Progress

For the first time in our married life Anna and I are growing a garden. She has posted a little bit about it already, but I thought I would take a few minutes to update you on it's progress. I think, for novice gardeners, we're doing pretty well. Take a look;
We have blossoms and even a few small, green tomatoes on our tomato plants.

Our peas are coming in, and our beans are in bloom.

Our beets are recovering from having their greens devoured by rabbits, and our spinach is coming back full-force after its first harvest.

Our sunflowers are starting to bud and even our corn is starting to get tassel-tops on the stalks. If you look closely, you can see where the ears will grow on the side of the stalk.

As far as the flowers go, there is also good progress to report.

The nasturtiums are blooming finally, and the hollyhock is blooming as well. We get to enjoy it, even though it was planted by previous tenants. It is a nice perennial that is very colorful.

And the annuals that Anna planted are in full bloom, with vibrant colors.

The cats sure are enjoying the garden, and who cares about harvest? There is plenty to explore right now.


Even though Minnesota has a fairly short growing season, people around here take full advantage of what there is. We are learning that since the summer comes on so quickly, it doesn't take long for gardens to grow. What looked rather pathetic on the first of May has quickly become quite a hardy little garden! We have learned a lot from this garden experience, too. For instance, some of our plants are too close together. We need to give our tomatoes more room next time, and we need more space between things like corn and peas. Still, I think its the fun that counts, and we are having fun. I really hope we get to eat some of each crop before we leave this place on August 17th. In the meantime, I know the cats will enjoy the garden either way. I'm sure either Anna or I will keep you posted. Blogged by Don

Steaming hot

Well it suddenly turned hot and I mean steaming hot, literally. We have had a week of thunderstorms and tornado watches (luckily no tornadoes came our way). It is 90 degrees right now and it is only expected to get down to the 70s, am I complaining, not!

This week has been busy what with catching up on household chores and outdoor chores. With this heat our little garden is finally starting to come alive and we have been harvesting spinach the last week.

Don has just harvested spinach for a fresh salad tonight for dinner!

Our tomato plants, I did not think they would make it but they did, and right now they are beginning to yield quite a few flowers.

This is my flower garden, it is kind of hard to see in the shade but have a scattered garden growing there. I planted all kinds of colorful flowers and they are finally starting to spread.

This last weekend we went and saw the Fulda parade. It was a really nice parade, only an hour long, and the Fulda band was outstanding. Apparently they are marching in Washington D.C. later this summer with a side trip to New York City. They are going to have so much fun. It was especially great to see them as 3 of the kids are in our parish. They are called the Fulda Raiders.

By the way, Anna and I are farming, yes, farming. It is such a silly game but one in which I am really enjoying. Someday I hope to have a house like Anna's, am working towards it, and then I cannot wait to get a barn to put my animals in. Anna has given me many hints as she has become quite the expert, thanks Anna!

Blogged by Anna

Hi Western Washington!

We arrived home from our trip to Washington State safe and sound. It was a wonderful trip beginning with getting to Jon and Karen's to stay the weekend on Thursday evening, to Friday when Don and Jon went to Ellensburg to help Lauren move some things back to Federal Way while I went to visit my girlfriend, Phyllis. I had a wonderful visit with her and Roger that day. Friday evening Don and I went up to University of Washington area and finally got to see Andrew's house; Daniel and Andrew were playing a Karaoke game of some kind (sorry I am not technical at all and really out of touch of all these things). After they finished we took them to dinner to Outback as they have a gluten free menu.

Saturday was the big day for Andrew's graduation. Don and I got up early and had breakfast, then spent 30 minutes with Phyllis and Roger as Don did not get to see them the day before, and off we went to make our way to the parking garage and the stadium. It was a beautiful day on the campus with much excitement in the air.



We managed to see Andrew as he marched by to get his seat for the ceremony. All the professors came marching down the middle of the chairs in the field, it was impressive. Robert Gates was the speaker for the ceremony, and finally what all those students were waiting for to happened finally came true.
Andrew is somewhere in this midst of all these students. After it was all done, we went up to the Rose Garden and waited for them so that we could take some pictures.


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We are so very proud of Andrew and he has much to be proud of. Andrew graduated top in his class and is headed this fall down to the University in Santa Cruz, California, to get his doctorate, another 5 years of school for him!

We got back to Jon and Karen's house around 7:00 and they had dinner ready. It was good to sit back and just visit with them. We watched a movie about a young woman moving from Florida to Minnesota after Halloween, and the adventures that she went through, especially the cold.

On Sunday, our last full day in Seattle, we spent most of it with our church family in Bremerton. It was so good to see everyone, we were so welcomed. I am so grateful for these people and their support throughout Don's career as a student. It is such a humbling experience. It was good being back there as it felt familiar and felt like we were back home if only for a few hours.


The rest of Sunday was spent visiting with Don's youngest brother, Tom and his family.

Monday morning we were out the door before 5 a.m. to catch our plane. It was wonderful weekend, one we will cherish in our hearts. Thanks to all in Seattle who made our trip as special can be. See you soon!

Blogged by Anna

Pioneer Village

Don and I decided to go visit Pioneer Village in Worthington. It is only open from Memorial Day until Labor Day. They have added so many buildings, it really is like a little village, quite quaint. Don is standing in an old house that was really used as a parsonage. It has 2 rooms, a living space and a small bedroom. No indoor plumbing. Hopefully the parsonage we live in will be bigger than this:)



This is an old mail vehicle drawn by horse.


This is the library, full of wonderful old history books of the area.

It was a good day to visit this place, it was hot, finally. I would write more but not really much exciting is happening. Don is busy with internship. Today and for the next week, he will be helping with vacation bible school. I have been busy working in the garden, walking and biking, actually learning to cook all over again, visiting with people, and volunteering my time at Shalom Hill Farm. Basically taking it easy now that I am no longer working. It feels good as life has slowed down, makes me wonder about all the time I spent trying to get things done in a hurry instead of enjoying the moment. Now I have many moments to gather and hold dear, even if I am doing nothing. Blogged by Anna