Pickles,can't live with out them.

Sunflowers greeting our visitors.









Last night when I returned from work (first day was awesome,there's lots to learn.) my Mom called,she had a surprise for me/us could she come over? Well who dose not love a surprise so of course I said yes.Mom brought me a 25 pound bag of pickling cucumbers as a congratulations on the new job gift. She also brought me on behalf of my Auntie a bunch of Dill.Oh those ladies know me all too well.I must be one goofy girl to get excited over cucumbers and dill,not that I don't like girlie gifts too but the cuc's were perfect.
Now Chance and I can make Pickles tomorrow.I was starting to think we would not get to make Pickles only because life keeps giving us detours.I must say the boys were none to happy about maybe not having any pickles this winter.Well boys Nana and Auntie saved you from a life of pickle deprivation,let the party begin.





I was noticing this morning that it is getting close to time to pull part of the garden.The Zucchini and Yellow Crook necked Squash are getting mildew and looking brown.I am not sad to see either one go,we have eaten both of these with most of our meals for weeks now,it's time to move on to something else. And I think I could pull the cucumbers too.This is all good it will give us room to plant the garlic and some late parsnips.
I found a surprise in the back garden the other day.When we knocked down our hay bale garden beds we left 2 of them along one side of the garden to act as a wall and detour.I did not notice there were some green bean plants growing on one end,they had tangled themselves into the Dahlia's and the Rosemary growing along the garden edge. I did notice them in hind sight,I just thought they would never do anything or produce any beans with the hay bales being a total flop. So, I was out with the chickens and noticed that there were green beans dangling ,when I looked closer I was able to pick two big handfuls of the beans.There's still some more coming.I was more than happy to have these tasty bits of greenness.
Fresh green beans are one of the veggies I buy all year round,I know I know, they are not in season in December but I have a reason.Our boys will not eat frozen or canned veggies,it's my fault one I sometimes wonder at.I wonder at it because so many parents ask me "How did you get your boys to eat their veggies?" Ah..... "I put them on their plate and they ate." And here I am wondering at fresh over frozen. I can't blame the boys I only like fresh veggies myself.Now that we are trying to eat more seasonally it has become an odd dilemma.
The rain rolled in last night,rain hitting the bedroom windows always insures a good night's sleep for me.I was glad it waited until the wee hours.Last night was a football game on the home field, luckily for the kids it had been a mild almost warm evening and they were all home before the rain hit. I think maybe the wind blowing the rain powered up our team into stomping the other team, 50 to 0 made for a rowdy crowd.We can hear the High School sports fields from our house. I knew we had won even before the boys were home, the echoing cheers could be heard here at Hrafinstaad.
Life has taken a pleasant turn,off of a bumpy rocky road onto one that looks smoother and with surprises ahead.Sigh, I thank the Universe for this.
Rois