Happy Saturday! A big thanks to Natalie of Natalie the Explorer for hosting WeekendCoffeeShare each weekend.

It was a strange week, in my opinion, being back at work on Monday after a 3-day weekend. I felt like my mind struggled to concentrate and needed time to get back into work mode. One of the reason of why I felt this way was probably because the long weekend was a busy weekend. My mom and I attended the Colonial Heritage Festival on Saturday and I got my day trip on Sunday.

The Colonial Heritage Festival was…interesting. People dressed in 18th century clothing and the park was transformed into a colonial village. I was glad no one else in the family tagged along. They wouldn’t understand any of it nor are they as interested in history as me and my mom. I would’ve probably been out of my mind as they would’ve wanted me to translate everything for them. It’s more enjoyable to just listen instead of needing to translate every sentence into another language.

I particularly enjoyed the 18th century apothecary. I had to laugh when I think about it because the so-called medicine back then all became poison in the 21st century. One of the ones that stood out was glycerin. I wish I’ve taken a picture of it.

The 18th century tea house was also fascinating. It had herbal teas on display and funnily enough, I have most of them in my garden. The only one I’m missing is parsley, which I don’t grow because I don’t use it. Maybe I should think about growing parsley next year. Hmm…

My favorite part of the festival was when I got to ditch my mom to learn about one of the Founding Fathers – James Madison. I didn’t know much about the man other than he was the 5th President and an important man. I didn’t know he was short and thin and only had one girlfriend before his wife. I certainly didn’t know Thomas Jefferson was his best friend.

We also got to watch a reading of the Declaration of Independence by our Founding Fathers. I wondered how the actors knew of the accents the Founding Fathers possessed. Some had an English accent while others had a strange New England accent.

On Sunday, I finally got to take the day trip I’ve been dreaming. The last time I traversed this road was in early spring, 2021. It was unfortunately closed before I could reach the summit. I won’t bore you with the story here but if you want to read about the trip, you can read it here.

Last but not least – the garden. Surprisingly, most of the seeds I sowed on July 3rd germinated within 3 days. I always have the worst luck when it comes to germinating seeds in the summer because the soil is always too hot. This year, I have been able to find a spot that’s cool enough to germinate the seeds. The only ones that seem to be struggling are the romaine lettuce, spinach, and mustard greens.

Meanwhile, I harvested my first cucumber yesterday. The variety is called Green Light and it’s a mini-English cucumber. I like to cut this cucumber in half and sprinkle some salt on top. The salt help bring out the refreshing quality of the cucumber, I think.

The tomatoes have been quite productive this year. I have been harvesting cherry tomatoes on a daily basis. It’s starting to trickle in now, but nothing overwhelming yet. I think I will have a good year with slicing tomatoes as the lack of rain has prevented the tomatoes from cracking but for some reason, I’m still encountering blossom-end-rot on my San Mazanos as I have in previous years.

Finally in the front garden, the pumpkin patch has definitely taken over. I had to put a white tarp under to prevent the pumpkin from getting scorched on the rocks. I’m not a fan of the rocks, never have. Did I mention that? My initial plan was to use mulch but my mom insisted on rocks.

Anyway, my container fig tree has a fig! Well, three to be precise. The peppers are also starting to ripen. This is a gypsy pepper. It’s supposed to be mildly hot. I should harvest and try one.

I appreciate you sticking around to hear about my week. Have a great week ahead.