Hello again! I have been alluding to a lot of activity and excitement here lately, and the truth is that I am so loaded with good stuff to do that I have not really slowed down to share much of it. The days and nights pass by like quicksilver. In fact, this morning I barely have time for a list. Exactly one and a half cups of coffee stand between me and the rest of this beautiful day, and I will use them to organize some of this chaotic energy.

• Th Apartment is messy again, big surprise; but the good thing is that all of the dresser drawers and the adjacent closet are empty, so the messes are soon to be corralled back into said drawers and closet. In a more organized, productive fashion, Oh, and the curtain dilemma has been more of less resolved. Thanks to some excellent advice and insight from all of you fine people, I know now exactly what I want up there. More on that eventually.
• Even in the midst of a messy Girly Apartment, crafts are running rampant in my life. Lampshades, yarnish things, paintings, apron sewing, and more are being squeezed out of or into every week. And I just love it. Our friend Marci recently had surgery (again) and one day had just barely enough energy to do a little one-handed crafting of her own. Hopefully she will let me share that soon.

• Books-books-books. Since our Dinner Club With a Reading Problem (DCWRP) meeting earlier this month, I have been raving non stop about Same Kind of Different as Me. And I do not apologize for that. It’s just so good. Read this book! Also since then I have enjoyed a Tom Clancy espionage thriller and some other easy stuff. I’m not saying it hasn’t been garden-related reading material or old poetry. Our next selection for DCWRP is The Horse Whisperer. It should arrive at the farm via Amazon any second now, and I cannot wait to dive in.

“Our limitation is God’s opportunity.” Amen amen amen. xoxoxoxo

• Speaking of books, I am considering the purchase of an E-reader. I know. My own eyes can’t stop rolling at myself.

Tiny T pities the fool who does not eventually embrace new technology.

• The garden is going just plain gangbusters. Except for the gross,weird, destructive squash bugs, every bed and every box is thriving. We get food and enjoy beauty daily. In fact, even the squash vines, under siege as they are, still throw  big, heavy veggies at me when I walk past. The melons are only a couple of weeks away from ripeness. The herbs… Ahh, friends… Even Handsome, who is decidedly not a scent-loving guy, enjoys the fragrant herb bed. This morning after Hot Tub Summit he inhaled appreciatively as he walked past it and said it smells like an Italian restaurant. I almost fainted.

• My children are growing up. I don’t talk about it here much because it breaks my heart a little and I barely know what to say. They are recently sixteen and very nearly eighteen and as beautiful inside and out as any two young women can possibly be. I am working on a special tribute to them but that will take some boldness to share. I do not mention it here even a fraction as much as it is on my mind. Which is constantly. But please know that God is answering prayer in this most precious chamber of my heart, and life is good. Very good.
• The farm animals are all doing great. Chanta’s leg has healed beautifully. Dulcinea is growing like a weed. In fact, I have lately been saying that the weeds are growing like llamas. Even our hens are producing again, making it more or less possible for me to sell fresh farm eggs for $3 per dozen.
• I’ve picked running back up, having laid it down gently in the midst of some hot weather and hectic schedules, and thereby having failed at my Iron Goat attempt. Anyway, while intense training for the full marathon next April will start right after the holidays, I am spending the next few months doing speed work and stress-relief runs. 
• Thanks to my ten-four good buddy Stephanie, my newest design obsession a luscious woman named Tracy Porter. I mean, her Pinterest boards and such are called, “Poetic Wanderlust.” Seriously. She doesn’t even need to be a real person for me to have a beautiful-girl crush on her. And the fact that Tracy Porter also has Instagram means that now I need an extra half hour in every day.

http://www.poeticwanderlust.com/

• The Apartment is not the only room getting a window-makeover around here. The downstairs living room has two new ball gowns, which I scored at a garage sale for ten bucks each. And the tiny kitchen window, which overlooks my beloved herb bed, is about to shed her silly turquoise cafe curtain with the black and white skinny ruffle… and start wearing something smarter and more grown up: A true-blue roman shade! Made of linen printed with monkeys and fruit, lest we get too serious around here. For this project I have enjoyed the advice of a friend and professional, and  I cannot WAIT to share those details!