you know you're the wife of a cop when...

...your old, unwanted CD hung up in the garden to scare away the birds is...

...an obsolete Taser training video.

Okra recipes, anyone?

Does anyone have any okra recipes they can share?  

I've only done fried okra and my husband used it in a jambalaya.

Christmas in July

Tonight I cooked up some Christmas lima beans.  Yummy!

I did it!

I canned some tomatoes from my garden!  

(insert annoying squeal here)

The learning curve was steep for my first batch but I suspect it will just get easier each time I do it.  

peep peep peep

That may soon be the sound coming from our backyard.  Yes, that's right.  I want chickens.

Why?  Fresh, free-range organic eggs, that's why.  And a bug-free lawn.  And awesome chicken poop to fertilize my garden.  And the opportunity to teach my kids about sustainability and responsibility. 

Plus it's just cool to say you have chickens.  

I just have to work on the husband.  He's about 75% on board. 

I want to come up with the ultimate coop.  Here are some cool ones that I found online. 

'Mater

As my husband says, there's nothin' like a fresh 'mater sandwich!

The One That Got Away

Most families have some stories that are passed down through generations, retold at family gatherings and embellished for emphasis.  You know, the 'The fish was THIS big" type of stories.  

Well, growing up, one story that resurfaced every summer was the Corn on the Cob Dating Story.  We would eat fresh corn a lot during the summer, and inevitably we would ask my parents to retell the Corn on the Cob Dating Story.  

My mom loves corn on the cob.  Apparently, on one of my parents' first dates my mom ate tons of ears of corn.  My dad was astonished that she could put away so many.  

I initially remember the number of ears to be 10.  Over the years the number grew each time the story was told, and now when I tell the story to my kids it's at least 20 ears of corn.  

Today we harvested our first ear of corn from the garden.  This one's for you, Moppy!

Glory

Today's Morning Glory blooms:

Fourth

True to their name, these Fourth of July tomatoes were ready to be picked on the Fourth!

Java

So, did you know that if you go to Starbucks you can get their used coffee grounds to put in your garden or compost pile?

I sprinkle it around the plants that like highly acidic soil.

Sentry

Meet Alani.

Her name means 'orange' in Hawaiian.  We got her at six weeks of age while we were stationed in Hawaii.

She's incredibly sweet and affectionate, but you'll probably never experience that.  Alani gives meaning to 'scaredy cat.'  She will run away and hide from visitors, small beings (kids, other animals, etc.).  Any loud noise will send her scampering to a dark corner.

 But one place you'll see her is in my garden.  She is my garden sentry, quietly keeping watch.

 Sometimes she'll be winding through the stilts of the porch.  Sometimes she'll be draped across the steps. Sometimes she'll come up and nuzzle for a few seconds and then return to make her rounds.

I enjoy her company and my husband likes that she kills pests like moles and mice.  If I go out for a few minutes to tend to the garden I can count on hearing her tinkling 'mew' from behind some foliage.

She adds sweetness to my life.

Hungry

This is garden fare for the Fourth of July. 

Zucchini bread, sweet pickles, green beans.  

Oh, and although not from the garden, sweet tea.