List-making and Getting Things Done

Last Friday, I turned in grades for the summer course I was teaching.  Some might think that means "vacation" until the next semester begins on September 4.  In my mind, it actually means a mad frenzy of back to school preparations and tending to the chores that haven't been done properly for the past month or so.  This morning, I made a to-do list.  The plan is to delegate a number of tasks to my children.  The hope is that they will take the assignments cheerfully and perform them with enthusiasm and joy at the opportunity for loving service to their family.  I'm genuinely optimistic at this point!

This past weekend, Mike and I made some progress on the laundry room project.  We cleared a 4-tier metal shelf against the wall that will become my pantry storage area.  The metal shelf was here when we bought the house, and it's rusty and ugly.  To-do item--sand, prime, and paint the shelf.  The shelf will have a new home in the utility corner of the laundry room where it will be used to store tools and supplies for painting and household repair projects.  That shelf was a primary problem spot.  Until we cleared and moved it, nothing substantial could be completed in the laundry room because the space is so narrow.  I kept avoiding the task, but my husband encouraged me that we could get it done.  We filled a trash bag with stuff that had been taking up space but was really junk.  We moved the shelf outside to be sanded, swept the floor, and dusted the wall.  Then I masked the area to be painted.  We need to do a few other things before painting (removing a paper towel holder and switch plate from the wall and removing the door and hinges from the door frame adjacent to that section of wall), but it's definitely do-able this week.  Once the tool and pantry sections are done, the rest of the laundry room project should move along more quickly.

In addition to the laundry room project, we need to tend the garden.  The weeds weren't bad during the drought, but we've had several good rains now, and the crab grass, lamb's quarters, and their weedy companions have taken over in the garden beds.  I had hoped to plant seed for some fall crops, but I'm behind schedule.  At the minimum, I still plan to plant a few varieties of radishes and lettuce/spinach to continue a harvest through October.  The beans, which were stunted by the drought, have started to take off now and have flower buds!  I thought we'd have no beans this year, but God seems to have other plans.

Besides the physical jobs, we must prepare for a new homeschool year and I need to prepare for my fall classes with a new textbook.  We have three hectic weeks ahead of us in August, but with some delegating and a lot of prayer and trust in God, I know we can accomplish our goals. I'm looking forward to the new school year!

Please Lord, Send Some Rain!

This week in the evenings after dinner and coffee with Mike, I've spent a lot of time in the garden, watering.  I have two 50 gallon rain barrels that have been empty for weeks.  I've been using the garden hose to keep my rather ambitious urban garden moist and happy in this urban desert.  The summer heat has encouraged the plants to grow tremendously over the past five or six weeks. Here are a few before (early June) and after (mid-July) shots of the garden.

Baby Sunflowers, squash, peas, and tomatoes
with volunteer marigolds.

Sunflowers and their friends, not so tiny now!

Raised beds, flourishing!

Transplants of eggplant and peppers--back
right corner of raised bed area.

I picked the last of the shelling peas this week and will clear out the snap peas today.  The basil plants were huge, so I trimmed them back and put the lovely stalks in water to use for pesto for dinner.  I fear that if I'd left them in the blistering sun another day they surely would have bolted and flowered.  I also noticed that some of the other herbs could use a trim, so I decided to make some sun tea from chocolate mint, lemon verbena, lavender, raspberry leaf, and strawberry leaf.  The fragrance was intoxicating when I removed the lid in the evening after letting it brew all day on the sunny back steps.  I haven't sipped it just yet, as it was chilling in the fridge over night.

We're expecting a few more dry days with temperatures in the 90s.  The grass, which was so very green in June is now the color of the straw between the raised beds and in the tee-pee garden.  I'm glad we don't need to mow, but it's a little heartbreaking to hear clover and grass crunch under my feet as I haul water to the garden beds throughout the yard.  We shouldn't be surprised.  We often have a drought this time in July.  However, we had a  drought in April or May as well, and I know many areas around the country are suffering.  Water bills will be high.  Food prices will skyrocket.  I take the weather as the Lord sends it, knowing it's a reminder that "all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change" (James 1:17, NAB).  If it is for our benefit, the rains will come and water the earth.  In the meantime, I thank God for the sweet gifts of running water and arms strong enough to carry water to the plants.