In spring we started with the most beautiful garden we have had in many years. Rodger worked hard to keep it plowed and the weeds chopped out. Gosh we had nice healthy plants, weed free, nice color and all was great, till the rain started. Then it was all down hill from there. We probably had 150 tomato plants and didn't harvest a 2 gallon bucket full total. Jason had planted some orange "dads sunset" tomatoes at his house to save the seeds, 6 plants total and we harvested nearly 2 bushels off just those plants. Too much rain got disease started in the garden and blight got the whole thing. I only canned about 4 cannings of green beans, dug about 4 bushels of Yukon gold potatoes, and barely 1 1/2 bushels of sweet potatoes. Carrots were nothing to write home about, peppers were sure not much. But I reckon we will still eat regular. Thank God we canned and froze lots last year and should be OK till the next season produces. Then we start all over again with high hopes.
In June Jason and I went to Arizona to see Rob, Amoy and the babies. As usual we drove. Sure enjoyed spending time with them. Nothing like those grand babies. and gosh are they ever growing.
Rodger and I drove to Arizona again in early October to see the kids and to get away for a break. We also had a good trip. Of course Rodger got to enjoy the grand babies too. He had not seen Zach since he was 4 days old. We had a family outing to the zoo while we were there. Liam sure enjoyed it and all the animals and birds. Actually that was my first ever trip to a zoo. It was a nice day to go, not too hot. Its always better to see those things with little ones as you can see things thru their eyes and see them experience sights they will remember for a long time. (I would post pictures but I think they are all still on my phone) Dang I am slacking.
We did get to help Rob and Amoy with some home improvement projects too while we visited. Rodger and Rob got a garden bed built so they can raise a few veggies and some herbs to have fresh stuff from their own garden. I helped Amoy make a padded head board for their master bedroom. It turned out really nice. We left to head home and planned to drive around 10 to 12 hours a day, no more than that. Long days sitting in the car is sure hard on the old body. We got to do some sight seeing and shopped a bit on the way home. At least we didn't get stranded in an ice storm like we did coming home in January. I never want to do another one of those events. Too old to sleep in the car on the road side.
We had to dig sweet potatoes the day after we got home from our trip cause they had forecast frost. They would have been no good at all if they had gotten frosted on. Just this past week I finally did get those canned. I didn't think they would have stored well as much rain as we had. So to preserve them I opted to just can all of em. Worked my azz off. It takes a long time to scrub and cut nearly 2 bushels of sweet potatoes and get them into jars. Then process for 95 minutes in the pressure canner. I did 3 cannings, total 42 quarts. Talk about a long day. Then spent the next day while it was raining inside the house, cleaning windows, and shampooed carpet. What the hell was I thinking? Too much for me in 2 days. So then had to take a couple days off to recover. Now I hope to get the ceiling painted in the living room this weekend. And the walls, if my body holds up that long. Then crash for a couple more days. It is supposed to be a bit cold this weekend with rain. Good days to just stay inside.
I am gonna make a diligent effort to keep posting here and not let many months slip by again. But I guess that is part of blogging, it comes in spurts. Or maybe I procrastinate too much. Naw, not me.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.
Stella
