Messy, Dusty and I Love It #30

Lance struggling with making a windbreaker

The pepper plants love the heat but not the wind. The directions say plant in a warm, sunny place out of the wind. Hahahaha. In Paulden? But we WANT peppers - all kinds. So we constructed a wind barrier around them while the wind was blowing at over twenty miles an hour. We didn't have time to get into Prescott or the money to buy anything special, so we used the row cover cloth. Our barrier lasted for a few hours. Lance and Christie had left when the wind picked up speed and began tearing through the cloth. Frank and I struggled to repair and add reinforcement. The wind here is so wicked. The house behind us got caught in a whirlwind and their stuff flew through the air

New and improved windbreaker

We had no choice but to rethink the design and buy better, stronger material. Discretionary funds are pretty depleted. But the peppers are happy. We had some tomatoes covered with blankets. Lance found the blankets were settled on them too heavy so he put windbreakers up for them, too. We'll just have to pay attention to the things that like to gnaw on them.

I've coined a new phrase and didn't realize it until my sister laughed at me. She called, asked what I was doing, and I said I was getting on my going into town clothes. The meaning, of course, changing out of dirty gardening clothes. I guess I do feel like I live way out there, and we do 'go into town.'

Adjusting. I'm still in that phase. I'm trying to decide which things I should keep working on and which I should say to hell with - let the situation adjust to me.

Okay - what to let go and what to adjust. I've complained about the dust before, and I'm not cleaning the floor everyday, but it still bothers me. Not adjusting. Until we moved here, I didn't kill - anything. Now, many bugs are my enemy. I've learned to kill. Adjusting. I like everything to have a place, and I do mean everything. No one else seems to care about this. I'm attempting to ignore or help others create places for their stuff. Halfway adjusting. We're on a fixed income. No more impulse buying. Adjusted. I prefer to write in the morning, when I feel most creative. BUT the garden work needs to be done in the morning before the heat is so overwhelming. So, I've found my afternoons can be creative. Adjusting most days.

And at the end of the day, my messy, dusty, unorganized existence is a happy one. I step outside, see the flowers on the perennials, the veggies in the garden and the lush green in the orchard. I sit with people I love at the table on the patio and share a meal (not cooked by me!), watch the sunset and enjoy.

I'll worry about the mess tomorrow. Unless I'm worrying about the wind or bugs taking out the plants.