Scheduled the kiddo with her pediatrician, can't get her in until October, so the school forms will have to wait.  Got her an appointment for a hair cut next week - may need to do one more round of blue in the tips tonight (in the mean time).

This morning she made an odd comment (as a 6yo does) about needing to keep her one foot on the rug in the bathroom because it needs the cushion.  Fortunately I didn't dismiss it and asked more.  Apparently her heel has been hurting.  I take a look and there is definitely a harder patch and a small brown ring.  I think it's probably a plantar's wart.  So now we also have an appointment for that with a podiatrist.

Back again!  Our second cruise this year is complete.  It was a short 4-nighter out of Bayonne to Halifax Nova Scotia.  We went with my favorite egg and his parents - their first cruise!   A great time was had by all.  Found an amazing tour provider and we learned a ton.  Liberty of the seas had excellent food and over the top amazing singers/dancers that were part of Saturday Night Fever.  5 stars!  It was a long drive, but dealable.

Also notable - I realized that Saturday (July 27, 2024) was my parents' 50th wedding anniversary!

Tomorrow I take the car for repairs, run the kid to another vacation bible school, and we head into a week with various appointments.  I guess I need to get a few more on the schedule to get us ready for the new school year.

We did get enough rain to fill my barrel while I was away. The plants were wilted but survived my absence.  I pulled a few more cukes and tomatoes upon my return, but little else.

We finally have a cooler temps.  We've had crazy heat for so long that the mid-70s as the sun set this evening felt cold.  It's been a struggle to keep the moisture in plants, so this little break is significant.  Tonight I gladly agreed to walk along with Avery while she rode her bike (she's getting much better and more confident).

I wish it had cooled off earlier as I spent one evening earlier this week sweating it out as I cleaned the inside of the car.  To say it's been a while since I flipped seats etc puts it lightly.  I even scraped the melted crayon out of the console.  The good news is when I drop it off to get repaired I need not feel embarrassed.

I need to follow up on the CSA basket from last week - I found a kale recipe.  It was actually a chicken and spinach recipe but I swapped out.  Matter of fact, it was so friggin good I might re-make it this weekend to use up more of the kale.  The kale chips I made were even tolerable.  Maybe this is just a more mild kale than I've ever had before.  I also made a wicked good sauted scape and parm linguine last night.

Because I am getting the texts as I type I'm going to share my frustration however... apparently everyone else getting CSA baskets can pick up immediately after it arrives mid-morning.  So I'm the only one who works?  *sigh*

I never did report on my hood's 5th of July party.  It was hot and I sweated outside from around 2pm to 11pm, but it was a blast and well worth it.  I love my neighbors.  I have been eating leftovers of what I made for the past week (fruit salad, haluski, and broccoli salad - the last I need to toss at this point).

This week has felt hectic.  Avery had a half-day VBS that had me running around 9am and noon each day.  It made it harder to get my hours in so I could take Friday afternoon off, but I did it.  Before we headed back to the church this evening for their final program we made our way to the Pittsburgh Botanic Gardens.  I've never been before and I'm angry with myself for not going before.  This place is a treasure -- and close to me, rather than in Pittsburgh.  It's still crazy hot out there, so the less than 2 hours we spent there was enough for now.

Today was the first day of my newly found CSA!  Someone in town posted, looking for interested people as they wanted to be a stop.  Of course, I'm in!  Today we had some potatoes, tomatoes, a red and a white onion of good size, tons of garlic scapes (yay!), a beautiful large head of lettuce, and a huge bundle of.... kale (y.a.y.?).

My garden on the other hand is a mixed bag.  I have another pot (this would be the 3rd one) of potatoes that I need to dump as the greens have completely dried up and died off.  Some of the tomato plants are starting to really take off size wise and are forming fruit.  I have more cukes forming.  Peppers are just starting to form (other than the cubanelle that wintered over and has two ready to pick).  As to the other things in my garden... let's just say, if I didn't mention it, you can assume nothing has changed.

I found it interesting to compare my garden's progress to that in the Botanic Garden's growing area.  Their peppers are killing it, but my beets are far ahead of theirs.

Lower of 2 repair estimates:  ~$4700

My insurance (keep in mind, the other person's insurance should be the one paying but they are playing stupid nearly 2 months later):  ~$2400

Right now I'm stuck w/a $1000 deductible, so where is the other $1300?  Oh, and don't forget I will need a rental while I am without my car.  That's about $500 a week.  Avery has a camp the week the car is going in, or I would try to go without a car.

This past weekend has me feeling young.  It is short lived because I cannot keep up that pace.  Saturday night we hung out with the (best ever) neighbors - the adults out back and the kids playing away.  This ended up being a pretty late evening, but we still needed to get up on Sunday for church.  This meant I 100% got a nap on Sunday afternoon.

Avery and I had Sunday evening plans near the airport so I took the opportunity to hit At Home and get my code orange Halloween fix!  Admittedly I already got a Halloween fix from Cracker Barrel this past week.  Our plans were meeting up with two friends from college; one was picking his son up at the airport and it was so good to get to sit and chat.  I can't believe how old we all are at this point.  Life flies.

I pulled 4 sweet 100 tomatoes yesterday, so Avery and I got our first taste.  Boy were they yummy!

Today I pulled 4 cucumbers (which look pretty ratchet looking - short, fat, stubby, and starting to get orangy-yellow).  I guess I left them on the vine too long, but I was hoping they would get a little longer.  I also plucked one rather large beet - the others remain too small.  I then planted a few more beet seeds and some lettuce in the bucket from the failed radishes.