may eighteen

Sean helped me garden today, though, while being watched by my mother & sister. I don't know what I'd have done without their help, because all he wanted to do was touch everything that I was working with. My father helped Jamie install a drain off our roof, so that it wasn't going to drip off our slanted roof onto my vegetable garden.

He just loves being outside. And I don't blame him. There is just so much to explore!

After a quick lunch at my parents house, my parents took Sean with them for a drive to my dad's friend who is a doctor. My sister needed a shot that she gets now every 2 weeks (for B12) and since tomorrow is a holiday in Canada, they went today to his office (which was nice of him to meet on a Sunday) and Sean wanted to see if he would be a doctor when he grows up. The picture my sister took of him in the doctor's coat is just too cute.

Today I finished working in my garden. ALL DONE! And you won't believe what I planted! My garden is HUGE!!!

We have:
Sweetie Tomatoes
San Marzano Tomatoes
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Early Cal wonder Peppers
Mixed Mini Bell Peppers
Cantaloupe
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Radish
Boston Lettuce
Paris Island Lettuce
Black Seed Lettuce (I think that's what it's called)
Stringless Beans
Peas
Corn
Pumpkin (Jack O'Lantern)
Broccoli
Red Globe Onions
Shallots (Onion)
Carrots

I think that's everything. I don't think I'm missing out on anything in my list above. I'm upset that I totally forgot about Cauliflower. I love cauliflower. There is always next year.

This year, is an experiment. Trial & Error. We'll see how it goes! I have no idea what will sprout, etc, so it's just a test. I ended up waiting on the watermelon (though the seeds were already started) but I'm going to wait until the fence is up, and I'm going to plant them by the Strawberry bushes that we're planting as well, in another area of the backyard. I also have a question.

I planted 1 Jack O'lantern pumpkin plant. Will that give me 1 pumpkin or more than 1 pumpkin? If it's only going to give me 1 pumpkin, then I'll have to plant another seed for Mackenzie. I want 1 pumpkin for each kid for Hallowe'en. If I will get more than 1 pumpkin in 1 plant, then I don't have to plant another one of the seeds that I started back in April. I have another plant "ready to go".... I just need an answer in regards to how many you get per plant. I tried googling the question, but got no where unfortunately.

Also, does anyone know, how many watermelons you get per seed planted? Is it just 1 watermelon per seed?

We'll see what works successfully in my garden, so I know for next year what to focus/concentrate on more. It's possible that there are things that won't grow at all, or be successful. I'm so excited to see what happens though.

Here is a view of one of the tomato plants. Isn't it really cute & tiny? I know I do not need the tomato trellis yet, but I put them there to mark the space around the tomato, and figured I'd leave it there. Why not. It's not causing any harm, that's for sure.

I also decided to plant 2 extra zucchini plants. I felt really bad to just toss them out. I had 2 left, and I didn't have any room left in my garden (there's 1 plant in my garden bed already). I plan on training them on a trellis in these plant pots. I love zucchini on the BBQ, and I'm sure I will know a ton of people that will take zucchini if we have an excess. I was told that zucchini once picked grows back and you get even more. That's okay with me! I don't mind! The more to give away to the neighbors (the nice neighbors that is) the better! Plus, I didn't have the heart to throw out the nice thriving plants into the garbage. Blame it on my pregnancy hormones.

The chalk was played with again today on the back patio. Sean had fun scribbling & I had fun coloring in tiles. Nothing wrong with chalk art to keep us both entertained!

This is not even half of my Iris plants. And do you see how many there are within this one plant in my backyard? There are still about 3 plants that were taking out when they dug up my backyard for the fence, and I plan on re-planting them in the backyard once the fence goes up (which is being started tomorrow, and promised to be finished by). Speaking of which, my father, Jamie & I re-measured the backyard from the Certificate of Location (which you need these days in order to sell a house - which is why we have one for our property luckily), and my fence will be put up properly on MY SIDE of my property line. My back neighbor, as I mentioned, doesn't want ANY ownership of the fence, so he does NOT want it touching his side of the property line. I am okay with this, since he's not paying a dime towards it, but he's stating that the electrical pole that is in the yard is not on my property, because the legend on my Certificate of Location seems to have a mistake on it. We measured twice my property, and the pole does fall in my property. (Though we're kinda doing the fence on an angle in that corner so that Hydro Quebec and the phone company DO NOT have to come onto my property in my backyard to service that pole). However, the annoying neighbor was saying that I shouldn't even be anywhere near it, because it's not on my property. He says that because he's an electrical engineer he knows how to read my paperwork. It seriously does NOT take an electrical engineer only to figure out how to measure so and so feet from the edge of the house to the end of my property. Anyone with an ELEMENTARY school degree can certainly use a tape measure with a measurement given to them. I really hope he does not cause me more issues. And he's leaving really annoying messages on my answering machine stating that "I shouldn't get heartbroken if it's done wrong and the fence needs to be ripped at MY cost".... glad he's so concerned about my money. A fence ain't cheap (over 3K), you'd think I'd get it done PROPERLY the first and only time??

Here's a shot of that bamboo looking plant, and how tall it's gotten! Soon, it's going to be well taller than me, I'm sure of it. It's nice to look at, and I can't wait to see how big the leaves get.

This evening Jamie & I took Sean to see his cousin who is in from Toronto. They're in very rarely, and Sean's cousin who is 8 years old (maybe 9 now, I don't know for sure), wanted to see Sean, so we went back to Jamie's step-sister's place to visit everyone. I got to sit on the couch there and put my feet up, and knit. It was a pleasure to have everyone want to hang out and watch Sean, so it was a great break for a bit. I got some knitting done on Judy's Grandmother's Baby Sweater, which looks like it may be done soon! I'm hoping so, as I have a ton of other projects to finish before Mackenzie is born. 50 days left til my due date.... it's getting down to crunch time! (I actually pulled out the boxes of preemie & 0-3 month clothing today. I want to be prepared with both preemie sized stuff & 0-3 month (newborn) items at the hospital, IN CASE Mack is born tiny like his brother was. Chances are that I have small babies, but we'll see. Though, I do have to tell you that I'm afraid to "push out" anything bigger than 5 lbs 5 oz, because that was rough as it was, with a small baby! Anything bigger than that scares me! I'm serious.

Just reminding you all that the July Sock Club kits are now listed in the shop.

Alright, I'm BEAT. Gardening all afternoon & getting sun has drained me. I'm going to see if I can keep my eyes open for a few pages in the book I'm reading, and then hit the sack for the night.