if it's Tuesday...

It was a wonderful trip home!

First of all, for all the complaints that float around about air travel, I have to say, this trip put me on ten flights and all were comfortable and on time.

On my transatlantic return, I made a friend. That's rare. Typically, my idea of a good flight is one where I tune out and doze off. But this time, my seat mate was someone who traveled to France just to race on her bike from Paris to Brest. Now that's not a story I want to sleep my way through.

I arrived in Madison at a good, afternoon hour ...





And Ed was there and we drove straight to Snowdrop's home just so I could hug the little one.

And guess what!!?! In the two weeks I was away, she moved right into fast paced crawling and her sweet parents put her on the floor so that she could crawl to me with her great big wonderful grin and Ed and I just sat there and beamed and beamed! (Well, he tried to hide it. Unsuccessfully.)


At the farmette, that buzz of the end of summer was in the air.

Ed had done magnificent work on the porch steps and, too, he maintained the pots of flowers during the hot hot days of August. And here's something that I didn't want to write about until now: just when I left, he discovered that Dirty B., our lovely (if dirty) white hen, was actually quite ill. He tried hard to help her overcome her issues, but she was too far gone and so she died sometime while I was traveling from St. Petersburg to Paris. I know to an Ocean reader she is just a hen, but to Ed she was a hen who brought not a small amount of cheeper chipperness to a day. I paid my respects to her. And I am happy to report that Butter and Scotch remain best buddies, though as our flock diminishes, it is definitely quieter here at the farmette.

I snipped spent flowers well into the dark evening.

It was good to be home.


This morning, the clouds roll in and the air feels downright autumnal. I walk the yard, inspecting the fading flower beds...






They're transitioning now to their restful stage, even though a few of them stubbornly throw down blooms, creating pockets of color across the yard.






It's so cool that we eat breakfast in the kitchen.





That's okay -- we have had our good porch meals and I'm sure we'll have some more as the weather see-saws between the two seasons.

It's a day of the usual post-return stuff. You guessed it -- unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping.

But hey, if it's Tuesday, it must be Snowdrop at the farmhouse day!






Oh, how the girl has grown! Her movements, her expressions -- they're of a different kind. She surely is a toddler already, no?






Still undecided about the foods out there...






But happy as a little clam when placed on the floor to romp and to chase down any item within reach.






In the late afternoon, her mom and I go out for a long walk with the sweet girl (who has retained at least some of her former habits!)...






It's easy to settle back into old routines when you like your routines as much as I do.
The trip remains memorable and grand, but it very quickly recedes -- as if it happened a very long time ago and not just yesterday.





Yes, I am so very happy to be home.