and now it's summer...

Summer is officially here. It has been pretty consistently over 100 degrees here for the last few weeks and there's no rain in sight. It's been a challenge to keep up with our garden and keep our plants happy. So we're spending most of our time inside except for early morning garden watering and when we have to be out there. Here are some photos of our recent exploits...

Blowing bubbles with Grandma during her recent visit.

Fingerpainting...

...and the aftermath.

Rory's first backyard art installation.

and more bubbles.

Bright pink croc hitchhiker...

The newest additions to the household...four bantam chicks. We are allowed to have four hens in the city limits, and picked out four chicks. I think we ended up with two pullets and two cockrels. I believe this guy will grow up to be a proud rooster...

...and she will grow up to be one our sweet hens. We have good homes for the two boys to go to once they start crowing.

This weekend, we went up to Aunt Lynn's to release some baby bunnies. In the cage before release...

..."wow, it's a big world out there"...

"See? I told you I know how to hide..."

Chad saw this garden spider in the bed of Lynn's truck and had to take a picture...

Today was exciting because Chad's hair was finally long enough to cut and donate (www.wigsforkids.org). We hadn't sent Rory's donation in yet, so here you get to see the two proud donors with their braids. I'll have to get a photo of Chad with his hair down as well...

I'm really proud of these shades I made with some scrap fabric to help keep the house cool in the afternoons. The sun beats right on the front of our house (which faces west) and really heats up the house. This will keep some of the direct sun off of our front porch.

Gladiolas in bloom...

Rory eating some corn on the cob that we got fresh from our good friend Chuck's garden along with some okra and tomatoes.

So that about covers the last few weeks. I hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying some pool time in this hot weather. We'll definitely be doing some rain dances over the next few weeks to try to keep our water bill down and hoping for some cooler weather so our tomatoes will ripen. Hopefully we'll be getting some zucchini soon and we'll be planting some okra of our own. I think our pumpkins will be ready to harvest soon...and they call themselves a winter squash...Please let us know if you want any hot peppers and we'll send some your way. Happy summer! Can't wait for fall...


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