Like a Sunflower - Chicago Area Family Photojournalist

My family was in FL on vacation last week.  I had all intentions of posting a blog but that was a fail.  I hope you forgive me.  I know my awesome brother Ralphy checked in because he said to me, "I missed your blog last week."  At least I know one person reads my blogs... HA! Actually I know from my stats a few hundred check in on me every month.  Thank you! :)

I will be playing catch up on my blogs. This week and next week I will post a double feature: 2 blogs.

It's also that time of the year... in the next few weeks I will be moving my blog to Tuesday's.  I have just completed my second year of this blogventure.  I am excited to start a third year.  I hope you continue to check in and see what I am up to.  Feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think. 
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The garden is coming along wonderfully.  Thanks to my husband's problem solving we have STRAWBERRIES! The kiddos love to go out to the backyard, pick and eat strawberries, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, mint and anything else they can get their hands on.

 

I am amazed at the sunflower we have growing. 

R brought a tiny little sunflower in a plastic cup from preschool.  She helped me plant it in the garden. 

Just 2 months later it towers over everything in the garden.  It has yet to bloom but I love to watch it change positions as the sun moves across the sky. 

Reminds me of a song I use to sing in elementary school.
"Like a sunflower, that follows every movement of the sun...
so I turn towards you, to follow you...
my God."

Shout out to the L family who took care of my garden while we were on vacation.  It's nice to have good neighbors.  :)



The Fence - Chicago Area Photojournalist

I took the kiddos to pick some strawberries.  I figured our strawberries were going to take a while. 

They were small but very sweet!

We had fun.  The kids saw some green beans and picked those too.  I think they were more excited about the beans than the strawberries... go figure!

Guess what finally arrived?

The electric fence is up and our garden is thriving.  It still makes me kind of nervous.   



Look at what I spotted?  Yahoo! Maybe we will have strawberries after all. 

Our little garden is thriving this summer.  No coincidence, I feel like my home is thriving too. 

WHO? - Chicago Area Photojournalist

The strawberry saga continues....

My problem solver (aka hubby) bought an owl statue to ward off any little thieves.  I thought this was a little strange, an owl? But sure enough all is quiet around the garden.  The birds even stay away. The birdies do come to check out the new addition to the family but they don't stay too long.

In ancient Greek Mythology, Athene, the Goddess of Wisdom made the owl her favorite creature.  Since the owl was often seen as a symbol of Athene, the owl was a protector, Greek armies would bring them to war.  If an Owl flew over Greek soldiers before a battle they would take it as a sign of victory. 

We have fun shouting, "WHOOOOOOOOOO WHOOOOOOOOOOO" out of the window during our, who sounds more like an owl competitions. 

So far our Owl, we've affectionately named Harry, is doing a good job protecting our strawberry plant.  We haven't harvested any yet, but looks like they will be ready soon.    

I pray that I am a lot like Harry protecting my three little plants at home until they are ready for harvest. 

P.S.  The electric fence is on back order.  SMH (Shaking my head).....

Strawberry Thief - Chicago Area Photojournalist

We've been working on a veggie and fruit garden and it's been coming along GREAT! We already had some fresh cilantro and onions.  Can we say yummy salsa?!

It was pretty exciting to see some fresh strawberries growing earlier this week.  Each kiddo has "their" own strawberry plant.  The strawberries had barely grown to be the size of a nickle when all of a sudden they disappeared.... yup... something else was pretty excited to see some fresh strawberries and ate them all up. 

I was a little upset, all of our hard work for what? So some thing else could come in and steal it?  What the heck?!

My hubby, the problem solver he is, saw a problem and decided to do something about it.  He rushed out and bought a huge net to cover the entire garden.  "It's gotta be those birds around here. This will keep them out," he said. 

The only problem was that the net also kept me out...

It gets tangled on everything (including me) so we have to be very careful when we put it on and take it off. The solution to the problem has brought other problems with it... pretty ironic, I thought.

Unfortunately, that's not where the story ends.

The little strawberries were growing again.  This time they were the size of a bean.... when.... you guessed it... they disappeared again. 

Now hubby is talking about putting an electric fence up.... eeeeek!

"Try to get in there now bird," Hubby said. "How do I get in there now?" I ask.   

This image was taken today at a Memorial Day parade.  My hubby is our problem solver and our hero.  He makes me laugh and is my best friend.  I am the luckiest girl in the world, even if I can't get in the garden. 

But will we harvest any strawberries? 

.... to be continued ....