These Days...

The past week has been a little busier than normal with our deck project in progress.  I've been quite industrious in the kitchen, baking and cooking to keep the work crew happy :)  It certainly has helped (they say) to keep the energy level and motivation up.  Having a skilled carpenter help us out is a great thing - while Kelly can build decks, he just doesn't have the time while working away so much.  

First up was Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins for morning coffee & then

French Bread for Chicken Salad Sandwiches at lunch.  Each day we bake something yummy for coffee breaks and something extra tasty for lunch.

The concrete truck came this morning to pour the footings for the upper portion of the deck (to be built next week).  The kids were thrilled to watch the truck in action - it was the perfect break from morning lessons.

The younger 3 have been working to get their lesson work finished by lunchtime so that we can be outside for the afternoon.  I've been helping them in between cooking and baking - which if you know me is rather funny...  I get side tracked so easily and usually my recipes suffer terribly when I get distracted :)  The kids have learned to wait until I've assembled all the ingredients before they ask me for help, LOL.

I spent the afternoon in the garden doing some much needed weeding.  This is the time for weeds to come on in full force and I'm finally learning to look at it as a gift.  If I manage them correctly (never letting them flower and waiting until just after a rain to work them), they can actually be very good for the soil.  Pulling them or hoeing them is easy when the soil is damp, and leaving them to decompose on top of the soil next to the rows of veggies seems to work wonders.  I do give some to the chickens as well :)

The cabbages are looking nice, aren't they?  This variety is Copenhagen.

From afar, things look sparse, but up close they are doing quite well.  It's early yet because I finished planting a little late this year.  To the right, are rows of carrots just coming up and these brassicas are all grown under the white fabric row covers - as I've mentioned before, the cabbage moths are TERRIBLE pests here and their larvae can destroy a full crop of brassicas in a matter of just a few days.  Today was windy and overcast - the perfect day for lifting the row cover to weed without risking attracting the little pests!

This hoop house in the background has some tomatoes in it.   I think I'm going to remove the plastic as they are early maturing varieties and it's difficult to water under there.  I really could better use the hoop house for my melons as they need the benefit of the plastic far more than these hardy variety tomatoes do (Stupice and Manitoba). 

Here's a glimpse of the deck :)  It's not finished yet, but at least (after 3 years of waiting), we can finally set up our table and chairs to eat outside as a family!  It's at the back of our house (the West side), so we will be able to enjoy the evening sunsets while sitting on the deck - so perfect.  I am dreaming of the landscaping that I'll do, and of course my brick oven that I plan to build right where that pile of dirt is sitting :)

Speaking of dirt.... (just to be real) this is what our bathtub looks like after the kids and I have showered at the end of the day.  We seem to all be covered in dirt by suppertime, which in my opinion is a very good thing :)