Life.

In case you had not guessed with my lack of posts, our days have been rather full the last couple of months. Here is a peek at how we have been spending our time.

Garden - This year we decided to both narrow our planting and expand it. We picked our two favorite tomatoes from last year's dozen or so varieties and stuck with those (with a couple plants of a new variety to try and some volunteers). As luck would have it, they were both the highest yield and best tasting tomatoes last year. We are hoping that we will have a bumper crop if the dozens of tomatoes on the vine ever ripen. I have been getting rather anxious to make s'getti sauce for this coming winter and have fresh tomatoes to snack on. These heirlooms are so much tastier than anything sold in the stores.

In addition to the tomatoes, we planted onions, garlic, potatoes, beans, and had a volunteer tomatillo plant come up. The tomatillo was quite the shock as it came from a plant from two years ago. We also have tried doing some raised bed gardening and are finding it more our style than just putting the plants in the ground. It also fits with my deep psychological need for order and straight lines. Our plan is to greatly expand on the beds for next year in addition to figuring out an arbor situation for our now out of control grape vine. 

Canning - like previous years, I have been doing up a lot of jams this summer and actually have tried a bunch of new recipes. It helps when you buy a bushel of peaches and have to figure out what to do with them all. I also did up a bunch of jars of peaches in syrup, so we can have them for desserts throughout the winter. I am waiting for the tomatoes to really ripen, so I can start in with those next. Now that the heat seems to have broken a bit and gotten to more manageable levels, I am anxious to get the rest of the canning started. I love them smell of tomatoes cooking all day.

New Job for Me - In May, our Little Girl's godmom went back to work, and their little one started coming to visit us four days a week. No one enjoys his presence more than the Little Girl who loves to read, play, tickle, dance, and generally attempt to smother him with her love. Hopefully in a few more months he'll be better able to escape.

Charlie's Woodshop - Charlie has his tools and has been starting to enjoy his shop. We still have a ways to go though on making the space really usable year round though. Well, even usable in a little rain is beyond capability right now. The garage is small and very full of stuff, so he can't use the shop without moving a ton of stuff outside. Every time we go out to organize, it does get better, so there is hope. Maybe if the weather holds we can do another round this weekend and finally make it an all weather work space. Probably not, but there is always hope.

The Little Girl - This little sweetie is growing up so fast. It is odd to be both so proud of all that she is learning and sad that it is happening so quickly.

I rarely am without "help" these days. Cleaning, working in the garden, and "help in the tchitchen" are frequent requests. It sometimes pushes the limits on my patience and imagination to find ways to meet these requests. As of now, cleaning and kitchen help are the areas where she can sometimes have something that is an actual help to me. Scooping seeds from squash is a favorite activity as is adding the cheese and butter when we make mac and cheese; using the vacuum and dust mop are some of the most fun ways to spend the morning - although I suspect that part of their draw is that she can chase the dog with them.

Not a church service goes by without the Little Girl getting complimented on how well she has done lately. It is nice to know that she is actually capable of sitting or coloring quietly for an hour or more when the need arises. Part of it is that she loves to go up front for the children's sermon (and Tootsie Roll), thinks that shaking hands at the end is the best thing ever, and is bribed with donuts or ice cream for good behavior. I am not foolish enough to think that it is intrinsic.

Now that her language skills have gotten very good, she jabbers away, and even strangers or people she rarely sees can understand her. This is mostly a good thing, but we do worry that she might decide to call someone a "bum licker" (what we often call the dog) in public....hopefully we can teach context and all those social niceties quickly. It could get interesting.

Other Stuff - In addition to all of the regular and daily type stuff, we helped my mom clear the last of the stuff out of the house I grew up in, so she could sell it. This means that all of our progress in clearing out the attic, basement, and garage has been negated by all of the stuff that had previously been stored in my mom's basement. We are back to needing to do a TON of work to get things usable. It has been a slow process, but we are continuing to work at a steady pace. (I want to turn the attic into a bedroom and the basement into a rec room. We need more living space.) 

We also have had a steady stream of two and four legged visitors this summer. Charlie's sister and her kids, my bestie with her hubby and kiddo, my dad's dog for numerous visits, and others have all been keeping us company. It has been a lot of fun and a good reason to keep the house at a baseline clean. Hey, anyone want to come visit? I am having a hard time inspiring myself to dust the entertainment area....