New Discovery: Ifttt

Has anyone else discovered or use ifttt?  I just came across it in an article last night and I've been hooked since.


The amount of automation ("if this then that") is a wonderful way to increase efficiency across social media, which is something I've been wishing for, for a while now.

*so excited!*

What would/will you automate?

Lake Michigan


Taking a little vacation time to regroup, clean out email inboxes (I have 3, each over stuffed), and find inspiration.

I'm excited to say inspiration has already started whispering in my ear once more and I can't wait to get started on fall items for the shop.  (Not to mention a giveaway is planned for September on a friend's blog!)  I'm so excited to get things kicked off for cooler weather.  What are you looking forward to in the near future?

Continuing to Harvest...


Squash!
Man, 'them plants are taking over the world!


Peas!
With a second crop on the way!


Homemade Ice Cream!
Ok, this didn't come from the garden.  But it's from-scratch & lots of friends helped crank & enjoy it.

The watermelons are taking over the patch behind the garage and the broccoli are all about bolted.  The tomatoes are weighing down with more tomatoes than I've ever seen (and make me nervous for future processing) and the cucumbers [started from seed] have their first handful of flowers!  I just wish the green & wax beans were doing as well.  They have too many holes to count all over the whole crop so I'm researching how to handle pest-management without chemicals.

What does everyone else's garden(s) look like?

A Jam Update

Please enjoy my canning post since I haven't been doing much crafting this hot summer.



Made my first batch of jam at the end of May: strawberry.


The only thing that would make them better would be if they came from my garden.  But, unfortunately, we only got about 5 berries from all 6 or 7 of the plants.  Fingers crossed for a bumper crop next summer, though.

A few weeks later I enlisted my husband's help to pick a whole tree's cherries (from a friend's front yard).

  

The pitting "party" lasted a very-long week.  :-S


But there were so many cherries, I was able to can two batches...


 


...dry two dehydrator-full batches...


...and Husband made two cobblers.


AND there is still 2+ gallons of pitted cherries in the freezer waiting for the weather to cool off enough to make two more batches of jam.  I think we'll leave the rest for a few more cobblers down the road.  :]

What is everyone else up to?  I've missed blogging & reading about what everyone is up to.  Hope all is well!

End of June (& Parts of May) Review

Perusing Goodwill, Savers, and yard sales... Finished a good read...


...& visited the town where my Grandfather spent his childhood.


Picked a few strawberries from our plants. I'm hoping they will fill in their little patch so I can make jam next year.



Planted wax, green, and soup beans. They came up a little sparse this year. I'm thinking next year will be the year to put in a good order of fresh seeds. Only one soup bean came up out of 12. But the packet was free so it was kind of a shot in the dark if any were still viable.



Saw our first lightening bug in May this year!



Also removed our crumbling picket fence :(I'm hoping we can replace it with a similar but nicer white picket fence later this summer.


Made my first batch of jam at the end of May: strawberry.


For the next two weeks it was cherry fest at our house.


"Fixed up" the front of the yard & house for Memorial Day...

Before
TLC

After


Finished my internship :(


Picked our first produce from the garden: beets!


Attempted a yard sale with a friend.



& attended a wedding to wrap up the month.