A Birthday Girl, a Summer Garden, and a Finished Project

First off, today is my oldest daughter's birthday.  Sixteen years ago, I became a mom.  And yet, I find myself thinking occasionally, "I wonder when I will start feeling like a grownup."  Please, somebody out there, tell me that I'm not alone.  Even though I've been an adult now for longer than I was a kid, I sometimes still don't feel like it!  Not that I'm stuck in my youth, or keeping up with the teens, and I definitely wake up sore sometimes, and can't do the things that I used to do, but I'm waiting to "feel" my age.

Here are some pictures of the birthday girl.  We actually celebrated on Saturday, with a big Mexican feast and birthday cake.  Today, we are having dinner together, and she requested her favorite dessert:  rice pudding souffle with raspberry sauce.
Here is Brianna (with Abby, Katie, and Emma) opening presents.

Her favorite cake:  chocolate cake, filled with bananas and whipped cream, and topped with more whipped cream!

Getting ready to blow out candles (with a little help from Maddie!)

And here she goes!  (Looks like she is making a wish, but she said later that she forgot!  She did get all the candles out, though!)










The weekend before last, Don finished the garden.  So, we went to the nursery and bought our vegetable plants.  While Don was finishing the sprinkler system, I was clearing out the rest of the winter vegetables.  We had a couple of heads of cabbage left, (which I put in the compost bin, darn it!) and a lot of chard.  When I say a lot, I mean a LOT.  This is what it looked like when we carried it into the kitchen:

Doesn't look like so much here, does it?  But, keep in mind, there are 2 full size bath towels under it.  Not to mention, we had already had a few dinners of it and given quite a bit to my dad.  All this from 6 plants.

This is what it looked like after I washed and chopped it all:

It filled my 6 largest bowls!

The next step was to blanch it all, and then shock it, in order to put it in the freezer.  This is how it looked after that step:

That's right, it all fit in one bowl, after a 30 second bath in boiling water.

I got out my vacuum sealer, and we now have:




Eight one pound packages in the freezer.  And, the knowledge that next year, 6 plants is probably too many!






For the most part, the garden has been replanted.  We have a total of 22 various tomato plants, 8 green bean plants, 2 summer squash plants, 2 crookneck squash plants, 1 zucchini plant (still have some of last year's in the freezer!), 2 jalapeno plants, 2 banana pepper plants, 3 Anaheim chili plants, 3 bell pepper plants, 3 cuke plants, basil, cilantro, oregano, thyme, sage, mint, rosemary, parsley, chives, and leeks.  I also have seedlings on my window sill:  tomatillos, pickling cukes, and watermelon.  Plus, I left a spot for eggplant.  I'm hopeful for a lot of fresh produce this year!

And now, for the finished project I mentioned.  Today, I finished the 40 squares project.  I last showed you square 34, so here is

Square 35:

Chocolate.  All kinds.  'Cause I don't discriminate.  Enough said??

Square 36:

One of my 2 favorite holidays.

Square 37:

My other favorite holiday.

Square 38:

One possible perfect end to a long day:
a book, a cold drink, and a tub full of bubbles!

Square 39:

Representing my fairy tale life!

Square 40:

My greatest hope:

I also added a banner to the bottom.  Here is the detail of that:

And I put a simple outline around the whole thing, to unify it.  Here is the completed picture:
















I'm going to frame it as soon as I can.  And this project was so fun, I will be starting another one soon.  Right after I finish the baby shower gift I'm working on.  I'll keep you posted!