Surprise Puppies

Got a text from the foster puppy coordinator asking if we could take two puppies today, instead of next weekend. Next thing we knew, F and I were picking up Aspen and Cedar (sister and brother) and bringing them home. We weren’t quite prepared but they are so adorable and I’m glad it happened!

Cedar is spoken for and will go to his true home next weekend, but Aspen is available.

Rocco had a brief introduction but we don’t want to overwhelm them today.

In other news, I spent the whole weekend weeding and weed-whacking the whole property. T helped me pull every last weed out of the back patio. Then he applied vinegar and salt, before sweeping sand into all the cracks. It looks amazing. Picture to come. Wondering how long it will last. I also pulled a lot of weeds by hand from the new strip along the side of the house. And I took out all the strawberry protection to make room for a new plan — some kind of fencing. It was a pain in the ass getting all the netting off since the oregano and strawberries had grown through it. I’m pretty sore, but it’s not as bad as I feared it might be. In fact, physical work feels really good after a week of sitting at a desk and straining my eyes and my brain.

I did a little laundry, cleaning, bill paying and food shopping as well, but mostly I was outside. Saturday was more humid, less hot, and felt better. I got to watch a monster storm roll in before calling it quits on the weeds.

I wanted to plant more beans, but with another heat wave looming, it doesn’t seem like a good time to be a seedling.

This week was marked by two days of torrential rain and flash flooding — luckily for me, my two work from home days. In between I was able to pick marjoram, thyme, green beans and the last garlic. I air-dried the herbs.

I didn’t realize coleus would flower:

Tuesday night I got to see friends, and stayed up past my bedtime, making for a rough Wednesday.

F was at her leadership camp Tuesday through Thursday, and had a good time. She seems inspired to run for student council. We ate kind of poorly this week since we were excited to eat things F doesn’t like, like Taco Bell. N has been racking up hours lifeguarding, except when it rains.

On Friday, I ended up working from home and logging off at 4 pm. I was at the pool by around 5:30 pm. In the middle of  swimming laps at the diving pool, which I had almost to myself, the sun came out from behind the clouds and I felt so happy and luxurious! The sun on the water, the cheerful white yellow and blue chairs, the brick apartments beyond the fence with their petite patios, the road leading down to the shimmering river. The air perfectly warm and breezy. I felt the same way much of Saturday — high on life. The combination of the weekend, summer vibes and peak estrogen, probably…

Meals this week:

Monday: penne Bolognese and Italian bread

Tuesday: Stella Pizza

Wednesday: Taco Bell

Thursday: Fried chicken, rotisserie chicken with roasted veggies, and mashed potatoes from Haddon Culinary

Friday: Chicken nuggets, Rice a Roni, steamed broccoli

Saturday: New place — Barclay Pies (pizza and wings)

Sunday:  turkey sandwiches; chicken nuggets, mini meatballs, steamed broccoli

Lunch: pretty sure I only bought once.

Spending: $49 on clothes for F, not used. And I just realized I’ve been getting charged around $7 for Amazon Music since March? No idea who did that. F denies it. It really bothers me that I’m just noticing it. I should be keeping a closer eye on my bank account than that.

All of a sudden, I find myself really wanting a flag for the house. Don’t ask me why. I’ve held off so far but might get one from Etsy.

Two quick links: one on the perhaps questionable push to promote native plants and one about plug-in solar panels — I’m intrigued by this.

Speaking of natives, the pokeweed plant that I let grow in the garden is huge and close to having berries. I’m curious to see birds eating the berries. I may regret letting the plant grow, but we’ll see.

I didn’t take many pictures this week. Here’s one of the front of the house. Onto another hot week!