Catch-Up Day

Ooh, am I tired!

Yesterday was a catch-up day. Several jobs that had waited long enough finally got my attention. It feels so good to have some of it done.

I started the day with the very last of the lavender harvest from last June. You have to realize I had to be 500 miles away for a couple weeks in June, and on the night before I left, I realized I just had to catch the lavender or it would be blown before I returned. So my husband and I spent probably an hour cutting it and dragging it, in baskets, into the house.

Then I disassembled the daybed in our sunroom and lay the lavender stems over both halves of it to dry. I told my husband he would have to turn it every day or two, so it could dry completely. Bless his heart, he already knew it, from harvesting hay as a boy. What a relief!

When I returned, the lavender was dry and the stripping began. It is not hard, just time-consuming and it bruises your thumb. Now I’ve finally finished that job . It made over two gallons of blossoms, the really good stuff. I’ve already sold thirty dollars worth of it and you can hardly tell it.

Also, I worked at catching up ironing. No one likes when the ironing is behind, around here, but least of all me. I have devised a good way to catch up ironing and thought I’d share it with you, here. It’s not so hard and really works for me.

How to Catch Up on Your Ironing

Hurry. That makes it go much faster.
Set aside time to fire up your iron every day.
Iron twice what your family would wear, every day.
Continue until caught up.

That’s it—so easy. For me, since only my husband wears much ironed clothes, if I iron two shirts and a pair of pants for him each day, soon all is done. Now and then I insert something for someone else, but really, most of us wear no-iron clothing like t-shirts, sweats, and the softer denims. It may take a week or two, but it does work.

Another chore was making sure all the bed linens are clean, since we are expecting lots of company this weekend. Several will stay the night to worship with us. Lots of fun, and I cannot wait.

Lastly, I had a few outdoor chores to finish: mulching around newly-planted trees, bringing potted plants indoors because of a cold-snap, composting some waste vegetation, etc.

Here are a couple shots of our cat, Earl Grey, caught in the act of sampling the catnip. I’d been weeding it, and he caught the aroma. (It smells a lot like cat fur, to me.) Anyway, in the second photo, you can see his face better, in his irritated pose.