I'm feeling a lot better today about everything.  Some issues have resolved themselves with some help, for which I am so thankful I can't even express it yet.  I got a good night's sleep, which can only help any situation.

Enough of that.  

I went out to work in the garden this morning, it's cool out (as cool as Orlando gets in September), and overcast.  All the rain lately has been doing wonders in the garden, so there was truly nothing to do.  Everything looks great, is growing wonderfully, there aren't many weeds, nothing needed to be fertilized, so I just puttered around--checking everything out, and thinking about where I'm going to put the lasagna beds. 

There's a couple of options there.  I can do them English cottage style, with the whole area mulched and plants here and there,  and walkways meandering through. The plants will fill in as they grow this way, and I love the way this looks.  I will also add decorations here and there (not too many).  Or I can do orderly rows with different types of plants and walkways between.   The paths will be added as I need them, with whatever materials I come across when I'm ready to make them.   I feel I may be describing this in a little bit "grander" terms than I really need to because the area isn't very big.  It's the strip of grass between my driveway and the neighbor's yard.  It's maybe 10 ft. by 30 ft. not including the area I already have my raised beds in.  There are benefits to both ways.  

While I was thinking, I did pull some basil off the plant and stick it into the dirt in my large herb pot.  That works well, and I have a bare area in there.  The salvias are really looking pretty, even the ones that seemed like they weren't going to make it a couple of weeks ago.  I put them into a pot, but they are rallying.  No flowers on those yet, but the leaves look good and healthy.  

I've never had any luck with cucumbers and squash in the raised beds, so this year I decided to try something different.  I planted one squash and two cucumbers in the beds, and planted one squash and a two different varieties of cucumbers in pots to see if that made any difference.  I have also been using my homemade fertilizer (***Recipe Below***) on them religiously, and they are all looking really good.  The cucumbers in the boxes aren't growing very big, but they are flowering, and I've been making a point to hand fertilize them, and I think we have had more rain than they like, but they are looking pretty good, if small.  The ones in the pots are all doing well, but they are still little babies.  As for the squash, they are going berserk!  Growing like crazy in the box and the pot, and I see LOTS of flowers, which I will also try to hand pollinate just to make sure.  I LOVE CUCUMBERS AND SQUASH.

***Home made fertilizer-- I keep a large jar (probably two quarts) on my counter, fill it halfway with water, and crush up any egg shells I come across and throw them in as well as my coffee grounds and tea bags and let them all stew for a couple of days.  I shake it up every now and then and put it into a large watering can, fill it up the rest of the way with water and use it on the vegetables in the garden.  I truly believe this has made the difference in my garden this year.  

When I came in from the garden I cleaned up the kitchen.  Not nearly as fun, but necessary and a clean kitchen makes me feel good.  My lesson plans are done for this week and tentatively next week, all my things for work are done, so I can just be domestic and calm this weekend. 

Just like I planned.