E Family Weekend

 Our family of seven tries to schedule a weekend when all our schedules allow some all- together family time. That happened last weekend.

OFD arrived in time for all seven of us to attend the free concert at the Levitt in downtown Sioux Falls. It was our first Levitt concert. The U.S. Navy Band Horizon was the main entertainment, playing music from the 80s and 90s.

On Saturday, we met at the Sioux Empire Fair to enjoy fried, greasy fair food.

and some shaved ice!

We were at the fair to attend the rodeo. Pre-rodeo entertainment was watching the crew move the calves and steers from one set of corrals to another.

The Navy provided the Honor Guard and the singing of the National Anthem.

honoring the flag

the rodeo clown

the E Family

the rest of the E family

After 3 hours of rodeo, it was time for the carnival! McBe does not enjoy the rides.

Hubby and OFD on the Scrambler

Miss W thought she would spin faster if she was alone. She didn't.

Hubby kept sliding into/onto her lap

Miss W wanted a faster ride

I don't know what the ride was called. Maybe the Tower?

it slowly rises up the column

half-way there

Ready? Drop!

She got her thrill!

Heading home to fix dinner for all of us...

Cucumber Update

 I have written about the cucumber saga of this summer, learning I did not have enough flowers nearby to attract the pollinating insects.

I picked this one on August 6th and enjoyed it all by myself in my favorite cucumber salad. It was crisp and delicious! AND burpless!

more growing cucumbers

WOO HOO!

and another good sized one

amazing how quickly they began growing

Friday, August 8th crop

the grape tomatoes are nothing to brag about 

I picked two more cucumbers tonight, about the size of those in this picture. The plants just need to survive this current heat wave.

A New Month

I welcomed the cooler temperatures (mid-70sº) that were a start to August. I got outside and tackled the grass and weeds that overtook the flowerbed. I'm still feeling the muscles that I use only for pulling weeds, but it was worth it.

I didn't get everything, but seeing dirt around the plants is so much better than seeing grass, creeping jenny, thistles, and whatever else I pulled. 

It is rather sad that not many plants are blooming. Usually, the Columbine flowers all summer for me. The numerous cone flowers did not survive the winter, so I am missing all those colors.

The milkweed plants have started to take over the flower bed. I did attack some of the smaller ones, but when I noticed the eggs on the leaves, I got excited!

Lots and lots of eggs on the underside of the same leaf.

And a few eggs on the leaf of another milkweed. The three milkweeds are growing behind the peony plant.

The black-eyed Susan is doing well. I attempted to remove the wild rose plants (3 of them) that invaded that end of the flower bed. Dang, they have deep roots! I also destroyed the rhubarb plant as it just doesn't do well in that location. Besides, my DIL has a huge rhubarb plant that I help control in the summer. 

    

Not sure where that little yellow flower is coming from. I know it is not a weed, so it can stay.

The Icelandic poppy keeps producing flowers. That was an excellent buy earlier this summer! That is a Virginia Groundcherry behind the poppy. It needs to be removed as it is taking up more ground space than I am willing to give it. I did not plant it. 

Now to the cucumbers...

This is the only flowering plant I had on the deck this summer. I have come to the conclusion that I need more flowers, or there will be no cucumbers. I did see a big fat bumblebee flitting around the cucumber bed while I was resting on the deck from the weeding. 

Another cucumber possibility...

I had trouble finding the one that looks like it will actually be a viable cucumber for a salad later this week. (It is still there Ruth!)

I really need to add more wire for the cukes to climb!  I really do trim the plants, too! See all those yellow flowers!

I really like the balloon flower. It will go in the flower bed this fall.

I don't think the one flowering plant was enough to attract the bees and other insects for pollination. So...

I added this planter of colorful zinnias. Only Lowes and Home Depot have any flowering plants. Neither has much of a sale on the plants that are still on their shelves and racks.

I think these two pots were also labeled zinnias. I put them in a bigger pot and placed them right in the cucumber bed. Come on bees! 

Lesson learned this summer. IF I continue to put cucumbers in the raised bed by the deck, I must have flowers on the deck to attract the pollinators!

