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The weather outside is //
Hot! This is the part of summer in Virginia when we tend to hibernate: we complete our outdoor chores/projects/exercise first thing in the morning and then stay inside until after dinner.
On the breakfast plate this morning // cinnamon and spice oatmeal and a big, (not so) hot cup of coffee
As I look outside my window // everything’s looking a little crispy. Most of our grass is dead and my wildflowers are looking sad. We did get a few days of rain last week and everything and everybody is grateful for it.
As I look around the house // I’m happy with what I see. I have been a crazy lady on a mission – cleaning and decluttering everything in sight! Hoping to keep up the momentum.
In the garden // is a work in progress. Woo, am I learning a lot this year! Both of my squash and zucchini plants died late last week due to squash vine borers, so I pulled everything up, found another open spot and planted both seeds again. I watched a Youtube video with a gardener in the same zone who said that this should work and that I’ll get a good fall harvest before our first frost. We’ll see! Gardening is one big experiment.
In the garden // is a work in progress. Woo, am I learning a lot this year! Both of my squash and zucchini plants died late last week due to squash vine borers, so I pulled everything up, found another open spot and planted both seeds again. I watched a Youtube video with a gardener in the same zone who said that this should work and that I’ll get a good fall harvest before our first frost. We’ll see! Gardening is one big experiment.
On this week’s to-do list //
- reorganize the refrigerator (it’s a wreck in there)
- order light bulbs for the dining room
- list at least 10 things on eBay
- take donations to Goodwill and the ReStore
- drop off return at UPS
- bake oatmeal raisin cookies
On the menu this week //
Monday: pulled pork sandwiches and fruit
Tuesday: grilled chicken cobb salads
Tuesday: grilled chicken cobb salads
Wednesday: Refrigerator Clean-Out Night
Thursday: roasted pork tenderloin with vegetables
Friday: bean and cheese burritos with tortilla chips and guacamole
Currently reading // My fiction book right now is Follow the River by James Alexander Thom, which is way more intense than I expected! I’m also reading Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand – a random pick for me but so far, so good. My religious book is Eucharistic Miracles and Eucharistic Phenomena in the Lives of the Saints by Joan Carroll Cruz and I’m loving it. I keep reading entire passages aloud to Mark.
What I’m creating at the moment // I’m about a third of the way through hand-sewing the top of my scrap quilt and still enjoying the process. Since most of my life is focused on efficiency, it is strangely refreshing to do something that is so slow and inefficient.
New recipe I want to try this week // I’m dipping my toes in the skill of preserving and I think this recipe for small batch refrigerator pickles would make a good starting point.
Our zucchini plant is also dying thanks to squash bugs, but since we're moving, we've just called it a lost battle and given up. We've also had baby grasshoppers or crickets that have just been devouring our herbs. I'm going to have to start coming up with some ways to deal with the pests when we put in our next garden (wherever and whenever that is!).
Going into gardening, I didn't realize how pest management was an education all on its own! So thankful that we don't have to depend on my skills to feed our family…although that would be so awesome to accomplish someday.
Prayers that God leads you to just the right house!
Follow the River is SO INTENSE!!! When I read it I left a review on Goodreads warning people, because I really wasn't expecting that…
I definitely wasn't expecting that first chapter when I cozied up in bed to read that first night!