Bunkbeds and Gardens

Whether it is bad or not, I do not know, but I do know that Hopers has fallen off the ladder, twice.

What actually happened that prompted the Pediatrician to comment on the bunk bed is this:

A neighbor girl was over the top bunk was being used as storage and L was experimenting with gravity. Toddlers are named such because they are not handy with their balance. L was no exception. He lost his balance on the overcrowded bunk. His collar bone hit the bottom frame. He wailed and I rushed him to the ER. Dr in ER was obviously new at this game and had no clue how to examine a kid 2.5 yo in serious pain. To his credit, I was a first time ER mom and had no clue how to calm a kid 2.5 yo in serious pain and afraid of these bright lights and strangers. He slept through the night and until noon the next day at which time I called the Peds office and after a moments examination, was sent to X-ray to confirm what we already knew: collar bone broken. In a brace (that we still have!) for 3 weeks and he's fit as a fiddle (and he didn't stop his thumb sucking either!)

But I didn't blog tonight to elaborate on my previously boring post. I had a blog all ready about transparency vs. invisibility and in the end decided that I am both and it didn't matter, because I'm not the one you are supposed to see, anyway! So if not about fractures or motherhood, then what?

Hey, I know, more about the garden. We spent the week in town so we could enjoy VBS at our church instead of driving 80 miles a day just to get there and back. So MM (that would be, My Man), has been home alone for 4 days! The house was in great shape when I got home (no surprise if you know MM). However, he did confirm previous notions that coons know when corn is ripe and ready for the picking.

That creature gifted with opposable thumbs very neatly shucked several ears of corn and made it look as if a person had done the job. In years past we have been able to see their eyes out in the garden at night and scare them away. This year MM has been keeping his own journal of plantings so he can know when things are due. It's kinda like child birth predictions, but that is another story for another day. So he didn't have to be as vigilant wondering which week we'd have coons around. We had several types of corn planted and have already enjoyed several meals of fresh corn. Today however was the harvest day. MM went with M to the garden where they picked 30 ears. That is as much as we've already enjoyed.

From all the ears we've had this year only about 4 worms were found! Yeah. The gnats are awful, but no gross amount of worms as in years past. Some were too big for good eating raw and others were perfect. All of them visited the blanching pot and the quenching tub after which they were put up in the freezer. Now we have about a quart of fresh corn and 10 ears that are experimental taste tests to see which we like better. Tomorrow we have tomatoes to put up and weeding/mulching to do, too.

I know, our harvest doesn't sound impressive. It's not meant to be. However, this is a learning process and we are learning. Perhaps we'll break even on our harvest one of these years!

On a side note, we are trying out the Reyn*ld's vacuum sealer. We have a F**d Saver but it may be on the way out. If the hand held unit works, we may switch to it and leave the bulky one behind. The real test is to see if it looses it's seal over time.