Gardening in June

Mulberry jam.

25 jars canned. In many little batches!

12 regular, 7 grape flavored, 3 strawberry flavored, 3 straw-mulberry.

I tried a new recipe using flavored gelatin to add taste and help set up. We are currently letting it "cure" while we use up the last few jars of last year's jam.

So many turnips, we pulled a big bucketful and canned the tops & roots.

The garage smelled rather potent as the pressure canner hissed, and the family isn't overly excited about turnips in the pantry...but we have a surplus! 16 quart of turnips and 6 pint of greens to be exact. I'll try to hide them in potatoes this winter.

Cilantro going to seed.

I still haven't used up my 3-year old seeds from the seed swap! Now we have plenty more tucked away in an envelope and hopefully it will also reseed and grow thus fall.

A whopping 76 pounds of produce came out of our spring-planted garden!

(60 of which were turnips and greens) 

A few green beans, red beets, and carrots; the last of the snap peas and strawberries.

Outdoor Improvements

We let our pond drain over the winter; no pumping water for hours upon hours every day to keep it full. In March, hubs shook out more huge sacks of bentonite clay onto the edges to help seal it better.
While the water level was low, he also constructed a dock, planting metal posts in the dry part of the pond bottom. The pond well became active again and day by day the water level rose to the bottom of the overflow tunnel pipe.

Finally, a craigslist diving board was attached, and the swimming this summer has been an almost daily hit!

Also in March, hubs dug a trench through the barren garden to bring electricity to the lamp post light. This was a much deferred job, due to the nature of the end result (purely atmosphere), so he deserves grandiose applause for his selfless efforts.

March also brought the prevailing spring winds of the Kansas plains, tormenting me as I hung multiple loads of laundry outside. I suddenly came to an understanding of why some people think Kansas weather is awful and certainly would never live here. Upon relating this (quite dogmatically) to hubs, he kindly began to build a windbreak fence to shelter my legs from pelting sand and to allow the garden reprieve from blustery gusts. 

Phew! Sometimes drastic measures get the quickest results!

Incidentally, my big brother and dad finished up the fence in short order and, as a bonus, I now have a new, closer-to-the-washing machine, clothesline!

Beach!!!! *big deal because it's 22 hours away from home*

We usually go to Folly Beach on our Charleston visits because that's where I went every summer with family during our summer vacation. This year we decided to cruise downtown awhile before hitting the beach, so we opted for Sullivan's Island.

We parked at the beach trail at the southernmost point and took a short hike through marshy woods before seeing dunes and hearing water. This part of the beach was mostly deserted, so we settled in our spot and let the littles play. While the bigs snacked.

Aunt Sybil was thoughtful enough to send buckets and shovels for fun fort building. Riley found a huge, dead horseshoe crab and slyly set it next to our beach seating to see who would discover it's gigantic scariness. (No large reaction, but sincere curiosity!)

We took naps. We took a walk north to the working lighthouse. There were many more people on this part of the beach; we felt pretty spoiled for our privacy on down the coastline. There were also lots of boats -recreation and barges- passing by on there way in & out of the harbor.

Though it was still May, the sun was toasty, the breeze was cooling, the water was warm, 

and we soaked up the beach!

Historic Fort Sumter is in the background with it's flag flying in the top right of this photo.

Farewell for now sweet Grandmama! 

We love your land, your people, your smile...and we love you!

Charleston City Scenes

As a continuation of our flying last-minute trip, we added a short 6 hours to see my beloved aging grandmama and her lovely city. How nice that my parents happened to be there on their summer visit as well.

After welcoming hugs, a night's rest, and a good southern cookin' breakfast, we set of for downtown Charleston. We drove past The Battery and stopped near Waterfront Park. 

candid shot under the arched oak pathway

missing Caroline who stayed with VA grandparents

watching for dolphins/porpoises in the harbor (not sure which it was we saw skimming by!)

City scape...sigh. Not your usual downtown skyscrapers.

Seriously, who simply could not fall in love with this genteel city of gated hidden gardens, rainbow-colored houses, patios set for entertaining, palmettos rustling in the sea breeze, carriage horses clip-clopping, and historic market vendors weaving grass roses.

Ahh Charleston.

Southern Sunday

The Bowmans did get on the road again...for a bit! A hurried bit.

Our family traveled back east for a funeral of a childhood friend's mother.

It was, naturally, an unplanned trip, so we only spent a few days in Virginia, anxious to get back to Kansas before wheat harvest's mechanical demands. Sunday afternoon my hub's family gathered at Granddad's for a delicious dinner and relaxing day.

I almost didn't take any pictures of our time, so here's the few I have!

ready for church

scrumptious strawberry angel food cakes

the parmesan-baked fish chefs

cousins on pause

Just another Sunday in the south.