Ashamed!

I know it's hard to tell but this is a peach tree.

One of the things I love about our house is the fact that we have some fruit trees and plants in our backyard. It was so much fun that first summer after moving into our house when everything began to bloom. We had no idea that we had grape vines, strawberry and raspberry plants and a peach tree! Turns out we actually have a citrus tree and another peach tree on the side of our house. The peach tree on the side of the house made it's first edible peach this year. Any way, I've thoroughly enjoyed this plant life. Every summer we enjoy fresh delicious peaches and I carry on my grandma's tradition of baking peach cobbler for family gatherings. I even made fresh grape jam using the grapes from our grapevines one year!

Usually I thin the peaches when they first bloom so that the tree doesn't become weighed down and so the peaches that are left grow big and plump. This year we didn't even water the poor tree! Because I didn't thin out the peaches the main limb broke.

This is entirely too many peaches for one limb!

I hate that I neglected these gifts this year. Every time I look out to my back yard and see the condition of our fruit, I feel a little tinge of guilt. I've learned my lesson and promise to take much better care of them next year.

Somehow, although most of the peaches are extremely small, they still taste amazing! Yesterday I got out there and picked all of them. I'm always proud of myself afterwards because I brave spider webs, many different types of insects, bird poop and lots of peach fuzz!

Morgan helped.

Here's a picture of the grapes starting to grow. Because I never tamed the vines, they've taken over the peach tree.

The vines are so out of control, they're starting to grow into the neighbor's tree. At least we're offering them grapes...

Morgan found other uses for the peaches. Apparently they make great pool toys too!

The water is so dirty because Maggie likes to "swim" with Morgan.

The aftermath.

In case you were wondering, yes, I was allowing my daughter to swim in what she wore to bed the night before. I thought about how my mom would probably see these pictures and I could hear her saying, "I never treated you like that." After realizing how ashamed she'd be looking at those pictures, I immediately took Morgan in and put a proper swim diaper and swimsuit on her and I even put clean water in the pool. Below is a picture to prove to my mother that I still heed her advice. :)

Peach cobbler.

And while I'm talking about food and summer... After watching Julie & Julia a couple weeks back, I've been craving Bruschetta! I made it this weekend and it was delicious! What a great, fresh, summer treat! Love all the fresh ingredients! We had it for dinner so I added some mozzarella to make it more hearty.