I guess I’ve been a bit lazy in this department lately and nearly forgot how much time can be spent in the kitchen. I picked about a pint of pea pods,
some garlic scapes, and another pint of strawberries. I baked wheat bread and zucchini bread. Then I used some of the scapes with white beans to make a hummus. I stemmed and sliced the strawberries, made cashew cream and milk.
Then it was time for lunch which was potatoes (These are larger than a softball) and cooked Swiss chard along with bread and hummus. The bonus here was that all the kitchen work caused the step counter to record 5000 steps by noon.
Watering takes priority when it’s hot, so as soon as breakfast is over, the watering started in the hoop house. While watering, I found the first zucchini. Yes, it was small, but it was part of our lunch salad. There are 2 more out there half this size and I will let them get a bit larger. But as you know zucchini are prolific, so I’m getting a head start on them. I worked on the tomatoes for some time, taking off suckers and put the ties around them so they don’t crash. Many of them are now in bloom.
(Oh, yes, a load of laundry was started before going out to water – can’t have a dryer adding heat to the house later)
Yoga is on our Monday morning list to do, so we went to that. We went to bed sore, so I couldn’t believe I wasn’t sore from all of yesterday, however, I’m very happy about that.
After Yoga was lunch time. And then we both took an hour nap which is not normal. I think yesterday was a bit strenuous. DH fertilized the outside hill garden, and will water it later this evening. And I can’t forget that we get our steps in each day. 10,000 steps takes a bit of time.
Finally a time for crafts – sewing etc. I finished this box stitch wash cloth and sewed a little.
Then it was supper time and after that supper and bed for the animals. That brings us to our on-line Bible study after which I will put some lettuce seed in the hoop house to get a new crop. Oh, and then I get to water the front yard. (And some days we get to water grapes and blueberry bushes, which we are so blessed to have.) I really like the rain to come about twice a week.
By then we are exhausted and as I look back through the day, it doesn’t seem as if we got much done, because the next day, we start all over again and do most of the same things again. Does this sound familiar to you. If it does, know you are not alone. Even so, I love summer time.
It is quilted now and ready for binding. I’m really hoping to finish this tomorrow as well as transplant tomatoes and get some laundry done. Then there are meals to make for the weekend. Why do these other things get in the way? I guess it’s all a matter of priorities.
I am so excited about getting this barn door. It will make life when I need to work with the sheep. They won’t be able to escape their pen when trying to get one in. We were going to put up a new small barn, but we would have had to ask for a variance and then it would have cost more money than we wanted to spend. So after much thought, we have cleaned this old aviary out and had this door made. We will put in 3 lambing stall across the back a gate across the outside sleeping area and I will be a very happy person. And so will DH since it is so much less expensive.
These socks are finished. I got a little carried away and went to far on the toes, but I’m not going to take them apart as it doesn’t bother me when they are on my foot. So you can see in this photo, the two pair of short socks and one pair of regular socks from which I took the leftover to make this short pair. (ok, the lights are bad today)
And did I mention we picked up enough fertilizer for the next two years. The store had what we like to use and so often I can’t find it, that we just put in a supply.
The potatoes are now 3 feet tall and growing rapidly. Some are starting to flower, both in here and in the hillside garden.
All the tomatoes are tied up and weeded, the ones that aren’t will be moved outside Sunday when we have some help. One tomato plant was a gift, the others are all volunteers and some are flowering. On the left is Chinese cabbage, kale beets, and lettuce. In front and in the same bed as the tomatoes are a dozen sweet potato plants. There are peppers in the back middle row and left row. It is time to take most of the lettuce and out and replant.
In front are several zucchini plants, and there is cabbage and lettuce as well as started celery. There is also cauliflower and broccoli near the back and 4 cucumbers. I still have carrots, basil and cantaloupe to put in here. It just takes time to get it all done. We spent today mostly tying up tomatoes, fertilizing, and weeding. My, those weeds are on steroids, they grow so rapidly
And when that was done, this was DH’s reward for his help (which of course was started right after lunch).
A threadbare sheet which has been replaced
with a set of this color (actual color is more champagne). I do not like buying sheets, so until they give up, we keep using them. When they give up, they get repurposed.
