Life in the garden off the grid

There was no internet, no car, and not much money, but despite what some might consider a life of privation, the past two months have been blissful.

When you know you can literally sit at home for two months and do nothing, the temptation is there to do just that. But I've learned, each summer, to keep a small notebook, and to write down the things I accomplished at the end of each day.  (NOTE TO SELF: Getting up, brushing teeth, dressing and eating do NOT count.)

Keeping the little ledger up to date wasn't as labor intensive as it might sound, and it did help to look back now and then (especially on those days when I was feeling particularly indolent) and see that despite a proclivity for abject laziness, I had actually accomplished quite a bit in the days previous.  And not only the "house chores" I'd hoped to tackle, but also enough whimsical activity to make it truly seem like a screen-door-slamming summer holiday.

- Painting the verandah ceiling with a two inch brush so I could get into all the beadboard crevices -- it took four days

- Gardening

- Reorganizing the garden shed.. which is actually a garage, but with no car and a large garden, "garden shed" makes more sense

- Enjoying several tea parties in the garden with visiting friends and family

- Painting the kitchen walls and cabinetry 'Cottage White' to go with the black and cream 1930s subway tiles

- More Gardening
 
- Knitting a basketweave ivory baby blanket

- Riding a 19th c. carousel with four generations of my immediate family. (All were accounted for when the ride ended, including my mother)

- Celebrating several family birthdays

- Going through all the wonderful magazines that had been piling up unread throughout the cottage. (Mercifully I didn't come across any that said "LINCOLN SHOT!" on the cover.)  
   
- Knitting a pair of spiral tube socks for a friend's mother

- More Gardening
 
- Enjoying a cheap 'n cheerful dinner at a clam shack by the sea

- Driving up the Maine coast to visit family

- Sitting on the patio under a market umbrella with countless glasses of iced tea, watching the flowers grow, greeting the neighborhood cats, and being continuously amused by the squirrels (even when they ate my clothes line)

- Writing copious letters and cards to friends and loved ones

- Did I mention gardening? 

And all about was mine, I said,
The little sparrows overhead,
The little minnows too.
This was the world and I was king;
For me the bees came by to sing,
For me the swallows flew.

(Robt. Louis Stevenson)