A Little This & A Little That

 Hard to believe we are on the downside of July. So what have we been doing since getting back from Northern Europe? Short answer: doctor appointments.

Curt had several cardiology appointments when we returned from AZ. They were not surprise appointments, but ones he and his cardiologist had scheduled last fall for this spring. We both felt the EECP treatments he did last summer did not really provide the improvements we had hoped to see, like in the past. His cardiologist agreed it was time to take a more in-depth look in the spring. (Curt did not, at any time, have a stroke or heart attack; he just felt he was not improving like he thought he would after the EECP.)

Curt had a stent to replace a blocked stented area on May 6th. He did quite well on our trip, considering he had surgery just 3 weeks prior. 

The second surgery was on June 16th, when another stent was placed in an area that had been blocked for at least 10 years, in a delicate location. This procedure was so successful that the cardiologist reported there is no further blockage to or from Curt's heart at this time. Because he has cardiovascular disease, we know this will not last forever, but for now, it is very good news.

Curt is doing well. He participates in cardiac rehab three days a week, with limited exercise (walking and biking) of one hour total, the other four days. He has started bowling one afternoon a week. He feels good and is regaining strength.

So basically, we have stayed close to home. I have finally emptied all the tubs we brought home from AZ.

The last three tubs were my clothes. I have been going through my clothing collection and donating what I don't wear, won't wear, or don't need. It feels good. The next area on the cleaning, sorting list is the toys the g'kids have outgrown. It is time for other kids to enjoy the items.

The weather has been hot, and I do NOT do hot! We had a milder day on Wednesday this week, so I spent some time with the garden plants and the flowers.

I had to replant the cucumbers I had planted in June when we got back. There were no cucumber plants in the town by when I realized my three hills would not survive. Other gardeners had to replant their cucumbers as many as three times. I resorted to seeds. The seeds were very prolific! 

I have gone online to learn about pruning cucumber plants to provide more air and sunshine to the plants, and hopefully, more cukes.

There have been LOTS of flowers on the plants, but no cucumbers. (One year my planted cucumbers did not produce a single cucumber. Research said it was because all flowers were male(?) and needed to either be pollinated by hand with a Q-tip or have flowers nearby.) To help prevent what appeared to be the same issue this year,  I went out and found a couple of perennial plants and placed them in the cucumber bed, hoping some insects would come along and do their job of pollinating the flowers.

I noticed one, ONE cucumber forming on a flower, so just maybe the perennial flowers and insects are working.

Along with the week of 90º temps, we have had some very timely rains of one to two inches each week. The tomato plants aren't going wild by any means, but the two I had to replace are still alive. The two from the original planting do have fruit. Again, I have pruned and fertilized and researched, hoping to have some tomatoes by the end of summer. 

These are four of the five tomato plants of different varieties and different production stages.

The grape tomato plant is on the deck. Tonight we enjoyed those four ripe grapes on our salad.

This plant is not as protected as the other four. It did not suffer too much from the hailstorm we had earlier this month.

The Icelandic Poppy was showing off this week. I am so pleased with that little plant. I just wish it would survive the winter and produce again next year. It has had white and yellow flowers, too.

The Black-eyed Susan is blooming. I deadheaded the Bee Balm and it has not produced any new flowers. 

The one Columbine that usually blooms all summer has also taken a flowering break. The only Columbine flower was this yellow one. The other two plants are alive, just not flowering now.

There was a plant that did not seem to be a weed, but was doing a lot of spreading. I decided to leave it alone and see what happens. It is a Forget-Me-Not.

The new spring (May & June) perennials are still alive, just not flowering as they are more spring/one-time flowers. The perennial bed needs attention and I will get to it next week when the temperatures are in the 70ºs and not high 80ºs.

Parts of Sioux Falls got anywhere from two to four inches of rain last night in a fast-moving thunderstorm system. Our part of town had enough sprinkles to wet the road. We did see a lovely full rainbow from the deck.

Last, but not least, the Oscar Meyer weinermobile was visiting the Farmer's Market when I stopped by this afternoon.