Getting back to real life

It's been just as hard as I expected, getting back into a groove of work and such. The dishes seem to pile up faster this week, and my focus isn't great. This is pretty normal, the focus anyway, as my work is dry and I have to catch up on it before I can work on any fun stuff, like article/essay ideas or book proposals.

But what's neat is how my thoughts aren't sliding toward indulging in a game of solitaire to blow off steam. Instead I find myself wondering why people make small, curved hoophouses on raised beds or over containers (with PVC and plastic), when attaching elbows and making a rectangular structure might be easier to deal with. Is it that it's more expensive and labor-intensive to do this (I am betting that taking a hacksaw to PVC loses its novelty after the first or second pipe), or is it because the corners afford less heat/more cool to get to the plants? Probably both, but that may not stop me from trying it. Can't wait to tuck into this new book acquisition...haven't made enough time yet in the evenings this week.

These thoughts are on my mind, because Hubs has been keeping an eagle eye on weather lately and informed me we could be looking at frost at night as early as late next week. I've got a serious pile of still-viable plants out there, so it's time to invest in some plastic and rearrange the house to possibly accommodate some of the smaller stuff. My first tomato looks like it's dying off, but there's half a dozen new fruits on its branches!

The herbs will go undercover or come inside. The sweet potatoes will be fine. The peppers and tomatoes need to go undercover, and since they're still growing like gangbusters, I need to get creative with any hoophouse creations...actually, teepee style would be better than rectangles, now that I think about it. But I can already tell I'll also be glad when we get past leaf peeping season (I love having people visit, but this place is starting to get smaller as our dreams expand), as I'm definitely going to need to rearrange the 2nd bedroom to accommodate a mess of plants this winter (never mind that we're wanting to add more herbs).

I totally need a greenhouse. If that realization doesn't get me saving money, nothing will. Since we took our own car to PA (the rental idea fell through), our first saving will go into brakes, 2 new all-weather tires, and an oil change. But rather than taking an "it's always something" attitude, I'm just going to work my tail off and find a way to save. We're so ready.

Bah! Digressing too much! Back to work!

Image from here.