The Speed of Life

Hello, Friends.  I've missed connecting with you, but frankly I feel like the picture below!

Do you sometimes feel that life is just moving at a dizzying pace?  Summer is here and it is supposed to be a time to kick back...  A time of Rest and Relaxation....  Aahhh.....  But somehow it seems that the days got busier.  Honestly, I enjoy the busy-ness of tending the garden and taking the little ones to swim, but I tend to fail miserably and go downhill quickly if I let myself get too over-tired.  Know what I mean?  Life has really caught up with me this past week and I've teetered on the edge of being a stressed-out-caffiene-consuming-crazy-woman.  Ok, some  in the Hearth Room would argue the "teetering on the edge" part....  But the good news is I managed to recognize my downward spiral and do something about it.  After squeezing in the last few committments of the week and having a talk with myself about how the garden and kitchen floor demands CAN wait til the weekend, I feel much better. 

En route to my downward spiral was a wonderful little time away that served multiple purposes.  We attended a homeschool convention where Young Man was in his very first chess tournament and I got to surround myself with learning materials of every kind.  From there we headed to the shore for a bit of a camping adventure.  The very first thing I do is set up a 'kitchen' while the Guys put up the 'house'.  Part of setting up our 'kitchen' table requires decorations.  We particularyly liked this little heart shaped rock and oyster shell, since we were camping at the beach. 

Did you notice I said, "beach?"  Tent camping is a tricky combination of relaxing and working yourself silly, but beach camping is just more work than being home!  Sand.  Need I say more?  So the very few moments of calm were so special!  Sitting by the fire at night was great, roasting marshmallows with little ones.  But sitting by the fire in the morning was even better!  Calm, quiet, yarny goodness time by the fire!

With coffee!!!

All in all, it was a wonderful treat to visit some of the area where I grew up and I got to spend a little time with my mother and grandparents.  One of my favorite places is the little town of Lewes, Delaware.  It's a more quiet beauty as far as summer beach towns go if you know what I mean.  We also spent some time with the kids at Rehoboth Beach, but that consists of parking meters, crowded boardwalks and spending all the quarters that have collected in your house for the past year.  It's all good fun and we do love the candy shops and rides, but it can be a bit overwhelming.

It's always so nice to come back home after a few days away.  It was great fun to see the changes in the garden and to see that the weeds behaved while we were gone. 

And I was VERY happy to find that my concoction of homemade, natural pesticide worked like a champ and saved my poor cabbages.  There aren't poor any more!

The potato bags look great...  Well to me anyway, but I'm a fairly inexperienced Farm Girl!  Hope there are some taters growing in there!

And just a peek at one of my Moments of Whimsey:  My Unconventional Squash Patch.  Since we are still in the process of tearing out and rebuilding landscaping (and everything else at the Hearth Room), I decided to plant some squash seeds and nasturtiums along a portion of our patio out back. 

You can see here that we are still very much in the process of tearing out and fixing, but I am so in love with my little squash patch.  It's growing so nicely!  I have had to catch a few squash bugs lately and I'm not happy they have found me out so quickly, but so far things are looking good!

Here you can see there was a fairly unsightly, rock-walled, concrete-bottomed, very-dangerous-for-Sweet-Pea fish pond and waterfall here that has not been properly loved for years.  In the process of tearing it down we disturbed a very busy yellow jacket nest.  Yep, that halted production for a bit.  But we are back on track with our slow determination.  Just as soon as this 100 degree temperature business subsides. 

Keep cool and well where you are!  And don't get overworked or over tired and be a grump like me!

xoxo

Sun and Shade

Wow, I have some catching up to do!  We've been out and about quite a bit lately.  Visits to see family and other outings have taken over the 'normal' schedule.  It's a welcomed distraction, actually.  It happened to be absolutely beautiful for a day at the beach while in Delaware, so it was fun to let the kids run free and explore the sand and water a bit. 

I grew up at the beach and salt air will always be part of who I am.  There just isn't anything like standing in front of the ocean, taking in the cool, salty air and being lulled by the constant roar of waves crashing.  I remember with absolute clarity going to bed as a child and listening to the sound of the waves.  Lying my head on my pillow in a dark room - you can't see, but you can hear the constant movement of the water.  So soothing and natural a sound. 

I truly longed for Young Man to have the same love for the ocean.  I know it's different because he didn't grow up there, it wasn't a way of life for him.  Yet still, we visit my family there and we did live close to the shore for a few years.  Long enough for him to really have an appreciation for the water now.  Don't get me wrong, he loves water as far as swimming or boating is concerned, and he loves ALL things ocean-life related.  But I still wanted to be able to share with him how magnificent the ocean is, the boats, the bays and waterways.  Oh, if only he could have grown up where I did.  That boy would have LOVED it.  Boating and crabbing every day, finding clams with his feet as he swam.  Going out in the front yard and coming home with dinner.  How fortunate was I?  It was the best. 

Now it's Sweet P.'s turn to experience the beauty and wonder of it all.  She' s off to a good start, I tell ya.  She fears nothing.  Period.  It's all about keeping her safe.  The water was still too cold for anyone to stand, but she gave it a good shot.  She enjoyed the warm sand and throwing it as much as she could.  She had fun with her shadow, too.  I love to watch little ones experience new things and learn.   

Back to the house in the woods where it's all about shade and woodsy type critters.  This is the essence of Young Man. 

We have called him the Bird Whisperer, but clearly he and the frogs have a good understanding of one another, too.  We were walking around Savannah one day a couple years back and he said, "Mom, I'm gonna catch that bird."  He did.  Twice.

I'm used to it now.  Well, it still amazes me sometimes, so maybe I'm not actually 'used to it', but I do expect it.  Last week he was handling a 'dead'  black widow spider and checking out the red hourglass up close.  When he was done, it uncurled it's legs and walked away.  I'm definitely NOT over that yet!  But spiders are a totally different topic here.  A topic I am certainly not happy about. 

So it's rained a TON lately.  The garden is only half  planted, but coming along.  It seems we can only plant when there is a break in showers.  We put our boots on and run out there and hoe a row or 2 or 5...  Throw in some corn and basil or whatever seeds I grabbed on the way out the door...  It's kind of a haphazard gardening situation just now, but I'm ok with that.  Succession planting - naturally this year.  Things are growing, that's the important part.  I'll be back with some pictures of that later. 

I have managed to work in a tiny bit of alone time, no kids, no hubby, not even the dog.  A L O N E. 

I'm going to sit and play with my yarn for a while, for as long as I can.  Uninterrupted.

I have so many projects swirling in my head, but I'm so focused on finishing current ones first.  I hate to have too many going on at once.  I like to contain my excitement to one thing at a time.  I'll be back to share!

xo