Finally, some rain and IDC

We had some measurable rain last night,  YEAH!  Not much, only 0.35 inches, but I'll take whatever I can get as the garden has been dusty-dry. We had some very light rain showers off and on all afternoon yesterday but nothing that was even enough to make the sidewalk wet.  However, last night, after we finally settled down after graduation and went to bed, the thunder started rumbling and the rain fell.  It made for nice sleeping- I love the sound of rain on the roof and rumbling thunder.
I remember that it is time for an Independence Days update. I've been pretty slack recently with these.  Not that anyone is keeping track or that it is any kind of contest but I find it useful to keep track of what's happening in the garden and what I've managed to get accomplished.
Plant something- Let's see: watermelon, Tigger melons, zucchini, Long Island Cheese squash, luffa gourds, nasturtium, and I replanted the sunflowers by the chicken coop (the combination of dry weather and trampling by chicken viewers at the party took their toll).  I still have some tiny tomatoes and peppers that Mom brought to me last weekend that need to find homes in the garden as well as some maple seedlings that they brought- amazingly enough, we have NO maple trees anywhere on our property.  I've also been doing some planters and hanging baskets for the deck.  This is such a bizarre year for the garden.  I know by the calendar that I'm right on time for planting but everything else makes me feel like I'm horribly late.  The weather and growth of trees/grasses/wildflowers make it feel more like late June than late May.  We are 4-6 weeks ahead of usual for many plants.
Harvest something- spinach, onions, a few sugar snap peas (again- they never made it out of the garden- oops), the first of the strawberries, eggs (42 this week) and a few herbs.
Preserve something- froze leftover veggies from Justine's graduation party and some extra bread as well.  That's about it- it has been so dry that the strawberries aren't doing much and the peas are also minimally producing so we've just been eating them.  Not sure that it is 'preserving' but Justine and I started a couple batches of lavender sugar (2T dried lavender flowers mixed with 1 cup of sugar- let sit for a few weeks, shaking every day or so- then sift out the flowers) to use in baking and such.  I'm imagining the dough for snickerdoodles rolled in lavender sugar rather than cinnamon sugar.  Hmm....
Waste not- the usual- composted, recycled, scraps to chickens.  I've been cleaning up and re-using some old pots to plant flowers for the deck.
Want not- hmm, nothing gone into storage other than excess party food.  I did make another batch of laundry detergent since we were out.  Justine and I did a run to the fabric store yesterday for their Memorial Day sale. They were having patterns for $1 each (normally $15.95 to 17.95) and the fabric already on clearance was half price.  Now, sometimes the clearance fabric is there for a reason (think hideous!) but sometimes there are some great deals.  I got three fabrics for the quilting stash and Justine picked up fabric and a pattern for a shirt and fabric for a scarf.  In all, we spent less than $30 on almost $200 of merchandise (mostly patterns- we got our limit of 10!)
Eat the food- pretty much the usual. Now we've got lots of beef in the freezer again (for the past few months we haven't been eating much beef because we've been essentially out).  We've been working our way through leftover cheese from the party as well.  And don't forget spinach salads.  Mmm....  But with the hot weather, it looks like the spinach is starting to bolt.
Build community food systems- nothing I can think of this week
Skill up- nothing here, either.  I've been in sanity-survival mode this week so haven't done much new.  But now that we're past graduation it should be smooth sailing.
I've almost made it through May- our super-busy month.  Whew!  I've only got a few more things on the schedule.  Tomorrow is a memorial service for my uncle who passed away a few months ago. Wednesday is I14's birthday and Thursday is the last day of school for the boys.  Still a busy time of year.  I also need to get weeding!