Skip to main content

okra

A month ago I started re-arranging the house.  Then a few weeks ago I frantically worked to finish the Keepsake Quilting Challenge. I neglected my garden. I went out every other day and picked stuff, but I did absolutely no weeding.  And then of course, it rained.  And rained again.  And the weeds grew.  They grew so much that Bobby had Tommy take the lawn mower and mow a path near the pepper plants.  He started to mow around the other edge but ran into a watermelon and decided he better stop.
Since everything but the watermelon, okra, and one cucumber vine have died or are dying anyway, I decided it was time to start ripping up, taking down, and maybe possibly put in something else. (and perhaps give the okra some much needed room to grow). So the brave and daring headed out about 10am this morning to tackle the monstrosity I call a garden. I picked all the peppers worth having and pulled the plants and tossed them.  I unstrung the tomato stalks from the stakes, and pulled both plant and stakes out.  I even weeded around the okra and two cucumber vines. And then we came inside for a much needed break.  I felt like I had walked five miles! I'm not sure, but I think the farm boy supervising may think I'm a wimpy farmer to work only an hour and be overheated.
I'm sure the next thing you expect to read is that after cooling off I went back outside and cleaned up my mess and mowed everything but the okra and vines down and tilled the soil so some lettuce and collards can be planted.  But that's not what happened. 
I might clean up my mess today, but most likely I will leave it for Wednesday.  And the lawnmower has a broken tire (like the wheelbarrow) that I'll need help replacing, and my tiller is out partying and has not returned home yet.
So I'm playing in the kitchen and in my studio which is slowly starting to look a little bit organized and maybe I'll remember to take pictures of my garden on Wednesday when I am done, as well as my work room if I ever finish it.
After all, how much labor can you do on a Labor Day holiday?

Comments

sara said…
Sounds like you got a lot done! Dave and the kids got a lot of yard work done and since they were all outside I was able to mop the floor! And it stayed clean for about 30 minutes until they came in :)

Popular posts from this blog

things we do for love

Saturday we had a baby shower for Bobby's niece. As I was making the mints, Bobby asked what else was on the menu. After I recited off the litany of items, he responded with "No peanut butter?! This shower is for Hannah! What's she going to eat?" (Hannah has had stomach problems over the years and has been unable to tolerate many foods, but peanut butter has been her staple.) Despite my assurances that she would enjoy the foods we were having, he was adamant that I needed to make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for the shower. Even though I protested that NOBODY took that to a shower, he persisted, and informed me I could make them dainty with my little cutter. And so I did. To my surprise all but 3 were eaten. Who'd a thunk it?

get your house in order

My grandmothers were very clean people. My mother thoroughly enjoys cleaning, though she doesn't quite hit the same level my grandmothers were on. I don't enjoy cleaning, but I do like things to be clean. I've almost given up on neatness. One thing that they all instilled in me is the crazy concept that your house must be in order before you go somewhere big - like a vacation or something. After all, you could die in a car crash or have to go to the hospital, and then people would go into your house and find it in a terrible mess. Who wants to be remembered by that? So up until this past year, I would sometimes be up almost all night not only trying to get things packed up, but also trying to totally clean house as well. Or should I say, make the house presentable? The Chinese had a horrible superstition that my mother and grandparents would have enjoyed. Spring Festival (the Chinese New Year based on the lunar calendar) required EVERYTHING to be cleaned top to

Wait...it's almost March?!?

 10 more months 'til Christmas. This last month has been an absolute blur. Cleaning at Mrs. Bryan's house, cleaning at our house, lots of thinking and brainstorming and rearranging, appointments upon appointments, sinus infection/allergies, Bobby's surgery, meeting with surgeon and finally agreeing to future outpatient surgery for me, ongoing updates from my parents, garden tilled and snow peas, potatoes and beets planted (and yes I left several rows empty between the potatoes and beets for something else to go later as a buffer), chickens are laying, we may have a broody hen..in FEBRUARY!!!, we have two roosters that need to disappear, lots of family have been in from out of town to assist with the sorting and cleaning at Mrs. Bryan's house, and somewhere in the midst of it all I've found time to pay bills and catch up on a few emails. While I no longer feel like our house is a disaster zone, it is still overwhelming. Years ago a friend posted a quote by Martin Lut