Not Much Going On

July has been a relatively quite month. The last few weeks have brought rain, a lot of it, so our drought is somewhat relieved here in NE Indiana, in fact at noon today our county will lift the burn ban!  Emily is very happy that the burn ban will be lifted as we are celebrating her high school graduation on the evening of August 4 with a cookout and she really wants to have a bonfire and now she can!
Our garden has received the rain with relief, the plants look so much happier now they have warm, damp soil to grow in. The drought has taken its toll, our potato yield is minimal, we had peas but not many, our cabbages are very small as are our onions. We have eaten our first tomato, yummy, I cut it up and mixed it with egg salad it was delicious. We are enjoying cucumbers and corn on the cob from the garden. This weekend I will bring in all the corn from our first patch and get it blanched and put in the freezer. The beets are ready to come in, I like to pickle them, they are so good as an accompaniment to so many meals.  I planted carrots this year, they have grown and seem to be of a decent size, I am going to pull them this weekend, I will keep some fresh and may look at canning some, depends on how many I have. I love carrots, my favorite way to eat a carrot, RAW!  We have some cantaloupes on, a couple of watermelons growing and a few pumpkins.  The green peppers are on but small, probably because of the drought, and the green beans are running behind schedule, the plants look good, have many blossoms but no beans yet, usually I am finishing up canning green beans by now so I assume the drought stunted them?? The tomato plants look good, we did water them a lot, they are bushy and full of fruit, we will wade through them this weekend and pick all of the ripe ones.
Emily will be going to MEPS on August 6, this is the physical examination and the first real step to joining the military, she is planning to go into the Air Force, so if goes well on Aug 6/7 she will soon after find out when she will be leaving for basic training, she is very excited about her future as she should be.  Since our oldest son Matt already did the Air Force, served and has been out for a year now, we know the ropes and Emily has taken a lot of advice from Matt.  I imagine we will be taking another trip to San Antonio towards the end of the year for another basic training graduation!
Ben and some friends have rented student accommodations in Muncie, Indiana, they will be going to college, working part time, please pray that he finds a job in Muncie soon.  August 13 is the date they can begin living in their new home, we are gathering basic household items together so they can fend for themselves.
It would appear that by the end of the year Dave and I will be empty-nesters and so begins a new phase of our life :)

Oh, and be sure to check out Emily's blog, How the Cookie Crumbles, http://thoughtsfromemilyslife.blogspot.com/, I have a link to it in my blog list too.