Whew! What a Day!

 Whew! What a day! Michael hoped to leave the house about 9:30 and left at 1:30. He headed to Anchorage with his truck. A couple of weeks ago he took his truck in to have the auto start fixed. When he got it home the cruise control wouldn't work, and neither would the auto start. They said they had nothing to do with the cruise control but agreed to take a look at it.  He headed to Anchorage. They discovered they clipped a wire to the brake lights which IS tied to both the auto start and the cruise control in some way. They apologized, fixed the wire and all is working again. He also made a quick run into Costco. 

I value my alone time in the morning, and I had lots of it this morning. I spent some time in a book I'm reading, read the epistle of James and 1 Peter, and journaled a bit.  

Last night I left 4 loaves of bread to ferment. I had read the recipe and realized I was using more flour than the recipe called for and they said it should be sticky. I used the flour called for and it was VERY sticky, and the bread looks really odd this morning...it tastes good...but is flat and wrinkly. I do believe I'll go back to my previous way of determining how much flour to use - when it feels right. 

Only right to show the flops as well as the success

Allie got up about this time and left for work. Her boss wants her to work all shifts...so there you go.  I picked the house up a bit - it gets messier in the summer as I spend as much time as possible outside. 

I drove into town for a haircut. 

Though I DID go outside, greet the mama and her baby, let the chickens out, and water the garden, I didn't make it into the garden until Michael got out of here. I discovered I really NEED time in the garden. It lifted my spirits immensely.  Note by "greet mama and baby" I mean make enough noise to get Mama and Baby moving through the yard and back into the woods. 

Note - this is mama and baby back in the evening

I grabbed 30 minutes in the garden after Michael left. I discovered the first sugar peas. In keeping with my new determination to harvest rather than let things grow until they are giant and woody....I picked and ate. It was surprisingly yummy. 

I was happy to find new blossoms on several plants. I was starting to think only the toxic plants would flower. 

I discovered PURPLE asparagus coming up. WHAT? 

I watered the radish seeds I'd started, and the pumpkin starts waiting for more dirt so I can plant them. I dug around where there SHOULD be potato plants and found mushy potatoes. I pulled them out, sifted through dirt and planted a couple of sunflowers. I do like planting, watering and nurturing best. 😏I found one more teeny tiny potato plant poking through the dirt. All that weeding to find ONE teeny tiny plant. I think that'll preach! 

See it at the bottom of the photo?

 As I took the time to weed a row of potatoes, I was surprised to see one plant which had jumped right out of line with the others. I reached to pull the green "weed" from the wood chips and discovered a potato...how it moved over there I don't know...and it somehow ended up under the cardboard and woodchips....which were put in before I planted the potatoes. I delight in quirky and spontaneous and so I left it right there to grow. It's my garden - I can do what I want in it. 

Stacia studied Japanese and prepared for a fun day with a friend, Lorelei. It was a double bonus as I got to spend a couple of hours catching up with her mom, Melanie. I didn't take one photo. It did my heart good to spend time with a friend today. What a sweet surprise blessing. It threw off her whole afternoon. I appreciate her willingness to sit with me. 

Stacia left to take Lor home. Allie got off work. She, GG and I headed to the Delphi for dinner with Nolan. Stacia was there when we arrived. Michael came in as we ate. It was nice to end the day around the table with Nolan. His hand looks so much better than it did this time last week. It is no longer swollen. He's got more movement. It's still stiff and he says it feels like he is wearing a neoprene glove when he touches anything. He still has some dark spots on his hand. I think it's just a waiting game.