Happy Homemaking

Today is the end of my summer.  Tomorrow I begin the routine of getting up at 6 Monday through Friday and working until 4 or 5.  Tomorrow I begin the time of the year when I come home exhausted and ready to plop myself down on the couch.  It's been a great summer and although my "summer" comes to a close tonight when my head touches that pillow, I can say that I've done everything that I wanted to do.  I even worked three weeks at summer camp.

When I wasn't at work, we moved into our house, I made sure the house was clean, that dinner was on the table every night, and that I finished various projects like putting up pictures on the walls, organizing random things around the house and working on crafty stuff.  The main goal of this summer was to get settled enough in the house to feel comfortable and well... settled!  I accomplished that.

This weekend I made sure to finish up any loose ends, doing any work that might be a pain later when I've been all day on my feet.  I practically locked myself indoors last week finishing up a quilt that I began over a year ago.  I learned how to make the Pineapple Blossom Scrappy Quilt at a workshop awhile back and still had 10 blocks to construct.  Not only did I finish the blocks but I pieced all 20 together, put the sashing and border on it and began hand quilting it!

So far 4 out of 20 quilt blocks have been quilted.

I also had four pink Knock-Out roses that I bought about a month ago that were finally ready to be put in the ground.  Despite the rain that we've had this past week, the ground was not forgiving and I thought I was going to have to get some serious machinery to dig four measly holes for these things.  Our clay soil isn't going to be the easiest to "fix up" and I think landscaping is going to be a slow and laborious task.  Three blisters, and aching body and reduced energy stores later I had my roses planted - and boy do they look nice.  The aches and pains of digging in cement-like soil is definitely worth it!

Not a great view but I didn't want to get wet and muddy to take this pic!

We had plans to begin digging out the rectangles where the first of our raised beds will be but it decided to rain all day.  I'm disappointed we weren't able to get a start on it, but secretly relieved -now I can rest!  Instead I began this morning by making Lemon Bars and after a trip to Wal-Mart, I made a successful batch of 30-Minute Mozzarella!  It was probably the best mozzarella we've ever had.  I can't wait to share it with others tomorrow!

This 30-Minute Mozzarella recipe came from "The Backyard Homestead" by  Carleen Madigan
It's our go-to guide for all things self-sufficient!

All in all, I've had a great time being Mrs. Happy Homemaker this summer.  Just because I go back to the grind tomorrow doesn't mean I'll stop, it just means I'll have to slow down.  Despite not having the option to sleep in or stay up late, I'll be glad to be back in a routine.  We've got a lot of work ahead of us and just in time for cooler temperatures and little to no humidity!

And here's Honza because he's so cute!