Friday bullets, July 10, 2020

Some weeks feel longer than others. This one felt like a long one.

• We finally had a huge thunderstorm last night. It certainly helped the temperature here. It did not help the fly situation, though. The horses are miserable despite fly masks and gallons of fly spray.
• I paid K. in ice cream to feed and water the chickens earlier this week. It was just too hot for me to contemplate adding chickens on to horses. Ice cream seems to be the ultimate bribe. 
• The cucumbers in the garden are exploding. Any minute now I will be inundated with dozens of cucumbers all at once. This is probably good since we opened our last jar of dill pickles a couple of days ago. But still, the vines are everywhere. It kind of feels like The Blob but in cucumber vine form.
• We have been able to swim a couple of days this past week. A good friend of ours, who only lives a few minutes away, has offered us use of their pool. We are very grateful.
• J. and I got to go out to dinner a few nights ago. We ate (outside) at a restaurant at a small airport that does sky diving. (No, we didn't sky dive. There is not enough money in the world to get me to jump out of plane.) But there were sky divers while we were there. This is going to sound rather silly, but oh my goodness! I knew the planes were high when the parachuters jumped, but I had no idea quite how high. You couldn't even really see them until their chutes opened. 
• You have no idea how often I have bit my tongue and not replied to something over the past week. Every time a new parent interested in homeschooling posts that they are looking for something that doesn't require any effort on their (the parent's) part, I feel the need to inwardly scream. I just don't know how to make these current covid-school-avoiders understand how very different homeschooling is. It's not just another public school option that the parent doesn't have to be involved in. 
• I looked at one of the gardens a couple of days ago and suddenly realized that had a rather large quantity of green beans ready to be picked. It's kind of like they all appeared over night. 
• It was an expensive week. Both the farrier and the vet were here. (The vet just for yearly shots and tests, nothing dire.)
• It stinks that money is needed for so very many things.
• One child, who shall remain nameless, put clean laundry down the laundry chute one too many times. This child will now be learning to work the washing machine because I will not do that child's laundry any more.
• I have toads living in my garden. They sometimes surprise me when I go to pick lettuce.
• Anyone local want a free child's play kitchen? I have one I'm trying, unsuccessfully, to give away. If I don't find a new owner for it soon, I'm probably going to have to take it to a thrift store and donate it.
• I did not buy the pony cart at the barn sale I went to today, but I did stop and think about it for a moment. But it seemed silly since I have no pony to pull it, nor place to put either cart or pony.

And since I am falling asleep, I'm going to stop here. I'm sure there were other things I was going to share. I even told myself to write them down on a list so I wouldn't forget. I forgot to write the list and have no idea what I was going to write on it.