60 pounds?!?!?!?!?!

WOW. Who knew these things could get so big??? I purchased the "giant" watermelon seed this spring on a lark but I really didn't think they would get huge. I figured it was a marketing ploy and I fell for it. I half way thought they wouldn't even sprout!

First we planted the seeds very late and the package said they had a long growing season. STRIKE 1!

Then we had the hottest, driest summer in forever. The weather people called it SEVERE drought. I don't think it rained after the first of June... STRIKE 2!

Lastly it was "crack gardening". That means planting seeds in the cracks of concrete on an old hog lot and letting it grow. I didn't even know if that was going to work.  STRIKE 3!

Well I was wrong. (See I can admit it hubby!)  It worked and watermelons grew. This is the result.

That is my foot in the lower left for a sort of comparison of the size of this thing.

This thing is only 10 pounds less than the quarterback on my son's football team!

I put the yardstick in front just so you can get a feel for the length of the watermelon.

OK, so technically it was 59 pounds. I am still amazed. We could have had a 100 pounder if it had actually rained! Anyone wanna come over for some watermelon?

I guess this will be my last gardening post for a bit as we have nothing left to harvest.

Out my dining room window...

I love fall.
I love the colors.

I was sitting at my kitchen table this morning and smiled a big smile then I gave a contented sigh. The oak tree was changing colors by the hour. It currently has about 4 shades of leaves. It is beautiful. I had to take a couple photos. These photos in NO way do justice to the beauty of this tree. The colors are way more vibrant than the photos show.

There was green, yellow, orange, brown, and red.

Life is good.

Cross species interactions

This is what happens when a Canadian goose falls in love with a domesticated goose.

It is the one in middle with orange feet and bill, huge eyes, combined black and white tail feathers. The regular Canadian is to the right. It is the best picture we could get of it...

Gives a new to meaning to an ugly duckling!

Coping - just a teaser of sorts...

As I was going on a short walk today I got to thinking, I need to start talking about the crap in my life but give something to others to learn from this and hopefully help others cope with the same kind of crap and maybe ward off problems or help others in this entire process. Heck I am even hoping someone else going through the crap would comment and give me new ideas to try.

I don't even know where to start. Let's start with parenting. Anyone that has kids knows how very hard it is to raise decent, productive kids these days. It almost seems like a crap shoot some days. After saying this, I do believe it is still being done and can be done but it is hard and takes two involved dedicated parents, both a mom and a dad.  I don't believe these parents need to necessarily be married (divorce introduces an entirely different set of problems to discuss in another blog) but need to be there and want what is best for the kids. This also includes sacrifice on both parents parts. I can't stress enough how both a mom and dad point of view are required and a serious commitment from both to succeed. I also believe if the biological mother or father are absent, a dedicated step- or parent figure can accomplish the same thing. The point being it takes time and dedication.

Right about now the questions/excuses/buts should start flying out of your brain at me.

I'm a single parent.

My ex and I don't see eye to eye on parenting.

I think you only need one parent.

Let them out.
Go ahead take a minute. When you finish your - YOU ARE WRONG BLOGGER excuses keep reading.
Done? 
Good!

Kids need you or someone you trust with your whole being in their lives 24/7.  That is one of the big problems today. Parents are not willing to do this simple step. Yes, I believe parents need to work on their relationship to be good parents but that is where the trustworthy surrogate comes in. There can be a sitter for a couple hours so you can have date night. You can enlist grand parents or siblings for longer weekend duties. There are solutions to all the excuses. YOU have to decide to give your kids the best YOU can give them for 18 years. If you have multiple kids, this time frame will increase by a LOT. When you become a parent that should be your number 1 job. Not work, not exercise, not drinking, not TV, not Not NOT. Be a parent plain and simple.

Sacrifice - you will sacrifice until you think you have no more to give. You will give beyond any giving you have ever done in your life before. This is not bad. Repeat, this is NOT BAD. This is being a good parent. No Olympian ever got that far without a lot of sacrifice. How bad do you want great kids? Only you can answer that question but often the difference between good and great is  answered by am I going to watch "my favorite TV show" or am I going to go read a chapter book with my child?


What are you willing to sacrifice to raise a great kid?

Next, what do you, the reader think? I am trying to see if there is interest in this topic for me to continue such blogs. Please comment. Which things should I expand upon? What is of interest to you? What am I way off base on? Why? Input please.