An early start on the day!

Is anyone else in the habit of waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning and then just laying there thinking for a couple of hours? I do that a lot, and I started down that road again this morning. If I'm not careful my thinking turns into worrying, so it's best to just get up!

I arose and decided to do some flexibility exercises right away since I tend to neglect them if I get busy doing other things. After that I put away the laundry I did yesterday. Then I organized and rearranged a little in my bedroom, vacuumed, mopped my little kitchen floor, cleaned the bathroom sink, hand washed a dress, and took a shower. Then I carried a couple of things out to my car (a box of photos for my sister-in-law and some clothes for the thrift store) and took out the garbage. All before I made my morning smoothie, which I drank while sitting in my deck chair enjoying the mild morning breeze. Lovely!

Audrey and Hazel have swimming lessons every day for the next two weeks, so I'll be riding along to watch the others while the lessons are going on. Maybe I'll walk some laps on the high school track afterwards? Or maybe the trail.

Before I forget, my Lyme's Disease test came back negative! Woo  hoo! I think it's quite a miracle that anyone living here in our woodsy, tick-infested area could make it for 28 years without picking up Lyme's. But I'm glad for the good report!

MK, you asked how the fermented veggies taste. Do they all taste like sauerkraut? Well, I'm still in suspense myself. I'll sure let you know as soon as I have a batch to try. This lady ferments fruits and berries, too, and I can't imagine wanting them to taste sour like that. She mainly likes to do hard root veggies. She says some softer veggies get mushy. I got a few pint jars for my experiments. Supposedly fermented veggies keep for about 6 months in the fridge, so I'm thinking I'll make a few small batches of different things. She said you only need to eat a little bit to promote gut health, but I'm also wondering if it's possible to eat too much fermented stuff. It will be a fun learning process!

I'm signing up for the Fall Women's Retreat with my church, Sept. 21-24. Should be fun! Our church uses a place called Camp Lebanon which is like a little resort on a nice lake. I think it's co-owned by several churches, but we're the host church this year. My daughter went to camp there when she was a teen. They have rustic little cabins with bunks or a few more civilized lodge/chalet type places. I think I'll go with the rustic little cabins and save the civilized accommodations for the "older" ladies, lol. I plan to go a day early (Thurs.) for the early bird extras. Since our church is the host, we get this extra half day for free. Here are some shots of the brochure:

I made some ATCs for a swap called Paper Painting. We could have any theme, but the picture had to be made of pieces of paper.

Well, I'm yawning now. I may have to take a nap to make up for getting up so early, ha ha!
You all have a blessed day.
Shalom!