Average Jane’s Burst of Domesticity

A friend of mine is borrowing my roto-tiller over the weekend, which spurred me into an energetic gardening session last night after work.  I bought a flat of impatiens about, oh, two months ago and they’ve been languishing on my front stoop ever since.  Every few days I’d bring them back from the brink of death with some water, but I could never seem to get around to planting them.

It rained yesterday morning, but it was still so hot outside as I weeded, tilled and planted that my oversized t-shirt was sopping wet by the time I got all the impatiens into the ground and watered them.  The flowers look cute in their little rows and I’m sure they’d grow into lovely, bushy plants if this were April, but under the circumstances I’ll probably be lucky to just keep them from shriveling away.

Tonight I’m hosting a "bring your own grillable entree" get-together with friends.  I find that’s the perfect approach to barbecueing when I can’t keep track of who eats meat and who’s a vegetarian.  I spent the rest of last evening preparing for tonight’s dinner by making pasta salad with vegetables and Balsamic vinaigrette, potato salad, and a strawberry Jell-o dessert with a cream cheese layer and a sweet pretzel crust.  I forgot to buy charcoal, but I can pick some up on the way home.

Tonight I’ll need to get home as early as possible, try to bring the level of housekeeping up a notch or two, and drag out every lawn chair I can find.  Aren’t summer parties fun?!