The weather it be a changin'!

 It's half-past September by now and the long stretches of hot weather are behind us.  We still have the occasional hot day (and even need the A/C) but the next day is almost always cooler if not drastically so.  AS usual, roller-coaster weather brings on my headaches, so on my "good" days I try to get a lot done in anticipation of a less-than-good day cropping up in my calendar.    Annoying.

The garden is winding down and so is my interest in it.  I have NOT been able to keep up with the green beans, even though I planted considerably less than last year.  They have gotten overly mature in just a day or two!  So after I had frozen about 12 bags, I have given up picking and processing every day and just let them go.  IF I want beans for a meal, I go out and pick what I want, but a lot are going to waste!  Tomatoes are tapering off and that is good, too.  I have a good amount of juice, sauce, chopped bits, and salsa.  Because I ran out of freezer space last year, I decided to can them this year.  When they were coming on heavy, I would pick and plop them into the crock pot, which cut down on time, and I could even leave them overnight! I pulled off the juice to get a more concentrated sauce - eventually.  It was not reasonable to process this amount every day or two, so I would take the cooked-down tomatoes (and separately, the juice) and pop it into the freezer, then have a processing day to get it all strained and canned..

Cooked and ready to freeze, ready for canning later.

Several crock pots of tomatoes, canned in quarts. 
Juice and sauce.

Picking beans.  I got the basket almost full!

Almost a whole shelf of just green and yellow wax beans!
The shelf below has sweet corn (purchased from the Farmer's Market), broccoli, cauliflower.

I have had a very small amount of broccoli and cauliflower, but I blanched and froze it, too.  I have also put up summer squash (shredded) and some mature beans for dog food.

The very best crops this year have been Butternut squash and pumpkins!  Totally the opposite of last year. I have no idea what what I have done differently, and the butternut squash was even planted in the same place.  I have also learned that potatoes like to stay in the ground longer and get more water.  I had dug up about half of the potatoes from the in-ground bed, as well and more than half of the containers earlier in July.  They were all very small and the ones in containers were noticeably smaller and fewer than the in-ground ones. So I increased the watering for both methods and just dug them this past week.  HUGE difference.  Very few tiny potatoes and the big ones were REALLY big!

Over a half-bushel of potatoes, and some are HUGE!

Pie pumpkins, from the back-yard corner beds.

Jarrahdales from along side the garage. 
One isn't at all ripe, but I had to pick them as the vines were dying.

Peppers have taken their time growing and ripening. I'm now getting quite a lot of poblanos, so I'm chopping and freezing them to use in chilis and other soups. Bell peppers are coming on but not near as many per plant as the poblanos.  It's hard to leave them until they decide to turn red, but I have gotten a few.... I've also gotten a few of the little Lunchbox size.

Peppers!  Sweet bell, Lunchbox sweets, and Poblanos.

Half of the Tongue of Flame beans.

Other small harvests are the Tongue of Flame beans, which I just picked yesterday.  There will be just a few more, but not many.  I'll use these to make soup lunches for me.  DH does not like beans....

ENouGH of gardneing.  Now for the token Grandchild photos....

Grandma treats them with Jello... which they like as much as ice cream!

The boys got haircuts... Faux-Hawk.  Not quite Mohawks....

Back to a routine!  The oldest is in 1st grade and "The Littles" are now back in the daycare they were in here in town.  Very inconvenient location for Daddy (and Grandma), but it is a good center and familiar.  Much easier on all of us than Mama taking them out of town to her work location.  Baby girl is settling in well, but The Middle Child is having a hard time adjusting.  I still have them occasionally, but it's the usual after school or picking them up from daycare if Daddy is in a time crunch after hours (daycare's hours, that is...). I LOVE picking them up from daycare!  They are screaming happy to see me, which is a trip!  I also take The Eldest to a swim class once a week. I try to do supper for them all once a week at my house.  Everyone likes that.

Of course, he is the best-behaved child in his group!
And one of only 2 who is not afraid of the water!

And finally, our Oldie.  El turned 11 this month.  He is failing, but slowly.  Mostly due to his "old dog eyes" making his vision very cloudy.  He has trouble seeing steps and has become reluctant to go down off of the deck when the lighting is soft.  But he still insists on his walks!  Possibly more than usual.

Tail-waggin' walker

Beauty shot

Birthday ice cream.
See his cloudy eyes.

Hubby has been terribly busy and stressed with his tennis coaching.  His team is not interested in learning how to be better and view their participation in the team as a social event.  For someone as competitive as DH, this is an extreme trial... as well as all the administrative minutia....  So I make him a nice meal on the one or two evenings a week that I know he will be home. And keep his favorite shirts clean...