Huybers Retirement Adventure: A Good Week!

It has been a really good week for us … or should I say mostly good for me! J Since we moved into the house last November, we have slowly been upgrading the appliances from white to stainless steel. In January we replaced the fridge and this last month we have replaced the dishwasher, the stove and yesterday we ordered our new washer and dryer. I know … I am spoiled. My husband has a saying that I truly believe EVERY husband should live by … “Happy wife … Happy life!” I am so lucky to have married such a wonderful, smart, and generous husband. J

This week we finally got around to buying some bird feed and hanging the bird feeder out in the front yard. Today we saw some bright yellow finches perched at the trough eating the seeds. At first there was just one yellow finch, then another one came along. But when a little brown bird tried to come and eat, the yellow birds chased him away as if to say … “Go find your own restaurant … this one is ours!” It was fun to watch them as they sat there picking away at the seeds but at the same time they were keeping a keen watch for intruders.

Today, as I did my daily check on my garden, I noticed that my peas were quite plentiful. I decided today was the day we get to eat something from the garden. I got a bucket and started picking the peas that looked the plumpest. There were a lot of them. As I checked out the rest of the garden, I noticed that the green beans weren’t getting very tall. I couldn't see any green beans at first, but then my hand accidently moved some leaves and I saw that the green beans were hiding underneath the leaves! They had grown to about 6 inches and were in bunches. I was really excited about this and have decided that tomorrow night for dinner we will be having green beans! I can’t wait until the beets and carrots are ready to serve up on a plate! I did pull a carrot out of the ground today just to see how big they are getting. It looked like a little skinny baby carrot. I washed it off and ate it. It was really good.

I brought the peas in and removed them from their pods. I had picked 45 pea pods. After I had opened all the pods and removed the peas it was just barely enough for the two of us. I kept thinking about the bags of frozen peas that I usually buy and wondered how many pea pods it must have taken to fill the bag!

Ron put some pork chops on the BBQ and I cooked the peas and some scalloped potatoes to go with it. I actually had to look up in the cook book as to how to cook fresh peas. I don’t think I have ever cooked fresh peas before. When we sat down to eat, the first thing Ron and I tried were the peas. They were so good! Ron immediately said, “You can sure tell that these are fresh! They taste sweet and are so good! I can’t wait to try the green beans tomorrow night!”

Being able to eat something from the garden was a great way to end the week. I still have a lot to learn about gardening … and the spacing of plants … but I have all the time in the world to figure it out. Live and learn as they say. Next year I will know what to do, and more importantly … what NOT to do when planting a garden. J

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer as much as we are. We are really loving retirement and living in PEI. It’s a great place to sit back, relax and enjoy life.