Summer Routine

Now that the ladies are in their permanent coop, I wake up at 6 and head up the hill to open the door and let them out into the run. I watch them for a little while, worrying that they aren't eating enough, or drinking enough. Then I head back to bed for a bit.

The brown stuff is leaf mulch - our dirt is black

My second wake up comes around 7 or 7:15, when my tummy starts rumbling and the sun is too inviting to ignore (if I've slept with my contacts in, this comes sooner, because I can actually make things out when I open my eyes lazily.) I head downstairs and make my morning drink: sun tea, or hot water with lemon and mint leaves. I take my mug out with me to the garden, where I check on all the plants. Morning is the best time to harvest, to I gather anything that looks too good to pass up. Today, I picked a ton of spinach (at the end of its rope), some kale, chard, and a tiny bit of basil and blueberries. Normally I'd water the plants, but the two thunder storms yesterday took care of that for me.

My favorite is the 6 blueberries!

I bring any grubs or worms I find and any crummy leaves I've snipped off to the chickens. They seem pretty excited about it, so maybe that'll make up for my manhandling them twice yesterday to protect them from the storms.

I take my veggies inside and wash them all thoroughly and send them through the salad spinner. This morning, though, the kale and chard leaves are too big. I don't feel like cutting them, so I decide we should eat them right away. I whip up a frittata of:

-peas (from VA farmer's market)
-spicy red onions and their green tops (VA farmer's market)
-basil, oregano, rosemary (from my mom's garden)
-dill (VA farmer's market)
-Chard (my garden)
-Kale (my garden)

The makings of a delicious breakfast

It sticks to the pan a little, but it's glorious with some gluten free toast spread with peanut butter and our homemade strawberry jam. Alex is up by this point, so we eat together on the porch.

I then spend about 30 minutes tidying the kitchen, hanging herbs to dry, emptying the dish washer, and trying to ignore the floor which I haven't cleaned in 2 weeks. Time for house chores! This morning I get down to sanding the floor while Alex helps his brother with tax stuff via the phone. I make it 40 minutes before the battery craps out. Luckily we have two. On the new battery, the sander is overheating and the plastic paper holder is burning up. I get a little scared and decide to do something else. I gather all the supplies to do touchup painting in the hallway, but the fancy new painter's tape won't stick to anything. It's either crummy, or the issue is the layer of sawdust that's everywhere. Regardless, I don't feel like dealing with this by myself and head upstairs to check e-mail and blog until Alex is done. This may seem specific to today, but it's a pretty common scenario. It's hard to stay motivated when doing stuff on your own.

But blogging doesn't pan out either, since none of the photos I took will upload from my stupid (haha)  smart phone. So I bite the bullet and head back down to sand some more. After the second battery goes, I take an air break, check on the chickies, and decide to start on lunch. Faux meatballs, quinoa noodles, homemade yogurt cheese, rosemary, and soy milk don't sound like they'd be good together, but they are an excellent pasta dish. Alex is finally ready to begin house work around the time that I'm totally ready for it to be over, and heads out to weed whack the front yard. He eats when he's done, and we hang out for about 20 minutes before he heads to work.

I occupy myself with e-mail, work stuff, and playing with my new juicer that my totally awesome sister got me for a housewarming present until I feel guilty, try some more sanding, and now it's 5:30. I pulverize a bumper crop of mint in my handcrank blender and freeze the pulp in ice cube trays to use in cocktails and tea later. Then I get down to business r.e. figuring out what's wrong with my idiot phone, and finally post this sucker.