It was so cool yesterday morning that the Tall Teenager and I weeded for more than the usual hour or so. 
I had watered the day before and the pulling was good so soon not only was I missing breakfast, but I was fast missing lunch. I will catch up on the rest this afternoon I thought, gaily yanking out the dreadfully tall weeds, laying onions out to dry, sowing more zuchinni and cucumber. Well, if it is going to be a long hot summer you never know what we can achieve as long as we keep successive sowing. 
There are a lot of slaters in the soil. I believe they are my problem, eating the roots of the plants, so I am going to water a section with the dishwashing water each evening. They hate soap.
By 11am I was thinking of cleaning out the pig pen before cleaning up to eat, I was filthy anyway, when a truck came up the drive followed by a grader and a semi and some other smelly contraption and they had some left over bitumen from a job down the road and did we want the leftovers laid by the shed at cost.
Not wanting to contribute to the awful waste of stuff like this and before I had managed a confused ok, they had taken their shirts off and got to work. Oh dear. By now it was really hot and I still had all these weeds to feed out before they wilted and the pig pen to do and oh my, the yard was full of barely clothed tall men tanned to all shades, all smiles. They brightened and stopped work to ask me questions every time I was in earshot. Then I heard this shout Cows Out and turned in horror but it was just Daisy and Hairy walking to the fence to see if they had any food. They all had to stop and have a look. You milk her? Yes. They all looked at her, then looked at me, then looked back at her and shook their heads. Her big head nodding from one to the other.
Then it was done, they all disappeared back down the drive on the backs of trucks and standing behind machines and were gone like strange tall fairies. Tarmac is not sustainable I thought to myself. But they would have dumped it otherwise and it is all nice and tidy looking, and oh dear now I will have to trim the hedges.
Kupa likes it.
So do his girls. The Tall Teenager whizzed past on the skateboard. The momentum of the day whizzed along behind him. 
My day became a blur. Now I really was behind. I had been trying to get back to the computer to read and reply to all your messages while I had a munch, this is my favourite part of the blog day but the internet was so slow it could not even remember how to write its own name. And I did not have time to wait.
I made a sausage casserole in the crockpot with a summer sauce from the garden. Then it was 3pm with growing heat. I had to get ready for the milking and feeding out and the afternoon chores and still no breakfast or lunch, or even a sit down and my feet were literally hurting, my head loose on its moorings, so I made the blueberry, walnut, silverbeet and home made icecream smoothie in a jar with my new hand held blender. Then drunk it out of the jar so fast I gave myself hypothermia of the brain. Then sorted boxes of old fruit and veges delivered from the store into the feed buckets. It was getting hotter and hotter.
The humidity like a fog.
I milked and cleaned that up, John came home, staggering into the pool after a day in the heat. Then I cleaned the barn, fed and watered the animals, began the evening watering, had a shower, hung the yoghurt up to drain, strained and stored the milk. By then the boys had dinner mostly assembled, and so we ate and I cleaned that mess up, then looked at the evenings work and there was just no way. The laundry, the watering, sheep feet. Debris scattered about. John was already asleep in his clothes. The Tall Teenager had disappeared as they do at the sight of dirty dishes. I looked at the litter in the house and was overcome. Do you ever get to that stage where you just cannot do anymore? A wall comes down like a blind. STOP, it says on the inside of the blind.
By not it was 8pm. So I took the dogs for a walk. Then opened up the internet again and trawled very very slowly through a few blogs. My connection would not even load the comments sections in most of them which is mean because I love to tell you I love your work. But I was sitting. That was good.
Good morning. Sometimes Gretchen says it best. This is a very well timed post for all of us.
And Elladee made some very interesting observations about the journey to living a good clean green life on her site. The last quote of the page is priceless. My connection whizzes along in the early early morning.
The Post Mistress told me, when she dropped in yesterday, that it was going to be 103 today. Ah well. We are getting better at managing. I am sure you are too. It is summer after all.
My neighbour bought in a bucket load of cucumbers to pickle, swapping them for tomatoes, so today I will make more summer tomato sauce and then dill pickles. I will need more jars soon!! Not that IS exciting.
Have a lovely day.
celi
On this day a year ago. Mary’s Cat meets The Bad Thing. This is a very sweet, very short series of images. If the little ones in your house are up you can show them. It still makes me laugh. I have put this one aside for the children’s book. Though the dialogue needs work!
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
88 responses to “Not always in control but momentum gets us to the end”
That picture of Kupa just begs the caption “Why did the peacock cross the road?” 🙂 Be careful in this heat now.
