The land of the evaporating summer

I'm certain that I've never experienced a summer that is going as fast as this one seems to be. Perhaps it is because I'm trailing a very active almost 15 month old, or because we're settling and unpacking, still. Or maybe because of acclimating to a busy schedule of meetings, youth ministry and dreams for the future of the coffeehouse. Since my blog is primarily to remind me of what I'm certain to forget in busy-ness like this I want to pause and record a bit.
Normally a summer would've included more schooling in the hot weeks of June than this one has. However, I do have our school stuff unpacked, organized and I feel more ready to tackle the books. We will be doing school in July. We will. We will. If I repeat it enough times, with enough feeling, it will happen, won't it?! Today the baby has been happily playing with his toys and not hanging on my legs whimpering and whining. A good day that makes me feel as if we really will be able to accomplish something!
We've gardened a little, too little according to the incredibly high weeds. The corn was really planted too late and didn't grow at all.  Neither did the carnations or coneflowers. The sunflowers are already taller than Kaity and will be magnificent. The zinnias are blooming now and are wonderful. Kaity and I took pictures then cut handfuls for a beautiful arrangement. Today we shredded zucchini to freeze for making zucchini bread, about 18 cups of it! More zucchini are on the way as well as yellow squash. The tomatoes are almost ready. We've tasted some of the early tomatoes and it was heavenly. I love homegrown tomatoes so much. We were given sweet corn, which I blanched and froze. We were given apricots, which I canned (it was my first time to can anything.)
We are getting more involved at church and are learning so much about the coffeehouse. Gaylen has been learning the ins and outs of web site design and the FireEscape Coffeehouse website is up, but still being perfected. I'm learning to use Adobe Photoshop and I love it. I wish I had more time to learn the amazing things that program can do.

Dreaming in Green

Some of my dreams for our future include gardening, as we get ready to leave the Houston metroplex. I would love nothing more than to have an acre or ten with a huge garden, chickens, goat, other various small livestock and a stream running through it all. I am such a idealist and I'm pretty sure I have no idea how much work that would really be! But the idea of self-sufficiency in growing some of our own food is so appealing to me. Right now we are in the middle of suburbia and I feel suffocated! I've felt for the longest time that I don't really fit in with some gals here who love shopping and getting their nails done. Those are fun things to do, but this girl dreams of digging into rich dark earth and watching new life sprout from dead seeds. Some dear friends, Shane and Christina, have offered to share their yard for the interim while we look for a house of our own (we'll be staying in a furnished apartment when we first move.) I'm not sure if they realize just how big my garden dreams are:
Espaliered dwarf or semi-dwarf fruit trees
Composting
Vegetable gardening
Flowers for cutting
Collecting rain water for watering plants

Time will tell if my dreams will become reality. Giving the kids a chance to watch a garden grow will be such a valuable learning experience, even if we have to start small with container gardening and work our way up to my huge garden dreams. I've added some gardening links to my Homemaking page and will be visiting them when I have a few spare moments to daydream!