Pecan Pie, Purple Ribbons, and Thanksgiving

This summer I discovered that Adelaide really likes to bake.  We had some special times together as we made pies and zucchini bread.  I love to bake, but don't often get to do so because it is too energy consuming.  I either need a really good day or a lot of help to get baking done.  This summer Will was able to help me a few times, and it was so much fun! Will did most of the walking around the kitchen to get the ingredients I needed, while Adelaide and I sat at the table to stir, pour, mix, sprinkle, and roll.

Pie crust was especially messy and fun!

There was a reason for all of the pie baking.  For many years I have wanted to enter something at a fair, and our county fair in August was the perfect opportunity!  My Gramma's pecan pie recipe is my favorite ever, and I knew that I wanted to enter pecan pie.  I made some practice pies a week before, and then I made a pie for entry on the day of the fair.  I was really hoping for first place in my pie category, and I anxiously awaited the judging results that were coming the next day.

I was delighted to learn that I didn't get first place in my category, but I received a purple ribbon instead!  That means that my pecan pie, using my Gramma's recipe, was the best of all the pies at the fair.

I think I was the only grown up who took pictures with her ribbons at the fair.  

I was just too excited to let this picture opportunity slip by. :)

We entered many other items at the fair too.  I entered some crocheted hats that I had made for Adelaide.  I also entered okra, kale, and tomatoes from our garden.  Adelaide entered a flower and a picture she colored.  William entered Lego projects and lots of produce from our garden and his Grandpa's garden.  You can see that William received a purple ribbon too!  That was for Wealthy Apples.

This week we have been enjoying some of the summer produce that was preserved by canning or freezing.  We've had vegetable soup, corn, and zucchini bread.  The vegetable soup stock and corn comes from Grandpa and Grandma's garden.  The zucchini for the zucchini bread was from our garden.

Tomorrow I plan on making a pecan pie for Thanksgiving.  We have had this pie many times for Thanksgiving over the years, but this is the first time that we can say it is a prize winning recipe!

31 Days of Joy: Little Joys

Flowers bring me joy.  I am so thankful that God made colorful flowers to brighten our world.  They are especially important to me because I have to spend so much time indoors.  The flowers that were outside my windows in Louisville gave me something beautiful to look at, something cheerful and colorful.  Flowers make me happy all spring and summer long, just ask Will.  This summer I often smiled and told him, “Oh, I like my flowers so much.  They are so pretty.”

Beautiful things bring me joy.  What beautiful things bring you joy?

Goodbye Summer Garden

I didn't get very many pictures of our garden before we moved, but I did get a few pictures a couple of weeks before we gave all of our plants away to neighbors. Here is the last glimpse of our summer garden.

Zinnia

The okra plants were always my favorite, and I planted 5 of them this year.  Not very many people love okra as much as I do, and we had a hard time finding people who wanted the okra plants when we left!

We didn't have a hard time at all finding neighbors who wanted tomato plants.

I planted petunias and zinnias in the dirt in front of our windows.  My neighbor said that she would water them for us after we moved so that they would still be pretty for whoever moves into our old apartment.

Adelaide loved to go outside, wander around the plants, and stop to smell the flowers.

Summer Garden

My favorite thing about summer is getting to plant a garden.  This is our third summer planting a flowerpot garden here at our apartment.  Will's favorites are the tomatoes; my favorites are the flowers and the okra.  Come walk through the garden with me. 

Will's Tomatoes

Our Apartment

I love having a pathway to our apartment that is surrounded by flowers and plants.

Those are my okra plants on the right.

Flowers

More flowers

These are struggling because they don't get as much direct sun.

Plants at our front door

This is the view I have of our hanging plants while sitting on our window seat.  I like to sit on my window seat to look at the flowers.  Adelaide likes to sit with me and watch people and dogs walk by.

This is another view I have from my window seat.  I like watching the okra grow every day.  Okra plants grow so quickly. 

An okra blossom.  Isn't it beautiful?  Okra blossoms only last one day; then they close up and an okra starts to grow.  Within a week it is ready to be picked.

My Favorite Seat In the House

This is my window seat, and it is my favorite spot in our apartment.  I love to sit here because it is pretty, and because thre is so much purple all in one place.

I also love the windows.  On the hot summer days I can sit here and see my flowers, tomatoes, herbs, and okra, even though I can't go outside and water them.  It is as close to the outdoors as I can get many days.  Even though it is September now, we are still having unseasonably warm weather.  Yesterday it was 97 degrees.  I don't step out of the apartment on days like that, and so these windows are a treat.

Sweet 100s

This is the view I have of my tomatoes from inside.  This tomato plant has produced so many tomatoes that I have been asking others to pick them too.  I haven't been able to keep up with the picking or the eating of such a prolific plant!

