Cozy Homemaker Journal – August Reflections

August has felt like one of those in-between months at Birdsong Cottage. Summer is definitely still here. The thermometer has made that VERY clear. The garden is still growing, the mornings are still meant for getting outside before it gets too hot, and we’re still eating the kinds of dinners that don’t require turning on the oven whenever possible.

But I can feel fall coming.

There are little mums sitting around the house. This year I’m actually doing a fall garden. The evenings are getting just a bit shorter. And I’m starting to look forward to that time of year when Grampy and I settle into our recliners after dinner and watch an episode (or two) of whatever crime show we’re currently hooked on.

I’m ready for cozy season.

🏡 Around Birdsong Cottage

One of my favorite places to work this summer has been my little outdoor office under the crabapple tree.

I take my computer outside, settle into the shade, and work on The Budgeting Granny while life goes on around me: my grandson digging in the dirt nearby, BooBoo the dog keeping watch over the neighborhood, the occasional car passing by.

It wasn’t exactly a peaceful corporate office environment. It was better.

I’ve been spending more of my afternoons working on blog things lately, especially after I’ve spent the cooler morning hours outside. I’m beginning to find a rhythm that works for me: do the sweaty things early, then retreat somewhere shady or air-conditioned with my computer when the temperature starts getting ridiculous.

Oh, yes. I am so ready for fall!

The Great Shedwina Excavation

Speaking of sweaty morning projects…

Shedwina.

Oh, Shedwina.

If you are new here, I have two sheds. One is Shedna Mae, my she shed, that I have been making over since early spring. The other is Shedwina, the storage shed.

When I closed my daycare, a LOT of things needed somewhere to go. Apparently the answer was, “Put it in Shedwina and let Future Michelle deal with it.”

Well. Future Michelle has arrived, and she has Opinions.

I’ve been going out in the mornings and working on the shed a little at a time. I’m sorting, donating, throwing things away, consolidating things into totes, and setting aside baskets and storage pieces that my daughter might be able to use.

There have been years’ worth of daycare supplies to go through. I gave away the majority at the beginning of summer, but there are still a few things here and there. Some things can be useful to someone else now. Some things aren’t useful to anyone and can simply go away.

The exciting news is that WE CAN SEE PART OF THE BACK WALL. Considering that I couldn’t step inside the door a couple of weeks ago, the fact that I can now make it all the way to the back on one side makes me happy.

I’m not trying to conquer the entire shed in one heroic day anymore. I go out, pick an area or a small mission, work until I’ve done enough, and stop. Little by little, the pile gets smaller.

There’s a lesson in there somewhere.

🌸 In the Garden

After the hailstorm in July did its best to destroy my gardening hopes and dreams, I’ve been very happy to see things beginning to recover.

The tomatoes are trying. The zucchini are producing (three so far!). The sunflowers are blooming. My tiny cucumber plant is fighting for its life.

I’m also beginning to think about the fall garden. I’d like to plant some spinach, lettuce, carrots and beets and see what I can grow as the weather cools down.

There’s another garden project taking shape, too: The old daycare playground area is becoming a wildflower garden. I finally got all the mulch removed, and was left with a 16-by-16-foot patch of compacted bare dirt. Grampy and I tilled it with our little electric rototiller, and there have been discussions: grass like it was before the daycare, or wildflowers? We already have lots of grass…

For years, that space had a completely different purpose. Children played there. Toys lived there. It belonged to my daycare life. Now I’m imagining flowers there. I like that.

A home changes right along with the people who live in it. We don’t have to keep using a space the same way simply because that’s what we’ve always done. Sometimes you pull things out, turn over the soil, scatter some seeds and see what the next version becomes.

🛍️ Thrifting & Treasure Hunting

I haven’t done much thrifting this month. Bringing more things into the house or sheds while I’m actively trying to get things OUT seems a little questionable, even for me. But I did find three little mums at Walmart for $2.07 each.

Naturally, all three came home with me.

For a little over six dollars, I got three pots of fall happiness. And they’ll be in the garden, not the house or the shed. 😄

I’m getting tips from this article to give them the best chance of coming back next year.

🍽️ From Granny’s Kitchen

The Budgeting Granny kitchen has been BUSY.

I’ve been cooking and photographing recipes for the blog, including several that will be coming in September. August is back-to-school time, so as is tradition, I made a batch of our official back-to-school cookies for the grandkids. The recipe is coming up on the blog.

I’m enjoying going through some of the familiar recipes I grew up with, making them, and sharing them here.

💰Paying Attention to the Budget

That’s probably been one of my bigger themes this month: Paying attention.

I’ve been keeping a closer eye on our grocery spending and giving myself a weekly target. I’ve been comparing prices, thinking about cost per serving, using things from the freezer, and looking for small places where we can make our money stretch a little farther.

And you know what? Just paying attention helps.

I don’t want budgeting to make our life feel small. I want it to help us afford the life we actually want. Sometimes the frugal choice is cooking from the freezer instead of running to the store. Sometimes it’s deciding that I don’t really need something. And sometimes it’s buying three little mums at Walmart because they’re only $2.07 apiece and they make me ridiculously happy.

There has to be room for the mums.

💻 Around the Blog

Published in August:

• Pumpkin Bread This is one of my favorite things to bake in the fall!
• July Cozy Homemaker Journal Mid-summer reflections…and a hail storm.
• Fall Printable Collection A free download for you to use in your fall decorating!
• Honey Oatmeal Chews These were a favorite treat of my childhood.

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time on the blog this month.

My Fall Printable Collection went out into the world, which meant I once again had to wrestle with email forms, downloads and various pieces of technology that seemed determined to make me regret ever learning how to use the internet. But I did it! And hopefully I remember everything for next time.

I’ve also been working ahead on September recipes, organizing photos, making Pinterest pins and generally trying to create systems that make this whole blogging business easier.

I’m discovering that I really enjoy having blog work as part of my afternoon routine. I can work outside in the morning, come in when it gets hot, eat lunch, and spend some time writing, editing photos or working in Canva.

I’m still figuring out what retirement looks like for me. Apparently it involves a surprising amount of dirt, baked goods and Pinterest.

I’m okay with that.

🌻 Looking Ahead

I’m ready for September.

I’m ready for cooler mornings and earlier sunsets.

I’m ready for soup simmering on the stove and apples and pumpkin and cinnamon showing up in everything. Pumpkin bread, Snickerdoodles, Apple Dip…

I’m looking forward to seeing what the garden does in these last weeks of the growing season. I’m hoping for lots of zucchini and tomatoes. I’ll be planting a few cool-weather vegetables and dreaming about what the wildflower garden might look like next year.

I’m also looking forward to our quieter fall evenings.

There is something I love about the house settling down early, Grampy and me in our recliners, the dogs nearby, and one episode of our current crime show turning into, “Well…we could probably watch one more.”

Cozy homemaking at its finest.