Big Summer Plans

While my internet connection was out over the last two weeks, I seemed to have some extra time on my hands. Funny business, this internet stuff. BUT it did give me a chance to work on that internal list of goals I had for the summer. That would be THIS summer. The one that is suddenly halfway behind us. Already.

I took that internal list and externalized it. Nothing like the added pressure of exposure to kick yourself into high-gear. And this is no petty list, mind you. I think I'll need to clone myself several times over to get to everything in any sort of reasonable time frame.





1. Three years ago I proclaimed that I wanted to learn to play the bagpipes. Granted, it was at my father's funeral and I was openly grieving, but really, I meant it. So I grieved for a while, and then I got pregnant, had my third baby, and moved... and I never quite got around to it. It's high time, don't you think?

Einstein actually proclaimed his desire to learn this at the same time as me, and now he has business cards and the whole get-up. Now, I don't really expect to get to that level of playing... I mean, I'm no Einstein. But he bought me a pretty wood chanter a year or so ago, and I aim to make good use of it.




2. The Adamas Shawl. I will conquer you! I know it has been almost a whole year, and to my credit you ARE my first lace knitting piece... One row a day, and I should have you finished off by the end of August. (Note to self: Lace knitting + Busy Toddler = Bad idea.)





3. I've been reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, et. al. Mixed reactions about the book itself, but it has done one thing... it made me realize that I've got to do more than this. This being my piddly little makeshift garden. In my driveway, no less, because that's where the sun is, folks. Now, I do pretty well with the containers I have here... but reading Kingsolver's book has made me pine for gardens gone by. For what I used to have and do and be before our move to the Midwest.

This is the garden space I gave up when we moved here:



Einstein and I put this in ourselves with horse panel, pine needles, and a load of soil we had dumped onto our driveway. Four long and lovely rows of vegetables with a companion herb and flower plot. And a huge fig tree. Oh, how we used to eat!

Pining away for the past is NEVER a good thing. But I can do more than my measly little driveway plot. Surely I can fit a few more containers in there somewhere before I run out of room to back out my car. And I'm going to build a couple of cold frames to plug on top of these large containers when the weather cools down. There's nothing like fresh garden greens when the ground is still covered in snow. Oh, and maybe build a small greenhouse for the backyard. When the leaves fall off we'll get our sunshine back.





4. Quilting. I haven't sewn a quilt in years, but the girls have been asking for a new bedspread and we have all these lovely embroidered squares that have no home. Sunburst and I picked up some thrift curtains and sheets that we will recycle into a slap-together quilt. Even Moonshine has been embroidering some squares for it (see the princess above.) So this is a group project. Go us!

Even Einstein has gotten bit by the quilting bug... I gave him a little lesson on the sewing machine and after buying a load of fabric (enough for three quilts!) at the fabric store he went to town cutting and piecing and ironing like a madman. He's actually doing an outstanding job of it... but we'll talk about that later.




5. We have a "Peeler" in our midst. He has been spotted and redirected and scolded, but his need to peel is unrelenting. The Peeler must be stopped.

I have a lot of sanding and painting to do throughout the house... not the most exciting job, but there you have it.



6. Plan third grade. Visit relatives in California. Have house guests. Host a barbecue. Clean my office. Oh, and blog! Ha.

Got any big plans to finish out your summer? Time's a wastin'.