A marvelous weekend

Every now and then, we have a weekend that seems darned near perfect. This last weekend was one of them.

We started by doing some really fun school work. The topic was “the first written languages”, and we did some colouring while we talked, then we read a bit, and we experimented with writing our names in cuneiform, making our clay tablets look a little like we each imagined the “receipts” that Jomar receives from Betitta when he delivers her golden straw.

Interestingly, I discovered today that it may be best to to talk too much about what we’re studying with my colleagues. I don’t quite understand why, but it seems to make them very uncomfortable. (Maybe they’re mistaking my enthusiasm for insanity?) Anyway … note to self: shut up, they don’t want to hear it.

When we were done with school, we packed up and ran off to pick raspberries. We got seven quarts, and they were so luscious and ripe that we scrambled back home to freeze them immediately lest they rot while they waited, and then we were back out again to check our e-mail at Café Luwak.

We also discovered on Saturday that a small (but totally unexpected) windfall meant that we could suddenly afford to get my laptop on the net immediately! So, after we checked our e-mail, we went over to Clover Computer and picked up the cards I needed to add Internet access and a USB port. This post is coming from my very own laptop! Hurrah!

Sunday was a little hectic, as we scrambled to get Jack registered for the Sunday School class he’s interested in – and discovered that it requires that we volunteer! Yikes! I was about to call that a deal breaker when I found out that there was a “volunteer opportunity” that involved doing mailings rather than assisting in the classroom. (I think I’ve mentioned how completely unsocial I am becoming. The idea of spending an hour in a classroom full of people was more than I could bear…but organizing a mailing is right up my alley.) Anyway, we got Jack registered and worked out a plan for how to get Rod to church at 8am when he has a performance with the choir and still get Jack to class at 11am. I am having trouble understanding exactly what they’ll be studying, but I think that for Jack, it has more to do with the sweet snack and the other kids than it does with the topics of conversation, so it will probably be fine. Still, it’s going to make for hectic weekends until June.

Anyway, after church, we came home and did some long overdue landscaping. The place was just gorgeous when we bought it, but over the course of three years of neglect, it had gotten seriously shabby looking. I’m not particularly house-proud, but it was even getting to me. Mostly we dug out some ornamental grass to put in flower bulbs, put in a flowering bush to replace one that had died last year, and cleaned up the bed next to the garage, which has disappeared into some shaggy and unsightly grass. At some point, I’ll add another small bed on the other side of the garage for balance, but for now, it was enough.

It had to be, because the garden was in serious need of attention.

This was yesterday’s harvest – and we had to throw away almost as much because it was spoiled by insect damage. We were delighted to be able to share some of this out amongst five friends and still have plenty for us.
Rod and I have noticed a couple of things that we consider very interesting. We didn’t have the money for our usual amendments, so only one corner got the stuff left over from last year. In that one corner, we are getting more produce and losing FAR less of it to insects than we are in the rest of the garden. That tells us that although we *can* garden without all the yummy stuff, it’s probably still worth doing what we can with amendments.

The other thing we’re noticing is that other than getting the garden in, and watering it long enough to get the plants established, the garden has been pretty much left to its own devices this year. I got too sick to get out there at all for almost two months and Rod has been pretty busy, so his tender ministrations have been pretty spotty, too.

Nonetheless, that is *one* week’s harvest in that picture. We have been very consistent about getting at least one of us out there on the weekends to harvest. That tells us that nature is pretty happy to do her thing without the need for constant meddling from us. That’s good to know.

I think that all this means that we’ll probably invest in the amendments a little at a time over the next several months and put the beds “down for the winter” with as many as we can manage, and spread the rest in the spring…but maybe I won’t fret so much if I miss a night hunting for slugs amongst the cabbages and eggplants and maybe I an miss the occasional “cow poop soup” on a weekends without too much guilt.

Oh, another note of interest … out first experience with potatoes suggest that they’re almost all bonus and almost no work. This is excellent! I think we’ll keep them on the list!

Anyway, that’s all the news that fit to report from Chez Smiffy, though I *am* working on the last bit about how to write your own curriculum and some other thoughtful stuff.