Coffee Chat: It Was a Busy Month

I know it's early.  Will you join me for an iced coffee?  

I was outdoors this morning by 7am.  I shifted a few potted plants around.  The Asiatic lilies are burning in the heat of the day and since they are about to bloom, I'm trying to salvage them.  The little fig tree I purchased has dropped almost all its leaves.  Even the drought hardy things were looking a bit wilted and let-down with the heat.  

We got a few light rain showers Monday morning, which was lovely.  It was enough to sustain everything for 24 hours more, but not enough to really hold them.  We've had four days of near 100F temperatures and it's just dang hot.  It's seasonal, that's true.  But it's easy to forget how unpleasant these temps are when it's lovely and mild outdoors in Spring.  

 We are in the season where we rise early thanks to the morning light which has changed our circadian rhythm.  Thankfully these early morning rising hours go well with the cooler morning temperatures which makes it possible to stand outdoors and water.  Preferably with a cup of coffee in hand.  

If these sorts of temps keep up for weeks, I'll have to decide if I'm going to continue to try to water plants.  If I do, then it's time to go into reserving water for use outdoors just to offset the electricity required to run the pump.

This morning it was almost chilly compared to the indoor temperatures.  I've moved the AC to 78F since the outdoor temps have increased so.  

 Our lives change considerably at this season of the year.  It happens every year.  While I love sunlight, we tend to have the shades drawn on the sunnier side of the house to prevent too much heat coming in through the glass.  So we have a darker home.

I change how I cook entirely.  It's mostly toaster oven, slow cooker and microwave meals.  If we plan to grill, we will go outdoors early in the morning.  That means planning ahead and thawing meats well in advance.  It's too hot to sit outdoors with a hot grill!  We eat far more salads and sandwiches.  We try to use the stovetop only in the early mornings and not at all in the evening.  

I don't bake.  I buy cookies and bagels and bread.  If I choose to make bread at home, it cooks in the bread machine, not in the oven.  We don't roast whole chicken or roasts of any sort.  They go in the slow cooker.

We do less outdoors.  

We shop extra early in the morning.  None of this, "Oh we'll leave home about 12..." We try to leave home around 8am or 9 and be home well before 12noon.

John tends to cut grass in the morning since we often have less dew to dry off.  Just this morning he started mowing about 7:30.  

We always travel with water.  Now we travel with water in cold bags with a frozen bottle of water to keep them cool.  And it's not just my water.  Everyone has water when we get in the car.

This is how life will look for us for the next three months.  It's summer.  

I wanted to take a quick look back over June.  The kids and I have enjoyed our library days.  We didn't go last week with Lily here but we are going at least once a week.  The two youngest said, "No more books!" yesterday when we arrived.  "I'm tired of reading!" Isaac told me.  And then they discovered that every activity and reading time on their Bingo sheets counted for points toward drawings for prizes and suddenly they wanted more books.  Ha.  Go figure that one.  

I am disappointed in the programs offered this year.  Few and far between on the nicer things and the kids aren't terribly interested in story time.  However, I think they do enjoy going in and playing with the toys the libraries have for the children to mess about with and going to the library breaks up the day at home.  For all of us.  

Mama has now had both her eye surgeries.  She continues to complain that she can't see.  She said that her insurance would only pay for her to have far sighted vision corrected not the near sighted.  Not really sure and with Mama you can't really take her word for what she says.  I asked if she'd be getting glasses, and she claims they told her to buy reading glasses over the counter.  She has a ton of those at home already.  I'm sure there must be some benefit to having the cataracts removed but she seems intent on believing otherwise and it seems she is accusing me of her lack of vision, as though I had lied to her about the benefits.  We all know, I had nothing to do with her decision because if it were mine, she would have done this 12 years ago when she was told it needed to be done.  

Lily's visit came and went far too quickly.  It was lovely, truly it was.  I did not meet a stranger.  I met a granddaughter that somehow felt known despite all the years we'd missed.  And John was so proud of her. I finally located my picture of the two of them.

Doesn't he just look pleased with the world?

I know he sounds like we didn't do much...but we were busy every single day.  It was difficult to find a day to just be at home!  There were visits with other family members, church activities we attended, errands to run.  And when we were home, there were kids to keep, mowing, and lots of chores to catch up on.  I have two more things on my calendar at present: one is keeping Caleb, and the other is a possible evening out at a church concert a friend invited us to attend.  

I am hoping July is quieter.  The kids will be busy elsewhere for most of the first two weeks of the month.  And following that, they will be getting ready to return to school at the end of the month.  I told John I feel like I've got 'time off' coming up.  I'm looking forward to it.

I've enjoyed getting out to go to the library and think that once the kids are in school, I'll continue to take them twice a month.  I want to encourage them to read but also to just spend the time with them.  I'm hoping it will be something they look forward to.

It's also encouraged me read more because I'm not just relying on the same old books over and over again.  I love my old books...but they do get a bit redundant.  I am encouraging myself to branch out and read different genres and authors that I'm unfamiliar with.  I am borrowing from both Butler and Reynolds branches.  I will try ordering books in the future as well.

But mostly I'm enjoying getting out of the house with a purpose other than grocery shopping.  It's a small step out of my own little world and into the community.  I want to build more of a sense of community.  I'm going to try to branch out a bit more.  I have not been in touch with the genealogist that was working with my old church records in about three months.  Nor has she been in touch with me.  I'll assume she's been just as busy as I have been, since she's not posted any further articles in the paper.  I'd really like to finally meet up with her and perhaps regenerate our interest in this project.  I'd like to join the Genealogical Society in our county.  And I'd like to make it a point to do a little of my business locally.   I want to get to know faces once again, you know?  Since 2020 I've been so isolated, but I wasn't that socially oriented before that.  

I've jumped far ahead of July thinking of what I'd like to do once the children are all in school.  But I have made plans for July.  I'll be putting that post up next week.  I hope by then to be writing more frequently.  We'll see.  Just because the calendar hasn't already filled doesn't mean it won't!

I've continued with my lower carb eating plan.  I have seen small results in the larger sized pants being slightly loose.  I'm not being hard and fast with this.  I'm satisfied to take it slowly and not be too hard on myself on those days when I just can't face another salad.  I try to eat at least one salad meal every day.  I'm not buying a lot of low carb items.  I do like the low carb tortillas, and I indulged in a couple of sugar-free frozen treats.  Neither has sugar alcohols or aspartame in them.  I won't buy these very often.  I purchased some of those tiny bags of chips which will limit my overeating.  Mostly I'm concentrating on upping my proteins and vegetables and fruits.  I try hard to balance carbs each day by choosing the least caloric most dense food options.

If I do go off my plan, I try to get right back on at the next meal.  I do not beat myself up.  I do not make any food off-limit.  Peach cobbler?  I'll have a small serving.  Birthday cake?  I'll take a thin slice.  Potato chips?  Those small bags that are about 1/2 an ounce do just fine.  I eat when I'm hungry but mostly I'm finding I'm satisfied and seldom want a snack.   My goal, which I know I have repeated several times over, is to fit into the things that are the smallest that are in my closet.  One pair of pants I've never been able to put on and a couple of tops that were uncomfortably tight.  I should be able to wear everything in my closet then with nothing too big and nothing too small.  That would be ideal.

I will leave off here.  I so enjoyed our final chat of June and looking forward to talking with you next month!

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