Thursday, July 6, 2017

I Have Four...

count them - four actual, for real snap beans growing on my three leggy, raggedy looking snap bean plants in the window sill.  And I'm not for sure certain, but it looks like the cucumber and zucchini plants might be thinking about setting some blossoms.   What I think may be blossoms are tiny, so it will be a while before I know for sure.  Hope springs eternal.  :)

That's about all the excitement this old heart can stand.  The rest of my week and weekend is planned to be pretty quiet and has me dehydrating hash browns and more onions.  My grocery order this week includes several bags of Great Northern beans to replace those I have taken out of storage to can into pork and beans.  I am using a new recipe so I won't post it unless the finished product is really good.  I will do those maybe next week when the outdoor temps cool down a bit.  

I did have a nice phone call earlier this week.  Granddaughter Boston called to tell me she had passed the test and had received her learner's permit to drive.  She was so excited and I am glad she thought to share that excitement with me.  David, my youngest son and her Dad, called me a couple of days later and during our conversation remarked that he could barely make it in the door in the evening before Boston was right there asking, 'Can we go for a drive, Dad?  Let's go for a drive.'  I laughed.  I'm sorry.  Just couldn't help myself.  Especially when I think of the fact that this is the first to learn to drive and there are two more waiting in the wings.  I expect one day David will laugh about it, too.  But not just yet.  :)

12 comments:

  1. Yaaay for snap beans! Hopefully you get some cuc and zuc. I love zucchini!
    I remember how excited I was to get my learner's permit! I also remember the big old Pontiac I had to learn in...lol!

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    1. Jenn...I am amazed that the vegetable planting experiment actually produced something, even if it is just 4 beans. :)

      My Dad taught me to drive as soon as I could see over the steering wheel. We went out on a frozen lake. I expect he figured in the middle of the lake the damage would be minimal. He wouldn't let me drive the family car but had me drive his 'work car.' It was a 1950 Studebaker. I loved that car. :)

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  2. Car insurance is going to go way up in the family abode.

    My wife went up to spend time with my daughter, who has not been feeling well. So our gardening efforts went to the devil. The chickens got into the plant room through a window I left open, turned over all the trays of seedlings, and destroyed them. The few plants I did set out have rotted from all the rain.

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    1. Geez, Harry...Weren't for bad luck you would have no luck at all. I think the only reason I can brag on four little beans is that I don't have chickens (or a cat) and it doesn't rain in my apartment. Of course, the plants are still in danger of being over watered.

      All kidding aside, it sure is discouraging when a person is working on a skill like gardening in order to become more self reliant and then stuff just happens to destroy it all. I remember couple of times in years past where raccoons and deer ate my garden plants about as fast as they came up. Don't give up. A garden is an excellent resource for the fresh produce that may be unavailable soon, by the looks of things. Hope your daughter will get to feeling better soon.

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  3. I realize that you're doing it mostly for entertainment, but I'm afraid that when all that produce comes on you might just founder!

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    1. Gorges...I doubt that being up to my elbows in home grown produce is anything I need to worry about. Four beans doesn't even make a meal. Still, you never know. Perhaps I could be pleasantly surprised. :)

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  4. Aren't plants amazing? Have you thought to try lettuce or other greens for a salad?
    One of the things I love about gardening is trying new things. This year it's peanuts. A few years ago it was asparagus.
    From yesterday - so glad you like reading about gardens and that it's a positive thing. Your garden sounds like one my sister had. Every year my BIL and four nephews would spending Mother's Day rototilling it and planting. Boy, could she make some pickles! Everyone is long grown up now but those were some fun memories.
    As for learning to drive - my Dad took me out when I was 12 and he'd let me drive at a huge shopping center.(16 was the earliest you could get a learner's permit). He just wanted me to know how in case anything happened when I was driving with someone else. He did make me promise not to tell Mom, funny memory. Cheers, SJ

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    1. SJ...Plants are so much fun, especially when they don't lay down and die. :) I wonder if that happens because I don't care much about regular house plants but have always loved raising vegetables. I get my love of gardening from my Dad, who always had a big garden. He liked to try new things, too, and had success with peanuts. But the one thing I remember most were the purple potatoes he ordered from a seed catalog. They really were purple. Dad was delighted. I have been thinking about planting some greens, especially spinach, when the plants that are growing now are finished. I am at full capacity on the window sills now.

      I love the story about your Dad teaching you to drive, but don't tell Mom. My Dad taught me to drive. A couple of weeks after I got my learner's permit he took me on a day trip to Minneapolis (we lived about 100 miles away then) and had me drive the entire distance including going through downtown Minneapolis. The freeway system had not yet been completed so we went through the downtown with its traffic lights and busses and trucks and cars. Aside from telling me what streets to take, Dad never said a word. I was scared to death. Afterwards I asked him why he hadn't told me how to drive. He said, 'I didn't have to. I knew you could do it just fine.' Since that day I have had no fear of driving anywhere.

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  5. Today snap beans, tomorrow the world!

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    1. Well, I don't know about that 'world' part, BW. But today I have four more beans than I had yesterday. Sometime it is the little things...

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  6. Sounds like your Dad has the same teaching style as mine. When I was actually driving legally with a learner's permit, my Dad would bring work along. So he'd be reading and shuffling papers while I put in my miles. I remember asking him to watch the road at one point and he quite succinctly pointed out that I was the one driving, not him. Makes me laugh now.
    About your garden - you're like me! I'm always running out of room!! Garlic might do well for you - a six inch pot would probably grow quite a few heads of garlic.
    I just watered today - just puttered with the hose in the gardens. No work really, just fun. Cheers, SJ

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    1. My Dad taught me how to drive and then basically turned me loose. I guess his method worked as I was never involved in a car accident.

      I am already thinking about what to plant next. Garlic is good idea. I may go for a couple kinds of lettuce and some other greens. Maybe even beets - I am hungry for a mess of beet greens cooked with butter.

      It is nice to have a pleasant day of puttering about just for fun, isn't it. I likely have more of those than I would care to admit. :)

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