It’s been quiet here lately, I know. I’ve been spending time resting and waiting for the latest MS exacerbation to ease up. So far I am still waiting, but hopefully not for long.
In the meantime, a lot has been happening. We’ve had visits with friends and family and hosted another pig roast to get everyone together at once. The girls were busy with their respective sports; the squeaky kid has been in several riding competitions and the tall kid spent her summer taking various hockey conditioning sessions. The hockey training paid off – the tall kid is now on the local girls rep hockey team and headed off to an exhibition tournament this weekend. The squeaky kid has gained a lot of confidence in her riding and is also off to another competition this weekend.
We gave up on the garden this summer. I’d like to try again next summer with something a little closer to the house so that I can get to it myself. Our normal garden is too far away and the ground is uneven, making it difficult for me to get back and forth. And with the girls and the dad busy all summer, the few plants that we started out with were quickly forgotten. At one point, the teenage boy that we had doing some yard clean-up for us said that he found some zucchini growing wild out in the weeds along the edge of the field. We were almost too embarrassed to say that they weren’t wild. We did manage to harvest a few zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes, but even those were few and far between due to the summer that almost wasn’t. We had a lot of wet weather and not as much sun and heat as we needed to grow much of anything.
Now that the girls are both back in school and summer seems to have come to an abrupt halt with the start of an early cold spell, things are getting back into their old routine. I might even show up here every now and then. I’m posting a video that someone kindly made for us of the squeaky kid at last weekend’s hunter-jumper show at the fair, since this is a good spot to showcase family achievements for friends and family to see.
lightlycrunchy 
My commiserations Heidi; but, if you had to pick one, this was a good year to ignore the garden… As always, “There’s always next year” ’cause – and I’m sure you already knew this – “Farmers are Perennial Optimists!”; )
Hope you keep getting better, and soon.
Next year will be a do-over for the garden. Hopefully it will be a little dryer and sunnier too. It wasn’t a good year for the garden anyway, so I guess it was a good year to let it go.
Hi, I hope too that your exacerbation will be gone soon… Dressage is so lovely to watch. I have a niece who is 13 who also does this and she loves it too… Anyway, take care… Diane
It is fun to watch.. I’m impressed at her ability to control the horse and the courage it must take to go over the jumps.
Hope your health improves very soon. Good to read your update, though.
Thanks! I would like to get back to writing updates again. It’s been too easy to let things slide for a while.
Yes, I’ve missed your posts.
Hi Heidi. I have been thinking of you. Hopefully you will recover soon to a point where you feel more capable. Even without MS I think you would have had difficulties keeping up with the garden with all the activities your girls have. And now you will be about to launch into the busyness of winter hockey. Take good care of yourself. Cheers Sarah : o )
The hockey busyness has already started, but we all enjoy it, so that’s ok. And as one kid’s sport gets geared up, the other one is winding down. It works out pretty well that way. Next year we will give the garden another try.
Hi Heidi, so glad to see your update, and I hope you feel better soon. Seeing your daughter ride brings back wonderful memories for me. I loved riding! Take care.
Rosemary @anitalianinmykitchen.com
Hope you are feeling able to do more soon it must be so frustrating for you. I have been away from my blog too for a while for various reasons and I am just catching up with everyone so I am relieved if I find someone has not been madly posting all summer! Your daughter is very good – I admire anyone who can clear the jumps – my first attempt at jumping a pole (laid on the ground too) was my last attempt. As soon as my horse put his head down slightly just before the jump as they tend to I thought I was a gonner! I stuck to hacking after that.
I’m just impressed by anyone that gets on a horse – I’m not a rider. The jumps are still small, but they are getting a bit bigger lately. Pretty good for an 11 year old. And her pony often has his own ideas about whether or not to go over – but she is pretty good at getting him to mind most of the time.
I’m glad you’re back to give us an update on what you’re doing. I wondered if the MS was getting you down. But as gardeningwithkiwi said, the activities with your girls are enough to fill your time without any other difficulties. Hope to hear more from you soon.
(Spoiler Alert!) Enjoyed the video – clearing all those jumps! Thanks for the update. Wishing you improved mobility etc. I agree this was not much of a summer weather-wise, and a good one to skip gardening. Glad to hear that friends and family got together. Hope you’ll be back posting again soon!
Happy to hear from you and what everyone was up to this past summer.
I was thinking about you and yours only yesterday and wondering how you were getting on. It’s good to get your update though I am sorry your MS is again troubling you and I hope you feel better very soon. Our garden has been short of produce this year too. My hip has been trouble since Jan so it has all fallen to Mr S and that’s been hard, lots of beans but the slugs have had much of the rest! As you say, next year will be better.
Love the video! Beautiful!
All the best to you and yours 🙂
Thanks for the kind words. It looks like it was a good year to give up on the garden for many people. Better luck next year and I hope you are feeling better soon too.
This post really resonated with me. We’re in the same weather system pretty much, and had the same summer more or less. We also had a lot less time to invest in our garden than we’d have liked and have plans to do much better next year! Sorry to hear that you’ve been having a tough time recently and hope you’re feeling better soon. Lovely video of your daughter, she looks so confident and comfortable.
I hope the weather is much better next year – it feels a bit like we missed summer altogether this year. And we’ve already had a killing frost – usually, we’d have had another month or so of garden weather.
I am always impressed by how comfortable our daughter looks on a horse. She certainly didn’t get it from me!
I am coming to next year’s pig roast–or maybe the year after. I hope by the time you read this you are feeling better–seems to have been a long haul this time–((hugs)) to you my friend………….
Hi, Heidi – Just missing you in the blog world and wondering how you’re feeling? Sorry for your MS flare-up. We’re trying to get ready for the long winter here… not much success so far. ha! Take care! Hope to see you blogging again soon! A-
We are bracing ourselves for the winter again too. I find that with the cool weather coming and the wet and damp spring/summer/fall ending, I am starting to feel a bit better. Who ever thought that the weather could have such an effect? I would like to get back at in soon too. Thanks for coming by.
Just thought I would pop by and let you know that I have been wondering how you are. It is strange these connections we form through blogging and, while I have been very spotty at best this past year, some of my bloggy friends have been on my mind.
Wishing you a wonderful, peace-filled New Year.
Same to you! I haven’t spent much time at all reading anything new in the past months, but one of my hopes this year is to get back into the groove again and reconnect. I’ve been feeling better slowly and hope to keep going. Thanks for saying hello!
Happy New Year, Heidi. Thinking of you!
Thank you and the same to you!
Hello! How lovely to see your picture just now on my blog. I so hope 2015 will bring you a better year and that all your lovely offspring are thriving. I had a new hip fitted at the end of 2014 and am learning to move the joint properly.
I send you love and all the best. 🙂
I was thinking of you yesterday when we had the partial eclipse and was just wondering how you are getting on. Just sending love to you 🙂
I’m doing well, thanks – very ready for winter to be finished over here though. I hope you are well too.
I am thank you. Glad to hear you are okay. Roll on Spring for you and yours! 🙂