We had no set plans for the weekend. Joe was gone all last week – gone for a couple nights then home one night then called out again the following day. He was exhausted. I’m glad we didn’t have anything planned so that he could relax a little after such a grueling week.
Dad brought over a bowl of wild black raspberries he had picked from the timber. I love them, nobody else here cares too much for them. So I made a cobbler. Drew ate one helping. I ate the rest. It was so good. I didn’t eat it all in one sitting – I did stretch it out over a couple, three days!
And for some I reason decided to make sun tea for Joe and Drew. Drew had asked me to buy a jug of Arnold Palmer tea for them and as I was filling a glass for him it dawned on me, I bet I could make this a lot cheaper if I made sun tea and put lemon in with it. So I got on Pinterest and guess what, I wasn’t the first to think of this! (I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be before getting on Pinterest – I was wanting to see how others made theirs) Drew thought it was a neat process and Joe enjoyed the tea although next time I’m not supposed to use quite as much lemon! I didn’t realize until I read up on sun tea that it is mostly a Midwest thing. I remember Mom making it a lot for Dad when I was growing up and we saw someone at the camp grounds awhile back making some. I’ll be making sun tea a lot I think the rest of the summer – it sure is cheaper than buying the jugs at the store and it’s so pretty to see sitting outside in the sun. I just wish I liked to drink it. I try but I just can’t get it down.
On Saturday Joe mowed, I weeded and put down some more mulch and then we headed to Ottumwa and bought Drew a bunkbed. It’s a long story but he hasn’t had a bed for the last few months and had been begging for a bunk bed. We had shopped around earlier in the month so we knew what we wanted and where to get it. We brought it home and spent the rest of the evening putting it together and lo and behold – Drew slept in it! And he slept in it last night. He has not been one to sleep by himself for a very long time so this was huge – for all of us! If I had known a bunk bed would have been all it took, we would have done this a long, long time ago. I don’t know why but with Abby and Aaron we had no trouble with them sleeping in their own beds. Eric and Drew not so much.
Sunday we decided to finally start working on extending the deck. And of course we discovered that while we thought we had some of the boards we needed up in Joe’s woodpile, we actually did not. So after starting in on the project, we had to make a Menards run for more supplies. This was absolutely not in the budget which means we’ll be putting the pergola project on hold until next year. Which is fine. I can wait. But that also means less work for Joe this summer which is not a bad thing. We didn’t get as much done on the deck as we had hoped and it looks like there’s a lot of rain in the forcast for this week so we might not get much done but we’ll work on it as we can and eventually it will get finished.
While Joe was working on the deck doing things I couldn’t really help him with, I transplanted some hosta and day lillies that were going to be covered up by the new deck. Since we won’t be working on the pergola this year, I went ahead and planted the daylillies by it. Joe wasn’t wanting me to plant anything more around it until he got the sides put up but I didn’t have anyplace else to put the plants. Plus, we have the mulch to put around it and I don’t want it to set too much longer in the bags for fear it will mildew so this week I plan to put the mulch down too. We’ll just have to work around things the best we can next year and I won’t put anymore plants in until we’re done. We put the pergola up a few years ago thinking we would use it a lot but we just don’t so our plan is to use the old, rusty, corrugated tin we have to put a roof on and put sides about halfway up all the way around with more of the tin and we also plan to put a floor in instead of the loose rock that’s there now. Then it will be shaded, free from rain and somewhat secluded. Hopefully we will use it more this way.
That was our weekend. Nothing too exciting but we did get a few things accomplished. Now onto the week ahead. I’m thankful Joe doesn’t have any scheudled days to be gone overnight this week or for the the next few weeks. Unless some emergency crops up again. I don’t mind a day or two here and there but being gone the majority of the week just isn’t fun.
Now that I’m basically done subbing at school (I was there Monday and am scheduled for one more day in May), it’s time to get back into following a routine and being more frugal around here. We (I) kind of fell off the wagon the past few weeks and it’s not pretty. Way too many nights of eating out and running to the store on a whim and being too tired to keep up with more than the basics around here.
So simple – clothes pins, scrapbook paper, an embroidery hoop and craft glue. I used some old weathered pins and liked the look so I kept some of them plain. The rest I glued strips of paper onto the pins using craft glue. I also put a coat of glue on the top of the paper for extra sealant.
And for Valentine’s Day I cut out a heart using cardboard from a cereal box and glued matching strips of paper on. Then clipped it on using another clothes pin so I can take it off later and maybe add something different. I might use different paper on the back of the pins and then I’ll have two wreaths in one. Maybe some Easter or springy colors. The best part – this didn’t cost me a thing. I just dug around in my stash (think hoard!) of old scrapbook supplies and I always have clothes pins lying around the house. Perfect use of old supplies!
Just a small handful of hot pads and dish cloths. Nothing matches – just grabbed the clearance yarn at the store! I’m thinking I might make a few sets for some camping friends of mine – maybe try and color coordinate with their campers. A nice little gift on our next camping get together.
Laundry is not my favorite household chore. In fact, I really really don’t like to do laundry. Unless the weather is nice and I can hang my clothes outside. Then I don’t mind doing the laundry at all. There’s just something so relaxing about hanging clothes out. And seeing those clothes hanging on the line all day, dancing in the wind. And the wonderful smell of those sun dried clothes. One of things I so love about summer is being able to have bedding that has been line dried. I seem to sleep so much better on sun kissed sheets! But one thing I haven’t hung out for years was my towels. My “guys” didn’t like how stiff they were coming off the line. So, I did some research to see what I could do to keep them from getting so stiff and this is what I found out – if you tumble dry your sheets for about five minutes in the dryer before you hang them out – they won’t be so stiff. Yeah! They aren’t quite as soft as I was hoping but they are definitely softer and it’s so worth it when you consider how much money you are saving by using your clothesline and not your dryer. It works for jeans too! A few things I do when hanging my clothes out:
This time we found sandstone bluffs. It was so much fun climbing up and down the bluffs – sometimes between them! There was graffiti all over them – it doesn’t take much carve a name into sandstone. It amazes me that we had never heard about this park. It’s not too far from home. We even stopped for a potty break and mom asked directions and the lady at the counter had never heard of Wildcat Den – and it was just around the corner from the convenience store! I love finding places like this – so much better than anything commercialized.
The park had this beautiful, easy to walk trail. We walked and walked until we found the end and then back to the truck. So much to see, everything was so green and pretty. I hope to go back this fall when the leaves are changing and the air is crisp and cool. I bet it would be breathtaking!
Two full days of hiking, up and down and all around. Hopefully this will keep this little guy content for awhile until our next “adventure”!
