At the park!

I feel like I am missing out because I haven't found time to take Abbey to the park, but everyone else has taken her. Her Aunt J and cousin, Bonnie, took her two weeks ago and got some wonderful pictures. Then Clark took her last week while I had an airport meeting and she showed him the ins and outs, because she is getting to be a pro. Of course, he never thinks to take a camera anywhere. Maybe with it being a long weekend, we can get to the park, or take her swimming, or something fun outdoors. We haven't made any plans for Memorial Day, just so we can spend some much needed family time together. I can't wait. In the meantime, here are the sweet pictures that Bonnie took at the park. Bonnie is such a good photographer. I love her!!!!!!!

Bonnie has loved photography and become serious about it since her wedding, and she has taken wonderful pictures of Abbey. Abbey has even learned to pose so Bonnie can get the picture she wants. But Bonnie has another reason to carry her camera everywhere she goes now. His name is Daniel and he has got to be one of the sweetest little boys you will ever know. Bonnie is a proud momma and has already started putting him on film. I thought I would share an adorable picture taken by Bonnie of her precious Daniel, my great-nephew.

Hope for the best!

As many of you know, I love a garden in the summer, but each year is a different adventure. This year is no different. You plant things and hope for the best, but some times it just doesn't work out. That's when you go back to the drawing board and plant something else. Here is the list I started off with and the results so far.

Cabbage - 6 (One didn't make it so we are down to 5)
Broccoli - 4 (One didn't make it so we are down to 3)
Sweet Banana Pepper - 1 (Looking good)
Bell Pepper - 5 (One broke in two so I was afraid it would die, but it is making a come back)
Zucchini - 1 (Something ate all the leaves and left stumps, so I dug it back up)

I sowed seeds for:

Yellow Squash - (same as zucchini, as soon as they began to come up something ate them, so replaced all squash with tomatoes. You can get squash easily at the farmer's market anyway)

Okra - (Coming up and looking good. I need to replant a couple of seeds)
Green beans - Roma and Blue Lake (Romas didn't come up at all, so I replaced them with tomato plants. Blue lake came up in most of the row, but I'm going to get some more seed and replant the rest of the row)
Onions - Sweet, Red, and Bunching (Bunching didn't come up, but the rest look good)
Radishes - (First to come up, I need to thin them out, they are growing great)
Lettuce - Bibb and Salad Bowl (I've had a few of the salad bowl variety come up, but not much so I might plant something else in it's place soon)
Cucumber - Straight Eight and Pickling (Straight eight came up, pickling didn't)
Pumpkin - (Clark accidently tilled over the tiny little pumpkin leaf that popped up, he doesn't like pumpkin anyway so I'll just buy one at the farmer's market to put up what little I need)
Watermelon - (Looking good)
Cantelope - (Didn't come up, so I replaced it with a tomato plant)


If you are wondering why everything is getting replaced with tomatoes, I bought 14 tomato plants thinking that I would share some with my dad and Clark's dad, who usually grow them in larger flower pots. Neither of them want to grow them this year, so I was left with all my tomato plants. The second issue was the fact that Clark said he would extend my garden to have a section devoted to tomatoes. This never happened and I really needed to get them in the ground before they all died, so once I saw what was coming up and what wasn't from planting seeds, I started to go in and replace what didn't come up with tomato plants. Luckily the areas that needed replacing were in corners of the garden so my tomatoes are easy to get to.

Well, that is my garden update. How is your garden doing?

I did it again!

I walked my second 5K this weekend and shaved two minutes off my time. I was still at the end of the pack, but I did start out at a jog and then walked the rest of the way. I finished and did it in less time than my first 5K, which was my personal goal. This track was similar to the last one, but was a little harder. It seemed to have a few more hills, and I wasn't the only one who thought so. I'm really getting into these little 5K's. I can do these, not well, but that will come in time. I have my eye on another one in June and have already heard about two in the fall. My nephew's wife ran Saturday and it was her first 5K. I was so proud of her. Her time was right around 30 minutes and for her first one with only a few weeks of training, I thought that was great. She is one that really loves to challenge herself, which is an inspiration to me. She just finished the P90X program last month, so 5K's are her new addiction. I just want to be able to see her at the start line and then maybe again at the finish because I don't think I'll ever be able to keep up with her. Anyway, Clark and I slacked on the P90X this whole month and sat and complained about how we need to give it another shot, so tonight we start again with Chest and Abs. Let's see how far we can take it this time. :) I hope everyone has a wonderful week and don't forget those Strawberries. They will be out of season very soon, so stock up your freezer.


Recipe of the week:

Berry, Walnut, and Avocado Spring Salad
(Originally a Weight Watchers recipe, but I have changed a few things)

Ingredients
· 6 oz. spring mix salad
· 3/4 cup fresh strawberries, quartered
· 1/3 cup walnuts
· 1/3 cup golden raisins
· 1 large avocado, sliced
· 1/4 cup Bleu cheese crumbles
· 1/4 cup Raspberry Vinaigrette

Instructions
· In a medium bowl toss together the spring mix, strawberries, walnuts and golden raisins. Top with avocado and bleu cheese crumbles. Drizzle lightly with dressing just prior to serving and pass dressing with salad.

· Yields 6 servings.


This is a great light lunch salad or as part of a meal with marinated grilled chicken and veggies.