They Finally Arrived

All summer we've been waiting to see these guys on our tomato plants. We've been warned and put on notice but haven't seen much of anything besides bees, wasps, moths and grasshoppers. Until today. We went to check on our plants this evening and my eye went right to this big guy. There were actually two of them and most likely even more since they blend in so well with the greenery. They're called horn worms. If they weren't so bad for our tomatoes and so fat and squishy I might actually like them. They have really neet legs/feet and an unusual eye-like pattern on their sides. We're going to let them be. Our tomato plants are about done anyway.

Ball Game

Last night we went to a ball game here in town. It was one of the last games of the season so we figured we should take the opportunity to go. There was a dramatic fireworks show after the game and we're glad we stuck around for it. We had a great time and are already looking forward to next year.

So last spring we planted a million carrot seeds in a small area of our garden. As soon as they started sprouting we read that you have to thin them out in order for the carrots to be healthy and grow. Thin them? No way! We want LOTS of big orange carrots. We're not going to thin them. So we didn't. And now they're popping up above the ground. There wasn't enough room for them to get big because each carrot had to fight for vacant space underground. Bummer.

Chad and I decided this weekend that we'd pick a group of them and cook them for dinner on Sunday night. And that's what we did. Instead of big juicy carrots we got juicy mini carrots. Cute, huh? They cooked really fast (yay!) and were tasty in our main dish.

Chip Off the Old Block

This weekend I woke up early and hit some garage sales. Most of the sellers had crap but at one of them I scored pretty well. Here's a photo of what I found. I got Chad a metal garage rack for $5 (don't ask how much we paid for the other ones we have from Lowe's), a long skinny folding table that's perfect for buffets or crafts, again for $5, and a box of books that I'm going to try to resell.

The brown table is much older and junkier than the new one we got from Grandma for Christmas. Plus, the one we bought today is 6 feet long and really skinny--not conducive for sitting at and eating a meal. With that said, for $5 it was too good of a deal to pass up!

Oh and there's something in that box for my dad for his birthday next week. Don't get too excited Dad--remember it came from a garage sale!

Another Dragonfly

A new dragonfly friend spent the evening in our front yard posing for photos. The lighting at dusk was a little funky so getting a good shot was difficult. Here is my favorite photograph we took of him. Try to imagine a bright blue body behind these super green eyes. So cute!

Busy Weekend

Chad and I spent the weekend with my parents at Shaver Lake. Saturday after breakfast we headed to the lake where we rented a pontoon boat for the afternoon. We trolled for awhile and I actually caught a fish. I can't brag about my technique or my mad skills because really, I have no idea when it happened. We decided to take a break from fishing and he was hooked on my line when I reeled in. Surprise! The golden-green colored bass was small, I'd say only about 8-10 inches or so.
After a quick photo op we let him go.

Sunday we woke up early and fished at Huntington Lake. We didn't have much luck but the view was nice! After fishing we were off to the annual Loggers Jamboree back at Shaver Lake. We had lunch and watched a chainsaw and a handsaw competition. It was quite a sight. I'm glad we went.

Can You Say...Fed Up?

I saw this sign today and had to take a photograph of it for this blog. The car is parked in our general neighborhood but fortunately not on our street. I've seen the SUV there before but always assumed it was the homeowner's car. Obviously I was wrong.

I wish I could see the owner's reaction when he gets back to his car!

(In case you can't read what it says, the sign reads: "This car is not in front of your house")

Bird Town

Here's a photo of our newest additions to the backyard. We bought three super cute birdhouses and put them on shepherd hooks. This week I'm going to buy seed for them so the birds will have something to eat. I wonder how long it'll be before we see a bird on one of them?

Starting to Look Like...

...a carrot! We're going to plant more in a couple months because we hear they like the cool weather better. Still, this little squirt isn't too shabby.

Media Appreciation Dinner

Last night Chad and I went to the 2008 Annual Media Appreciation Night dinner sponsored by the Fresno County Farm Bureau. It was held at the Clovis rodeo grounds. The food and wine were great, as I was expecting it would be. Harris Ranch beef tri-tip was the main dish, along with chicken, sausage, corn, cheese, stuffed mushrooms, dip, veggies, ice cream and lots of other good stuff. Fresno State wine was served at the bar and their Cabernet was really good. (So far I'd recommend all of the Fresno State reds I've had.) Halfway through the event they gave awards to the local media for excellent stories relating to local agriculture. CBS47 was awarded the first runner up prize. Congratulations! (And thanks to Chad for being a good sport and getting on the tractor for my photo.)

After the awards they gave us canvas shopping bags to pick local fruits and veggies from the main display. Here's some of the loot we ended up with: