Farewell, friend Summer!

Ah, me! So much has happened this summer, and I've done so very little blogging.  And now it's nearly time to head back to school again.

This summer has flown by.  On May 5, 2010, I was looking ahead to what I wanted to be a care-free, lazy, perfect summer.  What actually happened wasn't too far off from that, but as usual there were so many things I had planned to do and never did, and just as many things I hadn't planned on that I ended up doing.  Let's see...

*     I painted and redecorated my "suite".  This took a lot of perseverance, let me tell you.  I wanted it done.  NOW.  And it took foreeevverrrrrr!!!!  I'm so glad that it's finished now, and I can relax and enjoy it for years to come. :)

*     Planted and actually maintained a healthy, green, flowering garden. (*shock and surprise*)  We'll see if those beans produce...

*     I knitted and crocheted quite a few small items, and sewed an apron, hemmed a skirt and some shorts.

*     I corresponded with three people the old-fashioned paper way, and e-corresponded with a few others.  This is something I've been meaning to get better about for a while.  Still working on it, but improving, I hope....

*     I got to spend time with good friends-- afternoons at the park, coffee dates, runs to wal-mart, berry-picking, water parks.  Time deepening relationships with friends is time well spent!

*     I went on mission to Hungary!!!  I still miss them over there, but I'm excited to hopefully continue some of those relationships via Facebook. (the world's plugged in....)

*     But most importantly, I got to meet my precious niece this summer.  She's absolutely adorable.  No bias here, of course.

I think the main thing that I'll take away from this summer, though, is that it's ok to take life slowly.  After three crazy academic years in a row, I tend to stress about how I spend my time.  Not like I'm great at time management or anything, it's just I always feel guilty that I'm "wasting time" if I'm doing anything other than homework.  It took me almost a month to fully relax and re-learn how to spend my time doing constructive things that are unassociated with the word "school".  I'm still learning, but I feel that I'm entering my sophomore year with more than just an academic focus.  I can have hobbies.  I can do other things without having to feel like I'm wasting precious minutes, because I know I'm not.

Well, I suppose it's time to move on to the next subsection of this chapter of my life-- "Sophomore Year"

Goal #2: Planting and tending a garden

 Check!

My garden is finally planted and ready to maintain!  I "finished" it about a week or two ago, but wanted to wait for a few flowers, etc, before photographing and posting. :)

I purchased several of the plants and then transplanted them into my garden, such as the alyssum (along the path), the carnation (by the steps), and primrose (along the path, by the lawn).

Others I rescued from not-so-ideal locations in our yard, like this little petunia.  There were two of these along the path at the side of our house... they were growing in a bed of pebbles!

Ah, "The Prince" (according to David Austin).  This rose-bush is the veteran of my little garden.  He's been through quite a bit over the years, and has managed to survive and thrive through about 6 years of neglect.

And then others I planted from seed, like this bean plant.  It's so big already!  I'm hoping it doesn't take over the back porch along with the rampant morning glory that decided to take root, uninvited, in my garden bed.

Well, those goals are accomplished.... now to finish this book!

Goal #1: Cleaning, reorganizing, redecorating, and repainting my room(s)

 \/  Complete!

I'm still working on some smaller things, like curtains, etc, but it's getting there.

I've been thinking about a color for the red bookshelf in the corner.  Pale or rose pink, white or heirloom white, brown....?  As you can see in the second pic, my poor, bed sheet-draped chair needs reupholstering.  At some point in the not-so-near future, I'll probably have to whip out my yet-to-be-purchased reupholstering guide and tackle the job myself.  (as professional reupholstering jobs are apparently terribly expensive)  Anyway, my next post shall be about Goal #2: my garden. :)

Oh yes, and apologies for the lack of posts during the past month or two.  I've been very frustrated with Blogger lately... it's been doing the craziest things to my posts.  I've written several, but then deleted them because they wouldn't post correctly!

Summer days

So many things I want to do this summer

and so little time to do them!

Two of them I've started:

1. Cleaning, reorganizing, redecorating, and repainting my room(s)

2. Planting and tending a garden

They're both coming along pretty well, but taking much longer than I had expected.

I forgot to take any "before" pictures, so here are some from "during"....

 This room is what will eventually be my drawing room. (So excited!)

Poor little teapot... so forlorn...

Can anyone say "too much junk"?

The garden....

it's like weeding the lawn...

but it's getting there!

I don't think I've ever seen so many WORMS in my LIFE!!!  When it's ready to plant, I'm going to put in some pale pink primroses, purple and white alyssum, red verbena, pink carnations, and lavender.  I also want to put in a couple pea plants and my little bean bush I've been growing in a pot since April.