Squash Update

Well, three weeks later, and there's been definite change in how the garden looks!  I went out this morning to check how it's growing, and WOW my squash plants not only have squash, they are cute and chubby, and more are on the way!  So, on with the pictures.

So, I know the picture isn't the greatest; I'll get out there later and take a better picture; as well as update on the tomatoes and bell peppers.  But there's a definite change since I took pictures three weeks ago!  If you have to refresh your memory; click here.

Here are the cute and chubby squash.  As far as I can tell, these are the only three that are this size, so I'm geeked!  I've decided I need to name them, but I can't think of any names right now.  And if you're wondering what 'this size is', here's a comparision with my hand.

Well, roughly anyway.  I don't have very large hands, so this ought to give you some idea.  They are all roughly the same size; however I think this one is the largest of the three.  I do plan on being a nerd and going out there and measuring them to see how long they are and find out their girths.  And there's a few more starting that are roughly the size of my thumb; but a little skinnier.

And I can HONESTLY say that's how big these squash were last time I checked on Tuesday!  And yes, squash are flowering plants.  I hear squash flowers are actually quite delicious with cheese; however I believe you're actually supposed to do this with zucchini blossoms.

126144000 + 86400

That's how many seconds Jeff and I have been married, or in normal terms, 4 years!  It's gone by super fast, and come this September 27th, we'll be a couple for 6 years.  Time sure flies fast, and it's amazing to think I've been with him my whole adult life -minus two days- and I can't imagine life without him at this point.

Anyway, I know he won't read this but I love you Jebbies!

How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged about my garden.. or blogged period.  So I figured I would write up a quick blog about the garden.  You've probably seen my last post about the garden on May 30th.  Well, we had nothing but rainstorms last month, and unfortunately got hit by hail on June 11th.  Here's some pictures from that.

Firstly, let me show you what the hail around my downspout off of my gutters looked like.

 

 As you can see, that's A TON OF HAIL.  And it's no surprise that it's not very gentle on gardens.

As you can tell (or you may not) the leaves on my plants got ripped to shreds.  BTW, it's Tomatoes, Squash, Bell Peppers and the Strawberry plant in that order.  I had to prune the heck out of them, and in some cases, I had to leave the shredded leaves otherwise they wouldn't be able to photosynthesize and grow.

And then, on top of everything else, my tomatoes ended up getting sunburned. 

But at least one of my lemon boys grew a tomato!

 

Ain't he cute!  These two pictures were taken on June 23.

And I went outside today to inspect the garden, and WOW it's definitely exploding!  The tomatoes are bouncing back from the sunburn... I had to prune one of them almost completely bare, but the branches are growing back nicely.

As you can see, the tomatoes are doing very well, as well as the squash.  However, I'm not too sure about the bell peppers, I was told they take a bit longer to grow than most other plants.  And sadly, my Strawberry plant died.  I'm not sure what killed it, but it never quite recovered after the hailstorm.  Oh well, maybe next year in a different way.

Anyway, that's the update on my garden!  On other news, I finally updated my website after aproximately 13 months of not doing anything with it.  Check it out!

And hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th.  Don't blow yourselves up okay?

Being in Pain Just Sucks

So, today started just like any other Monday, until 11:30 when Ruthie scratched my eye.  That's right, she didn't poke or jab my eye but scratched it.  And let me tell you the pain was horrible!  I thought she scratched my cornea, but I wasn't sure.  Until I was able to stand light long enough to look at my eye, and over my iris and pupil there seemed to be a ripple in the reflection.. my eye essentially looked like there was a 'chip' in it so to speak, like a chipped round glass marble.  I was able to convince Jeff to take me to the doctor, which was an adventure in itself.

At first I tried to get ahold of an MD eye doctor, but unfortunately they were booked until the end of the month.  That wasn't going to cut it, so I was able to get ahold of an OD at an eyeglasses place, but they flat out said they were unable to do anything for me.  The receptionist was nice enough to call an MD, and they said they'd be able to squeeze me in.  It's kind of lame that they couldn't see me when I called myself, but they were able to see me after the receptionist called.

