how my garden does grow

Wow - this has turned out to be a much longer blog break than I'd planned! Turns out it's not that easy to socialize with a houseful of visiting family and friends, take care of a new baby and photograph, write and post blog entries. Things are slowly getting back to "normal" here - or, at least, we're finding a new normal. I've been testing the boundaries of what I can do between feedings and diaper changes (not a lot, it seems, but I'm getting better...), and we've found that Anabelle really likes to be outside in the garden and especially likes being at pubs full of soccer enthusiasts watching the World Cup. So far, that's where she's the quietest and seemingly most content. That's our child. No sign yet what team she's backing, though (Dave wants to get her a little orange Netherlands onesie).

One of the daily activities that I've really enjoyed with the new baby is watering the garden we planted just before she arrived. She and Sadie, our cat, sit in the shade of the plum tree and look around (Anabelle usually watches the sky, and Sadie the closest Scrub Jay) while I water and weed and check the progress of the plants. I can't believe how much they've grown in just over a month! We had our first zucchini and summer squash the other night, and we already have a whole bunch of tomatoes on the way. Dave and I got some straw at the local feed store to use as mulch, and it's made the whole garden smell like a farm. Nice! The rest of the yard is still un-landscaped, but we're working on that...

Some of the "mystery fruit" has turned out to be red plums! I'm really excited about these.

Another tree turned out to be a peach, though with red leaves. It's covered with fruit right now. I know I should thin them, but I haven't got the heart to pull off the little fruits. 

And speaking of growing, here's Anabelle at 1 month!