Why is it when one finishes off rooms, they just don’t get totally finished. At least this happens at our house. So today, we purchased switch covers for 3 rooms. It really does make the rooms look better. We were short these 2 screws, which we intend to pick up tomorrow.
This is a lamp my father made in the late 1930s. Somehow, the finial was lost in moves
so today, that was replaced and it is once again a working lamp.
I like to wipe my feet right before getting into bed (maybe because there is always dust or sand or ??). So I purchased a small rug to go on either side of the guest bed.
And a nice little waste basket to complete the basic furnishings of this room.
Then there was a little matter of towels and a rug for the bathroom. Again I used blue. Ewalda, I’m ready for you with your favorite color – blue.
No we did not get to everything on the list done. We did retrieve the sewing machine and with my birthday coupon, I got 3 packages of needles, which I can always use. The big garden was fertilized, but the greenhouse did not get my attention except to pick a large bowl of greens. They are crisping now and tomorrow morning, I will clean them again. Parsley, cantaloupe, and sweet Williams were put in the seed starting tray.
The chairs will be picked up Friday as we have to go over there for an eye exam, the alpacas are going back to the 4H area tomorrow, and I will mop the entertainment room/kitchen floor. I should have time to fertilize and water the hoop house. Then I have a dinner to put together and cleaning the kitchen after I make the food. Mid afternoon, it is off to the airport to get my brother who will be visiting from Florida for 2 days. However, sewing will have to wait until Wednesday, or Thursday or Friday, after he leaves.
Yes, we did Yoga this morning and walked my 10,000 daily steps as well. So I should sleep well tonight.
It was one of those crazy days where I don’t feel a lot was accomplished and yet it was. There is just a lot more to do. So let’s start with explaining about the socks.
In the photo at the left, you can see I loop the new yarn around the needle and knit it into the next stitch.
Then the next 5 or 6 stitches, I knit with both pieces of the new yarn. When finished, I weave in the yarn that I dropped when changing yarns. This is just my made up way to do it. I don’t know how the professionals do it.
See where each loop is – there are three. Those are places where I changed yarns. I hope that makes it a bit clearer.
We spent the morning putting up curtains and taking many of the excess items out of the new guest room. These are the fleeces that have been repackaged and are ready for me to make some decisions on what I will do with them. At least they are sorted and in one pile instead of overflowing the closet and the corners.
And the drapes are now up and the shade is working. Tomorrow, I will get the rugs and trash can. I ran out of energy today.
I decided to hang this on the screen to cut the view of my very messy table that at times is used for potting plants and other times to trim quilts.
And this is the end of the hall. Now, it looks a bit more like a home instead of just a basement.
I did get the binding cut for the circus quilt. Now to find time to quilt it.
I wonder how people get their houses to stay clean. We use the entire house and there are always areas that could use “spring cleaning”. Tomorrow my list includes yoga, getting the rugs for the guest room and it’s bathroom, sheets for our bed, picking up my sewing machine from the “hospital”, picking and cleaning maybe 6 gallons of greens, fertilizing the hoop house (DH will do the big garden) and watering, mopping the floors downstairs, cleaning the wall the dogs wiped their coats on last winter, and then do a tidy up job on the shelves in the bathroom and cleaning it. I will ask DH to pick up the chairs that are at the chair “hospital” And you know what, it won’t all get done, but it is on my list. Maybe that’s why it seems I’m always playing “catch-up”. Oh, and if/when all that is done, there is a circus quilt waiting to be quilted.
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I am so happy to get this top finished as there was so much applique. It is one technique with which I’m not very good. I’m not ready to quilt it just yet.
This morning, I picked and washed leaf lettuce, kale, endive, romaine, and Chinese cabbage for a wonderful salad. There were three gallon bags full.
This is hummus that I made this morning. The basic recipe is
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1 can (I used a home canned pint) garbanzo beans
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1/2 teas garlic salt
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3 T lemon juice
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1 t Braggs liquid aminos
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enough liquid to be able to blend it.
Today I added roasted peppers and hot sauce which made it redder. You could add various other ingredients to personalize it.
I love walking past the table and seeing the flowers and cards. I know the flowers won’t last long, but I’ll keep them here as long as possible, and then I’ll still have the memories.
Do you see these units?
