winding down

The days grow warmer and the mosquito population grows larger and so the opportunities to purse grand outdoor projects diminish.  Or at least they are set aside. We talk of September as a time when we'll be safe again. In the meantime, it's you against the bugs. Will it be a summer when they come, stay and then moderate? Or, will it be like the year they tortured us for months, forcing a run from car to the safe haven indoors  each time? You cannot tell.


But for now, we are still in the midst of family-time. This morning, we're all at the farmhouse for brunch. A chance for me to make use of the garden bounty: rhubarb!

So, rhubarb bars...






...and spinached eggs, and an old favorite -- potato rosti. (I made two just in case).






And then the urban couple -- my favorite Chicago girl and her fiancee...






...along with the others, leave.

Sunday: a day when I too often have to say my good byes.


But, on the upside, at the farmette, the raspberries -- those not eaten by animals and invasive weeds -- are ripening!






And the peas -- beautifully climbing and, too, ready in many places for picking.


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And our old tough-it-out-on-frosty-May-nights tomatoes -- almost there!






When in the afternoon the mosquitoes calm down a little, I work outside (with a mosquito zapper in one hand for the persistent ones). Harvesting, watering (yes, in this hot weather I want to provide some relief!), and always weeding. Not a day passes during the summer when I don't pull out stuff from the garden. The rewards? Ah... a perfect lavender...






A happy daylily.






And great combinations of countless others, showing off for me, for Ed, and for the occasional visitors passing through, as on this hot summer week-end. Sigh...






Let me end by showing you two photos, taken today. Mystery solved, right? Isis, alive and well. And the other one, Goldie  -- our charge for just a few days. And Ed.