August

Ahhh, August. I don't care for your weather as a whole. However, you do have a few redeeming qualities. One of which is vegetable-ility.

This is the second load from the garden in less than a week. That's WITHOUT productive squash vines, dead actually.

Another view, sans bag. Still not tired of it though, it has been a good veggie year.

With August also comes making room for fall-ish things. Not that we will be needing them anytime soon, but it's a frame of mind. So I went through D's stuff and was thrilled that this little sweater Emily made him last year still fits. It's one of the benefits of being in the 9th percentile (in height, not brilliance, obviously).

This has nothing to do with August, however. Ty wanted to show off Davis' skills, on the island. Ooh, such coordination. He doesn't do much "island walking" but he needed a distraction, Davis, not Ty, because he had just fallen and had a puffy lip.

Look real closely, his left(your right)top, see.... it's puffy.

Pictures

No real news or deep thoughts here, just a few new pics of Davis doing what Davis does..

Standing!

Trucks

Into EVERYTHING!

Remotes

Wiped out

The "worky" hammer. (See previous post.)

He's just too cute to not show you the everyday stuff!

Current

Davis has a couple of current favorites right now. He's a hands-on kind of guy so he loves this new workbench that Hanner and Pappy (Ty's parents) got him for his birthday. It just arrived on our front step. It's made in Germany and the box says it's a "Worky". Why do I think that's funny? As you can see, he is excited.

He immediately got down to business. Later he built me a bookshelf and a storage chest.

His other current fave is this push-wagon that he got for his birthday. I suggested to Grammy and Gwampa that maybe a push toy would help him learn to walk. As you can see here, he thinks he's pretty smart. Minor detail as to which side to be on. No, he really does push and walk with it, but he thinks this is great too. Obviously brilliant.

HOT

It has been, hot lately. Really hot. It looks like it's going to be hot for a while longer too. I really don't care for hot. So I decided to look back into my "files" and find some not so hot pictures to remember..

These were all taken at Thanksgiving 2007, on a trip to Montana... Davis was very small.

I think I was still sweating here, hard work will do that, even in the cold.

Ahh, the lovely falling snow... the need for gloves....

By the Yellowstone river behind my grandparents' house. Very windy that day, lots of bundling up. We could hardly see it was so cold.

Oh, yes, brrrr. I remember I could hardly wait to get back to the fire. I don't miss the frozen eyeballs. I don't miss the braces either.

I think I feel better now. Thank you for the brief interlude. Ok, off to the garden I go.

Finally!

The brick is complete! We have a few "adjustments" to make to the mortar (I am far too picky), but the install is done! Now if I could just get that grass to grow back.... rain that's it, we need rain. Rain and some new sod pieces!

Brick...

Quick brick update:

It has taken a bit longer than thought originally. But that tends to be the way it is with construction. Anyway, here are a few pics.

Here Ty is talking shop with Gerardo, the brick/concrete guy. (Notice the shirt.) Ty likes to talk shop, but he really likes to talk Mexico. He dreams of living there, by the ocean of course, and eating lots of burritos, really.

This is the finished stoop. We will be adding a roof and columns at some point. The walkway is all that remains, that's what's taking a while...

Davis has been in his "corner" a lot lately looking outside at the work. Here he takes a break for snacks.

LOVES the water too, that's great!

Random updates

Ok, first thing's first..

Here is my indian chicken stuff from my pressure cooker. I have to admit, it looks a bit blah, but really it was fairly spicy and quite flavorful. Problem is, I have mad WAY too many indian-ish things lately and I think I am tired of it. I made some barley as well to serve it with.

Aside from all of that, I really liked the pressure cooker. The chicken was done in 9 minutes and the barley, which was unsoaked, cooked in 15 min. So a success as far as I'm concerned, I think I'll just try food from a different country.

Next...

Completely random, I love this china. In all fairness, I saw on Pioneer Woman's blog today that she was giving some away, but I didn't enter. It just reminded me of how completely awesome this pattern is (it's "Chirp" by Lenox, that in itself makes me want it) and also how I would have WAY too much china if I had spare $$. So rather than having it sit on in my cabinet, I'll just look at it here. Maybe I'll just get a mug, or a plate....

Next...

Brick update: The brick was delivered on Monday, in the grass. Please ignore the grass, it was pretty in May. That's what happens in the south, things are pretty in May, and then it doesn't rain for a few years, well weeks and then this happens. Avert your eyes.

So the brick was delivered and then, you'll never guess, it RAINED for 3 days. Of course! But today the guys came and started the work.

Just a little of it is up, but you can get the idea. And what a lovely concrete A/C pad that is!

Oh and here's my garden. I just planted some parsnip, green onion and kale seeds yesterday. I hope they liked the rain.

Also, notice the tent in the neighbor's yard... need I comment?