Have I mentioned we’ve been picking strawberries? It started out slow a couple weeks ago – a berry here or there. Then on the 15th we picked about a gallon of ripe berries and continued to pick at least a gallon every other day… until last Saturday.

The little extra heat with the rain we had late last week really pushed things along. We ended up picking just over 6 gallons of strawberries Saturday morning. Not shabby for an 8′ x 12′ patch.

How do you spend the rest of your day after picking that many berries? Cleaning them of course. The majority of the strawberries were cleaned and frozen, but we also filled the dehydrator with sliced strawberries.

After about 8 hours in the dehydrator, we were left with a quart bag full of dried strawberry slices. I don’t know what we’ll use them for – but I don’t think that will be an issue – they make a sweet snack on their own.

I keep a little list in the back of my mind of things that would be nice to have but I really don’t need enough to go out and get. Yes, obviously boys will always be boys and the list includes some far-fetched things like a small bulldozer for shaping up the waterways that drain through the pasture and leveling the yard, but it also includes some much more practical things that would just be handy to have – like a jointer and planer for some of the woodworking projects I have planned.

Last Friday morning while I was at work the DW sent me this pic:

A strong storm had blown through after I had left that morning and split out one of the old trees in front of the house. This finally meant I had enough of a reason to get one of the things off the list – a chainsaw. (You thought I was going to go for the bulldozer, didn’t you? Fun, but maybe a little overkill for this project.)

An experienced logger couldn’t have positioned the tree any better than the job the wind did. With everything that could have been hit, including the house, the tree didn’t touch a thing. It fell just far enough to the west that it missed the flowers and the 911 sign, and just far enough to the east that it missed the mailbox and traffic could still pass down the road.

We knew the tree was in pretty rough shape and had debated cutting it down earlier, but had no idea how bad it really was. The base of the tree was almost completely hollowed out.

Of course, the guard dog had to investigate… I can only imagine how many raccoons have lived in there over the years.

The half of the tree that’s still standing is even worse. This shot was taken at the base looking up. To give you an idea of the size of the tree, I could fit up the hollow trunk and out the hole on the top – that is if I had any desire to wedge myself inside a tree. It only confirms that the rest of the tree will need to come down soon as well.

It took a few hours Friday night, but with the new saw and a little help the tree was cut up and piled out of the way until it dries out enough to be burned.

I should get some marshmallows… that’s going to be one heck of a bonfire.

Summer is here and the kiddos wanted to remind you of a few basic summer safety tips…

Always wear plenty of sunscreen.

Hat and shades for even more protection from the sun.

Don’t forget the fluids… frozen fluids count, right?

With all the rain, finding time to work in the garden has been challenging. At this point, we’re to the point that almost everything is planted – at least for the first round. I still have room for eight or twelve more rows of something. Here’s a quick list of what’s growing this year:

Beets
Blackberries (One wild and one domesticated variety)
Blueberries
Broccoli
Butternut Squash
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Cucumbers
Dry Beans
Dry Onions (Red, Yellow, and White)
Eggplant
Green Beans
Green Onions
Green Peppers
Lettuce (Head and Leaf)
Ornamental Corn
Peas
Potatoes (Norland, Pontiac, Yukon Gold, Kennebec, and Russets)
Pumpkins (Connecticut Field, Big Max, and Musquee de Provence)
Raspberries (Black, Red, and Yellow)
Spinach
Strawberries
Summer Squash
Tomatoes (Super Sauce)
Watermellon
Zucchini

I think that covers all of it. Most of the berry plants were planted this spring with the exception of the red raspberries and strawberries. So, while there will be plenty of red raspberries and strawberries to pick this year, we’ll have to wait another year or two to enjoy the other berry plants.

Don’t look too close… you’ll see all the weeds.

The oldest of four different starts of broccoli.

Peas

Peanut’s favorite – green beans!

We picked the first strawberries last night.

Lots of potatoes.

At the tail end of a post last week I included this picture…

The glass on the right is a glass of water… so is the glass on the left… straight from the tap.

To make a very long story somewhat shorter, early last week our well water became noticeably cloudy (the picture was taken at its very worst as we were trying to “flush” the well clean). As we continued to investigate and correct the issue, the DW and I have learned that the new well that was installed a few months before we purchased the property was installed with a cost over quality approach. Now I’m all for saving a buck or two when the opportunity presents itself, but this went so far that it was against the advice of the well drilling company and they disclaimed any warranty on the well (which would have included a 10 year guarantee on the water quality).

What we got was a new well in an aquifer with known contamination issues that finally presented itself last week. The well had passed previous water quality tests, so it’s likely the extremely heavy rains in the area over the last couple weeks opened a sink hole and allowed contaminated surface water to reach our well through the aquifer. Needless to say, the DW and I are now carting around laundry baskets and water bottles like college freshmen while we try to put a temporary fix in place for water clean enough for the basics (shower and laundry) and line up a new well. In the meantime, everybody drinks bottled water and we switched over to all paper/plastic table settings since it’s easier than hauling in water to clean dishes.

So, stay tuned… the old house with a new well is going to become an old house with an even newer well.

Peanut returned to the UIHC during the last week of May for another scheduled checkup. The day was scheduled full for Peanut. She started the morning with a swallow study in Peds Radiology and then it was off to the Specialty Clinic for a blood draw in hopes the results would be back before the afternoon appointment with her GI doctor – all while trying to keep her on her eating schedule.

