More pictures of plants

A few weekends ago we did some gardening in the front yard, but never got around to posting pictures. Here they are!
The hydrangeas and holly bushes have been there for several years but just about everything else is new.

A few years ago Gina planted some ornamental cabbages along the front walk. You know, for fall, like a harvest-time kind of thing. She thought it looked cool but Thomas made fun of them! So she was pretty surprised when he picked these out at Lowe's.

Gina's favorite place in the house right now is the front porch. She brings her laptop out and does her lesson planning there. It will be so sad when it's too cold to sit out here anymore.

Bye, summer.

Birthday Girl

This pretty lady is Gina's Oma. She is Gina's mama's mama and she was born in 1915. Isn't she lovely? She tells the best stories (what a memory!) and always has a hug for you. She bakes amazing cookies and she can beat almost anyone at Wii golf.Happy Birthday Oma, we love you!

Some backyard improvements

We took a little break from lesson planning last weekend to do some work outside. Here's the end result: a new border to the right of the walkway. Hopefully those poor half-dead grasses will survive... we bought them several weeks ago but didn't have time to plant them right away, so they just sat out in the blazing sun in their little plastic pots until they were extra crispy. Gina has killed lots of plants this way. We added a stepping stone. See?

Things we grew that we are going to eat

This little fig tree just looked like a stick when we bought it so were surprised when it actually grew three figs.
These cantaloupes here are the size of a tennis ball. We'll have to keep Winnie away from them.

What a delicious granola bar

Perfect for this time of year, when nobody has time to sit down and eat breakfast.Preheat oven to 250.

Combine 7 cups of dry granola ingredients in a large bowl. Of that 7 cups, about half should be rolled oats. The rest can be what you want: dried fruit, chocolate pieces, nuts, seeds, wheat germ, trail mix, coconut, whatever you like. A spoonful of cocoa powder is good in there too.

Warm one can of low-fat sweetened condensed milk in the microwave for 30-60 seconds, until it is thin enough to stir easily. You can add a giant spoonful of peanut butter too.

Add the condensed milk mixture to the granola and stir well.

Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and press the mixture down firmly with a spatula. Bake for 45 minutes. Let it cool completely before you cut it up. Have a great day!