Sunday Afternoon Tea

Apple mint in June...

It has been time to get serious about getting the deck and garden ready for winter, even if our autumn is a little late this year.   I must admit there was a lot of sighing and wondering how to do all that must be done before the first frost... which is predicted as possibly arriving next week.

But once again I have put on my "anything can be accomplished a little at a time" hat, rolled up my sleeves (so to speak), and started the work which must be begun.  Knowing that it will never be done perfectly or perhaps even very well.  But something is much better than nothing, even when I am tired already.

So far all of the garden is ready except cutting back some of the herbs and then layering leaves on the raised beds in a few weeks.  The flower pots from the deck have been dumped out into the wheelbarrow and the contents placed into the compost bin.  Some items have found their winter resting places in the garage and the shed while others are awaiting a scrubbing and cleaning before being put away for the season.

All work done here and there, a little at a time...

I walked through the garden last week before preparing it for winter, quite astonished at how fast this summer went and remembering the way in which the garden was prepared and planted... again a little at a time.  But how worth it the effort was as we enjoyed fresh herbs, green beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and arugula in their individual seasons.

Much of the planting was done when experiencing vertigo (now that was interesting) and the upkeep was down to nothing at one time when the vertigo returned and kept me quiet most of the summer.  But even then the garden grew.

So did the weeds.  Now I know what happens when one stops weeding their garden mid-summer.  But amongst the weeds most things also grew, not as perfectly as they would have if they did not have their unwanted roommates in their raised beds... but good enough.

I was thinking recently of how much I tend to not do because I cannot do it well... at least to begin with.  There is a self imposed "by week's end" goal of beginning the crochet project that has been hovering over my Must Do list all summer.  Now summer is gone and autumn has arrived and... the crochet hook has not been taken out of its' home on my desk where its' sister hooks come together to form a bouquet of sorts.

There is the stationary also on the desk, waiting for the moment a long letter is inspired... and has not happened.  The recipient would have much preferred a small note instead of nothing I am certain.

I know I am not the only person who suffers from this "if I can't do it really well, why do it at all" confusion of the mind.  I hear all the time from people who wish they could read more books each year and I remind them (and myself) that just one new book read each month will put you twelve ahead within one year.

Same think with reading the Bible each day... five minutes daily adds up to a lot of Scripture as a year has passed.  One could easily read the New Testament five minutes each day.  It is better than not at all, even if our original plan was to spend an hour a day in study.

Speaking of studying...

Do you want to learn a lot about a particular subject but you have little time?  Instead of reading through a great many books to become an expert, check a children's book from the library and gain a foundation to add upon.

(When I first began homeschooling, one of the best pieces of advice I received was to read very good children's books so I could be informed on what we were studying.  So often there are "thinking out of the box" ways to accomplish a goal.)

Then... if you find you want to become more knowledgeable... add a more indepth book or two a month.  Take a break and come back to the subject later if necessary.  If you are not working on a graduate thesis, no one is looking over your shoulder to make certain you are ready for a test.  Enjoy the process of reading and learning (or listen to audio books).

Bringing it all around to me again... and it is my blog so this is the one place I can be un-apologetically egocentric... I am learning to be willing to do less than my best when the alternative is doing nothing at all.

It isn't easy as I was raised hearing if I could not do my best... don't do it!  So, ummm... often I don't.  My mind is changing on that, as well as my self talk.  Now it is "let's do it imperfectly"... whatever IT is.  Sometimes it just is not possible to give everything my best attempt!

And I am still astonished at how that which seemed overwhelming to begin with can be accomplished when done just a little at a time.