Second Harvest

Today, I harvested 4 cucumbers and 1 zucchini from “The Garden”. I just enjoyed 2 mini salads with lettuce, Cabot cheese, and cucumber slices, from a cuke that I harvested this morning. I am so proud of myself!

Now, on to the nasties in my garden. I have Squash bugs and Squash Bug eggs! Eww! Here is what they look like!

I have one zucchini plant that has taken a serious hit because of these buggers! I am on a mission, not to let them destroy the rest! I did some internet research, and found that a good way to destroy the eggs is to cover them with masking tape and then peel them off of the plant. Fold the masking tape and destroy the eggs by squeezing them between your fingers. This is an effective but gross method. I had on gardening gloves and could still feel it! To describe…imagine little packaging bubbles that you pop, with extra juice inside……exactly….gross! But, I will destroy them with no issues for the sake of my garden.
Tonight I am making a concoction of garlic, onions, cayenne pepper and dish soap to tackle the adult Squash bugs tomorrow. It is an organic, but effective “insecticide” to rid myself of these bugs. Good riddens!

T has allergies

We learned last Tuesday, that Thulani has had a positive skin test reaction to Wheat and Peanuts. Here is a picture of what his back looked like while we were waiting the 15 minutes for the completion of the test.
The area marked 1 was were the milk test was placed – it was negative
The area marked 18 is where the wheat test was placed – it was positive
The area marked 3 is where the peanut test was placed – it was positive
The area marked H is where the positive control was placed.
The area marked S is where the negative control was placed.

We have to wait until the end of this week or next week, to determine how allergic he is to peanuts and wheat when the blood test results come back.

For now, I have to eat wheat and peanut free for two weeks. I am on day 7. It has not been easy, but I am doing it for my son.

A pic of Thulani’s teeth

I was able to get a shot of Thulani’s teeth on 6/19.

Of course, now, he has his “pseudo fangs” growing in!

We are 5th in the nation!

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I felt a tooth!

Today I was feeding Thulani some cherries, and I felt the very top of a tooth breaking through his gums! A picture is next to impossible though. Why? Because he is 7 months and he does not keep his mouth open long enough for me to get the shot with my camera

Is that lotion??

Yesterday morning, this is what I came back to, when I went to find clothes for Z to put on…..

Craziness!! And he did not lotion his legs at all!

Our garden

This year, we are growing a garden in our backyard. I did not take pictures of what the ground looked like before we started versus after. I wish that I had, but there is no sense in worrying about it now. What I do have, are pictures of what the plants looked like when I first put them in, and what they look like today.

Let’s start with the tomato plants. I got some from my wonderful neighbor, Amy, who started her tomatoes from seeds. I was a little late in the game, so she gave me some of the seedlings that she had left over.
Well, the first thing that you have got to learn in gardening, is that plants need water! She probably gave me at least 15 plants, and I skillfully (not really) whittled down to 4.

Here is what they looked like when they were first planted.

Below is the Beef Steak plant that I purchased from Lowes.

Below is the basil plant that I purchased at the Durham Farmer’s Market.

I also purchased cantelope and watermelon plants from Lowes as well. Here are pictures of them one day after planting. It is kind of hard to read, but the ones in the green lines are cantelopes and the ones in the red are watermelon. Please excuse my shadow

Here are the zucchini and cucumber plants. Also purchased at the Durham Farmer’s Market. You can see there is something strange going on with the Zucchini plants. Pretty much, it looks like a critter came and sat on them, right after I planted them!

I will attempt to do my best and chronical my experience with this garden. Yesterday, James and I put the dirt in the last bed, that is going to be used for the pole bean seeds that I have to plant. I am hoping to get that task completed by the end of the week.

In my next post, I will show you pictures of what the plants above, look like today.

Z’s strawberries

Zayveon is such a strawberry eater, that I decided he could plant his own strawberry seeds this year. We used a strawberry kit. I will have to post the details about the name of the kit later, when I can remember the name of the it! We put the seeds in the planter, inside the house, but we had soil everywhere, that I had to clean up very carefully…. Zayveon was impatient as always, but we managed to get throught it, with only losing, I think, about 2 seeds. Anywhoo–here a picture of Zayveon holding his planter.

In a few weeks, we will have to see if we see any seedlings. Here is hoping for the best!

ETA: The company that makes the Strawberry Grow Kit is Buzzy®.

Race For The Cure

Hi all!

I am posting quickly to let you all know that I am going to enter the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Here is my link if you would like to donate to help me raise money. Technically, Zayveon and I will be walking and Thulani will be riding. I made the decision to actually walk because a dear friend of mine recently learned of breast cancer diagnosis in her immediate family and a member of my TriangleMommies group died last year from breast cancer.
Here is the link if you would like to give me monetary support http://race.komennctriangle.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1500106&pg=personal&fr_id=1070

I was not talking to you momma…

Well, excuuuuuse me! This morning, Thulani and I were minding our business (He was getting his morning moisturization session ) and Zayveon decided that he wanted to take pictures with his camera of Thulani and I. He told me to say “cheese” and so I did. I gave a big old purty smile for the camera. Next up was Thulani. Thulani was not really interested in smiling for the camera, so I thought that I would help. I was trying to get Thulani to smile for Zayveon, apparently, I was in the way, and Zayveon told me, “I was not talking to you momma, I was talking to Tuwani”, and he shooed me off with his index finger.
I didn’t know what to say, other than hold in my laughter. James also heard this exchange and walked away to look out of the window (and also silently snicker at the situation). What are you going to do??

My son is such a character.