Tuesday

Gardens don't lie. They speak with their blooms. If you throw a brutal reality their way (extreme weather comes to mind), they let you know bluntly that they need help, or else. You are their steward. In stressful times -- their lifeline.

I am preparing the garden for a few days of intense heat. I trim spent blooms, I water the more vulnerable plants.

And I admire the entirety.

To the farmhouse...






To the sheep shed...






Breakfast. A pause, too, from garden work. A pause from chasing off mosquitoes and scrubbing plant stain off my hands.






And soon after, Snowdrop is here. Yeah, I know, I know: it's not Monday. But she is here most days this week. It's just the way the schedule works out for the young family. Is she okay with this? I think so.






One of her favorite quiet solo moments... With a book...






Happy.






Very much so.






Since I have her for a good part of the day, I decide we need to do a bit of adventuring. I take her to a local park, where she enjoys the swing...






And shows real talent at kicking around a ball I bring with us. (Future soccer champ?)






The park is very close to our favorite corn farm. And this is the first week of Wisconsin corn! We hike over and I tell Snowdrop it's up to her to pick a good half dozen ears of corn.

She takes this job very seriously.






And then she takes a turn at steering the John Deere -- the one that hauls the corn in from the fields.






She's serious about this as well.






As we leave the farm, I look at her -- she is tall for her age, but so small compared to the corn that grows here...






We're home now. Lunch time! There are leftovers still and she eats them with relish...






And of course, she loves the dessert!






And you would think that after a huge meal she'd be done.

But then I offer her the corn.

Heaven.






She eats every last kernel.

Late in the day I sit down over a cup of coffee with my wonderful friend who is in town this week. You need these moments -- in the garden, with your family, with your closest friends. They put things in perspective.






Lest you think that I am solely focused on my days at the farmette, I should note that I am also very much tracking the intense remodeling work that is taking place in my Warsaw apartment right now. I carefully watch the budget, I monitor the progress, I make decisions. And I revel in the photos that my talented, wonderful architect/decorator sends my way. Here's Pani Karolina's photo from today:





Sometimes, the world seems so confused and crazily out of step with progress. I cannot set things straight nor can I pretend to know for sure, for sure how to set things straight (though I feel quite certain on how to make things worse). All I have are these vignettes -- of Snowdrop, of flowers, and yes, of the hard work being put into the apartment in Warsaw. These deserve my attention. Yep -- fresh and honest through and through.