Bits & Bobs

I don't have anything of much importance to report at our house.  Just a few odds & ends, hence the title of this post.

A Swiss Chard forest!

1. My garden is finally producing food.  Today was the first day I harvested anything, Rainbow Swiss Chard, which was promptly made into a garlicky chickpea curry and eaten with naan.  The tiny yellow zucchinis are growing at last (I anticipate eating them within a week) and the beans are flowering, a surprising pink flower.  The carrots still look very sad. I'm not including a picture of them as they look so poorly.

2. How is your summer going?  I swore I wasn't going to overbook myself & our kids this summer, it always feels like I do and before I know it the summer is past and I'm standing there stunned in the school supply aisle thinking, "How did it get to be the end of August?!"  Yet, somehow, it's already July 16th and I don't feel like I've relaxed at all.  The kids were done school on June 25th and since then we've:

• Camped on the Saskatchewan side of the Cypress Hills with friends.  We were supposed to be there 4 nights but were rained out and came home after 3.  Mike loved it though and can't wait to go back. Unfortunately the inverter/converter (I don't know what it's called) quit on our trailer so we had to order a new one and Mike will be replacing it before the next camping trip. I also discovered a new favourite artist, Geoff Phillips, purchased a numbered print of his painting "Camp Harding" at his studio/home while driving back through Maple Creek, and am excitedly planning a collage wall centered around it above my living room sofa.
• Had the girl's annual eye exam - they're both heading to glasses sometime in the next year, but for the opposite problems. The 9 year old is nearsighted and the 6 year old is farsighted.
• The 9 year old went to St. Albert for a week to stay at her grandparents with her cousins from Ottawa.  We went up last weekend to pick her up and visit as well. Unfortunately two of us came back sick.  I spent the last three days in bed only to get up to drive kids to events. Today is the first day I did any food preparation since Monday.
• The 6 year old has started 2 weeks of swimming lessons. For some reason this has caused me to start having nightmares about her drowning.
• The 9 year old is in a week of science camp at Medicine Hat College.  I'm loving it because they are doing all the messy experiments that I see on Pinterest, so I don't have to! (Does that make me a bad mom?)  It's a bit disappointing to see that there are only 2 girls in the group.

3. What's coming up? I'm hoping to be completely recovered from this stomach bug before Saturday's Chili Cook-off!  Sunday is the Medicine Hat Horticultural Society's Annual Garden Tour, then next week is Stampede, the parade, the midway...  Such fun! (my new catchphrase - see below.)

4. I've discovered a new-to-me hilarious British comedy, Miranda.  I binge-watched all three series (only 6-30 minute episodes in each series, so not THAT much watching).  Mike was embarrassed by how loudly I laughed, he said he could hear me all the way in the garage while his music was playing.  I've never denied that I'm a loud laugher.  Some things are worth the belly laugh, find joy where you can!  You may recognize Miranda if you watch Call the Midwife, she plays "Chummy". I highly recommend it if you enjoy light, silly comedy.