First Come Flowers...

Three days in a row...this has happened...

A big thank you to my "Lovely Ladies Losing It." Without this week's challenge to get in 30 minutes of exercise each day, I am sure that were would have been at least a day or two that I turned off the alarm and burrowed back under the covers. It has been frustrating to see how far my fitness has regressed. As frustrating as it is to feel like I am starting over, I do take a measure of pride in knowing that I keep trying. I am doing something about it and I will get back to where I was if I keep pushing through the frustration, excuses, tiredness, more excuses....

In other news, the garden is looking good. . My first planting of lettuce is almost finished...I noticed a few of the lettuce varieties are starting to get bitter. Thankfully, I planned ahead this year and the second planting will be ready in a week or so.

Most of the plants are blooming. Today I am sharing some pictures to tide us over until the rest of the harvest starts coming in

Zucchini blossom. I can't remember if it is yellow or green squash. Every year I am full of hope that I will have that over abundance of zucchini that drives you to dropping off bags of it on unsuspecting neighbor's porches in the middle of the night. However, each year I end up getting a few squash and then my plants croak. Maybe this will be the year :)  I have heard zucchini blossoms are delicious, but I have never tried them. Most of the time I have seen them served battered and fried. Obviously, I like fried foods, but fried flowers seems like such a waste when there are so many other things to fry...potatoes, cheese. If you have a good (healthy) recipe I might be willing to sacrifice a bloom or two.

Potato blossoms. I have three different varieties of potatoes planted, but like the zucchini I lost track of which ones were planted where. I am hoping the flower color gives me a clue.  We have these purply flowers and some white ones. I planted red potatoes and two types of white.

Cucumber blossoms. I am always amazed how you can look through the cucumber vines one day and the next find a giant cucumber. Was it hiding or did it really just grow overnight??

Marigolds. Of course, I am not expecting anything to eat from these flowers :) I plant marigolds with the tomatoes to keep away aphids. And they are pretty.

Pea blossoms. I remember as a kid one of my favorite scents from Avon was Sweet Pea. I haven't smelled it in forever, but seeing the pea blossoms takes me back to those days.

Awww....baby pea.  I am so excited to see this baby pea. I love garden fresh peas. They are best eaten soon after picking - the flavor and texture don't hold up long, which is probably why you don't see them in the produce department. For some reason I didn't get very many plants from my seed this year. Maybe I have a bad batch of seed. I will definitely buy new seed next year.

Tomato blossoms. This is the reason we plant a garden. NOTHING is better fresh from the garden than tomatoes. There is no comparing the flavor.

Baby tomatoes. These are our Sun Gold cherry tomatoes - hands down tomato favorite. Sadly, it will still be weeks before these babies are ready.

Dill - so pretty in the morning with the dew. I need those potatoes to be ready soon so I can make delicious dilled potatoes.

I might have pulled these carrots a little early. I didn't think they were ready, but my neighbor mentioned she had already pulled hers. So I pulled a couple - note to self, I don't need to do things just because the neighbor does :)  It may be that I didn't thin them very well. I have a super hard time killing plants. My husband actually just reminded me this morning about when we were still dating and I had him get rid of an almost dead houseplant (or as he said I "took a hit out on that plant"). I just couldn't do it. I wasn't amused when I found it a couple months later behind our shed.

Yes, we are those people.  My sister actually bought these for my husband. I am not sure how long it will be before we can eat them. There is a bit of an issue with the shape of the macaroni - my husband is an original shaped macaroni purist.  Apparently the other shapes don't taste the same :)

I have been working like a maniac all week on the Great Purge of 2015. I am going through the house room by room, closet by closet, box by box (you get the idea) to find items I can let go. Tomorrow is yard sale day. It is disconcerting how much money has been wasted on stuff :(  I hope to recoup a few dollars. The money I make from the sale will be put in the paint fund. While we have the carpet pulled up and before we install the new laminate floor we plan to do some serious painting. Picking colors should be interesting. When I painted the rooms originally it was all my choice and now I am have the husband factor to consider...

I am trying the Friday afternoon/evening yard sale this time. When I see them on my way home from work they do seem to be attracting customers. Unless I sell out Friday, I will try again with the traditional Saturday morning sale. After the sale, the leftovers will be donated. There would be a great picture of all the totes
full of stuff being accumulated in the shed, but I can't get it off my phone now. Just imagine a heap of great stuff you would love to buy if you were closer :)