After taking a nap, I was catching up on my sleep, a storm blew in; it began with high winds, then blowing sand and ended with wonderful rain.
Today was a perfect end to a perfect weekend.
Lots of cousins were at the retirement party;
Aunts, uncles, neighbors and friends were at the party too.
Everyone had a nice time visiting;
Catching up on gossip;
And eating good food.
Parties are always so much fun!
The leaves are giant and getting bigger each day; they remind me of squash plants but I didn't plant any squash. Pat thinks maybe pumpkin but I thought I had planted the pumpkins several rows over.... Oh well, time will tell!
Last month, for our anniversary, Pat gave me a Naomoto industrial strength iron. Yesterday I ironed all 20 sets of stitched strips with my new iron.
The iron works great! It has a nice feel to it and the steam feature is wonderful; no unwanted water spitting when you least expect it.
The water for the steam is stored in a gravity fed container and seeps through a filter system at the bottom of the container.
I really like how well the iron handles; it is very different from other irons I have used.
After all the ironing was complete I cut the stitched strips into more quilt blocks.
I now have 46 of the 90 blocks needed for the quilt.
When Pat got home this evening he and Elizabeth drove over the dry dead weeds several times with the big tractor;
Breaking them just enough to make it easier for me to finish the mowing.
The only area left to be cleared now is one edge; this edge will have to be cleared using the weed eater and that is Pat's job.
Keeping the orchard maintained should be petty easy since all the grass and weeds are short and tender.
I love how the orchard looks, it reminds me of a park so I have decided to name it "Orchard Park".
We picked him up and brought him back home;
To live under our trees.
In this last photo you can see a fly that landed on the turtle's back showing just how small the turtle is.
Last night dark clouds were headed for us but instead of rain we got a sand storm and very high winds. The wind blew down several of my corn stalks.
But I am not too sad since this afternoon more clouds floated by and left some wonderful rain.
So I mowed some dried grass;
And put it in the egg boxes.
Now the hens have fresh homemade hay to lay their eggs on.
Only one long section still needs work;
But this section is taking a bit longer to mow since I have had to begin mowing a second time on the first section of the orchard.
And the other corn plants are getting taller and fuller and beginning to look like a corn patch.
The green beans I replanted are coming up too;
And some of the bigger green bean plants are looking very healthy.
The tomatoes I purchased from the store are getting tall enough for a cage;
And one of the tomato plants has two small blooms.
One of my cucumber plants has doubled in size, but no blooms on it just yet.
And this evening, while watering the garden... 
Elizabeth found a cute little frog.
And the best part to my new clothes line was extending it to a third tree; now I have twice the space for hanging a full load.
The chickens now have three times the space as before;
And twice as much shade. 
What a nice feeling it is to have another big project completed!
So while the electric company was repairing the lines I took a nap and Pat and Elizabeth watched the portable DVD player;
And Jonathan watched his IPod.
Once the power was back on Pat decided it was time to go back outside and begin working on cleaning up near the chicken house. I had started this job back in May but it never was completed since I have been so busy with the garden and mowing the orchard for the chickens. 
Today was so hot and we added to the heat when we began burning small branches and brush.
Working outside in today's heat was the last thing I wanted to do but now that the day has come to an end it sure feels good accomplishing so much.
Here is one half of the tree/tree branch;
And here is the other half of the tree/tree branch.
As the tree/tree branch came crashing down it looked like it was going to hit Elizabeth's swing but thankfully it landed on my clothesline which is cheaper to replace.
I am so glad to have this job completed; now Elizabeth can play on her swing once again.
Today I went to the farm store and bought more green bean seeds so I could replant these too. While at the farm store I was telling them how my garden is struggling and was told a lot of people are having the same problems, so I guess this is just "one of those years".
After replanting the green bean seeds I watered everything real well. First thing tomorrow morning I will be out in the garden hoeing and pulling weed. 
A few of them have started to fill out some but I will not have enough green beans to can.
Many of the tomatoes we transplanted have now died but a few are still hanging on.
Out of the 6 tomato plants I bought at the store only 2 have survived but they are beginning to show signs of growing.
Several of the cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers and pumpkins are beginning to get big but still many are struggling.
My potatoes are the only items that seem to be striving but I am now beginning to think they will not make many potatoes.
I guess this year I will need to visit the farmer's market unless I decide to start a second garden.
Texas Roadhouse Sweet Yeast Rolls made from a copy cat recipe. Yummy, they were so good fresh from the oven.
After the lesson was over she played in the pool with the other kids and played on the slide.
I stayed under a shade tree watching over the pool;
And worked on my crochet.
I should get a lot of handwork done this summer.
Yesterday, after church and an afternoon nap, I canned 9-quarts.
I can almost smell the cobbler that will be baking in the oven this weekend.
