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I sincerely hope you, those on this side of the ocean, had a delightful Fourth of July holiday. That it didn't rain too much, that you could do all you wanted to do outdoors, that life was good and you could exhale.


As I write, I can hardly stay awake. Ed has long given up and is snoring rhythmically beside me.

We had a very un-holiday supper of  broccoli and spinach soup and a salad, only because I wanted to pay homage to the last vegetable soup we had had in Slovenia. But I could not find their vegetables at our morket so I made this instead.


I was up incredibly early -- I wanted so much to see the yard after it had received no care for an entire month.






I sloshed through the tall, dew soaked grasses and looked around me.

Well now, most of the flowers have yet to bloom! The rains of June have created a mass of green out there, but the sun has yet to draw out most of the other colors.







In our new orchard, I think some deer have been coming in to nibble at the edges of the fruit trees. On the upside, the tomatoes recovered from the slap of cold weather in May and the corn has sprouted so that it looks like it may give us something down the road.

Covering the strawberries with netting seems to have kept the animals away and though the crop isn't large, we could actually pick fruit for breakfast this morning.


Breakfast. Back on the porch. Oatmeal and the berries. The refrigerator is bare and so we eat lightly. So, let's focus on the berries and the painted jar of honey from Kobarid...






...and on Ed, who looks happy to be home.






After, Ed and I went to look in on the newest member of our family -- Goldie (she was a stray before she came to live with my daughter and her husband).


 



Two comments on Goldie: she loves to lie in the sun...






...and to groom herself. Enthusiastically, thoroughly.






Oh, and she has the most remarkable eyes.






And after all that, with an added trip to the grocery store, I set myself to weed. Hours upon hours of weeding. It had to be done in midday as the mosquitoes are indeed out and they are nasty in the shade or at the margins of a day.

Oh, and I harvested most of the rhubarb. As usual, it's out of control, threatening to swallow our path, our house, the entire state of Wisconsin (sorry for the dishevelled state -- this after a day of weeding):






So I'll post just another photo or two of flowers -- this is all that I can force out of myself tonight. For you, dear Ocean readers. Many of you had written such sweet comments while I was away; let me just now say thank you -- your words kept me connected to a familiar world and that's always so nice to have when you're moving around far from home.










Okay, my eyes are closing. I will fall asleep to the occasional firecracker that I hear outside.

Good night -- really a superbly good night  to everyone.