Our August Garden

Considering that August is nearly over, I am a little late in my August garden post. This year I was a bit too busy during August to give it the love and attention it deserved, and so it is not thriving as much as it should be. That said, it is still providing for us and it is magnificent habitat for all sorts of creatures. In fact, it is an (almost) daily ritual of mine to sit in the garden and watch the bees hard at work... I think this is probably pretty evident in my photos too....
Despite the fact that our garden is not providing copious amounts of food, we are still harvesting on a daily basis. We have heirloom tomatoes (plenty for eating and sharing, just not enough to can), herbs like dill, parsley and basil, kale, blackberries, grapes that are just turning red, and beets. After not producing for most of August, our hot pepper and zucchini plants are now starting on a second round.. and for that, I cannot wait! We also have about an armload of winter squash that should be ready in the next couple of weeks.
I have a lot of work to get our fall garden all put in the ground, and I hope to find some time after the kiddos start school.

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This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo- no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

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37

Today I celebrate my 37th trip around the sun! 37!!  In some ways, 37 seems really old.... and when I think back to everything I have done in those 37 years, it is pretty amazing. But really, 37 is just the beginning. I am just really starting to understand (and accept) who I am and what I need.
Some days I feel like I am not yet where I should be in life: I have a job, but I am not sure if it will be my "career", our house is really in need of some love (and a second bathroom), and we have a pretty good chunk of debt and zero savings for the kids' college or our retirement. When I was younger, say 20, I thought that 37 was old. I was certain that by the time I was 37, I would have a great career, a perfect house and savings for retirement... but now that I am older, I realize that life doesn't work that easily. Things are expensive and life comes with hard choices.
But, in the long run, it is not the money, the possessions, and the accomplishments that really matter. Of course, doing great things and being comfortable in life are important, but the ride you take along the way is what really matters. Maybe I only work part-time, but I get to spend most of my days with my two amazing kiddos. Plus, I get summers off and I am able to go exploring and go on adventures. Maybe we don't have a big house or lots of money to spend, but we have what we need and we have enough to have fun.
So today, at 37, I am grateful for where I am in life. Even if I am not quite where I expected I would be, the place where I am is good. Life, especially with kids in tow, is an adventure, and although I am not sure where we are headed, I know I am enjoying the ride.

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Ahhh, Life.

I haven't found much time for this space lately.... I feel like I am behind on life, and need to catch up on the must-dos before I allow myself time for extraneous things, like blogging, no matter how much fun they are.

Finn starts first grade in one week, so the back to school preparations are beginning. New shoes and a lunchbox, finding out who his teacher will be. And he starts playing soccer this week, with his dad as the head coach--exciting times to come.
I start back teaching in 4 weeks. I am frantically trying to cram in snippets of work whenever possible, but it feels like I haven't made much headway. Instead I have been working in the garden, trying to get things planted for fall, and removing wallpaper and prepping our house for me to paint it. Finally. After wanting to paint the inside for years, I am actually going to do it. These dirty walls need some love, and I know that a few days worth of hard work will make me immensely happy in the long run.
I have been going to the chiropractor and acupuncture for some rehab. I got rear ended a couple of weeks ago, and the bump was just enough to make an old back injury flare up. And treatments feel great, but can be difficult to schedule because of the kiddos, and I have also started to feel frustrated.... frustrated that I am not better, and frustrated that a small car accident could set me back so much. I guess my body is just feeling older than it actually is, and I don't feel as strong as I used to be. Somehow I need to make the time to get my body back and feel stronger, and I can't quite figure out where that "extra" time is going to come from.
On the lighter side, we in Portland, are living up the end of summer. Days have been warm and sunny but nights are cooling down and reminding us that fall is on its way. We have been going to parties and gatherings almost every day, and it is so nice to spend time with this community, who, in the absence of family members nearby, has become a sort of surrogate family.
Sunday morning the kids and I hopped on our bikes and rode for Sunday Parkways. The city closes down several of the streets and thousands of folks hope on their bikes to take advantage. The loop was 6.4 miles and I was expecting to go a mile or two before Finn needed to turn around. But, my little man did the entire loop, with no complaining. In the photo above he is taking a shot of granola for a quick energy boost. Anyways, I am so proud of that guy. I just reminded myself that I need to go give him a hug and tell him how awesome he is.
This week someone is having a birthday (me!) and then the family is off for a quick trip to Colorado before school starts.... So, time for me to sign off and to try and get a bit of work done.... Pin It Now!

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo- no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

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Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny at Small Thing's for this week's Yarn Along.

I have finally found a bit of time to knit lately. Not much, but a bit. I finished a plain vest for a friend's new baby while we were on out road trip (see below). I found some sweet little wooden heart buttons and I love how it turned out. And, I am happy to note that I have made a little progress on my  sweater. I have finished one sleeve and have started the second, so I am in the home stretch now. Hopefully by next week, I will have a finished sweater...however, I tried it on after finishing the first sleeve and it is a bit tight- even though I knit it a size larger than I am-- so I am hoping a little bit of blocking will stretch things out.

I  just finished reading Delirium, the first in Lauren Oliver's trilogy. It was a good, quick read, which was exactly what I needed. It took me a while to really get sucked into the story, but now I am eager to read book #2.

What are you reading? What are you knitting?

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We Heart Rocks

Ever since I was in my teens I have been a lover of rocks. I took some geology classes in college (heck, I even taught a few geology labs), but I never seemed to absorb the rock identification or rules of formation that I learned again and again. I did, however, maintain a love for rocks and I have always collected rocks from wherever I go. Sometimes I find agates or jasper or other more "worthwhile" rocks that many folks collect. But oftentimes I come home with pockets of river rocks that attracted me by their color, shape or texture.
And, apparently I have passed this behavior down to my children as well, which is awesome.. except for when they try to take rocks out of other people's yards.....
For Christmas, my family got a rock tumbler, and finally, this summer, we had gathered enough rocks to fill it and make the process worth it (it took almost 4 weeks from start to finish, so we decided it only made sense to do a large batch once or twice a year). Rock tumblers are like magic. Although some rocks are beautiful just the way they are (and sometimes that is what makes them so delightful), so many of them look amazing once polished. Our batch of rocks went from this:

To this:

Anyways, I have been trying to learn more about rocks, and how to identify them. I got a new guide book from a local writer and even managed to attend his talk at the bookstore. I still think I will be a non-discriminatory rock collector, picking up things of value or not, just because I find them interesting in some way, but hopefully I can become more knowledgeable about what I am finding.

The kids and I headed to Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks last week. It's the second time I have been there and I could spend hours staring at the thundereggs, gypsums, petrified wood, glow in the dark rocks, and other gorgeous specimens. But, as much as my kids enjoy finding rocks (and buying them from the gift shop!), their patience in staring at them is limited to about an hour. However, Finn was pretty darn interested in the rocks and the process of how they formed and were mined, and we found a whole bunch of great books to borrow from the library.

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