Dog Days Scenes

Hot and dry are the words of this week, and will probably continue for awhile. I have visions of last year's terrible drought returning, honestly, so I have resigned myself to water-saving measures, in addition to more intensive watering of the gardens. The lettuce came out this week--it tasted horrible, thought it was very pretty.  The radishes came out, too.  I covered the empty spaces in grass clippings to have less moisture escaping the raised beds. 

We picked some of the bigger beets, along with a few accidental carrots. They're looking good, too.   The October beans are starting to take on their speckled pods, having masqueraded for awhile as regular green beans.  I got a little irrational, I'll admit, at the idea of three big rows of green beans.  I picked, snapped, and canned so many as a child that I shudder at the thought of growing my own!

The blackberries are coming in, little by little. The wild ones, as these are, are small, but we are enjoying them with generous sweetening. The thornless cultivated variety we have so much of are just starting to turn. Ones that look ripe must often be given a test pull to see if they are really ready to come off the vine. The longer they wait, the better.

This little person laid down and went to sleep on her own yesterday afternoon.  The scene was so sweet, I couldn't let it pass without a photo.  I guess she was playing with the rotating postcard and just drifted off.  The little quilt was my mother's baby quilt.  Laurel very much loves her very own tiny bed.

Each child has a guardian angel picture by their bed and this is Laurel's. It could never stay on the wall, but happily sits on her little bedside table. Willow lost a tooth just before bed. She said it was very loose and let me check. It came out with no effort at all!

Another hot day ahead--we're going to Laurel Bed Lake for nature school.  I know those waters will still have a chill!