My petunias as I see them while on my window seat

A hummingbird often comes to visit these flowers during the day.  I snapped a picture one day, but I had to take it through the screen, and since the hummingbird is half the size of one of those flowers, it didn't turn out too well.  Can you find the hummingbird?

Here are some views from outside, taken back in July.

We had four pots of tomatoes, kale, lots of herbs and decorative plants and flowers.

Okra, Herbs, and Geranium. 

Okra

Back from Blogging Hiatus

Hello Friends!  I am back.  It has been a long, hard, busy, and very hot summer.  We are still here, and we are doing well.  Thank you to everyone who commented on my blog or sent me emails to check in with me and see how I was doing.  It is so nice to know that I'm not forgotten.  Thank you for bearing with me as I have been so quiet.  I have been wanting to blog all summer, but fatigue and brain fog have kept me away.  As I am able I will try to keep up with blogging and catch you up on the old news. For now, I am going to give you a quick glimpse into the last couple of months.

In May we went to the Creation Museum for our family vacation. It was really neat, and I am really hoping for energy to blog about the museum and share pictures at a later date.  Later on in the month of May we went to Georgia to visit my family.  It was great to see them again and spend time together.  We were also able to visit with people from our home church in Georgia.  It is always good to see our church family there and reconnect with them.

In June we travelled to Alabama and celebrated my Tante Hanna's 90th birthday!  She travelled over from Germany for the special occasion.

In July William had his face painted like Spider Man. 

I dressed Adelaide up like a ballerina.

William and Adelaide on the 4th of July

We celebrated Independence Day with an indoor picnic.

My mom stayed here and helped us out a lot this summer while Will took several J-term classes.  We couldn't have made it through those long weeks without her help.  She was here for about 3 weeks total helping me with William and Adelaide, and keeping up with the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and shopping.  Is my mom great or what? 

We planted our flower pot garden.  We have enjoyed taking care of the plants, watching the flowers bloom, and eating fresh tomatoes, herbs, and okra.

How are you doing?  How has your summer been?

P.S.  I'm working on updating my blog.  You'll see some things slowly chaning over the next few days/weeks.

Flowerpot Gardening

We went to Lowe's a week ago to get some stuff for our flowerpot garden.  I wish I had a picture of us at the garden center!  Will was pushing me in my wheelchair.  Adelaide was in my lap being all cute in her dress and hairbow.  In one arm I also held a tray of flowers that got dirt all over my white skirt (what was I thinking when I got dressed that afternoon?).  Tomato stakes were lying next to me in my chair.  William walked beside me carrying tomato cages that were almost as big as he is.  I'm sure we looked funny!

Here are some pictures of my summer flowers.

Impatiens and Dusty Miller

Kale, Sweet 100 Tomato, Gerbera Daisy, and wildflowers.

Gerbera Daisy

We have gotten so much rain that my plants are soggy now.  I am praying for less rain so that my plants will survive.

Outdoor Flower Pot Gardening

My indoor gardening this spring was pretty much a total flop. Seeds sprouted, but didn't have enough sunlight to grow. The other problem....

look closely...

...mold and mildew.

I couldn't even grow a cactus indoors without mold growing on top of the dirt. We run a dehumidifier 12 hours a day, but our apartment still grows mold. That was the end of indoor gardening. My gardening neighbors said they had the same problem with trying to grow plants inside.
I decided to get some outdoor plants once it was warm enough, but we don't get direct sunlight in front of our apartment until the end of June. My friend, Zona, gave me some advice about plants that do well in the shade. She suggested impatiens and begonias. I bought some of those, plus some other flowers that had tags saying they would grow in the shade. We also tried out some vegetables and herbs in the small area that gets some sun in the summer.

Here are recent pictures from our outdoor flower pot garden:

outside our apartment

These are Nasturtiums. Dorina sent some of these seed packets to me. She said you can't kill Nasturtiums. Yay! Just what I needed!

To the left of our front door we have Nasturtiums, New Guinea Impatiens, Begonias, Dusty Miller, and Impatiens.

To the right of our door we have a big pot of Impatiens.



The New Guinea Impatiens are my favorite.



Here are herbs, lavender, tomatoes, zucchini, lettuce, and gourds.



Tomatoes that started out in a topsy-turvy planter and had to be rescued and planted properly.



I have a very nice gourd growing.



We have lots of blooms on our zucchini, but the slugs keep attacking before they actually produce fruit.



My poor zucchini plant



But look! We did get one zucchini!!! I think this will be our only zucchini. It is still August, but the sun is pretty much gone from the front of our apartments. Very little sunshine left for the plant.