A Quiet Tuesday Chat and To-Do's

You know what?

I'm worn out.

The last 4 months have been such a whirlwind.

So much time with all of our kids and grandkids over.

Even some with parents & grandparents.

(Hubs' side, mine have all passed.)

This has been a good side to all the madness.

Birthdays, Easter, Mother's & Father's Day, Independence

Day and many other family meals in between.  

It was great having the boys--that is to say--men home.

 All kinds of fun--yes!  But, whew!  Hubs and I

feel like we've not stopped once during it all.

Especially with the garden/lawn work at its peak.

Let me state:  I am not complaining here.

I am just acknowledging to myself how much I've

been doing these last months.  I'm one of those

people that has to look back at that once in awhile.

I don't like to admit that there are things I can't do,

that there is a point where I am human and, even more,

that I can no longer do all those things I used to do.

But it is okay to rest and to insist on quiet.

Heck, it's necessary!

We dropped our youngest off at the airport at 4:15 am.

And then the hubs and I spent the entire weekend together.

Just us.  I cannot remember the last time that happened.

~Spiked Basil Lemonade~

A great summer drink, best when lounging in pool!

We both got so many things done around here and 

still had time to relax in the pool and even watch some

movies.  How strange to have time.

The paradox of parenthood is something I think about a lot.

You want your kids around but then you need a break.

When they're gone, you miss them, feel guilty for wanting

those breaks and even wish them right back. 

You finally have to just let go and let God.

What else can we do but just give in to His plan?

Time flies anyway, and the holidays will be "tomorrow".

So this morning, I sit in an empty house for the first time

in months.  My mind wants to jump ahead to the many

things that need to be done but no--just breathe today.

Just accept that God is saying that we've done

our job, it's time to rest a bit, and it's okay.

"Rest up until the next whirlwind, You mean," I laugh back.
Because it's true, isn't it?

Parenting is never over.

And if we're going to be any good at it,

we have to take time to restore, rejuvenate, refresh.

Last week, Jenny of Elefantz shared so much of what

I've been thinking lately about keeping life simple.

I just skimmed that post the first time, marking it

so I could come back to it and read it slowly,

quietly over coffee.

I'm sharing it in case someone else needs that, too.

Well, moving on to quilty things.

Firstly, every time I sew up another batch of masks,
I insist that's it!  I'm never sewing another!

Yet there I was sewing 15 more this week, too.
That set me back a little.

#1 To-do:

I didn't get a lot of blocks done on my current quilt.

For obvious reasons, I wasn't too worried about it.

But anyhoo, the other 9 shouldn't take long at all.

They're cut out and laying by my machine.

My #2 to-do was to start on a/some West Point

table runner(s).  That didn't happen.  That might be

just as well because I realized that while working on

my West Point quilts, I'm very likely to come up with

scrap pieces that could easily be turned into table

runners--a great way to use them up.  We'll just

approach this to-do as it comes.

What else have I been doing?  Well, I finally tackled a

section of the flower garden in front of our house.
Obviously the front is the most important but it's the

one I avoid most because it's the hardest to control.

Of course, if I controlled it, it wouldn't be so hard!

Here are a couple "before" photos, btw.

If you zoom in you get a pretty good idea of all that

nut grass and other weeds completely neglected.

It's not perfect but I made a huge difference.

Right now it's all about just making it to fall.

The arrows point out my very-packed garden basket, 

completely overflowing with weeds.

Sadly, this is just one section but it felt good to get

that done.  Flower gardens take a back-burner to the

food gardens, what can I say?  I'm trying to work on

ways to make these easier, yet still retain some sense

of landscape that beautifies our home.  I'll get there.

It has been a weird year for the vegetable garden.  I have no

explanation but some crops have produced wonderfully

and others...just lousy.  I hear this from many others, too.

But we have plenty overall; I cannot complain.  Above is

just part of our very own produce section.  

  

How fun to shop at home for awhile, creating

our menu around everything we already have!

That should free up a little more time for sewing so

maybe I'll be more productive at quilting this week.

My one To-Do for next week:

Keep going on my WP quilt--that's it.

But I fully expect to get a lot done.

Definitely all those stars and hoping for

the log cabins as well--again.

If you hung in there for this whole thing,

you're a trooper!

Happy quilting.

Linking up to Home Sewn By Us Tuesday To-Do #50