True Confessions

It may come as a shock to some of you to hear this, but I'm not perfect. It's true! Really! I have my little flaws like the rest of you mortals.

For instance, up until today, I never used the strainer-thingys in my sink.

You know, these things:

*shudder*

 

 

The things that catch all the nasties and keep them from going down the drain. The goopy, gloppy, stringy, soggy, icky, yucky blucky nasties. I have a problem with these strainers. The problem is, I LIKE it when the nasties go down the drain. That way I don't have to look at them or touch them or associate with them or think about them ever again.

 

I also have a problem with wiping the crumbs and junk off of the table and counters carefully and neatly into my hand instead of flinging them hither and yon onto the floor where they wait to be swept up (I do sweep them! I DO!! You know...sometimes). I just hate the way they feel against my skin. Crumbs are okay, and wet stuff is okay, but when both combine in a weird half-firm, half-soggy pile and stick to my hand - I have to stop talking about it now.

 

Give me poopy diapers any day. Just please, no soggy crumbs or sink filters or hair in the shower!

 

This might be the reason why I'm so bad at housekeeping. That, and the fact that I'm just naturally the mistress of chaos.

But anyway. I previously shunned sink filters. But I also don't have a garbage disposal. So this has caused problems.

 

Problems in the form of a sink clog that almost ruined my life.

 

Not really. But kind of.

 

Actually it just required obscene amounts of drain-o. Which also repulses me.

 

So I've come to a decision. I'm going to use my sink filters. And be a grown-up.

 

The end.

"and when He shakes His mane, we shall have Spring again"

What is your definition of "Spring"?

As a stubborn, OCD-inclined child, my answer would have been that Spring is the stretch of days beginning at March first and ending on May thirty-first. Because there are 3 months in each season, exactly. February is a winter month. March is a Spring month. Thus, logically, neatly, and tidily, March the 1st = Spring!

But life isn't always neat, tidy, or logical.

Another school of thought might say that the calendar declares the "First Day of Spring!" to be March 20th. As if calendar-makers everywhere must conspire in secret meetings, holding Nature captive and demanding that she divulge her secrets, that they might print them in cute little fonts in a cute little square hung on somebody's fridge. Or as if it were a holiday which can be assigned whichever specific date suits the whim of humanity.

And perhaps it is such. But I don't think so.

For the past few years, I have determined in my soul the first day of Spring, not by the appearance of the jolly Robin (if he ever left in the first place - this is Oklahoma, after all), or by the first bloom of the daffodil.

There is always a day that comes, usually after a series of cold, wet and miserable days, and quietly declares itself as the herald of Spring. It is not necessarily a warm, bright or sunny day, or even one in which all of the snow is melted. When I step outside, I recognize it. It greets me as an old friend, and as I inhale its beloved scent, I know.

It is Spring.

(Today was that day for me. What about you? Do you recognize Spring by a specific date, sight, or smell?)

Small Things

 

Just a little friend I found, that gave me joy.

 

 

 

Hearer of prayer, to Thee all flesh cometh.

Matters of iniquities were mightier than I, Our transgressions -- Thou dost cover them.

O the happiness of [him whom] Thou choosest, And drawest near, he inhabiteth Thy courts, We are satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, Thy holy temple.

By fearful things in righteousness Thou answerest us, O God of our salvation, The confidence of all far off ends of earth and sea.

Establishing mountains by His power, He hath been girded with might,

Restraining the noise of seas, the noise of their billows, And the multitude of the peoples.

And the inhabitants of the uttermost parts From Thy signs are afraid, The outgoings of morning and evening Thou causest to sing.

Whats and nots and suchlike

I realize I've been neglecting this. There have been all manner of things happening that I could have blogged about. I could have blogged about the party we had; how I took a theme from our homeschool unit and ran so wild and crazy with it that I made an octopus piñata that was only part 6 of an 11 step treasure hunt and obstacle course meant for only the bravest and most daring of adventurers.

I could have blogged about taking my kids for a walk to the library, and the health food store, and picking all manner of weedy greens for the rabbits along the way. I could have taken pictures, and told you all about Plantago major and Taraxacum officinale. And also shared how incredibly weedy and unkempt our town is. Oh well, more goodies for us!

Obviously, I didn't blog anything. Or take pictures of anything. I was far too busy getting attacked with water balloons, or yelling "STOP AT THE STREET! WAIT FOR ME! BE CAREFUL! STOPATTHESTREET!" a hundred million times an hour.

I believe this is called "life", and sometimes it just feels best to live it.

The rabbits have been banished once again to the outdoors, just in time for the gorgeous September cool-down. I actually got in a teensy bit (cough) of trouble because one or more bunnies may or may not have ruined the closet door with their adorable ferocious nibbling. So now I have a new project on my list: refinish closet door to look charmingly...er...rustic. I think it can be done. Perhaps you will get to see the transformation!

The good news is, it looks like my wonderful, loving, kind, patient husband is going to take pity on me and my dearth of carpentry skills. The hutches will be built! The rabbits will be bred! Baby bunnies will abound, along with copious shrieks (mine) of appreciation!

Fur hats and mittens and slippers and delicious stews will also abound. Eventually. But we won't think about that while they're tiny and adorable and fluffy and sweet and cuddly. :P

For now, the change in the weather has refreshed my soul. I pursue the life in front of me with renewed determination. Now is the season of planning, of pondering, and of preparation. And knitting. And soup. And of course pie.

Pie. Mmm. Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiieee. Pie.

Goodbye!

The last few weeks...

...have been crazy go nuts.

Liesel is no longer with us. She decided to give Enoch (1 year old) a deep, nasty, horrible, bacteria-laden bite on the arm, for which there have been two emergency doctor visits and plenty of horrible, horrible medicine that he does his very best to spit out/throw up/spill/anything but swallow.

