June 2: Go For It

Sam sent out a group text this morning at 6:35 this morning.  He woke me up.  I don't know why he was up so early, but I guess he figured the world was up at that hour as well.  The text was about a family birthday party he's throwing here in mid-June.  I suppose if I'm going to get a text at 6:35am I'd heaps rather it was a happy invitational text and not an emergency/disaster text.

Immediately after I read the text, I rolled over again, planning to go back to sleep.  But it was daylight, and the room was lighter, and I had one of those morning hot flashes you get once your body has awakened.  And then my mind started working overtime, planning my day, and I gave up trying to pretend I'd go back to sleep.  I slipped out to the kitchen and made myself a black cup of coffee.  I try to do that if I'm up especially early so as not to break my fast too soon.  

Then I washed and diced potatoes.  John told me last night that he wanted to make a Steak Omelet with his leftover steak.  He's very fond of steak and eggs...I'm less fond of it, but I do make an exception with steak omelets.  I think they are yummy.  I also think anytime someone is keen on making breakfast for me that I will eat it!  But I thought hash browned potatoes might be good with our omelet, so I diced potatoes and put them in water to soak until John was up and ready to cook.

Immediately following breakfast, I took time to start a large ham steak that I cut myself in the crockpot.  Then I did a quick pick-up of the house, made the bed, and headed outdoors.  These cooler mornings just now are very welcome for yardwork.  I went to the patio to work today.  I planned to be outside for about an hour.  I didn't feel I got a lot done in the time I was outdoors, nowhere near finished on any project, but I worked just the same.  

I decided that I was just going to go for it with all the saved seeds I'd harvested over the past few years.  I planted zinnias, marigolds, tomatoes, peppers, more green beans, some statice I'd saved from a bouquet of flowers, strawberries...I don't know if any of these seeds will do a thing or do nothing, but they are planted now and not just sitting on the shelf staring at me.  If they don't, then they'll at least add to the soil.  They weren't doing that just sitting on the shelf!   I have a big bag of mixed seeds that I plan to sow over two more flower beds and then all of those seeds will be finished up.  And that's fine.  I have plenty of seed packets yet to plant as well but I'm in the spot just now where I don't have beds or containers large enough to plant in.

I cleaned out my wagon for the most part, gathered trash, weeded along the patio edges and the corner flower bed between the porch and patio, temporarily felt overwhelmed at the sight of all that is still wanting to be done, then got to work cutting branches off the Faith tree and cleaning out the flower bed under the tree.  

This year the soapwort has thrived in that spot.  I'd planted it there ages ago and it never did much, so I pulled it all out.  A few roots remained and kept coming up for the next three years. I got tired of pulling it up and just left it and this year the bed underneath the tree is full and lovely and this week it began to bloom.  It's quite pretty.  My variety has the fuller flower heads that are pale pink.  

Soapwort is an ugly name for quite a pretty plant.  I like its old-fashioned name better, "Bouncing Bett".  That's a nicer name, don't you agree?  

 

Bouncing Bett is a heritage/heirloom perennial that grows near old home sites.  It was planted by the women of the household and the sap from the plant produced a sudsing agent that they used to do the washing with.  Katie and I found mine on an old ditch bank and she climbed up it to get some of the flowers.  I did what I did all the time back then with wild plants and brought them home and set them in the ground.  This is one of the few plants I've done that with that I don't regret planting.

I didn't know what it was for years, but Katie found a patch in the Athens Botanical Gardens when she toured those gardens and called me to tell me what its name was.   If you look online there are all sorts of flowers on different varieties but the one pictured above is nearer what mine looks like.  It tends to get leggy and fall over and it will put out roots along the whole of the stem but it's not terribly pernicious here.  I did note while researching it just now that one site declared it a noxious weed.  

After I gathered up all the branches and stacked them on the porch, I decided it was time to stop.  I hadn't done nearly all I wanted or intended to do.  Nowhere near, but when I came indoors, I found I'd been working for over an hour and a half.  I let the regret go that I'd not accomplished enough.  If I'd worked steadily for an hour and a half and only gotten that handful of tasks done, then I'd have had to work hours upon hours to get even a portion of the remaining jobs done so why be upset with myself?  After all, I can work again tomorrow!  

later:  I'm a glutton for work.  I took a few hours to check mail, write, unload the dishwasher, load it again, clean up what needed to be handwashed of the breakfast dishes, made lunch (Fried Rice, Barbecued Boneless Chicken Wings (a single portion we split between us) and egg rolls.  I had Fried Rice leftover nearly half of a very large dish, enough for two to have the same generous servings we had today again.  I decided Zero Waste would be in effect and I'd put that in the freezer and save it for another day/week/month.  I know this was already leftovers prior to making fried rice.  It's now leftovers again.  

I listened to John chat and whine about having to mow grass and how much he has to do.  It is a big job and I understand his reluctance to start it but when he said, "I wish I'd taught you to use the mower, then you could do it..." I didn't think he was being as funny as he thought he was.  "I've plenty to do!  I'm not taking over mowing!"  And I meant it.

He finally went outdoors, so I went out to move his car out of his mowing path.  Then I took a quart jar of banana peel water outdoors and mixed half a quart to a gallon of water (it might have been more...Not sure how much my big watering can will hold).  I filled it twice and watered all the plants on the patio and all the plants on the front porch, and the seeds I planted this morning with that stuff.  Again, I figure I've lost nothing if this doesn't work.  I planted the banana peels underneath the roses on the patio.  

The whole time John was mowing around the patio.  He stopped and asked if he'd kept the grass away from me and I told him he had and thanked him.  Then I confessed that I literally cannot stand to be around a running lawn mower.  I might well get behind one and yes, one day I suppose I shall learn to drive ours but NOT until it's beyond necessary.  It's standing outdoors while a mower is nearby that is my undoing.  I got hit by too many large rocks that smacked my arms or shins and left huge knotty bruises as a child.  I finally just stopped going outdoors at all when a mower was running.  And side note, I don't usually stand around a baseball game either.  Those darned hard balls hurt as bad as rocks if they hit you!

I told him I'd be going indoors once I was done watering.  I really don't want to shower again, but I can tell my clothing is damp and I probably ought to at least change clothes.  It's pretty warm out there thought the thermometers all say it's only about 84F which really isn't so terribly hot.  Hold on...It's obviously humidity.  The weather station says it 'feels like' 94F.  Still not horribly hot but yeah, it feels more like that temperature than 84F for sure.

I am trying to decide what I'll have tonight for supper.  I cooked the ham steak.  I'd thought to make a broccoli salad, but if I do, I'll leave out the bacon it calls for since we're having ham.  I'm going to keep it light as that, I think, because John will be hot and weary when he comes in and even after a cool shower, a heavy meal will be too much for him.  

I think I'm going to go make the salad and let it chill now that I've had a lovely Dalgona iced coffee and have cooled off myself.  And then...I'm calling the day pretty much done.  I'll need only to clear up after supper.  I've notes to add to family pages, books, a Bible study I plan to embark upon, meals to plan for tomorrow...There's plenty I can do!

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