PHOTOS!

I finally got it right today.  Laptop, internet access, camera and camera cord!

Emily turned 10 last week.  I have a child who has double digits..... i am now officially an old parent.  Emily is pointing out for all of us that she is indeed the one who is 10 in case we didn't realize.

Margaret and Kevin made 2 long cards for Emily.  They spent about 2 hours in the basement making the cards.  What great siblings!

Emily at her birthday party.  I love this picture.  She sure dresses up nice.

The tomatoes are dying but the peppers are doing better in the colder wet weather.  I wasn't expecting this so it was a nice suprise.

Pumpkins are getting nice and big!!!

New plantings.  Those of you who think that gardening is a spring and summer event need to read The Four Season Harvest.  My plan is to have a garden all year long.  Mike just needs to find me a used hoop house or green house (hint, hint).  He knows that other than a garden and hens-- the greenhouse/hoophouse/hothouse are the next items on my list.

I'm growing basil, dill, cilantro, rosemary, spinach, turnips, some Long Keeper Tomatoes (although I started these too late so I'll have to see how they turn out) and some more lettuce and swiss chard.  I harvested the parsley earlier this week and dried it out.  Of course I remembered that it was in the food dehydrator 36 hrs after I started drying it and was in a meeting in NYC.  Luckily Mike looks after me and noticed that it was nice and crispy and turned it off for me.  Then you just crunch it up or put it through a herb grinder and you've got ground parsley to last the year.

This new area will have fall squash, gourds, acorn squash and something else that I can't remember.  If it starts to grow and get bigger I'll remember.

This is a Verona watermelon.  Pretty sweet, but lots of funky texture to it- and very, very watery.

The trench for electric and water to the buildings.

The barn area that Mike cleaned up.  This is where some of the animals will go.  Mike still needs to remove all the old feeding troughs.

The barn with old roof.

The barn with new roof progressing.  After the roof is fixed, the gutters go on, and then the inside work can start as well as the repainting of the outside.  I can't wait to see the cool green roof!!