Don't Put Off Today What You Can Put Off Tomorrow

I hate procrastinating. I've been staring at my barren garden for weeks just waiting for it to prepare itself for winter and it's just not happening. So the kids and I took advantage of the rain-less day and worked outside to get it ready to sit for the winter.

We use the lasagna gardening method because basically I'm a slacker and if it requires back breaking effort I'm just not interested. We yanked out all the old stalks left from our plants and layerd on old newspaper, compost, leaves and wood ashes so that it can all decompose and make rich soil in the spring It took us a whopping four hours of hard labor and a little grumbling but we finally got it done.

The end result...

It ain't pretty but it will sure grow some big ole 'maters in the spring.

I Think I'm In Love

My Mom is great. I still call her to ask how to cook my turkey every Thanksgiving (you’d think I’d figure that out after 15 years). I still call her to ask how to hem my pants. And I still pop over when I need some adult conversation. She’s always got some sage advice for me and hasn’t let me down yet.

But today, I think she just may have changed my life.

My new gravel garden paths got ignored for a few weeks and when I was talking to her on the phone, lamenting the weeds that were higher than my vegetables she said, “Well, do you have a hula hoe?”

A hula what?

And she hopped in her car and brought me this….

That, my friends, is a magical garden tool made by little magical elves.

It effortlessly chopped down the weeds in my garden paths and my beds in a matter of minutes with NO SWEAT! I just ran it back and forth over the weedy spots (kind of like a vacuum cleaner but with a little more pressure) and my paths are beautiful again. Took 30 minutes, when it could have taken all afternoon.

And I think I may sleep with it tonight.

Sorry Honey, but if you pulled my weeds I’d cuddle with you too.

Why It's Always A Good Idea To Leave Your Dishes At My House

My husband is a teacher. Not by trade, but by God-made personality. And I have no way to explain it other than when you’re in the same room with him, you want to hear what he has to say.

Now, I on the other hand have the unique talent that only 14 years of marriage can attain. I can tune him out like it’s nobody’s business. In fact I’m really good at making my grocery list in my head at the same time he’s sharing his wisdom.

I know…it’s called ADD

But even though I’m distracted by important things like the stain on the carpet, the spider on the ceiling and my dinner plans, sometimes his wise words seep into my subconscious whether I’m aware of it or not.

Honest, I’m going somewhere with this.

So last Thanksgiving or Christmas, I forget which, my mom made a pie and I got to bring the leftovers home.

In her pie plate.

Which has sat in my cupboard all this time.

And today, I found it!

So I decided I was going to fill it with a pie and return it to her.

And I made this yummy lemon meringue pie.



(Here is where you Ooooh and Ahhhh just like when they wheel out the prizes on the Price Is Right.)

And I managed to escape laundry, fussy kids and stressed out husband just long enough to deliver it to her house and talk her ear off at 6000 words per minute like only a stay-at-home mom starved for adult conversation can do.

(And now I’m wondering if SHE was really making her grocery list the whole time I was rambling. Hmmmm. )

But when I drove home, these subconscious words from my husband, that I didn’t even realize I was listening to, replayed over and over in my head...

“When you borrow something, always return it in better condition than when you got it.”

So consider this post advice to always leave your dishes at my house so can you receive goodies in return and as proof to my husband for use in some future argument so I can say,

“IF YOU’D JUST READ MY BLOG, YOU’D KNOW THAT I LISTEN TO YOU!”

thank you, that is all.

Caroline Ingalls, Eat Your Heart Out!

Fall is in the air and it’s by far my favorite time of the year. I love fresh pencils and clean notebooks. I love soccer season and the busy-ness of practices and games and even the massive amounts of shin guards and shorts I have to wash every week. I love the piles of dried leaves on the ground and the smell of rain coming. I love beginning the planning process of sewing projects and Christmas gifts. And most of all I love to jam my cupboards and freezers with homemade food.

In Spring and Summer I’m a modern woman. I use the microwave, frozen food section, and McDonalds as our main form of sustenance. I buy gifts rather than make them and I live in tank tops and flip flops. But come Fall, I travel back in time and start baking dozens of loaves of bread, canning jar upon jar of fresh goodness, and sitting by the fire to sew and crochet at night.

So this weekend was my internal kick-off to fall. I could feel it hit me like morning sickness. I woke up Saturday morning, determined to harvest our apple and pear trees. With a little bribery, (promises to give hubs a manicure/pedicure….a guy after my own heart) we picked 5 gallons of pears and 10 gallons of apples.

I learned a few lessons this weekend too. The first is not to stand UNDER the tree while someone is yanking the apples off the branches.

Don’t worry; I hear black eyes only take a few weeks to go away and I kind of look good in yellow.

And the second is just how much work is required of me, once the apples are picked.

My kitchen has been a disaster area and I’m sure I’ve used every dish, bowl, and pot in my cupboards...TWICE! Plus my poor dishwasher has been going non-stop for the last 48 hours.

But last night, as we bit into the first apple pie of the season I could almost feel my hair roll into a bun and my bonnet straps pull tight under my chin. My hot pink sweat pants and white tank top morphed into a calico skirt and blouse and I had this urge for hubby to pull out his guitar so I could smile sweetly while the kids did a jig around the kitchen table by lantern light.

Of course the whole out-house thing and no electricity is a real deal breaker for me, but other than that, I AM CAROLINE INGALLS!

Day 1 : Jars of applesauce and pies for the freezer....plus the nummy pie we ate for dinner that night.



Day 2: MORE applesauce and apple fritters for dessert....or what's left of them.

I still have 5 gallons of apples left and all the pears! I think I don't want to see another apple again as long as I live!