This year’s harvest

Usually we post regular updates about our garden so that we have some diversity on our blog. Haven’t really been doing that so I thought that I could switch it up for a change. Plus, I have some time to kill before Elspeth wakes up from her nap.

 

We didn’t plant anything to labour intensive this year given that we would be away for most of August. As a result of our absence, our watermelons and most of the squash were a flop. We did get a few carrots and potatoes as well as some late season strawberries. However, if you look at the photo you can see that our harvest was puny in comparison to previous years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That said, we did manage to grow a 7 foot tall sunflower by simply ignoring it!! Right now the flower heads are laying in the garage in hopes that the seeds will ripen so that we can roast and eat them. I am not sure if this will work but the stalk toppled during a rain storm so we had to work with what we could.

 

Last Highland Competition & our Garden

Yesterday Katrine danced her highland dances for the last time this summer.  No more Saturday competitions for a while now because….we will be in China!!!!!!  She test drove a new kilt and jacket which fit her better than her green one.  She also danced the best that she has all summer.  Uxbridge was a really big competition but she managed to get a third and two fourths.  She was super excited and very proud of herself.  To celebrate, she went and made pottery with one of her friends.  Yes, they actually had a potter and a wheel at the competition who was letting the kids have a go.  She made a really pretty clay pot…with some help.  Overall it was a great way to end a week of dancing (This week was her dance camp complete with crafts, swimming and bowling….oh yes, dancing too).  Today she is off to Uxbridge again.  This time with Dad to dance her national dances for the first time in competition.  If she wins anything I will post again.  We are honestly hoping that she just finishes each of the dances and has some fun doing it.  While they are there, I am getting ready to have our fabulous travel group over for a barbeque.  It will be nice getting re-acquainted before we travel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for our garden, I am proud to report that we have summer squash!!  They are little yet but I am watering them diligently.  Keeping our fingers crossed that they will be ripe and squashy before the end of the week.

 

What is new with us

Only three more weeks until we leave for China!! Very exciting.  Everyone is being really suportive and we appreciate it.  It has been a long road, but no longer than the road to Katrine in some ways, and we are almost at the end.  We got a treat a week ago.  It was given to us by a family who had traveled to Elspeth’s orphanage in the spring.  More photos.  Such a serious little girl.  What a gift they gave us with these photos.  It is like a window into her life for two years.  I don’t know if they will every know how truly thankful we are for their willingness to take and share these precious photos.

We have planted our garden as per usual.  However, this year we chose slightly different crops given our travel plans.  We planted mainly squash and potatoes.  We do have two watermelon plants so we will wait and see what happens there.  Right now everything is looking green and leafy but we do not have any flowers yet on any of the plants which is a bit concerning.

We have also been busy out front of the house.  The “Pony House” has made its yearly reappearance.  This year the ponies have been able to upgrade their accomodations.  They now have actual walls (thanks to our new hedge trimmer which works great for trimming unrully flowering trees) and beds (actually piles of dry grass cuttings).  Overall a comfortable abode.

 

What else?  Oh yes, Katrine spent the first week of her summer vacation at skating camp.  Her choice I might add.  She had a grand old time skating at least two and a half hours a day plus off ice training for five days straight.  She must have gone to sleep easily each night! No way, not our girl.  That said, she was always easy to get up and raring to go.  Glenn was at work of course and I spent my first week of holidays organizing our house and getting things ready for us to go.  It will be really nice when the house is finally sorted and the basement set up.

A weekend of fun

It has been a nice weekend.  Katrine got her Canskater of the year medal on Saturday along with a nice framed certificate.  Her proud Grammy took her to the RHFSC’s end of the year banquet.  She was just beaming about it.  In fact, when she came home she went right upstairs and hung her medal up on her bulletin board.

On Saturday,Glenn and I got to attend an absolutely lovely wedding.  The weather held so the service was held outside and at the beginning of the service, the clouds parted and the sun shone through.  It was beautiful.  The groom and ushers looked smart in their formal wear as did the bridesmaids.  The bride looked breathtaking.  A delicious dinner and fabulous dancing with friends.  It was a wonderful way to spend an evening.

Today we headed out for a family movie day.  Kung Fu Panda 2!!  It was a really good movie.  I liked how it approached the two families of adoption and how each can love you.  Katrine cried a bit, laughed a lot, had fun.  We had some good discussion tonight about her two families and the similarities and differences btween their stories.

Now for our final piece of news.  Our referral is on a plane from China.  We are hoping to have it in our hot little hands by Wednesday or Thursday.  Katrine is pretty excited.  Glenn and I are like little ducks.  Calm on the outside but paddling furiously underneath.  Keep your eyes open for more news.  We will share as it arrives.

