For as long as I can remember we've had a family joke of getting a pool. When we lived in PA, we had a 40 degree-all-year-long pond on our property, as well as a big pond our neighbors let us swim in, so we had no real need for a pool. When we moved to MO, we bought a property that has 2 ponds, but well....let's just say certain things such as mud, pond scum in mass quantities, slithering creatures, as well as a lack of rain, have transformed both those ponds into glorified mud puddles! Katherine, Mamma, and I have been after Papa to invest in a backyard pool, so finally....WE HAVE A POOL!!!!! We haven't set it up yet, but we still have a POOL!!!
In other, calmer news, our garden is going great guns! Our pumpkins and long necked squash are taking over the other raised beds, climbing up the tomato plants and down the other side. The tomato plants are producing very well; I made salsa yesterday with tomatoes and peppers from the garden and we are planning on making Chocolate Zucchini Muffins with....you guessed it - the zucchini! After gardening for 19 years with my mother, I finally realize what she has been telling me all these years about how good it feels to grow and use your own food. It's awesome!
~Later~ Did I say it's awesome??? The end result aka. food is, but as they say - getting there is half the fun. Ladies and Gentlemen, I munch on cucumber and drink smoothie and take laptop in hand to tell you of the shocking events that transpired after I wrote that paragraph above:
There I was, innocent as can be, finishing my breakfast and writing a blog post, when Papa entered the house and asked if I would help him redo some fencing. I gladly said yes, as we had been needing to do it for some time. We worked for about 20 minutes and completed the task. I returned to the house and my mother, for I knew we had a lot of cooking to do. As I gulped down leftover coffee and a quart of water she informed me that we needed to go out to the garden harvest a bunch, and I mean a bunch, of cabbage, peppers and broccoli. What can I do, but follow her lead? So we head out, in the heat of the day no less, and she pulls out two jugs of bug spray that I am to spray onto the tomato plants. Now, when we first moved here we went to an auction and bought a green hand pump garden sprayer that goes on your back, so we pour the bug juice in there and I go to work on the pump building up pressure. The pressure is all built up and we try the nozzle and nothing comes out. We check to see if the nozzle is blocked....no it is not. Is the pressure build up thing working??... Yes. Papa comes over and we conclude the hose must be blocked, so we take it off creating a geyser eruption from the built up pressure....right in Papa's face (!)....yes the pressure build up thing is definitely working! After 5 minutes, we conclude that the hose is not blocked and that the nozzle is adjustable and we had it on too tight, so nothing was really wrong after all! We pumped up the pump, and I hoisted it onto my back and felt like something out of si-fi movie. Papa said I looked like a ghost-buster! So I said "Who you gonna call? The Bug Buster!" Genius right?! I entered the natural sauna of the greenhouse and proceeded to spray bugs. The oddest thoughts enter your mind when you are spraying bugs....."Imagine if I made a blog post about a call to arms for all gardeners against bugs in the style of Mayor Shin from The Music Man....How in the world did I know that ghost-busters quote?.....How hot is it really in here? 120 degrees....You know Katherine was right when she said how nice it would be if you could shrink yourself so you could fit into a five gallon bucket, treating it like a pool; imagine diving off lily pads and riding frogs....♭Old Macdonald had a farm, e i e i o♭.....It is too hot out here, we should go in." So I go outside and tell Mamma we should go in before the heat gets to us (Ha, before). She agrees and we go in looking like a couple of muddy puddles ourselves! So, all those out there who are avid gardeners, I feel your hot, sticky, sweaty pain! More power to you, keep up the good work, 'cause you know what? You can always come into the air conditioning when your done and eat a cucumber!!!
Adios,
Grace!
