Seasons change....

The weather feels like Fall.  I normally love Fall, but the season's beginning has left me feeling melancholy this time around.

I am not sure why this is.  I have two kids starting back to school tomorrow - one will be at the "big kid school" for the very first time.  The mornings are about to get easier.

The garden is slowing down.  The harvesting season was quite time consuming, so the break will be welcome.

I have been busy crocheting my shawl, having nearly finished it once, only to tear it down to start again....But, this time, I know exactly what I am trying to do, and which stitch to use.

So, I guess it is change that it bringing me down.  There are way more positives in my life than negatives, but until I am solidly in the new rhythm of my days, I think I will be feeling off center.  I don't like this feeling, however....and I am looking forward to its exit.

So, until next time....I will wait it out.

Hurricane?

So, we are in hurricane prep.  Or at least high winds prep.  Adn upon waking this morning, still nothing....

I see the news, and therefore know that Miss Irene is no joke, but so far, we re in the clear.  I took that daughter to a party on the lake yesterday, and it was such a glorious day.  A perfect summer day.  The fact that we needed to leave at 3pm in order to prepare the house and yard for the coming craziness seems simply surreal.

But, now I am here.  I am working hard to keep the dishes and the laundry up, and spent time yesterday harvesting as much from the garden as I possibly could.  The edamame were finally ready, so that was a blessing, but the sweet potatoes....they are another story.  I hope that they will be safe burrowed in the ground, and that the drainage around the beds are sufficient not to drown them.

In the meantime, I am washing and blanching edamame for the freezer (which is so much more delicious than the product that we were buying from the grocery store) and relishing the fact that I still have internet access.  We will see how the rest of the day goes....

An exhausting day on the homestead....

There are some days at home that make a day at the office look like a total breeze.

Yesterday was my last Thursday at home for the summer.  Next week, the school session begins again and the kids are off and running.  And I am back in the office full time.

So, being the last day, I wanted to cram as much into the day as I possibly could.  And I did.  And I am exhausted.

It was such a rhythm of getting up and getting down....Up to put a load of laundry in the wash, down to fold the laundry, up to slice, dice, and can veggies, down to crochet another row on the shawl.

But, in the end, I had had canned 4 fours of sweet pickles and 12 jars of green tomato salsa, froze many types of veggies, made and froze a large batch of peach apple chutney, and cleaned most of the house, and added a few more inches to the shawl. 

A great day, an exhausting day, and a day well deserving of sleep.

And, get this...I slept in to 6am this morning!  Remarkable!  (however, if you had asked me 8 years ago if 6 am qualified as "sleeping in", I would have thought you to be absolutely and completely nuts!)

Cleaning :(

I have to clean my house today.

I am not looking forward to this….

I used to be OK with the whole cleaning thing, but I think that was pre-kids, pre-garden, pre-crazy life. Now, it just seems like a big interruption on my day.
But, that does not stop the fact that it needs to be done. I hate an unclean house, and it is so easy to achieve that state. I find this especially true in the summer. We are constantly running in and out of the house, trying to remove our shoes before tramping through…but only partially successful. And now that I am trying to cook more, the kitchen feels like it is constantly cluttered. But the time I get home, cook dinner, and load the dishwasher afterwards, the thought of putting anything away is just too daunting.

So, today is the day. The house, and the car, will be cleaned. Top to bottom. It is going to happen.

Really.

Truly.

Well, if I say it enough….maybe it will actually happen.

Wish me luck…I think I will need it.

Potatoes in the morning....

The weather has begun to turn.  The crisp cool air greets us in the early hours of the morning, and the late hours of the evening....

Yesterday morning, I had a few moments before needing to rush the kids towards to van, in order to get to their dental appointments.  So, being the only natural things to do, I took a walk to the back garden.  And I was shocked!

I had just harvested tons of spaghetti squash, zucchini, and cucumbers over the weekend.  But the garden told me that the work was not done.  The ground was ejecting the onions, the zucchini were continuing to grow at alarming speeds, more cucumbers had come out of hiding, and the potato plants were beginning to die off....

The first several items are easy to deal with.  Yank, pull, pluck....the potatoes, however, were another story.  Assuming I had another 10 minutes or so, and knowing that I would be home late in the evening, I ran for the garage and grabbed the shovel.  I then proceeded to tackle to potatoes, tugging the plant from the ground first, then shaking the potatoes clinging to the roots, and then, digging through the ground for any potatoes still lodged beneath.

10 minutes and 6 potatoes plants later, I had to retire for the morning.  The bounty was spread on the front porch for cure in the open air, and about 15 more potato plants waited in the wings.  They would have to meet their fate another day....

A jam-packed rainy day...

For such a rainy day, it was a great day for homesteading!