What else? The robins have hatched and are getting bigger.  Unfortunately they are fairly protective so we can’t get any really nice pictures of them.

We have also managed to get our garden planted in amongst all of the rain.  Flowers out front and veges out back.  We have sunflowers (for the seeds…we hope), carrots, watermelon and two types of squash (summer and acorn).  In addition, the strawberry plants that we planted last year are growing like crazy.  I expect that Katrine will soon be picking of the berries while she is playing outside.

Have a great week.

Summer Memories and back to school

Let me begin by finishing the story of our garden which Glenn began to blog about in the early spring.  Most of it has been harvested.  In fact, this afternoon we dug up all dozen potatoes and the handful of red onions.  Our corn didn’t grow tall and only produced fist-sized cobs, but the kernels were juicy.  Besides, we got to eat them before the local urban wildlife so it was not a complete failure.  Our harvest of cucumbers has been much better than in past years.  In fact, we couldn’t pull out the plant because it has one last lonely bud.  Got to wait and see if anything grows from it especially as the weather seems to be staying warm.  The biggest success of this year’s garden are the tomatoe plants.  We have already made countless batches of salsa and two pots of the freshest, most delicious tomatoe sauce.  Glenn will post photos of the corn later.

It was a busy summer.  Katrine enjoyed visiting her aunt’s cottage(that is where the swiming photo is from…it seems that the swimming lessons are paying off), playing endless rounds of Barbie and searching for mushrooms.  This summer was a roaring success in terms of mushroom hunting.  We have photographed twice as many types as last year so now it is up to mom to figure out what type they are.  The funny thing about looking for mushrooms is that once you begin to notice that there is such a variety of sizes, colours and shapes you can’t help but see them when you go out walking. While visiting my parents in Victoria Harbour, we had the chance to attend Tug Fest.  Yes a festival for tug boats.  I know that it sounds a bit unusual but it was actually pretty fascinating. I really never stopped to think about how many different types of tug boats there are.  Katrine’s favourite part was the nightime parade of lit-up tugboats because the largest one set off fireworks.

The highlight of August for Katrine was definetely Culture Camp at the Chinese Canadian Culture Center in Scarborough.  She is fascinated with all things China right now because “it is the best!  I was born there!” so camp was right up her alley.  She got to sing in Mandarin, do some kungfu, dance and do crafts.  Plus, two of her cousins and two of her Yongning sisters were there with her.  They put on a performance on the last day of camp, which was absolutely adorable, and we saw her in make-up for the first time.  Oh my goodness, that was a bit of a surprise.

So that brings us to September and back to school.  Katrine is now in Senior Kindergarten and I am currently teaching an SK-Grade 1.  Katrine has a new teacher this year but she seems to be liking her and is excited about going to school in the morning so what more can I ask for.  Last night I waited almost two hours to enroll her in Mandarin language classes which begin next week.  Plus, she will be starting back up with Highland dance and figure skating classes.  Yes, the carpool of mom will be busy.

That pretty much brings you up-to-date.  Enjoy the photos.

dscn7253

I just like this photo.

simcoe-muskoka-2009-2-of-48

dscn7473

She is really good at belly flops.

dscn7622

A glimpse of the future.

mushrooms-2009-15-of-38mushrooms-2009-29-of-38dscn7367

Do you see what I meant about the mushrooms?

The Rain Came, The Garden Grew

Two days of rain, and the garden is looking quite nice. The onions (thought they were the beets at first) are up and going gang busters, the tomatoes, and cucumbers are looking good. Of course, first in Katrine’s heart, the corn is starting to come up. Here are a few macro-ish shots:

Red Onion
Red Onion

Corn
Corn

Broccoli
Broccoli

Chive Flowes
Chive Flowes

The Attwood’s Vegetable garden

Spring is here, and the second incarnation of the Attwood Family Garden(TM) is upon us. This year we are trying hard not to over-plant, although we did end up with lots of potatoes last year. Also off this year’s list are radishes, done so because the homegrown ones have quite a bite. Instead we are trying golden beets, and contrary to my oft stated belief that they are just coloured mud, I am looking forward to trying them roasted under the broiler. The other exciting vegetable is corn… providing we can keep the raccoons out, it should be interesting. Finally we have prepared more for our potatoes this year by leaving a small mound of dirt on either side to earth up the plants and hopefully give us a bigger crop with fewer individual plants.

Newly planted corn
Newly planted corn
Main Garden
Main Garden