I bet nobody has one of these....

I have been wanting to post a picture of this for some time now.

Does anyone know what it is???

 It looks like some mid-evil weapon or torturing device!!

It's my canning jar lifter!! I found it a few years ago when we were cleaning out my grandfather's home. I bet it's as old as the pitch fork!

Squash & Cantaloupe

The other day I was checking the Spaghetti Squash and my "Little Helper's" pumpkin plant. They are planted at the end of the herb garden and grow over the fence. I thought that the powdery mildew was taking it's toll. Oh no.....it was those darn SVB's!!!!! There were so many in the vines that I had to pull all of them! There were only two small  Spaghetti Squash and no pumpkins. I brought the squash in the house...hopefully they will ripen inside. I was so upset that I didn't even take pictures. I have never had this problem before. This year they have gotten everything!!

The cantaloupe and muskmelons vines are also dying. They are not infested with SVB's though. I think that it's the weather and the powdery mildew taking it's toll on them. There are at least 8 good size melons on the vines and a couple are almost ripe. So, I'm going to leave the vines in until I harvest them.

One of Two Cantaloupe that are almost ready!

The vines dying off

One of the Muskmelons

Harvest Monday....Cucumbers....

cucumbers and more cucumbers!! I harvested 12 pounds of cucumbers this week! I was a busy little bee finishing the sweet cucumber relish and making Bread & Butter pickles yesterday. I managed to finish canning everything and cleaning up the kitchen by about 4PM. It was just in time to sit down, relax and enjoy our anniversary together! We made a special dinner, enjoyed the last bottle of wine that was left from our wedding and relaxed outside on the deck for the evening.

OK, enough of all that anniversary stuff and on to the rest of this weeks harvest! The tomatoes have slowed down quite a bit. I harvested almost 16.5 pounds this week. There are a lot of nice large green tomatoes out there and it looks like I will get quite a bit more from them. The eggplants are starting to come in on a regular basis. I told "The Italian" that I'm looking forward to having a nice eggplant parmesan in the near future.

The potaotes have all been harvested.....what a failure! Next year they are going back in the ground! Do you believe that we only got 5.5 pounds of potatoes this year??? It's a good thing that we don't eat many potatoes around here.

Black Beauty eggplant on the left and Black Egg on the right.

I got a picture before "The Italian" took off with them!

This is the second head of Savoy Cabbage weighing 1 lb. 10 oz.

Yukon Gold & Caribe Purple potatoes.

We didn't even get any of the beautiful Cranberry Reds...the voles ate all of those!

Bread & Butter pickles on the left, Sweet Cucumber Relish on the right

Harvest Total: 41.3125 lbs.

Beans - 9 oz.
Cabbage - 1 lb. 10 oz.
Celery - 1 lb. 1 oz.
Cucumbers - 12 lbs.
Eggplant - 2 lbs. 11 oz.
Onions - 6 oz.
Peppers - Hot- 7.5 oz   Sweet - 1 lb. 9 oz.
Potaotes - 3 lbs. 14.5 oz.
Strawberries - 10 oz.
Tomatoes - 16 lbs. 7 oz.

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions host of Harvest Monday to see more harvests!

2nd Anniversary of....

our Marriage!! Although we are grandparents, "The Italian" and I were married two years ago tomorrow! I didn't want to interfere with "Harvest Monday" so, I posted this a day early.

We met seven years ago, a little over one year after my dear daughter passed. I feel that my dear husband "The Italian" really saved my life. He is the most wonderful man in the world! We were together for nearly five years, lived together a few months before the wedding (due to selling a house), engaged for one day (I didn't want to get engaged...but "The Italian" insisted) and then married.

We married in the community "Rose Garden" which is a few blocks from our home in the early morning. Later in the day, we had our marriage celebration with friends and family here at the house. We entertained about 60 guests. "The Italian" and I made all of the food. The food was "gourmet" to say the least. I'm sure that it would have been $200. a person at one of those fancy facilities. We did hire a bartender and waiters to serve the food though.

I hope that you enjoy the pictures.

Our Favorite Picture

Now you know what we look like!

Our flowers were made with herbs & hydrangeas from the garden 5 minutes before we left for the Rose Garden

A nice view of the ceremony

My dear friend cut and arranged flowers for the tables

The Bar, which was in my son's yard

You can see the onions hanging on our porch in the background

A view between our houses...awaiting the arrival of our guests.

Some food prep in the kitchen.

My dear husband "The Italian" cooking in the back garden.

Yum, the Dessert table!

The next morning.....the chocolate fountain was still running!

Good Things & Happy Faces

There are many good things going on in the garden. The cantaloupe and muskmelons are growing like crazy. I am hoping for a ripe melon in about a week. I usually grow a small variety of cantaloupe. Therefore, I'm not sure how big these will get before they start to ripen.

The cucumbers are non-stop at the moment. I have given several pounds away and am still up to my ears in cucumbers! I am presently making a batch of dill, bread & butter and cucumber relish. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of the cucumbers!

This picture is from two days ago. They have grown quite a bit in the past two days!

Happy Hibiscus

I planted these hibiscus last year for my "Little Garden Helper". The seeds were given to me from one of my clients in 2008. Last year, there was one plant. This year, there are several plants. They are so big and beautiful! They look fake!