A pinch of this and a dash of that (translated: randomness)...

Oh summer where have you gone!? Come back! Please!

Really, already July 30th?! And I know there's still officially a month-plus left of summer, but all of these back-to-school ads and such are making me feel like summer has slipped away.

Sergei starts school in about three weeks. So that means I must face that which I've been avoiding ~ back-to-school shopping. (I believe that if I avoid it, maybe, just maybe summer will be prolonged???)

(My first time growing carrots. This sight makes me giddy with happiness!)

But, alas, my teen grew to my height over break, and all of his uniform khakis from last year are floods. So we must brave the treacherous waters of back-to-school shopping. And sooner than later, I'm afraid.

My garden. Oh my garden. It has produced abundantly this summer! We have been swimming in green beans, zucchini, and cucumbers. Tomatoes and corn are soon to be harvested. Not to mention the prolific amount of various herbs.

 

I love the end product but it sure is hard work!

Today, I pulled out all the bolted lettuce, fed some to the five rabbits, and put the rest in the chicken run compost. Then I replanted a couple of rows that should be ready to harvest at the end of next month.
 

I recently took up running.  This is my third week. And, can I be honest? I don't like it. But my sisters are motivating me to continue, and since the three of us run together, it's good bonding time. (Although they are psycho runners and often leave me breathless and dizzy. You know it's time to slow down when you can hear your heart thumping in your left ear. Just sayin'.) We do 4.4 miles total, but I run only about 2 - 2.5 miles of that.

(We are officially dorks. Dorks running in a downpour.)

I do just want to say that today is the first day after running that I can actually walk normal. Yay! This is such an accomplishment. No waddling today! (Ladies, you seriously should have seen me the past two weeks. It was a sight. Pain!!!!!)

Brad finished the most awesome tree cabin EVER! It's my dream treehouse from my childhood made reality. The boys camped out in it Saturday night. I've already claimed the space for stressful days. I think it would make a perfect space to hide out with a book and cold drink. Too bad I voiced that opinion in front of the family. Probably the first place they'll look if they can't find me. :)

 

Our chickies still have not laid any eggs. They will be five months old at the end of August which is the age that they usually start laying. However, my sister's chicks and cousin's chicks (of which were purchased the same time as ours) have already laid a few eggs here and there. Wander if I have six duds?

We are giving our ducks away. They leave their not-so-nice fluids on my sidewalks and in my landscaping. That means I have to scrub sidewalks way too often, and it also means that my house was starting to smell a little too farm-ish. Oh, and they've eaten almost all of my cilantro. I'm really bummed about that. We think we've found three prospective homes. Even though they annoy me I do want them to go to someone that's going to care for them and not leave them to be hunted by the wild at night.

Not that my chickens don't leave their droppings in unwanted places. Yes, we've had to scrub sidewalks and decks on account of them. And each deck is manned with a water gun to squirt them when they go where they're not supposed to go. However, in exchange for their annoyances, I will receive eggs. I appreciate their kindness.

 

Oh, they do this too... Ate the begonias right out of my basket on my side deck. 



My preserving? So far I've: frozen more bags of green beans than I can count; frozen broccoli; frozen six (or was that seven? or eight?) gallons of blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries; canned twenty-two pints of dill pickles; canned nine pints of wild blackberry jam.



This summer has been a busy one.

Oh, and guess what?! I got my hair cut in a salon for the first time in 4 1/2 years! It was sooo nice to sit there and let someone else do my hair. No cramping arms trying to cut the longest layers in the back, no uneven layers because I can't see where I'm cutting. I told the beautician I would be back for sure. 



And now I'm also trying to get our homeschooling planned for this coming year. I spent one whole day last week reading through our new curriculum and finished purchasing the few books I needed. I also ordered my new homeschooling planner for this year so soon I will sit down and plan out the first few weeks of our new year. Ideally I would sit with my planner, curriculum, an iced coffee (decaf, of course since I'm still caffeine free! Yippee!), and some nice praise and worship music playing on Pandora. Oh, and I would sit on the deck and enjoy the country view.
 
But we shall see...

Yesterday we hosted our church's annual summer picnic again. We had a great time!

Well, ladies, I do love my visitors and do appreciate that you take time out of your day to visit here. Sorry if I disappointed you with my rambling this afternoon. :)

Have a blessed day!