Gardens and Swimming

 I don't know why I didn't consider it before, but I spent the last few evenings laying down recycled soot fencing and mulch in my garden walkways. In years past, we mowed and weed-whacked through there until the cantaloupe and watermelon start growing in the walkways; then the grass would grow so high, I would literally lose the melons in the high grass. This year my beds are so full, because so many extra plants volunteered, that I realized I needed to get rid of the grass between the beds to keep it all under control. I think this is going to make it much easier. I am anxious to add more garden beds next year; I currently have four, but would like about eight to ten.

We did our first green bean picking. It was actually the first year I grew them and am amazed out how many beans those plants can grow. I picked five large bowls and left the smaller beans for another picking in about a week. The kids weren't too enthusiastic about snapping the ends until I announced that there would be no activities that involved a screen until all the beans were done. They really picked up speed once they realized that I wasn't going to take over the task. I blanched and froze most of them; I plan on canning a later picking.

Just for humors sake.... We had a swim meet tonight. It went incredibly late due to a thunderstorm that delayed us for about an hour. I brought the three youngest home once the storm hit, then returned for Tori and Julia at 9:30. When I found Julia, she told me that she didn't swim the back-stroke. Since she took first in it last week, I asked her why. She told me that she was scared. I asked her why she would be scared since she is very good at it. She said, "I had to pee really bad, and since we are not allowed to pee in the pool, I was scared that I couldn't hold it all the way to the other side of the pool."

I think if she had elaborated on her fear, the coaches would have allowed her a bathroom break before the event. I hope we don't end up losing by only a few points!