This weekend was one of those that seems busy at the time and then when I look back on it I feel very little sense of accomplishment. I find I connect strongly, at those times, to this quote from Jane Austen:

“Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings.”

In fact, last night, Hubs had to give me a pep talk as I dismayed over “not doing enough.” Now that I’ve taken the time to look back over it, I guess we did accomplish a few things, though. For example: 

We hit up a few thrift stores Friday night after dinner. It was a good time, and I scored a few things worth interest. One was this awesome fake pumpkin which a steal of a deal compared the their prices at craft stores. And it’s in perfect condition. I love that I can keep if year after year, inside, without it rotting. I’m not sure yet if I’ll carve it or leave it whole…we’ll see.

I also picked up a little project that I’m planning in terms of some winter decorations. There’s nothing especially secretive about it, but I’ll wait to show it to you then.

I spent $.99 each on two stacking file racks to serve as an organizing tool for my to-be-filed paperwork in the office.

I’m a sucker for any increase in organization.

I also grabbed two skirts which aren’t really of importance here and another dish to add to my collection of plates that I want to hang on the kitchen wall soon. Which brings me to the next point…the kitchen.

We had a meeting on Friday with the kitchen designer at Home Depot to see about starting the process of redoing our kitchen! It’s pretty exciting and also kind of scary. But mostly exciting. And also expensive. We’ll try to keep you all posted as that project comes together over the next several months.

Oh, and I spent Sunday afternoon beginning battle with the white flies in our garden that have moved on to the tomatoes after pretty nearly destroying the cucumbers. (It’s late in the season now so I’m not really too angry or sad, although I do have new energy in my fight against them because there’s a lot of tomatoes still out there that I hope to not lose!)

After some online research, I’ve found that there are a lot of little efforts I can take so I tried a few of them.

We’d already tried using a soap/rosemary spray on the cucumbers, with no real benefit. Here’s the underside of one of the worst leaves:

So I blew up a few balloons, coated them in Vaseline, and then taped them in and around the tomato plants. The white flies were very interested in the yellow ones (I also tried white and green because I didn’t have that many yellow ones) and several were stuck on there.

Sadly, a lot still seem to be on the tomatoes and I fear we’ll lose them too in good time. Still, every one that sticks to the balloons gives the tomatoes a bit more chance at life, right?

Feel free to give us suggestions if you know how to beat these critters!

I also tried filling cups with yellow soapy water, and a few have been lured into those traps, but again, it’s a small victory in a battle I seem to be destined to lose.

So, I set about preparing for “winter gardening” inside by replacing some of my dead herbs with some new varieties.

I realize in such small pots, they just can’t, and won’t, live, much less thrive, forever. So, I gave in that these had, at last, gotten so root-bound that they were goners.

We picked up two replacements (chives and oregano) in the grocery section (garden centers around here are long gone in favor of Christmas displays) so I don’t expect them to last super long either, unfortunately, since they aren’t really made to be planted and kept for long time periods.

But I  plan to grab a parsley and maybe one other once they have more selection for the holidays. If nothing else, I appreciate the little bit of cheerful greenery and freshness that bring to the kitchen.

Also, Wyatt mowed the yard, which takes awhile since it’s so large. But we both believe the time is well spent and wouldn’t trade our yard for any of the others we saw while house-hunting.

We also spent Saturday night with friends and Sunday night enjoying some homemade taco salads. Sunday morning was devoted to church and Saturday morning to a pretty satisfying 8.5 mile run and 2 mile walk, for which I convinced Hubs to join me. (the walk–not the run!)

Tell us what you did this weekend. Do you have that sense of “unaccomplishment” that sometimes haunts me on Sunday nights? I’ve found that these cases tend to only be resolved with a plan for productivity the next week and a look back at everything we really accomplished.