Tuesday:

This morning I packed the last lunches of the year. Three half days left of school. My term as PTA president is also up. I’m running around, tying up loose ends, purging my files, the dining room table, the front of the fridge. Reclaiming my family room and living room from multiple bags of stuff related to school events. Writing the last several checks.

First real heat wave of the season is here. I must give all the plants a good long drink tonight. The strawberry plants continue to bear fruit, but the end is in sight. Meanwhile, the peas are ready — at this point, I’ve decided to wait and use them as shelled peas, rather than peapods. I couldn’t make up my mind so time made it up for me.

The runner beans are still flowering but in most places the flowers have dropped and small beans are forming.

I planted pumpkin seeds in the front garden, and they’ve sprouted. The mystery volunteer plants (yellow squash, I think) in the back garden have flowered. The garlic and onion stalks grow ever bigger. Basil is plentiful, but bolting. The potatoes need to be hilled. Everything else is holding its own… even the poor broccoli. It suffered a groundhog incursion. The little SOB is back under the deck and apparently waits til I drive away to come out and wreak havoc. After the broccoli massacre, I surrounded the bed with hardware cloth on the sides and bird netting on top. Hoping it will recover fully. If he is still able to get into it, I give up.

Wednesday:

Another trip to Target today, my second of the week. Aidan needs water shoes to go to the beach with friends this afternoon, and I have to get supplies for a school function. Yesterday, I bought a slew of household supplies (cat food, paper towels, a new shower curtain, etc.) and summer supplies (sunblock, three pairs of goggles). Plus gift cards for the three birthday parties happening this week. Last week, I went to Goodwill and made out extremely well with all kinds of clothes for the kids, and a few things for me.

I also bought myself much-needed new sneakers, from New Balance, and new flip flops from TOMS. My rationale for NB is that they do make some shoes in the U.S. and U.K., although not the pair I bought. TOMS is pretty well known for their do-goodery.

I need a new bathing suit, and although I looked into some ethically made suits, so far all I’ve bought is a new black bottom at Kohl’s.

Tonight after dinner, I harvested the pea pods. I guess next year I need to plant more vines — but I’m not sure if 1 or 2 pods per vine is normal or not.

Then, even though it was such a small number of pods, I shelled, blanched and froze them. I did eat one little pea and it was so sweet! There’s now a few small pods left on the vines so I think I’ll just eat them raw. Then I get to take the vines down (they’re dying from the bottom up) and maybe plant something else there.

Thursday: Busy all day long. Friday: busy all day long. In the midst of all the school stuff and birthday parties I managed to hang three loads of laundry outside. Friday night: Sitting out back with a beer while Gemma poured buckets of water on my feet. School over. PTA over. 99% of related tasks accounted for. I sat out there til the lightning bugs came out.

Saturday:

Was not feeling great but managed to take the kids to the pool, our first trip of the season. Two downpours happened while we were there but it was still great. Just to sit, towel over my head to keep the rain out of my eyes, the air saturated, grass wet, my eyes mechanically keeping track of the movements of the ecstastic kids but my brain thinking no thoughts. Just sitting. And eventually the sun came back out and dried us all off.

The livin’, it is now easy.

No farmers’ market for me yesterday, but I did go last Saturday:

The snow peas were delicious; ate them sauteed with dinner that night and the next. I haven’t cracked open that red inchelium garlic yet. The box is a frozen chicken pot pie; the mason jar is worm compost tea from Our Yards Farm, a farm that is actually composed of local people’s yards. It’s worm poop. I added it to all my plants.

Lots of peas and beans at the market that week.

There was some other fun stuff that happened since my last post, like two school field trips, a great trip to the beach, and a hike with Gemma, but I have to wrap it up here. Let the fun and hopefully frugal summer adventures begin…