Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Just Chitchat

I've started to do some cleaning up in the garden already.  Pea vines have been pulled, lettuce and other salad greens have turned bitter so are being tossed either to the poultry or compost heap, broccoli side shoots have stopped shooting so those two beds are now empty.  It always amazes me that pulling out a crop is just about as much work as planting it.  How can that be?

It was hot, sticky and humid when I was in destruction mode in the garden yesterday.  Hard work, too, so I announced at dinner time that I was going to do the dishes, take a shower and get into bed early to read.

Of course, circumstances made that impossible (sigh) and I ended the evening on the couch by my lonesome (hubby, having done his share of physical work during the day, sensibly went to bed as soon as he could), eating popcorn and knitting until 10:45 p.m. when, funny thing, my eyelids wouldn't stay in an open position any longer. 

I had a good night's sleep, though, and was up and going early this morning.  Made it to the Co-op to shop and pick up a special order shortly after they opened.  I buy what I can in bulk so upon arriving home, I joked with Papa Pea that it would probably only take me 45 minutes to divide up and properly store my bulk purchases.  Ha.  It took me one hour by actual count.

I do love buying in bulk and find it's quite an economical way to go.  I've already started on my fall list of stocking up those items we purchase for the coming winter season and my bank account is already showing the "extra" monetary outlay.  But finances will look healthier this winter 'cause I'll have to purchase so little then, right?  Right!

At 10:30 this morning I met with a dear friend who's been gone for several weeks visiting relatives across the country.  We had such a pleasant visit and caught up on all the extremely trivial important things going on in our respective lives.

Back home to make sandwiches for lunch.  Then I got a thirteen pound turkey prepped and into the oven.  I've recently sorted and reorganized our freezers and it was deemed necessary that Mr. Young Tom Turkey give up his space for vegetables coming in from the garden.

Then the back of my Chevy Tracker was loaded up and I made a much needed run to our wonderful Recycling Center.  Me along with half the population of the county!  What was this?  National Recycling Day??

I'm home now for the rest of the day (hallelujah!), just made myself an iced latte (first caffeine of the day) and am determined to work through this piled up mess on my desk top.

Tomorrow we're tackling the cleaning and sorting of our big storage shed.  This necessitates parking the flat bed trailer (to act like a really big table) next to the shed, hauling most all of the contents out and going through all the junk vitally important contents that have magically accumulated in there over the last couple of years since we've been brave enough to do the job.  Keep your fingers crossed for us that we have a sunny-not-too-hot day in which to complete the task without either one of us threatening divorce. 

9 comments:

Michelle said...

A busy, satisfying life, it sounds like! (And much more organized than mine....)

Vera said...

Lots of cleaning out being done here too! I have an urge to get the place tidied up now the hottest of the weather has passed.

Some altercations going on here about who goes to bed first, who reads in bed, who wants to go to sleep, etc....., and some use has been made of the settee in the music room which is just about comfortable enough to get a sort of good night's sleep. Must be the hot weather! Hopefully now the temperatures have cooled down the normal bed time patterns will be restored and peace will reign once again!

Mama Pea said...

Michelle - I think you're purdy darn well organized! You still have a kiddie at home, your husband is out and gone working all day (so not available for the "heavy lifting"), you have a part time job (or two) away from home plus work for pay done at home, more animals to take care of . . . ya wanna hear more? We all live through different phases of our lives and do the best we can (while remembering to stop to smell the roses) at that particular time. And, yes, I do enjoy the busy days that feel kinda sorta organized. (I need that!) :o}

Vera - Whew, glad to hear you're getting some relief from the weather! We are a bit, too. I understand the dilemma of beddie-bye time. I think that's why some couples choose separate bedrooms! Keep working at it though. We are, too. 'Bout the only time I gather myself and my book to go out to the couch is when I wake in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. I'm very grateful to have moved out of that phase lately. Am sleeping through next to my big hot water bottle (aka Papa Pea) all night long right now!

Katie C. said...

