The Yard Wars, part deux

We aren't finished, but progress has most certainly been made.

After approximately 5 hours of pretty much continuous work, we've gotten all the backyard shrubs under some semblance of control, made progress on the "weed-bed" in the sideyard, and mowed the front and back yard. We have some very cool neighbors who lent us their wheelbarrow and long-handled loppers, which made work go even faster (...all we had beforehand was the top of a banana box and some hand clippers). It feels soooooooo good to have gotten all of that done, but we still have a ton of yardwork left to do.

I don't think I ever realized how much things grow in pretty much the month of AUGUST around here.

Or how, in the course of a week or two, the weather goes from blazing hot to autumny cool.

I love autumn.

The Yard Wars

Slightly Overgrown.

That one phrase, I think, could perhaps describe more than just the yard at the moment.

Despite our growing arsenal of yard-care implements, the weeds continue to send their runners out to the far reaches of the yard and sprout again. Since this weekend, the freshly weeded neighbor-side of our yard has sprouted yet again, and so I'm conflicted about what sort of action to take. (I fought back with pre-treat stuff this morning... take that weeds!) It seems like I can't sit still, cause the weeds'll just keep growing... but I am NOT going to spend the whole day out there. :-p At the moment, it seems the best recourse might be spending a smaller chunk of time more frequently (with Jeromie, cause battling the yard is much more pleasant and much less discouraging when he's working beside me!). But that, of course, will require some discipline. We also need to call our landlord-type-people to see what kind of planting we can do to occupy all the open spaces.

Slightly Overgrown could also describe...

the mail situation - mail around the house behaves in a suspiciously similar manner to the ivy out back
the craft room - also known as the disaster area; it's the only room that still has unpacked boxes, but what's worse is that they're opened... just not unpacked... and their contents, being homeless, seem to straggle about the room.
Molly - or more specifically her FUR, which is everywhere and back in force less than a day after we sweep!

I feel like I should have these things all under control, especially since I'm still hunting for employment, but I DON'T and that's frustrating sometimes.

Aight. Now, with spirits somewhat lighter, I shall re-enter the fray! (with the realization that these are silly things to be battling and becoming frustrated with... and thus just working as best i can)

Lilo & 2 Stitches

Hehe, I have now had stitches twice in my life! Don't worry, I'll spare you... no pictures! For some reason, it's kind of tempting though!

Of all ways to get stitches, mine might be one of the dumbest... I was unloading the dishwasher at my step-sister's place and dropped a ceramic mug all of one foot into the top rack of the dishwasher. Not thinking it would break (cause it shouldn't have), I reached down to pick it up as it was falling and thus sliced my palm... cause the mug cracked in pretty much half. Needless to say, I'm feelin' pretty dumb, but pretty blessed since it could've been worse. :-)

On the previous subject of George MacDonald, Jeromie promptly located a site called Project Gutenberg (sp?) where all sorts of pre-copyright books are posted for general use in electronic format. As far as I can tell most of his are in their original forms, which is EXCELLENT. I promptly got my paws on one of the stories I'd been looking for at the booksale, called The Wise Woman, and loved it. George MacDonald's approach to storytelling, and conveying truth in story, is insightful and incredible to me, and so I am rather thankful to have access to his original writings. Now I'm trying to temper my reading of them with other books as well, as much as I'd like to just curl up with them all one after the other!

Another book I've been reading lately is J.I. Packer's Knowing God, and it's been thoroughly challenging to me. Perhaps that's why I haven't been as consistent as I should in reading it. As much as I very much want to be changed, there are moments (many) where I shy away from the conviction that the Spirit brings... because God is God and I, most certainly, am NOT... which is a very very *good* thing. I have more wonderings to explore related to this, but right now I've run out of time.

Off I go to begin crafting a fantastic work of art called home-made pizza. Ha. Or maybe off I go to begin crafting a plain old home-made pizza, as it will likely not be particularly artistic. :-D