The plight of the bounty

One of the great things that comes with weeks and weeks of wicked, breath stealing, unrelenting death heat is a great crop of tomatoes.  Those suckers love that endless sun and all the vitamins that come from it!

With our crazy hectic schedule we've been holding up the last few months I feel like my garden has been very forgiving of me and my 20 minutes a day I've committed to it.  But now, my cup runeth over with tomatoes, squash and red jalapenos( that's what you get when you wait too long!)

This is going to be my first year of canning with my Mama.  I remember doing this when I grew up in our house in Lawrence.  How much do I remember? Well, I know that I will end up in my undergarments due to the fact that my AC wont be able to keep up with the boiling pots of water. That's about it.  But now I know there will be prosecco, lots and lots of prosecco. 

I've also run into a few conundrums with my peppers.  Currently I am growing red, green and yellow bell peppers along with pablanos and jalapenos.  My red peppers don't seem to ripen in time for me to wait them out on the stem. I gave a few promising prospects a chance and they went rot before they went red.

And for some reason my pablanos and my green peppers look remarkably similar which leads to a very unhappy experience when you slice into one.  I'm going to have to keep those in different baskets. 

Also, just how many spaghetti squash recipes can one come up with!!!

I love my garden but I always seem to get to this overwhelming "what am I going to do with all these delicious veggies!! " problem.  Good thing I have such a willing family.

 P.S. I don't think I'll ever complain about my eggplant.  It amazes me these flimsy looking plants can hold such a large vegetable. Plus, I'm pretty much obsessed with eggplants.

 Happy Gardening!!!

Ms. Maui, the wonder dog

There are dogs. The kind of dogs that will sit if you have a treat, tear up your favorite shoes and maybe tell you when they have to go to the bathroom... maybe.

And then there are wonder dogs.  Our dog Maui falls into the second category.

After Hoag and I got married, we knew we wanted a dog to help complete our family.  His family is a Dobie group. Big scary Dobermans with pointy ears and teeth.  As much as I was drawn to the idea of having a terrifying looking dog to protect me while he travels, my family is a German Shepherd family.  Protective, family oriented, smart and fiercely loyal.  So we began what would seem to be an endless search...

and then we found her.  4 months old in St. Louis, Mo; Serendipity German Shepherd Rescue had found her wandering the streets. Her now pointy and enormous ears flopped down, 24 lbs and badly needing a home.  She was ours after a 15 page question answer and short essay interview packet.  I didn't even take my ACT's as seriously as I did applying for this mystery dog. 

It's a big risk saying, "I do" to a dog you've never met but I knew God had figured this one out for us so we just rolled with it.  We met in Columbia, Mo and after a quick walk around the McDonald's we were on our way home. One happy family. 

From there it was straight to the hills and it was as if she'd been with us her whole life... all 4 months of it! I think she's spent a total of 15 days over the last 2 years on a leash, the rest of the time she's by our side or just a quick " Maui Whistle" away.  Where is she when she goes away?

If the pools open and Maui is missing, you can bet she's in it.  If it's not open? She's probably in a pond somewhere or some gross puddle of mystery water, or with one paw in her water bowl.  She lives for the water and shaking as closely as she can to you.

But who could be mad about something like that?!  Over the last two years she's learned just about everything.  She herds cattle from afar... ( we once had a traumatic 50 1st time cows vs. maui episode that resulted in Maui always taking the wing position) , she plays fetch, rides in whatever we tell her to, weeds, cleans stalls, herds cats and helps do the dishes.  No, I'm not kidding about the weeding.  It's a sight to see. 

I always prayed we'd have a dog like this someday, I just never guessed it'd be this easy! She is the best, most hilarious, loyal, caring friend I could want to be all covered in hair. And the only girl that I would let lick my husbands hand.  She's our Kid and she's here to stay!!