My guy does that to me too. He will leave the bathroom light on for me so I don’t kill myself tripping on anything. He always sleeps like a rock, a hot water bottle rock. Great in the winter, not so much in the summer. Thank heavens for a/c and fans.

When you stock up, are the prices lower? I find baking supplies go on sale before Thanksgiving. I also read a trick somewhere: put your flour in the freezer for at least 24 hours and you won’t get any bugs hatching. Seems to work.

What are you knitting? My socks have been side lined until I find the place where my sock teacher does a help hour. I can’t decipher my heel flap instructions and class is over. Sigh. Maybe some year I’ll finish a knitting project.

MrsDuncanMahogany said...

A wonderfully productive day! I love days like that. I am very task oriented (as I have been told in the past) so this makes my heart sing! :)

I hope you are not in the heat warnings that we are currently in. They are predicting Saturday and Sunday highs of 36 and 25 degrees celcius respectively. I think that is around 96 farenheit? Too damn hot is what it is! Keep cool!

wisps of words said...

Yes Ma'am, you do keep busy!!!!

But how good your bed feels, when you sink into it, at night!!!!

Susan said...

Sigh, is right. I cannot force myself into bed and sleep either and, more often than not, am on the chair with knitting or book until I can't keep my eyes open. Of course, this does NOT mean that I can seamlessly transfer my sleepy self to bed. Why is it that, while I can fall sound asleep in my chair, I then am wide awake in bed? I'd sleep in my chair but my back complains. We need to call each other.

Lynne said...

What a wonderful productive day you had.I bet the turkey tasted good. We have to take our garbage to the landfill, also. I call it the dump. It's always been that to me. My Dad would get a big kick of calling it the landfill.When you said you were starting to clean-up your garden, I had to stop and think for a minute. It is getting towards the end of the season. Never a dull moment for you two. I don't have to harvest a garden and do all the work it involves, so I do have the time to knit. I worked 24/7 for years raising four children and putting the ones that wanted to go thru college by myself and very glad to do it. WE all do what we have to do. XO

Mama Pea said...

Katie C. - Nice of our husbands to leave a light on (or in my case flashlight on the kitchen counter so when I turn off the last light in the kitchen, I can find my way into the bedroom, alllll the way around the bed to the other side when I can slip into it safe and sound.

Yes, buying in bulk the way I'm able to do it does make it cheaper for me. Sometime just a little, but sometimes a lot.

I've started socks for myself using that wonderful orange yarn I was gifted. Stick with your sock knitting. Heels are really easy once you work through them a couple of times. Sort of like when I got up enough nerve to do my first cable on a knit. I remember letting out a sigh of relief and thinking that it was easy and why was I always afraid to try!!

MrsDM - We worked in the big shed again this morning (until it got too hot) and almost finished. What a good feeling. Tried to work out in the garden this afternoon as it has really been neglected except for harvesting, but it's 90 degrees and feel awful out there. So I'm in our cool bedroom sitting at my desk getting caught up here. Not so bad, eh?

wisps of words - Oh, yes! How much better it feels at the end of a day to be really physically tired rather than emotionally or mentally tired! I'll take the former any day.

Susan - Just why is that? That one can be soooo sleepy, all ready for bed, needing to do nothing but croggle on into bed and . . . WHOMP! All feelings of sleepiness disappear and the mind starts racing. (Of course, the one night I would be suffering insomnia and call you, I'd wake you out of a good night's sleep! Nope, better not do that.) ;o)

Lynne - The turkey was wonderful and we both ate like lumberjacks! I think the garden is "quitting" earlier than usual this year because of so much hot weather. I know we humans certainly haven't gotten use to the hot weather this summer!

I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you to raise the four kids by yourself. Just dealing with children and all their needs is a full-time job, but then having to hold down a job away from home at the same time must have been very, very hard. But as you say, Lynne, what choice do we have but to do what we have to do. So I say enjoy your knitting time or whatever else you choose to do now. Id' say it's high time for you to have whatever time for yourself that you wish!