Outdoor fun and a Gardening Tip

Isabella had a great time with her daddy this weekend while I was working. I'm glad they get to spend so much time together when I'm working (although I'd rather not be working). I've discovered that she takes really nice, long naps after she's been outside, so I'm wondering what her schedule is going to be like when the weather gets cold and she's not outside as much.

And now to gardening . . .

I wouldn't exactly consider myself a gardening expert, but for anyone into flowers, did you know that in order to keep your flowers looking good at the end of the season you just need to cut them back. That's right, just take a scissers and hack off about half their length. I just learned this and it actually works. I wish I had a before picture because they were just about dead.

Isn't this basket cute - my father in law made it!

I just wish there was something we could do to make our garden look better. Last year we had so much produce we didn't know what to do with it all. So far this year, rabbits ate all of our green beans, our potatoes were rotten, and ants (yes ants) ate all of our sweet corn. I have never heard of ants ruining sweet corn! At least our tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers are doing really good. It's time to start canning, last year was my first canning experience, it went rather well. I can't wait to get started, hopefully I can do it soon but we have a busy week ahead of us. My mom is coming for a few days, we've been working on painting our house since May, hopefully I can get a little more done while she's here. Then she's going to babysit on Thursday, I normally don't work two weekends in a row but I have to work Thursday - Sunday again this coming week. Then Monte's mom is coming for the weekend so he can hopefully get some painting done also.