I'm Still Here

I think that's the most common post title I see.

So much for my uniqueness and go-against-the-flow-ness.

But really, I AM still here. And I'm sore.

Gi-gi came on Thursday, to spend a few days doing my laundry and getting my girls to keep their shoes in one place. It was better than the alternative, she said, being alone with thoughts of Mary. Better to be in the company of joy, with thoughts of Mary.

I made the mistake of running to the greenhouse one last time. I really have a lot of extra garden space this year (well, I always have extra... but this year the garden area is fenced in and therefore more difficult to dismiss the empty parts), and wondered if the greenhouse didn't have a tomato plant or two leftover. Prior to my trip, I had a total of 16 plants; 6 Siletz, 6 Mortgage Lifter (both seed-started from last year's leftovers), 3 Sweet 100, and a floundering Roma. A couple weeks ago the greenhouse had tomato plants... about the size of a quarter. I really didn't have much hope. However, whatever chemical concoctions they undoubtedly feed those quarter-sized tomatoes sure did some work! There were plenty of big, lush plants begging to come home with me. After all, tomatoes were a certain need, easily processed/stored, and unmatched in any grocery store. So I bought 22 more plants. Twelve Beefmaster, six Early Girl (yes, I know nothing will be early after planting at the end of June!), and four Roma. I also bought a dozen pepper plants and a nice Sage. Did I mention last year's Catnip is really taking off? Homemade mosquito repellent is in the plans. Also, I was thrilled to find Oregano still alive. Not so for the basils and thyme. In any case, I had some serious work cut out for myself. I searched the sheds for the plastic weed-mat stuff I swear I had on hand, but never found it. I splurged and spent $10 on a 10x25 roll. I'd pay ten bucks to not weed an area that size, wouldn't you? Of course, we had to weed it beforehand, so Gi-gi and I were in the garden at 6:00 Saturday morning. We weeded piles of dried weeds from the parched dirt, and I rototilled in a cloud of dust. We put the mat down (about 10x18) and tucked the edges in a trench. I cut X's 9 across and 4 down and put in the peppers. The girls had awakened to join us, and Baby was in her playpen (which we moved to the garden) shaded by the beach umbrella.

After midday, I returned and put in a dozen tomatoes. I had to shower and change and ready the girls for a company BBQ -- Hubby had been at work since six, then golfing (!) with the guys from work before the BBQ.

Sunday morning I got up early again and put in the last of the tomatoes. It got to 106.3 degrees on our thermometer that day! Yikes!

I've spent the non-triple-digit-heat hours watering and weeding and using muscles I ignore most of the year.

The lack of sleep is catching up to me, and I only got up at 7:00 this morning, and wasn't in the garden until 8:00. I watered and weeded for an hour, and used the old cultivator Hubby put together for me. THAT'S a workout. It's not even 11:00 a.m. and already 94 degrees out! It's going to be another hot one today, certainly. I hope the critters handle it ok.