Everything! Just everything. In an interesting turn of events, we have dealt with five surgeries in our family since January: One for The Man and four for me. (In case you are worried… we are all good now.)
In spite of this bevy of medical necessities we managed to get a few things done like:
Planting a gargantuan garden, roughly the size a gymnasium. (What were we thinking?) Tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, green beans, onions, herbs, corn, peppers, lettuce, carrots, pumpkins, and more. And oh, the potatoes. After my surgeries, The Man fabulously took care of me… and not the garden. (Good choice.) So we navigated the jungle formerly known as the garden, harvesting a little something here and there. The garden yielded a small bucket of tomatoes, although it appears that most of them fell prey to an intruder.
The herb garden near the house would have been mostly okay if our loveable dog had not tromped it to pieces as he claimed it for his personal dumping ground.
And then… our saving grace: The pumpkins! Despite our absence, they completely took over everything, climbing the fence and reaching into the farmer’s neighboring corn field. (Oops!) Pumpkins for days…
And we landscaped around the house. I voraciously planted varieties of flower bulbs, most of which never came up. *sigh* The hastas I transplanted from my parent’s home 2 years ago mysteriously made an appearance this year. (Go figure.) One canna made a grand late entrance just as August ended. I mourned my determined rose bush, that The Man decided “had to go.” (I loved the gangly thing, in spite of its unfortunate position blocking the furnace vent on the side of the house.)
The day lilies, tiger lilies, and yucca did not disappoint. (You know, the only growing things that require absolutely zero attention from me.) The cats have all but gone due to a furry addition the family, our perfect-in-every-way Beagle… Gunner. (More on him later.)
And still NO chickens.
Peanut is grown and mostly too cool for me. Ladybug has developed an even keener fashion sense. Lovey has finally outgrown her taste for deodorant and now collects all the things. (Seriously… ALL of the things.) And Cupcake? Well, I call it a good day when I can get her to wear pants. The Man is altogether amazing and believe it or not… pining for chickens.
What about me, you say? Chasing dreams and barely finding time to write. (The horror!) I am finally doing what I never thought I would do:
Back. To. School.
And by back to school, I should also add this:
Full. Time.
Which basically means I am crazy, the sky is falling, and there is no sleep in the foreseeable future. But I miss writing here oh-so-much. So although I am profoundly preoccupied analyzing The Mayflower Compact and conducting research for a project on female adolescence, I have decided that I simply must sacrifice a bit more sleep so I can write about all the things I love most.
Life at the homestead has been besieged by transitions, changes, and new adventures, all of which I fully intend to share in the coming days and weeks. It’s a new a season for all of us, but this I know: My heart is happy, the sun still comes up, and the coffee is flowing.
Love & Coffee.
(P.S. Check out the new and improved About page where you can find out more about all of us, including our newish pup, Gunner!)