Monday, September 3, 2012

Time Keeps on Slipping...


People, I'm freaking out that it's already September!   Anybody else feeling the same way?

Don't get me wrong, I'm so very glad September's here and that fall is soon to come.  I'm practically lusting for an autumn breeze and a change of color in the leaves.  I even had to stop and photo this leaf last week when I was mowing the yard, the colors of it thrilled me so much.



In fact, in celebration of autumn's approach, I've been making batches of Mulled Cider and Pumpkin Pie candles for wholesale orders and the Harmony Farm Candles Etsy shop. Sniff either of these and I guarantee you'll be yearning to dig out a cozy sweater, feel a nip in the air, and hold a warm mug in yours hand. :)

Mulled Cider Soy Wax Candle
Pumpkin Pie Soy Wax Candle


But I swear, I blinked and the month of August came and went.

Really, I shouldn't be surprised the month went by so quickly. We spent a week at the beach with my husband's family, then celebrated both of my parents' birthdays upon returning home.

School also started last week and my one and only baby is now a kindergartener!


Though neither he nor I boo-hoo'd, or did anything even remotely close to that, on the first day, it surprises me how seeing him off the subsequent mornings in the car rider line snags a part of my heart. Watching him walk into the building after a perfunctory adieu (Me: "Buddy, I love you! Have a good day!" Him: "Gotta go, Mom!"), just one little person in a sea of many, makes me want to snatch him back and keep him for myself just a little while longer.   But he's happy in elementary school, doesn't seem to have missed a beat in the transition, and so goes the growing up of a child.

With the new-found free time that comes with not having a kid at home for seven hours a day, I've been slaving in the perpetual and disgusting heat and humidity to finish prepping the beds around the house for landscaping in the coming weeks.  We had beds installed in early June, and it only took me two months to put down the landscape fabric (after weeding the beds close to half a dozen times--you'd think I'd learn!)


P.S.--Did you know they make these magical things called landscape staples?

via

You insert them through the landscape fabric and into the ground, thus securing said landscape fabric in place. Well, I didn't the first time I laid out and cut the landscape fabric.  Only after laying tree limbs, random garden instruments, chicken-feeders-cum-flower-planters, and old fence posts (while thinking "there must be a better way!"), did I realize these babies existed.  But of course, this realization also only occurred after a windstorm blew away and/or twisted the fabric so I essentially had to repeat all my original work before I could use the staples. 

Moving on...

So, the plan is to get most of the shrubbery by next weekend from a local wholesale nursery, and in the meantime, order a few roses by mail from the Antique Rose Emporium.  Once the plants are here, we (hopefully my husband) will lay a drip irrigation system, I'll get the plants in the ground, mulch, and come spring there will be much loveliness happening.


I must be a glutton for manual labor because I also spent a good bit of time in the last part of August cleaning out the remains of the summer garden and readying the beds for a fall/winter garden.

The beds that currently house seedlings are spiffed up with this kitschy wire edging that makes me want to do jumpy claps every time I see it. I'm totally thinking I should paint the raised beds...too much?



Though this embellishment is definitely for looks, it also serves a purpose as I try to keep the bloody-free-ranging-fowl-that-think-they-can-eat-whatever-they-please-and-poop-wherever-they-want chickens out of the garden beds.

They totally munched the Romaine lettuce, spinach, and broccoli seedlings to nubbins a few days back.  Needless to say, the hens are locked in their pen until further notice and I'm ignoring the shade they keep throwing my way.

Someone please tell me the poor little seedlings will survive such ravaging? This one was originally three times this size!

So, that's where I am in the first week of September.  After all the recent gardening, I'm looking forward this week to thinking about (nay, even doing, perhaps?) some fall crafts and decorating.  And if this heat ever breaks, there are several pieces of furniture calling my name, just begging to be refreshed.

What are your plans in the coming weeks?

Happy Labor Day!

9 comments:

  1. Dear Erin, I'm in complete agreement as to how time seems to be slipping by so very quickly...why is this happening and how can it be September already. I would love for it to slow down, my girls start school tomorrow and then we are off and running to volleyball games and orchestra concerts. Phew...I'm tired just thinking about it. But for today I will enjoy being at home reading fun blog posts from you and other very creative people...happy gardening. janae'

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  2. No: don't paint the raised beds!! You have enough to do, what with running after the chickens, holding down the landscape fabric, and watching your baby go off to school!
    They do go off alright. They are real people... amazing isn't it? You should most definitely congratulate yourself for raising a confident, independent person!!!
    I've thrown out all my hanging plants/planters: the squirrels thought the cocoa fiber was a shopping spree at Lowe's, and the flowers were SO pathetic by August that I couldn't bear to look at them. We just pulled out a camellia and put in a new Viburnum: not quite fall yet, but we just couldn't wait!
    Stay cool!

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  3. your kindergartener is adorable!
    and now i need to order a pumpkin pie candle- YUM!!!

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  4. Wow, look at all you have accomplished! All summer I've planned on planting a fall garden... but I haven't found the motivation yet. :-) Your landscaping around the house is going to be so gorgeous in a couple years. And look how cute your little kindergartener is! I can't believe I'm going to have one next year.

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  5. I totally agree that August has zoooomed by. It's nuts! Your little guy is SO adorable, yay for Kindergarten! Hayden starts preschool on the 11th and she's getting so excited :) Noah will be a big 1st grader on Wednesdy, yikes! LOVE all the garden plans, can't wait to see it happen.

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  6. Where did the summer go? We had a real whirlwind of a season here - traveled, renovated and camped, but not enough REST. We've already planned that summer 2013 will be full of more "down time."

    You've raised your son well - he can confidently walk into school as a big brave boy. He knows that he will be well taken care of within the walls of the school and he knows you'll be back to pick him up in a few short hours.
    Use your free time well, Mommy!

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  7. Ah, just look at your little fellow. He is a doll. I well remember those days. Sweet memories. Now I have a grandson that just started eighth grade. Whoa! Time really does fly.

    Good luck with your new beds. Which wholesale nursery are you using?

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  8. Wow girl! Busy, busy, busy!!! I love fall too and can't wait for it to get here, but I'm sad the summer flew by so quickly! :( Thanks for sharing what's been happening with you lately. I've been missing your posts. :)

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  9. Molto carino il tuo blog!Divento seguace!Rosetta

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