So we get to the Doctor's office, and Dr. R literally took a look at my eye and confirmed that in fact, I did have a corneal scratch, and that Ruthie got me; his exact words were "Wow, she got you really good."  He gave me two different eyedrops; one is an antibiotic, and the other one was eyedrops for pain.  And to protect my cornea from even more damage, they put in a contact.  And I have to say, it's not as bad as I thought it would be!  It feels a bit strange, but that's probably being contributed from the fact that my eye's got an injury.. I'm gonna have to think about doing the switch over to contacts, or at the very least part time.

I know I'm going to be alright now, but I can't help but admit there was a feeling of panic.  Being hearing impaired for the most part does not bother me.  I've dealt with it my entire life, and I've adapted and I've accepted it as me being me.  I don't resent the fact that my hearing is not whole; in fact I think it's shaped and molded me into the person that I am now.  However, I can't say it doesn't leave me feeling vulerable, and in the time my eye was scratched and had to use a cold compress to help with the pain, and not being able to see as well as I normally do; well as well as I can see being nearsighted like I am, I have to admit to the underlying panic I felt not being able to see normally.  I rely so much on my eyes and sense of smell, touch -not so much taste-  and also my intuition to get around and about in life, and to have my eye temporarily out of commission, it really scared me.

I know I'm going to be fine now.. hopefully eye rest also known as sleeping will help out, and I just have to keep at it with my eye drops.

On other news, I'm happy to report my garden is really blooming and coming along nicely!  We've been getting a lot of rain thanks to el niño, which is really helping out the growth.  I can't wait to partake the fruits of my labor.  And of course, I'm going to share :)

The Great Outside

We've got a bit of a garden growing outside now.  I've always had some interest in gardening, however it wasn't something I was able to pursue until we got our house this year.  We've got Tomatoes growing, some Spaghetti Squash and some Bell Peppers, and in a pot, I've got a Strawberry plant growing.

 

I know, my yard isn't in the greatest shape, and that I need to prune the grass down on the edge of the garden, but my goal is to get this garden through the summer, and then next year I plan on doing a raised bed garden, that way it'll be easier to manage, and hopefully I won't have issues with weeds and such.  I just hope my garden makes it because I've been having a difficult time watering them.  It's so hot here, that the water evaporates in a matter of minutes, and I didn't have the foresight to enrich the soil before putting my plants in, so hopefully I can help them thrive with watering them and getting some food for them.  Anyways, next to my garden I've also got a very large rosebush.  I didn't think it was going to bloom, but last weekend we had rain, and it looks like that did the trick; since it bloomed and still has buds forming and getting ready to bloom themselves.

 

 It's kind of large and wild; and I knew it was pruned before, but they didn't prune it back enough!  I kind of like it though all wild looking the way it is.  And yes, I know the lawn needs to be mowed, something Jeff will be doing tomorrow.

In Memory of

Today's blog isn't about our family so much as a whole, but a focus on Jeff's life.

Growing up, Jeff participated in the Scouts program, and his Scout leader was a guy named Mike "Bucky" Buckmiller; who he's stated "After my parents, Mike's probably the most influential adult in my life.". Jeff's shared a few different stories about him and their scout trip adventures, particularly when they killed a snake and Mike skinned and prepared it for eating, and encouraged the scouts to eat it, however Jeff skipped out on this. He also was influential with Jeff's friends, particularly Brett Wilson who's now a pilot. For one Scout trip, he took the boys flying; which lead Brett to discover his joy of flying, and Mike encouraged Brett to follow his dream, which he has obviously. Mike also encouraged them to get into HAM radios, and while Jeff's liscense expired sometime ago, he's still got a fascination with it, and eventually plans on renewing his license again.

He's also meant alot to the family as a whole, since his career was in Dentistry. He's apparently done a fantastic job in keeping the Hayford Clan's Chompers in good shape, and I know that the family will miss his ministrations.

Sadly though, Mike got lung cancer, and after a long battle, he passed away this passed Tuesday. I didn't know him at all, since I only met him twice, but I know that Jeff is upset about his death, and he's probably going to be crying at the funeral on Saturday, which shows how much he means to Jeff. Jeff is not an emotional guy at all. He didn't cry when we got married, he didn't cry when the girls were born, and he's held back tears at the funerals we've gone to over the past years that we've been together.

