Something Different

Long story but I did not take off Wednesday and worked a full week, and extra hours too. I saw a meme that said, “I’ve been unemployed. I’ve been employed. I advise not being born.” 😂

I’m really excited about my broccoli, Brussels sprouts and baby pumpkin! I have some lettuce sprouting too. I could have had more pumpkins if I had taken the time to make sure the female flowers got pollinated. Maybe next year.

The garden is definitely looking fall-ish.

I always strongly resist the end of summer and then I remember that I love the end of summer fading into fall. The cool breezes at night, the crickets. The locusts have gone silent and underneath the cricketsong there is a certain quiet. It’s light out for a little while after dinner, enough to water the garden and pick tomatoes. Once a long, long time ago, reading magazines at my grandmother’s house, I read an excerpt of a really salacious murder mystery. I don’t remember the plot, but it had a line about autumn seducing us into welcoming death. So true. Like Dorothy in the poppy field, I just want to stretch and yawn and lay down for just a minute, listening to the crickets and feeling the undertow of the immense quiet…

But yesterday, the heat was back and it felt like a summer day in the yard. I was out there early, tidying up the tomato vines, picking green beans, and weed whacking the front, side and back yards. I also pulled a lot of dead weeds out of the cement cracks and deadheaded all the flowers. It looks so much better out there.

I really, really, really want my next abode to have a pool. How great would it be to jump directly in the pool after doing sweaty yard work?

Quick break to run some errands, then it was into the kitchen to make homemade salsa. I didn’t make a lot — I just wanted to test this recipe. It looks good, it smells good … but I haven’t actually tasted it yet. I’m not really big on chips and salsa, but would like to use it to cook chicken or put on tacos.

It was fun to make something different for a change. I bought the peppers, cilantro and other ingredients at Sprouts on Friday. night. Obviously I had plenty of tomatoes. I used one of my homegrown onions, too.

I also did two loads of wash and a little bit of inside clean-up, and processed more tomatoes for sauce. By 9 pm I was hurting all over. The weed whacking always does a number on me.

Last Sunday when we got home from the shore, the kids needed things for school, but I was exhausted. We placed a Target order instead. Then, of course, they didn’t even have half the things I ordered. Kind of a waste. We went out the next night to Walgreens for the rest of it. Luckily, compared to when they were younger, they don’t need many school supplies in total. A lot of the Target order was food for F to pack for lunch.

Some small wins:

• F needed a binder for one class and we had one here that fit the bill.
• I received an electronic debit card with $7.44 on it from a class action lawsuit. It’s hard to find something online for that amount to spend it on, but I had been wanting an air freshener for my car, and Amazon had a pack for $6 ish. Shipping was free because T keeps signing up for Prime to watch sports stuff.

Meals:

Sunday: PB&J

Monday: Chicken strips and sauteed green beans

Tuesday: dined out in town at Thai Basil with Tom

Wednesday: eggs, home fries, pancakes, bacon, toast

Thursday: sandwiches from Primo Hoagies

Friday: leftover pancakes

Saturday: Holy City Publick House

Lunches: Tuna on sourdough; bought once; leftover Primo on Friday.

Today’s agenda: probably Costco; more garden work; picking up another FB marketplace raised bed; cleaning; a park visit with Rocco; taking T back to school; Eagles game; figuring out dinner (salsa chicken in the instant pot?)

I was telling Tom I feel like doing something craaazy, like buying this house. He told me to settle down. Maybe I’ll just get my hair colored. But definitely itching to do something out of the ordinary lately…