preparation day

"She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands." Proverbs 31:13

saturday, filled with chores and preparation for the LORD's day...we planted the sweet peppers, muskmelons, bee balm and some basil seedlings. in the flats of seeds we planted earlier in the week, some seedlings are already showing. i'm hoping for a quite a few herb seedlings as well. cleaning today includes the bathroom, changing out the linens, washing several loads of clothes, vacuuming/sweeping, taking out the trash and working in the garden (with dishes and food preparation, of course). if everything goes fairly smoothly, there may be time for some weaving in the early afternoon.

adventures in homemaking-gardening

we've been doing quite a bit of gardening lately, as the last frost date has finally past. after clearing the plot of weeds, we hoed it out due to not having a tiller. we've planted four tomato seedlings, two straight neck sqash seedlings and have sweet pepper and cantalope (muskmelon, mushmelon) seedlings to plant as well. i'm going to try to plant some more bee balm, as the bee balm trying to grow at the moment is really struggling (i think it took some hard hits with frost earlier on).

i also have planted a kitchen herb garden in containers for the back porch, which is just off the kitchen. thyme, oregano, sage, chives, marjoram, basil, mint, lavender and dill will hopefully begin to thrive soon. i've also a small rosemary shrub in my favorite decorative pot. i'm looking forward to making my own seasoning combinations from fresh herbs. two cookbooks are also helping my excitement over the kitchen herb "garden": the home cook book, a canadian classic cookbook from 1877 and artisan bread in five minutes a day; the first one i own and the second one i checked out from the library recently.

planting, weeding, watering, aerating the soil are just some of the tasks that will keep us busy for the rest of the growing season. guarding the garden from the mowers will also be a weekly task; our landlord has a local lawn service come and mow, which is very nice so that we don't have to worry about it. however, the mowers seem intent on hunting down and mowing over EVERY piece of green in their reach, including in the garden bed and flower beds. so, we've also been working on a very clear delineation between the garden and yard, with stakes around the edges and a decorative fence of white painted wrought iron with suncatchers in the center. hopefully these implements will keep our tender seedlings and lovely flowers and flowering shrubs safe.

adventures in homemaking-laundry soap

i made my first batch of homemade laundry soap today. those that know me know that i enjoy experimenting; for example, when i was learning to dye yarn, i "invented" several "new" colors, such as "dead elephant grey." well, the laundry soap making was no different. when it came time to add the baking soda/washing soda, i unthinkingly poured the entire amount, all at once, into a rather hot, frothing pot of soapy water. nearly immediately, the soap volcano began, as proto-laundry soap foamed its way out of the very large (did i mention it was really hot?) pot and all over the kitchen floor, counter and both sides of the sink. (oh, and my right hand, too; i've got three blisters on my fingers.) thankfully, the foaming subsided and i was able to begin environmental remediation, the result of which is a very clean kitchen floor and very shiny kitchen sink. i was also able to salvage the mixture and finish the soap making process; it wasn't a total loss and provided some valuable instructions to insert into the recipe directions for next time.

saturday chores

it's saturday and that means cleaning: the bathroom, the car, weeding the garden and flower beds and a general spruce-ing up of the house...perhaps some laundry, too, if the hamper is full enough for a load. the weather has finally cleared with sunshine streaming in the windows this morning; however, there is still a slight chill in the air, especially inside. later today, if there is time, i'll do some weaving on the new placemat designs that i'm enjoying so much.