I finally fulfilled my summer urge to start making more of my own wearables....and in a little bit of time, I will have a colorful & warm shawl to welcome the fall with. 

And the start of this adventure was made even more fun with the company of a good friend, who seems to have a bit of a homesteading soul in her....Soon, we shall be having our own crocketing gatherings, as our spouses gather together to drink and watch football, and our children race through our respective houses. 

And, to make it even better, my daughter is currently hard at work, crocheting a blanket for her American Girl dolls.

The evening was brought to a near close with the accomplishment of my summer goal - to finally CAN something!  There are now four pint jars of sweet pickle relish cooling on the kitchen counter.  'Course, I don't like pickles, or relish...but I am sure I can find someone who does! 

Next up will be Apple Butter...which oddly, doesn't have any butter in it...but is crazy good!  For that, I just can't wait :)

It was a good day...a jam-packed day...and a great day for homesteading!

Remember to breathe...

The internet connection is slow...

I feel that I should rise above this, but today is not the day....This day was chock full and we were moving at hyper speed, scarcely taking a breath at intermissions. 

We rose in the morning, tended to the kids, the chickens, the furred friends...and once assembled, we headed to our property on the other side of town.  We mowed, we weedwacked, we used the crazy big chain saw...and now we nearly have a camp site and a path to the pond.

We got back home, only to shower and change and ready for a visit from the in-laws.  The husband had a birthday during the work week, and it was time to celebrate.  A trip into town and dinner at a family-friendly restaurant, and we were moving again...this time to the grocery store...then the gas station...and then home to put everything away and settle the kids in for the night.

It feels like the day was a complete rush-rush-rush kind of day.  Had I of remembered to take a deep breath and look around, I would have found more joy and less hurry in it.  But I forgot, I worried about productivity and getting everything done, and now I am back on the couch settling in for the end of the night.  And I am still rushing around in my mind and feeling annoyed by the slow internet connection.

This is a problem.

This is not the plan.

This craziness can not continue.  It is time to live in the moment, and truely experience each one.  Because the day is full, but it is also beautiful, and that beauty can not be ignored.

So, I will go to bed and awake to a new day.  And remember to slow down...and breathe.

Welcome to Friday evening...

I am home.

It should be peaceful.  And it is...kinda of...in a loud kind of way...

The kids are running about in a barely constrainted excitement - the kind that occurs after a full day with the Daddy.  And he is much the same.  They are all excited to go to a local playground after dinner.

Dinner will be interesting.  In an entire garden, we have one head of cauliflower.  It is currently roasting in oven, complete with tomato and garlic, and a bit of dill.  It smells good, if nothing else ;)  It will be pared with some veggies burgers - a nice change from eggs. 

It was a big week.  The husband had a birthday and the son graduated preschool.  The kids had several playdates, and the house was actually cleaned.  And, if that wasn't enough, I even went to work!  And now, I have a head cold....which, I think is entirely unfair.  No one should get a cold in the summer.  It just doesn't make sense!  But that is neither here nor there...

I am very excited for next Friday.  I have reconnected with several of my closest friends from high school, and next Friday, it looks like everyone may be in town and available.  And we are hitting the town!  Not that I really know what that means anymore...what do people do after 8 at night on a Friday?  Personally, that it is time that I finish up the dishes and head upstairs for a hot bath.  And what to people wear out in the evening?  These are questions to tackle...

But, in the meantime, I will finish the dinner prep, and ready for the evening playground romp.  And then try to figure out how to cram more of the garden bounty into the freezer.  And don't forget the laundry....

Tomorrow, I shall hide in the garden! 

Wishing everyone a joyful Friday evening ;)

Flowers vs. weeds....

I have been so intent on my vegatable gardens, that I have completely forsaken the flowers.

The weeds are taking over....

After dinner, I told my husband to call me in a few minutes, so that we could get the kids to bed....I had to get out to the front flower garden.  However, once I started on that one, I noticed the one under the maple tree, and then the one by the crab apple tree, and then....well, you get the picture.  A few moments stretched to a much longer amount of time.  And now - it is time for bed.

So, the plan for the morning - as soon as the sun rises, I will be outside.  The flowers await, and they are sick of sharing their sun and nutrients with the weeds.  It is time to show those weeds just who is boss!

Or, at least try....can't forget about the veggies, after all....

More time please!

There are some days when the world just takes hold. 

This is one of those days...

So much to do, and so very little time to do it...

Do you think the summer might slow down if I asked really, REALLY nicely?  Just a bit, not too much....you know....just an extra month or so.

See!  I am really not asking for too much.  Just some more time in the garden, more time for the homestead, more time with the kids....not to even mention, more time at the office!

I hear the Donald Trump lives on 3 hours of sleep per night....wonder what his secret is....