I know I said I’d get back to irresponsible rants and leave the photo blogging behind pretty soon, but I couldn’t help myself.

We got outside and did some yard work and gardening this afternoon. It felt nice to be outside doing stuff after having been laid up with a slipped disc. I went back to work Monday, and life seems to be returning to normal.

This time last year, we were starting to get more fresh veggies out of the garden than we could stand. This year has been different. This year, nothing much has been producing.

I usually baby my tomatoes, but nothing I’ve done this year has really helped. Here’s a prime example… one decent looking red beefsteak, sure… but the one above it has bugs, and the plant, as you can see, has a lot of dead vegetation.

A couple of tomato plants, at least, are making a valiant effort.

The basil is getting big, but the leaves don’t look that healthy. The cage, by the way, is just to protect the plant from the dog.

I still have hope for the squash. This is the first year we’ve planted any, and I’ve always heard that once they start producing, you’re up to your ears in squash. I hope so. Wendy and I love fresh squash. This one is the first one to show up so far, but there’s still tons of blossoms on the plants.

The cucumbers have been a terrible disappointment. Instead of growing long and straight, like straight eights are supposed to, we’re getting a lot of these little “cucumber balls.”

Here’s Wendy hosing off everything in sight.

There’s nothing better than being a kid in August with a backyard sprinkler. The kids had a great time outside today, if nothing else. I’ll end with a few pics of them.