questions and family, though no question about family

That is one odd title of a post, I admit it!

But I realize there have been questions posed in the comments that I haven't addressed and so I want to start there:

In the matter of Goldie -- Ed and I have been cat sitters while her true new owners (that would be family: older daughter and husband) were away. But we had been going to their house to do it. Isis would not allow a cat on the premises and we figure since he is old and stubborn, we should let him have his way in his waning years. So yes, Isis is alive and well and has been his annoying lovable self since our return. Annoying, because he wakes me up too early!

In the matter of having time -- I am so in agreement with what commenter "someone" said. Retirement offers time. There is great value in having time. Tremendous value.

Finally, in the mater of the strange animal spotted in the mountains above Lake Bled -- yes, as two commenters guessed -- it had to be a chamois (Alpine mountain goat). This one. That, a fox and the wild boar are this year's additions to the list of "animals I have come upon unexpectedly in the wild." (The list is otherwise pretty short: bears, monkeys, elk, rocky mountain bighorn, seals, coyote, porcupine and a hoary marmot. Racoons, badgers and deer don't count unless you call the suburbs "wild.")


Onto family. As I mentioned, my younger girl and her fiancee (a.k.a. to me as the urban duo, because they live in Chicago) are visiting. I offer no breakfast photo, as the farmhouse breakfast was little more than this cup of coffee (we went out to brunch later).






I can add to it a photo of the urban duo -- here they are, scurrying toward the farmers market...






...and not many other photos since I politely put away the camera when we met up with other family members for brunch, dinner and many activities in between. I suppose that's not entirely true. I did sneak a photo of the urban duo during brunch (a mimosa at the Merchant is delicious and so unexpectedly potent that I took an equally delicious nap in the afternoon).






I can also post a photo of Goldie -- still under my care today.






And, too, of the linden tree, which I discovered on the Capitol Square today. Blooming, but not fragrant (thus distinguishing itself from the European linden).


 



And of the garden which I struggled to bring to order, battling at the same time the mosquitoes that are now with us for who knows how long. (The spraying of baby shampoo, ammonia and water does help, but we have so much lush greenery that they have a safe haven not too far from where I point the sprayer. Always lurking, ready to pounce.) Here is the hazy garden in the heat of the afternoon sun:






And here is a delightful combo:






And Ed sweeping up yesterday's weed pull.






And here, yet again, is the entirety. (You can't tell, but the lilies are plump in their buds, waiting to explode. As are the echinacea, as are the achillea, ohhhh the list is long!)






And let me end with this small thought on family: the list of family members whom I feel close to is, for me very small and for Ed even smaller. And those whom I do in fact keep track of (and they of me) are all thousands of miles away. And so it is quite cool that I inherited, through my two sons-in-law (or, in one case -- soon to be son-in-law), very wonderful added family members. True, they don't live in Madison, but still, they are a hugely terrific addition to an otherwise paltry set of family.

That "family" grew for me, is, I think, a very good thing.