Gardening, Reading and Frelling Anxiety

I finally managed to enter my Duct Tape Wedding Bouquet in the Etsy Martha Stewart DIY Wedding contest. I don't think for a second I will win but the exposure is nice. I also found out I've been featured on at least one fashion blog lately. I need to read my Google Alerts more often I guess.

The garden seems to be petering out, perhaps due to a lack of rain. I've put up a TON of green beans and bread & butter pickles plus blueberry jam. I am still hoping to get some peach jam done, as well as fig and quince plus apple sauce and apple butter.

My etsy shop is cranking along. I need to get moving on winter hats and scarves. I will be making some wreathes as well but those will likely end up at the gallery depending on how many I have.

I've been having a very hard time lately with my anxiety. Its been really crippling to where I don't want to leave the house. I've had anxiety all of my life to some degree but it really seemed to skyrocket after Lulu was born. Its been in various stages of control since then. When it gets bad, it gets very bad. When we first moved to Gainesville, I went about 6 weeks without leaving the house without Scott. Its very scary when its bad.

School is just 2 weeks away. Lucy cannot wait to go back despite my keeping her busy with the pool, the garden, learning to cook, reading and math challenges. We went tubing last weekend and it was so crowded. I am really looking forward to camping when the weather cools off some.

As for reading, I am currently engrossed in Love Stories of WWII compiled by Larry King. I am still plodding through East of Eden by John Steinbeck and I have Love in the Time of Cholera on its way to me. I've been itching to read some classics lately.

Right now, I am just getting by. I do so want to get past this.

Our harvest totals so far...

Every year, I mean to tally our harvest totals. This year, I finally remembered to do it. I thought it would be fun to see how much we harvest and use it as a math teaching tool for the girls. I am only tracking yellow squash, tomatoes, green beans, and cukes as the other items are not as plentiful. So far, we've harvested:

16 lbs of yellow squash

9 lbs of tomatoes

22 lbs of green beans

5.5 lbs of cukes

Pretty impressive, I'd say for a small garden like our's. We've eaten most of it. I've frozen some green beans and we'll give some to the local food pantry. I am hoping they will take it frozen, which I think would be much more useful to folks if they don't have to eat it immediately.

Sharpies and Duct Tape

I have always loved Sharpies. They are so fun to doodle with. This is a white scooter helmet that I found at a yard sale. Initially, I wanted to paint black cabbage roses on it. However, my black cabbage roses need more practice. Instead, I grabbed a trusty medium point Sharpie and drew my interpretation of chrysanthemums on it. I like the way it turned out.

These are the duct tape flowers that Lulu and I made the other day, along with the white cabbage roses I made.

A closer look at one of my roses. This is an original design and much prettier than any of the other duct tape flowers I've seen out there. Martha Stewart, I can demonstrate these on your show....call me.

The Deer

You can imagine my surprise when Scott brought his work home with him today. This is the fawn that was turned over to Scott today. It was hit by a car and some folks were taking care of it. She's very sweet. She is missing part of her back leg. She is going to a wildlife rehabber tomorrow morning. In the meantime, she is in our bath tub. The girls have named her Fifi the Fawn.

Deer in the Tub

View from the door of the girl's bathroom. Good news is that we've found a place to take it. The girls and I will take her tomorrow.