I did it!

I did it! I pulled off the "pink horsie cake" Gloria's been talking about for months! She found it in a book of fun birthday cakes I have... and decided many moons ago that would be for the "GloGlo party". We're not big into birthday parties, so not quite sure where she picked up on having a GloGlo party, but at any rate, we had one, complete with a cake that only slightly looked like a pink doggie instead. You can see, Gloria and I are both thrilled to present it to all her closest friends. (We made a tiny blue horsie cake too... mostly so Mama could practice but also so any pink-a-phobic little boys could have some cake without feeling self-concious). For those wondering, the mane is made with strawberry fruit leather.

In other news, the sheep hunt continues. We have a couple we may purchase if we can work out transportation before someone else snatches up the good deal. It would be for a 100% St. Croix and a 100% Katahdin, both likely bred by a Katahdin ram. The St. Croix has been milked giving 16-32 oz... about what we get from our dwarf goats.

The garden continues with its ups and downs. Getting LOTS of good beans, a good number of usable tomatoes (though another good number already attacked by bugs and rot). Yellow squash, zucchini and butternut keep coming. The butternut is really tasty! Aaron thought he was in heaven with that yummy squash continually showing up on his plate the other night. Our "seminole pumpkin" is not doing well at all. I picked one and immediately couldn't tell it apart from the butternut... maybe when we cut into it. There are 3 more I'm hoping the vine survives long enough to ripen. It is clearly a case of just not being a true seed. I've contacted Baker Creek (the source) and they've refunded me, but since I didn't save the package and don't know the lot number I couldn't do much to help them pinpoint the problem. Whatever this is, it just isn't at all anthracnose resistant. Despite my efforts its being quickly wiped out. In the summer garden, weeds are abounding. Okra is flowering and little okras will be read to pick in a few days. Some last chance tomato plants are big enough for staking... especially with beans starting to climb in them. They're from my smattering of unlabeled tomatoes. I offered them to others with no takers so here they are in my garden because I don't have the heart to throw away perfectly good plants. Cow peas are growing. Sweet potatoes doing well. Got more sweet potatoes ready to plant from the ones I've sprouted. It was so easy it makes me wonder why I was thinking it was going to be a major ordeal. Easier to sprout than seeds! The picture was taken about a week ago- both full-sized sweet potatoes (the store bought ones) have lots of sprouts on them now. The ones in the little container are the sprouts from TINY potatoes from last year's harvest... and those are some very ready to plant sprouts! All just given a tiny bit of water to sit in.

Today's chores are to weed the new herb bed and get some more sprouted herbs into it to make room for July's seed plantings (can you believe we're only a few weeks away from "fall planting?") and spray the gardens with neem oil... stink bugs are abounding! Gloria's been my "Aphid Warrior", armed with a spray bottle of soapy water and a bucket load of cuteness, she attacks aphids (and anything else in spray zone of a 3' little girl) with relentless avengence. Sometimes not always hitting the aphids, but that will come. Until then, I'm glad to have her working beside me. There's NOTHING better than that. Motherhood is the best job on the planet. And this little 3-year old is a precious Jewel to a happy mother's "crown". Happy Birthday, GloGlo!