking up, but part of me is waiting for the disappointment that I experienced earlier in the year to strike again when it seemed I couldn't get clients.  I am hoping to be busy enough throughout the winter and Spring that I can take one month off next summer to enjoy with my family without listening for the phone to ring.  But for now, I'm just thankful for the business I do have and am loving each and every family that I get to know and work with!

• Remember those white rocks that have been waiting and waiting to be dug out of my new garden?  My wonderful, fantastic, gracious husband worked very hard to dig them all out last weekend and hauled them away. I'd say I helped, but that would be a bald faced lie. I actually sat in a chair with a book, a few feet away. Hee hee. Thanks, my love! But I am so thankful and am just waiting to get some soil now!  I probably won't plant much until I can put fall bulbs in, but I may look for a few small perrenials to put in right away to give it some life.

• For the most part, we have had a wonderful summer, weather wise. We haven't had the rain that has been plaguing Central Alberta and we haven't had the heat that has been scorching other areas of Canada.  On average, the temperature has been in the mid-20s and we have enjoyed many mornings in the back yard with the sprinkler under the trampoline or visits to our wonderful splash park.

• I am getting serious about losing some of this extra padding that I've been carrying around since Levi was born. I'm more conscious of my portion sizes and am seriously cutting back on junk food (if you know me, you know this is a BIG deal) and running every other evening.  I got the "couch to 5k" app for my phone and have been using that and finding it to be a really easy program to follow and feel successful at.  I'm looking forward to a change in my body and more confidence about how my clothes fit.

Gardening....a few weeks later

Scroll down to the last post for comparison pictures. These ones were taken earlier this week.

Remember those cute little baby veggies that were just starting to look like something? Here's that garden now!
My Spinach bolted (went to seed) faster than I could eat it. It seemed like one day it was too small and the next, had shoots sprouting from the middle. Oh well, live and learn. I think I have time to grow another row or two, so I'll just pull the current stuff out and start again. After doing some research at the University of Google, I learned that Spinach doesn't particularly like hot weather and will bolt. Not bolt like running away, but going to seed is actually called "bolting" (I learned that too!).
My lettuce is scrumptious but I fear it will start going bad before I can use it all too. :( If you want lettuce, let me know!
My onions have also started to seed but are still tasty and have made it into a few dishes. In hindsight, I may have planted more than needed, so there are onions available for the picking, too!
My carrots are still pretty tiny. It'll be a while before we can enjoy them. The beets are almost ready and I think that I could probably get some potatoes but I haven't checked yet. I think I'll let them keep growing a bit. My tomato plants are nice and big but no sign of fruit yet. If they do produce any, it will be my first successful tomato crop!

Remember when I said I had a bunch of ambition and decided to make a new garden? It went well while I was digging up the grass, and it continued to get larger and larger, but then when the hard work came (digging out the white rocks), I stalled out. So, this is where it sits now. Waiting for the white rocks to be taken out. Then we can put in soil and mulch and I can plant. At this rate, I'll be planting fall bulbs and hoping they come up in the Spring.
The edges of the garden got further out in the front and came down the sides. I had begun only planning to bring it out in the front (you can see this in the last post), but my shovel just got away from me!

Arent't those pots great? I went to a local Greenhouse and they had them on clearance for 75% off! They are tin and quite large. I paid $26 for the 3 of them! I think even after the soil, mulch and plants are in there I might just leave them to add some height and dimension among the trees. We'll see....

In the last post, there wasn't much to be seen in my Welcome basket as the seeds were just sprouting, but here are my Nasturtiums, growing!

I had ordered some bedding plants from our community's playschool fundraiser and was very disappointed when I received them. They were tiny, pitiful looking things that I didn't expect to amount to much, but to my surprise and delight, these Lobelia have filled out beautifully!

Looking at the house. Not all my flowers are visible.
Coming up the sidewalk to the door. My pots are filling out nicely. :)