Brain dump.

With any luck, this weekend will be quiet. I want to give the house a good cleaning, perhaps, as much as I can with Casey underfoot. I did a lot of cooking this week, and the kitchen is a mess. If Casey's in with me, it'll keep him out of Josh's way, as he lays the invisible fence. I'm looking forward to start Casey training on that, too. It'll give him room to run without being tethered to a leash. That'll make him happy.

The summer seems to be slipping away. August is coming to an end. The garden is waning, sort of. I've been a huge slacker when it comes to picking green beans, because there are fewer when I go out each time, and I already have so many put away. The tomatoes are producing happily. The yellow ones, anyway. The "purple" tomatoes are just starting to change from green to their ripe color, and a few Romas are looking redder. I discovered that yellow-orange spaghetti sauce is kind of weird. I don't think Josh liked it. I've yet to harvest a squash, though I'm thinking of pulling the biggest of them. I'm also thinking of making fried squash blossoms out of the huge number of male flowers that are doing me no good. I'll have something come out of this monster squash plant, doggone it!

The end of summer seems to approach even faster as I realize how few weeks are left until the fall weddings we have on our calendar. I bought the gifts for both of them last weekend, and travel plans are falling into place. We have a late-winter wedding on our calendar, too, but that still seems so far off. The school buses that now lumber by while I'm walking Casey in the morning and the darkness that lingers later in the morning and comes earlier in the evening are more reminders of the approaching fall.


Maybe the slowing garden and slowing yardwork will allow me to stay in more and read and write... I have a huge backlog of book reviews to write. I do have a couple books finished with the reviews floating around in my head, and another pile of books yet to read. One bonus of being a part of the book-review program is that, if I find a good book, I can put it in the church's library collection. It will be fun to give these new authors some exposure. Alas, though, some of these books won't make the cut. Maybe I'm a picky librarian. I don't feel too bad- the previous librarian weeded through donations and refused to add a Joel Osteen book to the collection. I applauded her. Also, we don't add any more Left Behind series books- seriously, we have enough.

Among other things, this week has been full of games- Settlers and Carcassonne at home, and Agricola at work. It had been a while since I had played any games- I've enjoyed it. Especially in the evenings- it has been a great way to unwind. To round out the week of farming games, I feel like I should play Bohnanza tonight.

And, this brain dump has started and ended with harvesting beans. That's enough for now.