Peanut has been having trouble occasionally with some of her food, so her doctor wanted to conduct a swallow study to see how Peanut was handling her food as she swallowed it. For those of you who have never seen a swallow study, Peanut was strapped into a highchair and a X-Ray machine was focused in on her mouth and neck areas. She was then fed a series of solutions that got progressively thicker as a Speech Pathologist watched her swallow on the screen connected to the X-Ray. (The rest of us watched on another screen in the next room.)

A Pic of the XRay Screen (I added the text)

The DW was able to grab a still shot of the screen with her phone. Once you realize where the spine is, it’s easy to make out Peanut’s mouth. It didn’t take long for the Speech Pathologist to decide that Peanut was handling her food appropriately for her age and any issues she may be having should resolve on their own in time.

The rest of the day – with the exception of the blood draw – was uneventful. Unfortunately, it took 4 sticks over the course of 90 minutes to hit a vein that would provide the blood needed for the various tests. After that, Peanut was exhausted.

Peanut Catching a Quick Nap

So while Peanut snoozed in the stroller, we grabbed some lunch from the cafeteria and took it to Lulu’s favorite spot in the hospital while we waited for Peanut’s next appointment.

Enjoying A Quick Lunch

Lulu “Hiding”

The Dear Wife, Lulu, and an actual (plastic) deer

It’s starting to sound like a broken record (and we won’t complain a bit), but again the doctors were pleased with Peanut’s continued progress. She now weighs over 16 pounds and is showing proper developmental skills for her age. She’s to continue with her green bean shake regimen, though we’ve upped the volume to 110 ml – or just over 4 ounces – every three hours. (We continue to skip the 1 AM feeding.) We’re also starting to introduce more new solids, specifically meat and veggie combinations – Peanut’s food options are starting to expand and she’s starting to pick favorites. Finally, there is also some discussion of adjusting some of Peanut’s medications based on her next series of bloods tests later this month. It is likely we’ll be able to discontinue one of her meds, while the dose of another will need to increased as she’s outgrowing its effectiveness at the current dosage.

I don’t think she misses a thing.

OK… let’s see… the DW and I have slightly disappeared the last couple weeks. Just to dispel any rumors, we’re still here. We haven’t joined on as roadies for Sesame Street Live or hooked up with a traveling circus as the resident clown family in training… though the later might by fun for a few years.

So what have we been up to? Well, let’s see…

We were back at the UIHC with Peanut for a check up…

We got lost in the garden when it was sunny…

Then while it was raining we got a crazy idea and tore apart the kitchen…

And then we got lost in the garden again…

Of course we played…

And rested…

And then there was this little incident…

The glass on the right is three-quarters full of water. Care to guess what’s in the glass on the left?

I guess this means there’s plenty of stories for next week…

The challenge of “two people 10 hours to assemble” the swing set didn’t turn out to be much of a challenge.

Thirty Minutes In

After logging about four and a half hours between Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights the first week we brought it home Lulu and I had the swing set about 90% complete.

Almost Five Hours In

It only took another 90 minutes last weekend and things were wrapped up. Not shabby if you consider one of our “two people” was three years old and scared of any tool that makes a sound louder than a ratchet. Plus, once I was far enough along to hang one of the swings I was basically on my own.

6 Hours – Finished!

The middle spot is reserved for Peanut’s swing. It just needs a few adjustments and it will be set to go as well.

Whatever it takes to get them into books early…

I just hope she doesn’t think she’s picking out a premature birthday gift…

Who could say no to that face?

Not much has been said about the garden yet this year other than way back in February when all the seeds were ordered. A lot has happened since than…

Back in March, the tomatoes, eggplant, and green peppers were started in the kitchen window. We hadn’t started seeds indoors before, so we went with the “more is better” approach – and planted more than enough seeds to compensate for the ones that don’t germinate and the ones that die before they make it to the garden. The result? Almost everything came up and now there are roughly 20 pepper plants, a dozen eggplants, and 18 tomato plants that have been planted in the garden.

Lulu helping plant tomatoes.

Some of the head lettuce and broccoli were also started inside around the first of April. They were moved outside on April 28th… the day before a hail storm. What were the odds? Luckily, we only lost one lettuce plant and one broccoli plant. The rest were pretty beat up, but came back nicely.

Young head lettuce

A recent broccoli transplant.

Most of the early seeds that were planted haven’t done much yet, though the peas are starting to take off.

Pea plants just getting started.

The raspberry and strawberry patches were established last year shortly before everything dried up so there was a little concern over how things would come back this year. It doesn’t seem to be much of an issue. All of the raspberries canes are showing life and there’s hundreds of new shoots.

Raspberries

The strawberries also came back strong and have started to bloom.

The strawberry patch

You can tell it’s early in the gardening season by the fact that there’s all kinds of enthusiastic help. Peanut is all eyes and simply loves to watch, though occasionally it sounds like she’s barking out orders. The rest of the kiddos are more hands on and end up head to toe in dirt and dust by the end of most evenings.

Plenty of help

The other night, Potato Boy and Lulu even had there own “heave-ho” chant going while they were racking together.

Teamwork

We’ll see if everyone is singing the same tune once late July rolls around.