I'm still working through the mega dose of mommy-guilt I got for even letting the beast in my house in the first place. If I ever get an indoor cat again, I will get a kitten. Preferably one with a hilarious face, like this:

(I searched the interwebs for this picture, it does not belong to me)

For now, I'm totally cured of wanting one at all.

Sigh...

Moving on!

I rescued the bunnies from a giant, COLD rainstorm we had recently (69 degrees! in July! where do I live again?!? Watch out! Oklahoma just might be transforming into a magical paradise!), and I might have to do a post on their new location soon because I kind of love it. I set up baby gates to partition off my hallway, and they're using the litterbox and everything. I might keep them there until I can build hutches. I hate to put them back in their itty bitty cage when they're having so much fun scampering about.

I desperately need to compost and MULCH my garden. We'll see if I can con my mother-in-law into helping me get the mulch (mom! if you let me use your trailer and your superior strength and skills in shoveling for a couple hours, I'll let you babysit your perfect grandchildren for a couple of hours after that! wahaha...my evil plot is sure to succeed...). If I manage to get those two things done, I'll have a go at planting a fall garden and do a post on that. Stay tuned!

I made blackberry jam the other day, and it turned out absolutely beautiful and I love it. BUT...I've never made jam before, and so of course I forgot something. I forgot to add lemon juice. Of course. Does anybody know if that means the jam is sure to go bad? Should I freeze it? Or should I just live dangerously? I tend to think if it smells/looks okay when I open it, it should be okay. But maybe I'm wrong. Experts on jam, please advise.

So anyway! I've been stressed, but I think I'm going to make it to the end of the tunnel before the train hits. God is good. I have lots of posts planned, if I can just remember where I stashed my extra energy!

Gardenish things

 My garden is somewhat puny this year. I failed to prepare the beds last fall due to various circumstances, and it shows. I have hopes that my compost will flourish (isn't that a lovely thought! flourishing compost!) this year so that I can greatly improve the quality of my soil by next year. However, I am currently having issues with a tree that is trying to grow its roots UPwards into my compost pile. Thus effectively ruining/stealing/using up all of the good stuff at the bottom and cementing it to the ground with thousands of tiny rooty tendrils. Thus ruining my life. Every time I try to turn the pile it becomes a battle involving many curse words and a machete.

Lemme tell you. Gardening in Oklahoma is like trying to squeeze life out of a rock. A really, really stubborn, clay-filled, pest-infested rock. As a good friend of mine once said, the environment here is "hostile", at best! Still, I'm determined to coax something out of the barrenness. At least I got my seedlings started early for once. :P

When the okra is puny, I know we're in trouble...

Also, please forgive the ridiculous amount of weeds in my garden this year. I've been meaning to mulch it for ages now. I should have done it months ago so that it could have retained more of the lovely rain we got!

Beautiful cabbage!

Devastated cabbage!

Diatomaceous Earth to the rescue!

See what I mean about hostile? I went to check on my potato plants the other day, for instance. They were growing big and beautiful and perky just the day before. I walked up to this:

One. Day. Y'all. This is one day's worth of total devastation. Not a single leaf made it out unscathed. I was almost left without any leaves at all. And I couldn't for the life of me find the critter that did it. From what I've read, this is the work of the infamous Colorado potato beetle, but I have yet to have the bastard show his face.

At least some things are doing well...

Ginger (left), and Egyptian Walking Onions (right)

Garlic...

 

Carrots...

Blackberries!

 I'm having my first ever truly successful run with tomatoes this year, oddly enough. Maybe they're hogging all the fertility. Hmm... Next thing on my list: learn to can!! Oh, and buy a pressure canner. Right. I guess that would be an important step. :P

monsters...

I'm excited about this pepper plant...it's supposed to be spicy, but not TOO spicy.

The romaine has done well...time to gather seeds, and feed the rest to the rabbits!

The mustard is also done...time to gather seeds and either turn them into mustard, or save them for next year...

 

I planted a mix of kale, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli in this pot...I figured it would go crazy since kale is usually so easy to grow. I was going to feed it to the rabbits since I despise kale, but so far it hasn't grown more than 2 leaves per plant, and those are being vigorously gnawed upon by some sort of insect.

A stray brassica made it to the regular garden bed and is doing much better than its siblings...

Sorrel...if you haven't tried it, you should! So citrusy and delightful!

Sage and oregano...I think...I lose track of the mints...

Trying out a few new herbs to fill in some of the blank spaces...this purple basil smelled fabulous, and the one on the right is dill, which I love.

I have no idea what to do with chives, but this one caught my fancy...

Something lemony...I don't remember...they were on sale. :P

 

The boys's's's' (grammar? phooey) strawberry plants are making babies like there's no tomorrow...goooo strawberries!

 

I'm having trouble keeping the ants off of my purslane. They seem to be sucking the juices from it, and it's not really growing. I dusted it with Diatomaceous earth (my very best friend in times of desperation), and I see lots of teeny little baby purslanes coming up, so I have hope!

 

The cucumbers are going mad...

 

Baby cucumber...isn't it funny!

"Doug! Grab hold, I'll help you up!"

"(Panting) I don't know if I can do it, Karl. Go on without me. Save yourself."

"You're gonna make it man, just don't let go!"

 

 

So...many... 

Cucumbers! ...Oh, and this baby musk melon, which is adorable.

 

Celery...I didn't think it would make it!

Scarlet runner beans...that seem to be happy making zero beans...

My pride and joy...everyone, this is my Marshmallow plant. It barely survived last year, but has come back this year with every intention of conquering the world. Isn't it beautiful?!

That's about all this post can handle, folks! Tune in next time as the war against clay and beetle continues to wage in the wastes of the Midwest...


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