I needed that reminder

The last few weeks have been so hectic, too hectic. There are my normal garden, animal and house responsibilities, plus there have been several additional time intensive things that I've had to do. I'm up before the sun and working virtually non stop until 11:00 night.

Even working like that, I'm not keeping up. Everywhere I look there are things that need done, often that should have been done a few days ago. The garden is bursting with beans and tomatoes. My kitchen is buried in canning equipment and jars of beans that I need to create a storage place for somewhere. (Last count, 88 quarts have been put up for winter.) I can't keep up with the harvest. I still haven't planted the cool weather vegetables I wanted to, and let's not even talk about the weeds!

I've been feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. I was starting to question whether all this work was worth it. Then I went to the grocery store. I sailed right by the canned and frozen vegetables. I only stopped briefly at the fresh produce. My bill was about 20% lower than normal. Ah, that felt good! Then I remembered that feeling would continue for much of the winter. We will be enjoying our superior (in my opinion) vegetables and a lower grocery bill. I also remembered that soon we will have our own meat for the freezer. I will be able to sail by the meat department too, while enjoying a huge cut in my grocery bill. Yes, there is a reward for all this work!

I'm still tired. My to do list hasn't gotten any smaller, but it was so nice to get a small taste of the payoff. It was a small reminder that all this work really is worth it! One that I really needed!