August is here. I can hardly believe it!!!! One summer week just dumps into the next. Even though we didn't have a big family vacation planned out this summer, and we are totally OK with that, we did have lots happening weekends and we had a long weekend at the cabin in June that was really nice! We spent more time relaxing at home, chatting around the campfire, throwing ball in the back yard and of course, taking moped and four wheeler rides when possible!
I told the kids weeks ago that I am not thinking about school until it's August. Now, with saying that, I still read all the school emails that we are receiving. I am still putting things on my calendar that are school related but I didn't want to school shop or "think" much about school until August. August 1 arrived and guess what? Ashlyn and Austin were right on it with getting their backpacks out and looking over the supply list that we received from school. I had Austin sit down the other day to do some math facts and he was not impressed! They really are not ready for school just yet but it's always exciting for them to go school shopping. So, we looked over their lists and headed to Target.
After Target, we made our first stop at Blessing Of Hope to grab some groceries and use our first voucher that we earned because we did a work night a few weeks ago for them! We were delighted to fresh fennel!!!! We love this vegetable!!!! While I put our groceries away from Blessings, the children organized their pencil boxes and backpacks. They always love to have fresh, new pencils and markers to start the new school year. It's hard to believe that school will actually begin in a few short weeks.
While Ashlyn was hanging out with cousins the other day, Austin and I got to spend some time together! We grabbed some fries and drinks at Chickfila and made a stop at Ross.
Simple math facts were completed but not without tears and some push back from Little Man. School work is not his favorite but he did a great job getting these completed!
August blooms have me cutting hydrangeas and enjoying my window view!
It's already time to think about fall crops and we filled the garden beds with more cabbage, lots of buttercrunch lettuce, lettuce seeds, broccoli, more cucumber seeds, cauliflower and celery. I hope the August heat will be kind to these tender plant babies and we hope to have fresh vegetables again soon!
These "pea size tomatoes" grow in abundance!
This is the year for tomatoes I guess because I never know the best kind of tomato is to plant but this year I grabbed another pea size tomato, a Roma plant and an Early Girl. All three plants are thriving and giving us the best looking tomatoes! They are beautiful and plentiful! I pick this amount about three days, wash them, pull off the tops and put them in the freezer! I will soon need to cook them all and make tomato juice!
Green beans are in full bloom too! Lot's of these going in the freezer too!
When I said that I'm not thinking about school until August, there are things that we need to put in the schedule and one was getting Ashlyn an updated school physical! We are blessed to have a good health report!!!!!
I've been baking sourdough for over a year but recently it's taken on a new level of wonderful!!!! I started using a new recipe and changing up the baking tempts and times a bit (with the help from Little Spoon Farm and from Mindy) and it's been a game changer! Wow! This dough got so nice for me yesterday and my family was waiting not so patiently for a hot loaf to come out of the oven last night! Normally, I mix the dough the night before but Tuesday night got late before I mixed any dough and just waited to mix it until yesterday morning. I mixed, watched it rise and ferment in my kitchen all day yesterday and then baked it at supper time last night! I tried three different add ins and my family LOVED IT!!!!
We have jalapeños in the garden and these bad boys are hot and made my eyes tear up by just slicing them! I sliced, chopped and added them to one sourdough loaf.
Then I went to the garden and picked rosemary and thyme from the herb box and added herb pieces to the next loaf! This was our favorite last night!!!!!! It was so, so yummy!
The dough rose so well!!!! I added cinnamon and sugar to the third loaf and this will always be the boys favorite!
I started baking each loaf at a lesser heat and not as long. The soft, tender bread just is so delicious!
August is now here and the heat is on. It's feeling like a hot day today and that means we will be drinking lots of water, cleaning in the AC and trying to stay cool!
Have a great Thursday!