Anyway, here's his obituary:

"Michael Bruce Buckmiller Faith and Service Mike, 53, was born June 12, 1955, in Provo, Utah, to John David and Jane Farley Buckmiller. He was a joy to his parents and a great friend to many, including his brothers. He had an abiding testimony of the Lord, Jesus Christ, and the infinite power of His Atonement. He greatly valued his family relationships and even remembered fondly his days of weeding his grand-mother's gladiolus patch, despite it being a punishment. He honorably served amongst the people in the Tonga mission. His mission was a positive, life changing experience and he continued to serve the Tongan people through his occupation, maintaining his Tongan language fluency. Mike attended the University of Utah, majoring in Biology. He was a member of the Honor Societies of Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated from the University of Pacific Dental School and set up his practice serving the people of Salt Lake City. He received a community service award in special recognition for his dental work service to adults with disabilities. Mike married his eternal sweetheart, Jocelyn Goff, on June 21, 1980 in the Salt Lake Temple. Their loving relationship was an example to all of how caring, true, and sweet love can be. Mike was an experienced outdoorsmen. From the time he was a small boy, he loved being out in nature, in particular the Uinta Mountains and the red rocks of Southern Utah. He served as a scoutmaster for over 15 years and received the Scout Master Award of Merit. He was also honored to receive the Silver Beaver Award for distinguished service to youth. Mike knew not only how to work hard and serve others, but also knew how to enjoy life and spend time recreating with his family. He loved waterskiing, fishing, hunting, scuba diving, and visiting the beach. He was a talented photographer and loved researching family history and learning about LDS pioneers. Mike maintained his pilot's license and enjoyed sharing his plane and love of flying with others. He also shared his love for music through singing and felt that music truly was a song of praise unto the Lord.He passed from this world on April 28, 2009 surrounded by his family members, in his home, following a brave and hope-filled battled with cancer. Mike is survived by his wife, Jocelyn, and their children Nicolle Jones (Ben), Emily, and Evan, and grandchild Michael Jones. He will be greatly missed by his father, Jack, stepmother, Carol, brothers, John, Dave, Jim, and Dan, as well as many other family members and friends. He was preceded in death by his mother. The family expresses deep gratitude for the many acts of kindness and compassion expressed through the service of many. A viewing will be held at Larkin Sunset Lawn (2350 East 1300 South), on Friday, May 1st from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 2, at 12:00 noon at the Canyon Rim 2nd Ward Chapel (3100 East 3000 South) with a viewing prior to the funeral from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. Interment will follow at the Holladay Memorial Park Cemetery. Contributions can be made to the LDS Missionary Fund or Perpetual Education Fund. "

You can also follow this link to view his obituary on The Salt Lake Tribune website. I wish Jeff had some pictures of him, but he doesn't.

Easter 2009!

This is actually our first year of doing Easter with the whole works.  Last year, the girls got baskets, but that was about it, considering we had just moved into the apartment easter weekend, so we were too busy to do anything else.  But this year in addition to getting baskets, we colored eggs; well just me and Zoe did, Jeff was busy fixing something at the time so he didn't participate.

 

Here's us coloring eggs.  Zoe did such a great job scooping the eggs carefully out of the dye cups and placing them down on the paper towel to dry, and she also helped mix up the dye to color the eggs.

 

Here's Zoe holding her egg with her name on it.  We also did an egg for everyone in the family, as you can see.

Here's all the eggs we colored.  We did boil all eighteen eggs that were in the carton; however three of them cracked while boiling, so instead of coloring those, we just ate them.

Here are the girls' baskets.  The Easter Bunny decided to leave the baskets outside of their bedroom doors.  The pink one is Zoe's, and the purple one belongs to Ruthie.  Zoe thought the Easter Mr. Potato head was awesome, so awesome that she liked it enough to be embarassed by liking it so much; something that happens quite frequently.  She usually hides herself or just her face if that's the case, and she hid under her table for about 5 minutes before we told her to come out and look at it.  Ruthie got two Easter themed Little People toys.

We had Easter dinner at my SIL Melissa's house.  It was supposed to be at Jeff's parents' house, but the heating element went out in her stove so she wouldn't have been able to cook dinner.  Anyway, Melissa has a row of daffodils in front of her porch, and Zoe LOVES to pick flowers, so she picked a daffodil and like with all flowers.. she had to smell it!  I also love the expression on her face in the second picture; especially because somewhere we have a picture of Jeff with the exact same expression on his face, and I'm pretty sure it was a picture taken on Easter as well.  I'm not completely sure if I remember the picture correctly; but either way it's pretty funny.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.