I’m writing this a little earlier than usual because I know we have a busy weekend coming up. We’re at the beginning of a heat wave, with projected temperatures of 35 and 40 degrees next week. My rainy West Coast background means that when it’s sunny I feel the need to be outside all the time. “Don’t waste the hot days!” my brain tells me. But with sustained highs like this, I am trying to remember to take time inside, especially for the kids.
Some week highlights:
- Father’s Day! One day these girls will know just exactly how lucky they are.
- The chance to meet as a larger community group. The previous two Sundays we’ve been able to meet with one other family for church. On Father’s Day we were able to meet with our entire community group, which consists of four families, thanks to the new phase of re-opening that we entered on June 15th. We still have to stay outside when we’re all together but it’s the first time all of our families have been in the same place since October. It felt like a family reunion!
- Our first farm box of the season! Last summer we bought into a Community Farm Box model, a pretty classic CSA-style where we paid in at the beginning of spring and then received a box of fresh, local produce all summer. We loved the products and the opportunity to support local agriculture and I’ve been very excited to start it again. This year I also signed up for the local “tasters” option which includes local beer or cider plus a locally made food item.
- Speaking of produce, my little tomato plant looks like it’s actually growing tomatoes! I bought it at the farmer’s market in the spring but haven’t been sure about how it’s doing under my care. I think it needs more space but I’m not sure if I should try and plant it somewhere or re-pot it. Any advice on cherry tomato plant care?
- Plus this picture of Rose she insisted I take when she saw me photographing the tomatoes.
- Summer break for Pearl began Thursday afternoon and for Peter on Friday. Hard to believe our girl has finished kindergarten. I am so thankful for the year she had. She’s done a lot of growing, a lot of learning. I am so thankful for the teachers and staff who have guided her through her first year of school. They made it a truly fun experience for her and despite all my fears around school last summer, I never felt any doubt that Pearl was where she should be once she started school. I’ll never forget sending my firstborn off to school in the middle of a pandemic but I will remain always grateful for the school community that worked so hard to care for our kids.
- Summer break is off to a great start!
- Though I will miss my daily walks with my girls. Recently they have taken to holding hands occasionally while they walk together. Sometimes they pick up leaves or flowers and solemnly present them to each other while declaring, “Friends forever.”
- This Bible verse, a good reminder for myself to find contentment in less.
Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
1 Timothy 6:6-8
- The latest installment of the Dress Challenge. Two repeats this week. With our current heatwave, I’d probably be wearing a lot of dresses anyway as I generally find them the coolest, most comfortable clothes. Full disclosure: on Friday when the girls were both home and Peter was at work, I didn’t get dressed until well past noon. We took it suuuuper easy in our house that day!
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- Oh! Looking at these photos reminded me of another week highlight! I cut my COVID hair! My last haircut was in December 2019. While salons have been open since last summer I decided to save cutting my hair again as a celebration for my first vaccine shot (which I got in May) and this week was the first slot that worked. I was very ready to lose some of my hair length – I was starting to understand why women in old-timey movies and stories always have their hair in braids since putting that much hair in a pony-tail gave me a headache.
Karissa Reads Books 
Cherry tomatoes can do pretty well in pots as long as they’re big enough! I used to grow them pretty successfully in hanging baskets.
Thanks! They are suffering in this heat wave we’re having so we’ll see!
I’ll add to this that I don’t often see cherry tomato plants in huge pots, or anything.
That’s a good point. This week has been all about trying to keep it from getting burned out by the sun!
Right?? My new neighbor put in flowers in front of our building, which no one has done in years. They immediately burned and got droopy.
Oh, that’s so sad. My usual concern is about things not getting enough sun but this week I had to move several pots into the shade.
Ugh! 35 to 40 degrees is about twice my comfort level! Excellent excuse for lots of medicinal ice cream though…
It’s crazy. Yesterday a town in BC beat the highest temperature on record, Canada-wide with a high of 46.6. I’ve experienced 40+ heat in Asia but we are super unprepared for it on the West Coast (as I imagine you would be in Scotland too). Lots of businesses closing for the time being and you can’t buy an AC unit or a fan to save your life!
Oh, that sounds awful – stay safe! Yes, no one here has air-conditioning so on the rare occasion we get really high temperatures we can’t cope at all. But I don’t remember us ever going much above 30.
We’ve never had weather like this before either. And we’re lucky since we’re near the water where it’s cooler. Apparently it’s even worse inland!
I remember last year thinking, “But if they get a box with produce, and they don’t know what will be in it, how will they meal plan?!” And since the pandemic, I’ve become the queen of making a meal out of whatever out of necessity. A farm box makes a lot more sense to this new version of me, one who is closer to cooking than I’ve ever been in my life.
Maybe this is too much info, but if you can order yourself some bloomers, they are amazing under dresses. Just, you know, underpants with longer legs to avoid and sweaty-stickiness than lots of folks hate.
Hahaha! That is a real consideration. I now menu plan around what’s in the farm box and then grocery shop afterward. But we buy very little produce in the summer now. It is a different way of cooking that I’ve had to learn this way.
Bloomers! I never thought of such a thing! That would have been nice. We are back to normal summer heat now thankfully.