You are such a quick thinker for captions Miss T.. clever! c
It looks like Kupa has a hen hood ornament! It’ll be 80˚ up in Michigan. Lucy’s in the car and it’s’s loaded. All that’s left is Max & I. Have a great week, Celi. Be careful today in the heat. 🙂
‘Oh no please don’t go. We’ll eat you up, we love you so!’ and Max said No. (I am sure you know that this is a line from Where the Wild Things are!) I can quote the whole book verbatim (that is how many children i have and how few lines there are). The lines run through my head every time I hear you talk of Max and now at last it is almost appropriate! Love to Zia.
Sometimes I just get so exhausted reading your posts! Do take it easy celi and after my “chasing my tail” day today preparing for the trip tomrorow, I´ll be back with you again soon!
Have a great time, i hope there is not too much work getting the cottage in order for the renters, maybe you can have a wee holiday too! c
Oh, I could feel the heat and the press of work not yet done as I read this! I get to the point where I just shut down once in a while, usually when I am laying Kaya down to sleep at night and in spite of all the jobs left to do, sometimes I just give in and drift off until sunup.
My mother said with toddlers sleep when they do, there is not much rest in between! c
Morning! We have summer here now: mid-80sF. Rain expected again in a few days, just in time for the Games to start. Figures. Glad to hear that you have a handblender now. Do you like it? I love mine. Makes great mayo, too.
Oh of course, you will have the worst weather ever now that the Olympics is due to start!! I am thrilled to bits with the hand blender, what was i thinking!? It is so fast and so easy to clean.. c
Oh NO!! My Luddite friend is turning to the dark side! 😉 I wouldn’t want to be without mine; it makes life so much easier.
the dark side indeed!! (laughter) c
Now you be careful there young lady, all that excessive whizzing around with NO FOOD and you”ll be seeing stars again! I’m sure that your mum told you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and for good reason!
Christine
And I am off to the old codgers to cook us our thrice weekly brunch. So i will be well fed today! c
What a day! I’ll admit, I was slightly concerned when I checked in before bed last night – at 8:30 – and saw you hadn’t replied to anyone… The garden looks amazing!
Have a great day today!
Good point marie, i should leave a message that ‘all is well just rotton internet and tired body!!’ I will remember next time. I hate it when you worry! c
oh my, stop, stop for breakfast and lunch, sit down for it. Breathe, breathe. There’s always more to do. This heat is so taxing on the body.
Morning joss, I will do better today for sure.. it is the hydrating i really need to improve on.. c
for sure. A couple of years ago I suffered from heat exhaustion and it took months to get over it. Lots of water for you, shade whenever you can and a sun hat for sure. Just being a mom here. heh heh.
Thanks Mum and you will be pleased to know that i wear my big floppy wedding hat every time i step out the door.. mainly because I am vain of course but it makes all the difference out there.. have a lovely day.. c
Thanks for link!
Thank you for the info!! c
I think after reading about your day celi and the heat I’ll go and have a lie down. Sorry I couldn’t resist that!
By the way what are slaters ?
Hard grey little ridged insects that you often find in outdoor pots, they are underground bugs.. nasty little blighters! c
got it now – woodlice, I bet the chickens and birds love them!
I’m in agreement with the other that you need to be careful. Take time to slow down and eat and hydrate and rest and rejuvenate lest you once again see stars. Alright?
Yes Mum! Yesterday got away on me.. today will be more in order.. touch wood! c
I have been trying an experiment with watering the areas where slaters and slugs collect with diluted leftover whey, or any fermented projects that have become science projects………with great results!
I also have a slug trap; a plastic bottle cut off at the shoulders,with the neck inverted into the bottle and then buried in the soil. I pour in a small amount of beer……or better still draught guinness, which they just love…….you do need to place a bowl or tile over the bottle to stop any kamikaze frogs leaping in.
Hmm, I have whey dripping out of the yoghurt i shall try that today, I know exactly where those slaters are the worst too.. what an excellent idea I shall try that today! Thank you.. c
My ducks and chicks keep slugs and such to a minimum, now if I could get get them to eat weeds…:)
Take it slow on those hot prairie days…oh, by the way – I made sausage casserole for dinner last night..with veggies from the garden!
J
Snap! I love that casserole, and all those veges are great in it.. wise minds and all that!! c
i love those days when you hit the wall and just can’t do more and fall into a deep deep sleep. it is funny how the animals check out anything new in their world. i’ve been making sauerkraut and refrigerator dills. are you getting rain today? have you been making butter and how is that working out?
The butter is only about once every ten days or so as the ice cream is stealing all the cream!I look forward to the dill pickles, they are my favourites.. c
I don’t know how you do it all – you amaze and inspire me!
I am annoyed with myself though because I thought i detected a whine in my writing this morning! It is just a little life. No reason to whine! c
I didn’t detect the slightest hint on a whine – unlike me omg whining all the time lately – sorry.
you have something to whine about though honey.. c