Unfocused

Blogging is more difficult these days than I would like. On first thought, I'm not sure why. When I think about it, I have many ideas I want to explore or things I have done that I want to share. But the problem seems to be that my mind is too busy as well as my life to focus. It's not crazy busy like I have 100 bushels of apples to process or I have three events scheduled every day at the same time, but it's busy all the same.

It's busy with important life issues. There is a very, very sick relative and a very needy elderly parent who are using much of my energy. There is also planning for the next stage of life. The empty nest has brought thoughts of what my husband and I want to do--where we want to live, how we want to live, when we want to retire, what we can afford, etc.

It's also busy with everyday things like doing the laundry and fixing the lawnmower. Going to work and taking the cats to the vet. Cleaning the fridge and freezing tomatoes. Paying the bills and tutoring the girl next door. You know, the things that provide the rhythm for our days.

And I am lucky that I also have some time to spend on things that truly make me smile. Watching the birds. Exploring my yard. Lunching with friends. Visiting with my kids. Sitting on the couch with my husband and watching a silly TV show. 

Where am I going with all of this? I'm not sure. I have no great conclusions except that life goes in cycles and sometimes you feel restless and unfocused. And sometimes you don't.

So there you have it. The beginnings of my exploration into why I feel unsettled these days. Now it's time to go to work. Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

A Second Look--September 24, 2014

This week I did a Second Look in the morning--not my typical time because I'm really not a morning person. However I decided it was time to try a different perspective on things in honor of the official  beginning of Fall. When first I went out, the air was cool and the sun was up but there was still fog in the valleys and dew on the grass. The birds were fairly quiet except for the cawing of some noisy crows and the drumming of a persistent woodpecker. As the sun rose higher in the sky, these were joined by more melodious sounds of other birds. The bees and other insects appeared to be waiting for the day to warm up before they began their activity because I saw very few of them compared to later in the day. The plants are continuing to change as some leaves are turning red while others are going straight to brown. However, there still bits of color from summer here and there.

Here are a few things I was this week 

during a Second Look.

Dew covered most things including this balloon flower.

Fungus on rotting stump.

Honeysuckle berries. The birds love these, but they can be poisonous for humans.

A few of the coreopsis are still blooming, but most are turning to seed.

Roxanne geranium

At first I thought the inchworm on this coneflower was a stick, but it appears that it was just still "sleeping."

Thankful Sunday--September 21, 2014

I am thankful for pen and paper.

Out of all of the ways we have to record things today, for me nothing beats a good, old fashioned pen and paper.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions-Sept. 19, 2014

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. Occasionally, if our eating is going okay, I'll talk about some other food topic.

This Week's Month's Food Waste 

and True Food Confessions

I've gotten out of the habit of reporting on these endeavors and it's time to get back on track after being absent for a month.

Overall the food waste hasn't been too bad but we certainly have had some. With an abundance of  garden produce this summer has also come a few tomatoes and a cucumber that have gone bad before we used them. Also down-the-drain went a jar of mayo and a jar of BBQ sauce. The mayo got left out on the counter overnight after using it for a tomato sandwich. Also I decided it was time for some BBQ sauce to go. It's been in the fridge for over seven years. (Yes, I said seven years.) I didn't like the taste of it and apparently neither did anyone else. 

 

Some of the things we've enjoyed eating recently.

As far as our eating, it hasn't been too bad either.  Our eating-out has been an occasional Chinese takeout or Subway sandwich except for the week we were on vacation. There we ate out every night after having breakfast at the hotel and peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. As I mentioned above, we have been enjoying fresh things from the garden. Many of our meals have centered around watermelon, cucumbers, squash, beets, brussel sprouts, beans,  zucchini, and tomatoes. Also, Ward tried out his new smoker with a chicken and some ribs. And I'm happy to report that it worked well. Also, we recently tried a recipe for crock pot lasagna. That was also a hit. 

As much of the garden produce is done for the year, I'm going to have to start planning more. This summer's meals have mostly been guided with what fresh vegetables we had to work with. Wish me luck with the planning as this has never been my strong suit.

Until next time...(which will hopefully be next week.)

A Second Look--September 17, 2014

What can I say? The weather has been wonderful with cool mornings and warm days. The kind of days where you wear a sweater to work, but forget to bring it home because it's warm when you leave. (Don't ask me how many sweaters I have at work right now.) While I am still seeing plenty of critters, I am seeing fewer of them. I don't know if they've gone south, or they're off preparing for the impending winter.
 
But I did notice something that totally fascinated me this week. I saw a skipper butterfly roll up its proboscis. One minute it had it extended and collecting pollen and the next minute, it was rolling it up and hiding it. It was just like one of those party noise makers that unrolls when you blow into it and then rolls back up when you stop. Now if I were like millions of others out there, I would have had my smart phone ready and have a good video to show you. However, I don't have a smart phone and the video on my camera doesn't work right. So you'll just have to take my word for it when you see the pictures below. It was really neat. :)

Here are a few things I saw this week during a Second Look.

Dogwood tree. Notice the buds for next spring's blooms next to the berries from this year's blooms.

Sternbergia lutea

A few of the Lily of the Valley berries have been snatched.

Skipper butterfly on sedum. If you look closely, you can see it had its proboscis out in the first picture. In the second picture, you can't see it.

Faithful flowers that have been blooming all summer and are still hanging on.

Saddleback Caterpillar. It turns out that this colorful caterpillar has venomous barbs. Not only will they sting you skin, they can also make you sick. I'm glad I was wearing gloves when I found him.

Female hummingbird.  Male hummingbirds leave a few weeks before the females. I don't know if all of the males are gone, but I've only seen females at the feeder.