A Busy August in Texas: Gardening, Homeschool & Summer Memories

Galian Israeli Melon, Tomato, Parmesan rolls, and Brown Turkey Figs.

I haven't done a blog update in so long I forgot my password!! Thought I'd update ya'll on what's been going on.

My sister traveled from West Texas (Lubbock) to pay a visit. We ended up going to our favorite nursery, the Natural Gardener, and of course, Whole Foods!

Natural Gardener was very disappointing as the heatwave had really taken a toll on everything. It's been a really brutal summer. I think we had a total of 67 100+ days so far. It really wiped out my gardening attempts. Tonight on the national news they showed our fast vanishing lakes -- dropping a foot of water each week. It's pretty bad here. We need rain, lots of it!


One day for lunch, I created an awesome tuna sandwich on a bed of lettuce, organic tomato, served on a lightly toasted buttered Parmesan roll, slices of Galia melon, figs, and chips --- Sun tea with slices of lime, lemon, and Stevia for sweetener.

I prefer organic veggies so I can save my seeds. The Galia melon was out of this world. My daughter and I got to sample this at Whole Foods and decided to chunk back $6 for the Mediterranean melon. Now we have the seeds to grow our own.

This month my daughter completed her final show -- School House Rock Live --- at the Sam Bass theatre. This was a lot of fun, but draining as it's a huge commitment.

Around the time my daughter auditioned for the show, I took on extra work as a data entry clerk at my job, Hope Alliance -- we offer shelter for women and children in domestic violence situations. For a couple hours a day, I enter all the sexual assault/domestic violence cases throughout Texas into a computer system. On weekends, I do relief managing at the shelter itself, answering hotlines, and taking care of our residents. It's a rewarding job, but I've decided to stay home more, and cut back on my part-time work. With that said, I'm really excited about the next school year. Another year of interesting field trips, volunteering at Pioneer Farms, sports, and piano lessons. I really do love home schooling and am very thankful for this freedom.

My daughter and I are working on quilts now and trying to get a handle on our yard work. It's a mess after this drought! We are SO looking forward to cooler weather! I'll try to post more on my blog but must confess that when things are busy --- it's easier to touch base with everyone on Facebook!

FAST FORWARD

Looking back, this post reminds me how quickly life moves from one season to the next. Between gardening, homeschooling, volunteering, quilting, and family visits, it sometimes felt impossible to keep up with the blog. Yet these everyday moments are exactly what make a journal worth keeping. Years later, it's fun to look back and remember not just the vegetables we harvested or the places we visited, but the ordinary days that quietly became some of our favorite memories.