Company, Strawberries, and World's Greatest Dad

                                                     The man behind most of the pictures

I am sorry it's been so long.  We have been so busy.  My mother was here from Nevada and my brother and his family were here form Georgia.  We had a good visit and lots of good food.  It seems like the summer is already flying by and we have barely gotten started.  My garden is coming along pretty well.  I am really having to fight the weeds.  I read the other day that if you can keep weeds out of the perimeter of the garden you have won half the battle.  We have this grass that just wants to creep in from all sides.  But I do not want to use chemicals around my plants.  I could till but they say that robs the soil.  So what do you do?  

  So far I have put up approximately 26 pints of strawberry jam.  Some are freezer jams, some are sweetened with sugar, and some I tried sweetening with fruit juice.  We have tried them all and they all taste good to me.  The fruit juice sweetened is not as sweet as the sugar kind but still good.  I also froze about 5 galllons of strawberries.  Yes, I went picking.  We went to "Uncle Al's", which is about 15 miles from our house.  And when the whole crew goes with me, we can pick a lot in a short amount of time.  I am hoping to get blueberries next.  We love blueberries. I have three bushes left (after Daisy got done with the others) and they have some blueberries but not enough to freeze. Maybe next year.

  Now, I want to say "Happy Father's Day" to my husband.  He truly is one of the best dads I have ever been around.  His family always comes first and we know it.  He is loving, kind, patient beyond words(he puts up with me and three girl teens), a true leader, encourager, faithful, trustworthy, honest, and all round good guy and did I mention smart?  I know I am slightly biased but God truly blessed me when he brought us together.  He is my Ebenezer. I know ,"gush, gush, gush".  Happy Father's Day , Jeff.  

  I am going to be spending a lot of time in the garden this week and a lot of time with my washer and the clothes line. LOL  They are feeling neglected after all the company!  I hope everyone has a blessed week.  

~Angie~