Yum.



Wading into the jungle that is my vegetable garden to find hidden treasures is what makes gardening so rewarding.



I blanched and froze 4 zucchini tonight. I steamed the string beans with my tilapia and roasted sweet potato fries.

That's my first harvested acorn squash. I'll be very excited to eat it tomorrow for dinner. That small, round, dark green thing is an ornamental gourd that I grew just for fun.

It's amazing how productive that little garden is. Unlike past years, I'm making a concerted effort to not only enjoy the produce this summer, but to put some away for the depth of winter. So my freezer is already stuffed with bags of wineberries, blanched zucchini (for soups) and tomatoes, too.

Considering that I routinely buy 2 or 3 gallons of milk at a time and then freeze 2 of them, which saves me extra trips to Costco, and that I do the same with half gallons of Tropicana OJ, which I stock up on when it's on sale for $2 or $2.50, I have VERY little room left in the freezer.

But having lots of food in the house, especially food that I grew myself, makes me feel good. I feel like the ant in that fable about the grasshopper who had fun and fooled around all summer while the industrious ant worked hard to prepare for winter.

Today was an extremely productive day. Here's what I did...

1. Worked over 4 hours painting the tool shed. Here's what it looked like before I started:



I'm doing the same colors but eliminating one of the 2 trim colors; I never liked the pinkish looking color.

I only planned to do one side, but ended up doing 2 and a half sides and finished up the 3/4 of a gallon i had. So I'll have to go get more paint tomorrow.

I see there are 2 small, simple repairs I need to make, but otherwise, the tool shed that my dad built has stood up pretty well over time. I also see green mold I'll have to remove with bleach before I can paint over it. I'll do a second coat on the trim only. It's a lot of work, and much of it must be done from a ladder on a steep slope.

2. I aired out a musty smelling antique wood trunk I have in the sun. I think it helped.

3. I finished mowing the front lawn.

4. I blanched and froze those 4 zucchini in freezer bags.

I'm pooped!