This is the Life!

Setting: Patio out back, in a beautiful new padded deck chair, George Strait on the speakers, big glass of iced tea on the table ... paradise!

If I close my eyes and try real hard, I can pretend that this is my real, everyday, all year long life. But then the phone rings or the dogs get in the chicken coop or I wake up, and I realize it's just a summer fantasy. I'll enjoy it while it lasts!

Today is just one of those wonderful, amazing days! I'm sitting, as described above, with my laptop in my lap working on the blog. The birds and katydids are singing along with George, with Tribett piping in every so often. I can't imagine a better way to spend a summer afternoon!

 Big John is working nights for the next little bit, so he put in a good day's work on the farm this morning. We had big plans: up early to start pickles and tomato sauce, then out to graze Ranger and Roxy and do garden work while it was still cool. We did the "up early" part. We're putting off kitchen duty until tomorrow. Ranger and Roxy were allowed some grass time (and Roxy got to run like the wind for a bit), and we made a good dent in garden chores before we stopped to eat lunch. Unfortunately, it was already warm and muggy when I stepped outstide at 6:15 this morning. I've discovered that if you just suck it up and get out early, you can get on top of the heat issue. If you wait until after lunch to start your outside chores, you might as well wait until the next day. It's only June, but it's really HOT. I guess it's like this every year - you'd think I'd remember after 45 years, but it just seems hotter than it used to be. I thank God every day for the rain we've had this month - and hope there's more in store. Of course, it's also hurricane season. They're predicting it will be a busy one - they say that almost every year. If I were in that business, I'd probably want to cover my rear, too. There's been one little disturbance in the tropics already, but it went away or went somewhere else. I'll be pushing to get those working shutters done here in the next couple of weeks. They're still on the "to-do" list, but I'm afraid they've moved down a couple of slots!

The sunflowers have started to do their thing! They had a few "nibbles" early on from Brown, Gary, and Roxy. Brown and Gary were relegated back to the pasture in front of the house - a short-lived vacation in the trap. Roxy is now stalled, in order to calm Ranger, but she seems to have lost interest in sunflower leaves when she does get out. I think it was just a way to get me riled up!

I've also gotten the pumpkins planted. They may be a little too late for Halloween, but we'll keep our fingers crossed. This morning, Big John fenced them off, which is also protecting the sunflowers. It seems like a lot of empty space - space that could be used to plant more pumpkins! That kind of thinking is what's made a mess of our squash rows, too. They're so close together that I can hardly make my way around. Maybe we'll leave well enough alone this year and see how much more room we'll have next year. (I've noticed that this sure

looks like "extra" garden space. I wonder if Big John has noticed that, too?)

And we finally have our first eggplant! Having never tried our hand at eggplant, I was sure something had gone wrong. A friend and eggplant-expert assured me it was a little too early for eggplants. She was right - patience paid off, and we've got one almost ready to pick, another on the way, and lots of blooms! Maybe this will be the year for tomatoes and eggplant! Get out those cookbooks!

Summer To-Do List

WOW! There are only 14 more days until summer break! This school year has flown by - even my 6th-wannabe 7th graders think so. They've been a good group, overall. Since I don't have kids of my own, I probably invest too much of my heart in them. Unfortunately, too many of them need someone else to care about them. Some don't get enough of that at home. I'll be a tiny bit sad to see them walk out of the school doors on that last day - but don't worry, I'll be over it by the time I drive out of the parking lot! And it will be fun to run into them next year, as big tough Jr. High Schoolers. Hopefully we'll all have fond memories of the year we spent together!

Last summer, being the first I've had off in 8 years, went by in a flash. We had the big bathroom project to start and finish (still LOVE my bathroom, Big John!), lots of gardening and canning, a trip to Vernon/Arkansas, then home to get ready for the start of school. I seem to remember that my energy did peter out once we returned from Arkansas, but there were only a couple of weeks between the trip and inservice. I'm determined this year to pace myself and get lots more accomplished!

I've started my mental to-do list. As peri-menopause approaches, this old grey mare ain't what she used to be! I figured I should write some of these great ideas down, so's I don't forget 'em. I'm already starting to worry that my eyes are bigger than my stomach, so to speak. This year I've gotten out a calendar, we've planned all the days off that Big John has, a week of "vacation" for him in June (that's for honey-dos that he doesn't know about), a week or more off in July to see Su and Dyke, then head to visit Big John's family in Arkansas, and many more days than I'd like of school workshops. Even with all those days accounted for, I still have 45 days to myself. Here's my list of things I'd love to get done:

• paint the living room
• redo the walls in our bedroom to match the bathroom
• get bees and start a beehive
• take a sewing class
• clean out the attic (this is a hold-over from last summer - ugh)
• tile the birdbath in a mosaic pattern
• stain the front porch and back patio (concrete)
• build a pergola on the west garage wall
• build working shutters (hold-over from the LAST HURRICANE, Big John)
• strip, clean, and reseal the kitchen floor - saltillo tile
• rearrange the pantry shelves
• can/freeze/preserve everything in sight
• go to garage sales
• go antique shopping
• lose 15 pounds (hold-over from age 12 - double ugh)

Okay, that's a list of 15 vital items that must be done before August 17th. If I allow 3 days per job, it should be no problem! Check back in August to see how well that worked. I have a sinking feeling that some of these might make next year's list! I promise to post before-during-after pics of anything I tackle. At least I won't be bored!