I’m definitely gonna learn to play banjo,

It’s been a long and good week. So much fun catching up with an old friend. We thought it was funny how incredibly pooped we were at the end of each day- especially because we’d planned to just relax and not overwhelm ourselves with plans. Regular ol’ life can be tiring! I dropped her at the airport yesterday morning, and now the house is super quiet and still. We had fun, even through the immobilizing heat and humidity, through the late nights talking about love and relationships and god and the nature of the universe. Until next year!

I am sure glad that Jeff understands computers. I would call myself a competent user, but when it gets all fried I haven’t the slightest clue what to do. I get so frustrated when that stuff doesn’t work (probably because I don’t know how to fix it or what’s happening), it makes me wonder if I’m too dependent on this technology. Then Jeff swoops in, spends an afternoon fiddling around under the desk, and I can do other things and feel assured that it’ll work eventually. Were it up to me I think I might have thrown it out the window long ago. I think Jeff would be surprised by his actual patience. He always feels like he can’t handle situations, like he gets too stressed out. However, I see him consistently dealing with problems and doing very tedious work on a daily basis. He may not have a smile on his face, but he goes to work without question, doesn’t complain, and works until he needs to stop. I hope he realizes his strength and ability. Anyway. He fixed it. We think.

July 9th:
Gretchen’s birthday. I chose this photo on that day because Gretchen said the sweetest thing. She said that she didn’t care much about celebrating her birthday, but the fact that Tuula is here is a good enough reason to. We all went out to dinner and she looked adoringly at her little bright girl playing with all the food. I hope someday Tuula knows how lucky she is to have such an amazing mom.

July 10th:
Sewing. I’ve been having fun with my old clunky machine. A project is soon to be revealed.

July 11th:
The July backyard shot. I think I’ll do a post where I show the growth of the whole garden, not just this strip that I can see from my bedroom window.

July 12th:
My old jade plant had a leaf knocked off of it, so I set it in dirt. It shriveled up and looked completely dead. A few weeks went by and soon enough a little sprout popped up. Now I have this baby jade plant that I’m almost as happy with as I am with it’s mother. I love succulents.

July 13th:
We had a garage sale over the weekend with some friends. It went well. We got to hang out and sit outside all day- which is my favorite thing to do anyway. My friend had put this hat in the sale and we took pictures of Vera in it.

July 14th:
I visited the other garage sales in the neighborhood when we were having ours. Those things are the best places to get fabrics and stuff. Seriously, for like 50 cents you can get what you would get at a fabric store for tens of dollars. I also got some earrings and some great curtains. I’m having no trouble with the not buying new thing, with the exception of pants. I knew I would have trouble with pants…

July 15th:
Squash blossoms. I plan to cook with them tonight for dinner.

July 16th:
Marya and I went down to the Art Fair on this day. It was HOT. I actually started feeling faint and had to sit down. We took it easy and hung out in shops to keep us cool. Marya bought me some great earrings and the art was beautiful, as usual. My friend Katy and I were laughing about how every year the art fair is almost unbearably hot, or it rains, and really takes away from the experience. Then she said that it’s their fault they keep putting it in the middle of July. I think we may write them a letter about this.

July 17th:
Gretchen has been putting Tuula’s hair up like this to keep her hair out of her eyes. She reminds me of Cindy Lou Hoo.

July 18th:
The first tomatoes! They were fabulous, of course. So far we’ve been getting a couple of these sungolds a day, along with a zucchini every couple of days. I see a banana pepper that’s almost ready. The greens are in need of replanting, I’ve used them up I think. Overall I’m pretty happy with my garden this year. I’ve definitely strengthened in certain areas. I’m also totally still learning. I wonder if I’ll ever really know my stuff. Either way, we’re soon to be eating very very well.

July 19th:
Sometimes just a few flowers on the table make all the difference.

July 20th:
A couple of days of rain and things just sprout like crazy everywhere. Even the compost looks pretty to me.

I started this “no poo” thing. I’m starting with the baking soda/apple cider vinegar thing. I’ve been meaning to for a while, but I was scared. I have such thick, long hair that I get scared thinking about not having conditioner. Despite my fears, I dove in. It was fine. My hair feels clean, it doesn’t feel gross or unmanageable like it did when I didn’t use conditioner with the other shampoo. So, I’ll update in a few weeks on how it’s going. I think my hair will probably go through a little bit of a detox, but I hear people swear by this. Jeff’s doing it too because he’s got this painfully itchy scalp. I set up a treatment for him with tea tree oil, then he followed it with the no-poo method, and he said his head feels great. I’m hopeful. Plus, I get so excited thinking about all the crap that I don’t really need that I thought I did. We are more free than we think. No more poison in or on my body, no more unnecessary plastic waste, NO POO! Yay!

Quote of the day:
“All our progress is an unfolding, like a vegetable bud. You have first an instinct, then an opinion, then a knowlege as the plant has root, bud, and fruit. Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Gracie

Latest posts by Gracie (see all)

• Let the world be fed - October 21, 2024
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