Just a little check in here from the sunny Texas prairie… how are YOU doing, June Bug?
Random facts for your week:
Down here in the South, June Bugs are silly, clumsy bugs that get into all sorts of mischief and can’t seem to keep themselves standing upright because of their obsession with porch lights and bumping into anything that prevents them from chasing the glow. A junebug can also be an artistic summery young girl (I have a niece that would fit the bill), a young kid that can’t sit still and is always causing a bit of trouble even when they aren’t trying (have a couple of those that live with me), an alcoholic cocktail with melon and banana and other tropical things (we don’t drink, so I wouldn’t be having one of those – however a mocktail might work if you love those flavors), and there are QUITE a few other slang meanings for the term I won’t even mention.
Around this tiny little Texas farm, June Bugs are part of nearly every glance around outside lately… they have been bumbling around since the earliest part of May and my boys feel sorry for them and are always saving them from death and destruction when they get in trouble (nearly squashed by the garage door, floating in buckets of rain water, lying upside down perilously close to ant mounds, etc.).
It’s sad that the BUMBLE bee gets a bad rap for how slow and awkward he flies, when clearly, June Bugs are the world’s least graceful or efficient insect.
My boys love their bugs. They sure have enough of them to study out here.
Right now they even have a spider in their bathroom they’ve nicknamed “Wolfie”. Wolfie is a huge banana spider. The kind most suburban housewives would scream for their husband over. I asked them to take him outside in a jar and they complained that he was their bathroom pet.
WHAT???
Country life has grown on them really quickly, apparently…
I like bugs, too, but just not in my bed or on my cats. The fleas are bad right now and I can’t put drops on their necks again for a while, so we are going later to grab a bottle of flea shampoo to attempt a CAT BATH.
A bath for a cat would be no big deal in the suburb on my poor old city cat who disappeared last December (rest his soul)… but these two cats are not BATH CATS. I doubt the old farm kitty has ever been wet in his life from anything other than rain when he was running to hide under the house. I hope I live to blog another day after attempting to apply the flea shampoo … you can go ahead and start praying for me.
Here’s what’s new around here since our last update…
- The boys cleaned up their room after big brother moved out (image above so I can remind them what it looks like every day when they ask me “NOW CAN I GET ON THE IPAD?”). We are now down to four people and the house is feeling a little less snug.
- Koko started his 4th Grade math book in June. Pigs are flying now that I have a math-lover. One out of four kids is better odds than none, right? I’ve NEVER had a kid beg me to crack open a new math book before they finished the last one or DURING SUMMER when my guard was down.
- The newer vehicle we have is in the shop getting a transmission repair. Thank God for Nissan’s warranty. I’ve got a bright red loaner (not my favorite color for a car – I audibly groaned when he pulled the vehicle around for me). I’m tempted to drive to Washington State just for fun! Not sure I could explain that sort of mileage – but I’m totally down for it. Think I could make it there and back in just 3-4 days? FIELD TRIP FEVER!!! It’s a good thing I’m broke. My husband and my bank account keep me anchored for sure.
- I started work on the den. I emptied the shelves on one wall in prep for a nice coat of white paint on the paneling. I’ve given up dreams of built ins, and instead, I’m going to put shelving right on the walls across the entire thing. WALL TO WALL books, baby. I’m so sick of tripping on boxes of unopened books that we need to be able to organize for next year’s school that I could scream. I’m getting estimates on carpet also…. but that is far off after more pennies are saved… and the siding and leveling may have to come first.
{Did I mention that old houses are expensive? Sorry for the broken record.}
- I’m also sick of storage. Still digging out. One box at a time. I suppose this is God’s way of breaking me of EVER BECOMING A HOARDER. Honestly, I would rather strike a match than ever have to move all of this junk again. I’m learning to get a little less attached to stuff and a lot more focused on what really matters…. PEOPLE and your relationships with them.
- FOOD has been happening. I am getting fatter by the week. Bummer, really… but so much yum. Tomorrow I’m having lunch with a long lost friend who is passing through and we are going to eat fancy stuff.
All those home and garden and cottage magazines mama left me have been slowly dwindling and I’ve torn off every page that interests me… recipes, decorating ideas, how-to DIY projects, travel inspiration, local state events that repeat annually, garden tips, you name it. I’ve been using the pages to help me make menus. I keep a “this week” idea folder after I look and see what’s in the fridge Sunday night.
I make my menu Sunday evening or Monday morning over breakfast. Tomorrow’s lunch is from Better Homes & Gardens 2004, 2016, and 2009. I literally had nearly 20 years worth of magazines to sort through when we moved in here…. and I’m down to a depressing little stack of 18 left to go. It’s my ‘thing’ every other night or so to casually flip through a couple of them before bed. They are almost all gone. It’s like another slice of mama disappearing on me… like the almost empty tissue box she bought that sits on the little antique end-table by my bedroom door.
Imma cry.
I’m gonna cry when the magazines are gone, when the tissues are gone, and probably lots of other times. I do it all the time. Everywhere I look in this house there are reminders of her. I’m also nearly out of her home-made turmeric, garlic, parsley, pink-salt seasoning mix. WHAT IF I CAN’T MIX ANOTHER BATCH LIKE SHE DID??????
I can’t think about that right now.
Want to know what I’m making for lunch tomorrow?
Broccoli over a bed of lemon-zested orzo and rice mix, tossed with roasted pine nuts, fresh parsley, black pepper and parmesan.
Tiny pear salad in a glass… a mix of bite-sized Irish cheese slivers, toasted walnuts, greens, pear slices, and a drizzle of lemon, pink salt, honey and olive oil.
Berry cooler made with sparkling water, mild herbal tea (peony or some other non-caffeinated tea), organic juice (maybe elderberry or cherry), fresh berries and lemon slices.
Mmmmmmm.
Better Homes and Gardens magazine is so grandiose. I love it. It’s so much better than losing your eyesight to Pinterest. Back in my day, sonny, we had recipes on paper and it didn’t matter if you ran out of batteries on your iPad. That never came between you and your lunch.
And now I can’t wait until tomorrow. LUNCH! Friends are good, too. Don’t get me wrong. Lunch AND FRIENDS.
- OH, yes… I forgot… I actually picked a squash today from what you might call “my garden”. The squash plants are everywhere… pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, I don’t even know what they all are. This is the first actual PRODUCE I’ve gotten. One beautiful, perfect yellow summer squash.
WOOHOO!!!
Too bad my kids hate squash. I just THIS WEEK got the boys to eat it in soup without picking it out. The youngest was telling his brother Monday night when I made home made chicken “Stoup” that the squash “just tastes like broth”.
Yay for nutrition winning!
My daughter still to this day will not eat ANYTHING she suspects squash to be a part of. I sent her a photo of the squash today after I picked it saying, “LOOK, MOMO! A squash JUST FOR YOU!” You can imagine her response. Something along the lines of “grosssssssssssssssssssssss”. As usual.
Remind me to tell you sometime about the last time I ever MADE her eat her squash at Applebee’s. It was the last time we ever ate there, too. She was like 6 maybe? I don’t know. I have tried to put it out of my mind so I don’t need counseling.
Whose kidding you, June Bug… you know I need counseling. Thanks for being such a great listener.
What’s up in your world?
What are you doing this summer? Anything fun? Anything funner than renovating a farm house in slow-motion on less than a dime while tripping over more stuff than you know what to do with? Anything that involves NO SCORPIONS WHATSOEVER?!?!!
Tell me about it. Please. Please tell me about it.
I like remembering what suburban normal life was like. So clean, spacious and carefree…. and so many less bugs.