A Week Ending (and me being chatty)

 

 

 

 

Usually I am pretty excited for Mondays.  I enjoy the fresh week stretched out in front of me.  I haven't had a chance to make any major mess-ups (yet) and I am well rested (a benefit of taking a rest on the Sabbath) and feeling somewhat ready for anything that will inevitably be thrown my way.

But this Monday stinks.

Because last week, Matt was home for the week.  And this past weekend, we got a long-overdue visit with far away and not-as-far-away friends.  And the whole week, from beginning to end...was sweet and good.  There was plenty of wood-splitting for this winters' heat (yes, we are late!), a family day at the zoo, an abundance of milk to store, first (and second and third) cheese making experiments, homemade butter, the bluest eyes you ever did see on a beautiful boy, a book I am excited to read, a four hour long baby shower, conversations about deep and real and intimate things between friends~ the good kind...the kind that mean something.   

Why must it end?

I still feel...chatty.  

Would you mind if I chat for a bit?

~ I am not loving the taste of home cow milk.  It seems almost sinful to admit but it tastes different than the store bought stuff-and at this point, anyway, I can't say it is for the better.  There is a bit of tang in it that I am unaccustomed to...a sharpness. I know that you dairy people/ real food junkies will think less of me (I think less of myself) but there it is.  I hope it is one of those things that grows on you because otherwise I am in TROUBLE.  I love dairy products.

~ Corynn and I did make a rosemary and black pepper flavored queso blanco that was pretty darn edible.

~ For the month of July I gave myself a personal challenge to jog every morning and eat salads for lunch.  I began on June 29th for good measure and missed only two days (thanks to a bee stinging the bottom of my foot making running exasperate the swelling and pain.) I jogged two miles up and down hills every day. I ate salads for lunch half the time and the other half I ate very healthy, modest lunches.  I was excited to see what the results would be.  Until they came in, that is.  I initially lost two pounds and by the end of the month they were back on again.  That equals NO CHANGE.  And- for the record- I dislike running.  So I wonder- WHY go to the trouble of doing something you dislike when it does not result in...well, anything at all?  I dunno.

~ I finally finished the bridal shawl I've been working on.  One of these days I will show you.  It's perdy.

~ Not sure what I am going to start on next... maybe Christmas presents?

~ The Granary housed its' first visitors this past weekend- room enough for a whole family, their own space...with a fan to boot!  That was fun.

~ I have added an amazon affiliate link in my sidebar (under the picture of Matt and I).  In case you are as new to this whole technology thing as I am- basically, if you click through that link to make any amazon purchases (that you were already intending to make) I will get a small referral fee.  I have also added, a bit further down in the sidebar, a few of my favorite things.  I only put the things I personally own and recommend (or books that I want) in that box. In case you are interested.  So- don't go buying anything on my account...but if you are planning to buy something and think of it- I'd love it if you'd use my referral link!  I'd greatly appreciate it!

~ I found two large piles of harvested squash out in the garden yesterday- that had apparently been out there for quite a while...the skins were as hard as wood.  Apparently, I have children who enjoy harvesting but not bringing IN.  The chickens got the wood-hard grub and the children were cast out of the garden, so to speak...only being allowed to harvest things if they first ask or ARE asked.  

~ I have been torn with my computer time lately...knowing valuable time is squandered online but not really wanting to give up that outlet.  This blog is a source of great joy for me and peace.  At this point I don't want to even think about getting rid of the blog~ it's too much fun (and the lazy persons' way of not printing pictures) but I decided I COULD get rid of reading other peoples' blogs...many of whom are complete strangers who do not even know I exist.  Me knowing the intimate details of their lives (or of their recent craft projects, homeschool plans or last nights' dinner at their house) doesn't further mine or their lives in any way.  

So I erased all the blogs on my blog reader except the 10 most helpful, encouraging, Rebecca-stretching ones.  The ones that I learn from, grow from, and that add to my life.  The only two exceptions to that rule are Ginny and Alicia...because those two blogs are just downright therapeutic to me.  They may not teach me how to can a particular type of vegetable or suggest good art projects for the kids to do throughout the year...but they encourage me and point me toward beauty like no one else.  And that, too, is life changing in a way.  I had been thinking about doing this drastic step for some time now, knowing that the time spent even just on my own blog was too much time on the computer- let alone the time wasted scouring everyone elses' blogs.  But when it was finally done-and the reader was practically empty- I felt immediate relief.  I didn't realize, until that moment, that the pleasure of reading blogs had actually become a responsibility that had been weighing on me.  

And it just shouldn't be that way.  

I'll miss some of your blogs and some of the random blogs I have grown accustomed to visiting too- but I am excited at the prospect of showing my family (and myself) just where my priorities lie.  And maybe I will find I have a bit more time eeked out of my day than I did before.  

Which would be helpful because...well, there is wood to split and cheese to make and a school year to plan and a garden to harvest and a Bible to read and dinner to make and letters to write and yarn sitting in baskets waiting for me and laundry to do and those darling skirts I've been meaning to sew for us girls...