First, the data: 375 plus a dozen frogs.
Yes, the number refers to snipped spent lilies, though I did not get to the task of cleaning the garden until late afternoon. By then, I thought the bug population would have calmed down and I went out without mosquito netting. Mistake. It was a harsh set of minutes.
The number is both artificially high, because I dug into a bed I hadn't touched yesterday (hence -- two days' worth of lilies) and low, because I had to leave about a dozen wilted blooms, as they were occupied by these guys:
Hey, wait, you're a bee and that's not a lily!
Back to the frogs, or at least a sampling of them:
It can be a challenge to see them!
The flower beds are looking good for August. By now the garden typically takes on a dried appearance, but this year's rains have helped keep it vibrant and fresh. And every day is still a hefty lily blooming day!
Even though I know it wont last.
(Henny isn't in this next photo, but she is back to following these two around. They all seem much relieved to be a threesome again.)
Breakfast is outside once more, as the day is pleasantly warm.
Immediately after, I hop on Rosie, wave to the flock of sandhill cranes...
And meet up with my daughter and her little girl for our walk to the downtown market.
It is a sentimental walk, because it is our last one. Next week at this time the young family will have moved to their new home and it's a lovely place in a lovely location, but it's not walking distance to the downtown farmers market.
Today's jaunt is spirited and fun and we talk about how the future will play out as the details of our daily life are bound to change, even as so much will be as it is today.
(The onions aren't going anywhere! Snowdrop, pick out two for me!)
(Oh, the August market flowers! They're abundant and cheap. They also don't last very long, but the few days that they stand tall and proud in your vase, they are magnificent!)
I am loyal to Stoneman's, our local corn farmer, but before there was a Stoneman's in my life, there was the Bee Charmer on the market square -- her main focus is in fact honey, but her corn is also special: it's gentle and sweet and today I stock up on some half dozen ears.
Out of necessity, Snowdrop and I pop into the Capitol building and though she has been inside at some earlier date, it's been a while and she is mesmerized by the interior!
(Eyes drawn to the voluminous cupola.)
(Outside again, finding mommy...)
Time to head home now and for the little girl, there will be only one more night (later in the week, just before the move) at her current home, as she is embarking today on a vacation -- to gaga and ahah's farmhouse!
That's right -- she is with us for the next four days and I will not be exaggerating when I tell you that I have been thinking about this visit for a long while now. I am like the proverbial grandma (like my grandma was in fact) -- a person who needs to ready everything because the grandkid is coming!
A warning: I'll be posting fourteen photos from this first day of Snowdrop's farmhouse vacation. Unless you love tracking a grandma's devotion to her little one in every detail, you may want to say good night now and call it a day.
But for the grandparent in all of us, here's the start of Snowdrop's farmhouse stay:
Her babies have a new high chair (that they share). Ice cream and tea anyone?
I'm playing "hello everybody!"
If you say so, Snowdrop...
Can I do yoga on the mat?
Go for it!
Dinner: chicken brats and market corn and garden tomatoes.
Do you want to try an ice cream bar? (It's really a strawberry Greek yogurt bar, but hey!)
Yes... What is that?
Here, try it! Ice cream on a stick!
Can I have ahah's too?
Like it?
I do like it!
After dinner, I clean up, Ed plays with her.
Ed, are you really supposed to turn a kid upside down right after a meal??
From Ed: shall we go pick tomatoes?
From me: the bugs...
Ed: They're not the worst. We can wave the paddles.
We're off. Snowdrop is thrilled to be out and about at the farmette once more.
She loves freshly picked baby tomatoes...
Purple clover is pretty nice too...
But tomatoes are better.
Finally, quiet play, with a new addition for all her countless character stories that she so loves to spin...
An old book, a new book, a kiss and a hug.
Yes, the number refers to snipped spent lilies, though I did not get to the task of cleaning the garden until late afternoon. By then, I thought the bug population would have calmed down and I went out without mosquito netting. Mistake. It was a harsh set of minutes.
The number is both artificially high, because I dug into a bed I hadn't touched yesterday (hence -- two days' worth of lilies) and low, because I had to leave about a dozen wilted blooms, as they were occupied by these guys:
Hey, wait, you're a bee and that's not a lily!
Back to the frogs, or at least a sampling of them:
It can be a challenge to see them!
The flower beds are looking good for August. By now the garden typically takes on a dried appearance, but this year's rains have helped keep it vibrant and fresh. And every day is still a hefty lily blooming day!
Even though I know it wont last.
(Henny isn't in this next photo, but she is back to following these two around. They all seem much relieved to be a threesome again.)
Breakfast is outside once more, as the day is pleasantly warm.
Immediately after, I hop on Rosie, wave to the flock of sandhill cranes...
And meet up with my daughter and her little girl for our walk to the downtown market.
It is a sentimental walk, because it is our last one. Next week at this time the young family will have moved to their new home and it's a lovely place in a lovely location, but it's not walking distance to the downtown farmers market.
Today's jaunt is spirited and fun and we talk about how the future will play out as the details of our daily life are bound to change, even as so much will be as it is today.
(The onions aren't going anywhere! Snowdrop, pick out two for me!)
(Oh, the August market flowers! They're abundant and cheap. They also don't last very long, but the few days that they stand tall and proud in your vase, they are magnificent!)
I am loyal to Stoneman's, our local corn farmer, but before there was a Stoneman's in my life, there was the Bee Charmer on the market square -- her main focus is in fact honey, but her corn is also special: it's gentle and sweet and today I stock up on some half dozen ears.
Out of necessity, Snowdrop and I pop into the Capitol building and though she has been inside at some earlier date, it's been a while and she is mesmerized by the interior!
(Eyes drawn to the voluminous cupola.)
(Outside again, finding mommy...)
Time to head home now and for the little girl, there will be only one more night (later in the week, just before the move) at her current home, as she is embarking today on a vacation -- to gaga and ahah's farmhouse!
That's right -- she is with us for the next four days and I will not be exaggerating when I tell you that I have been thinking about this visit for a long while now. I am like the proverbial grandma (like my grandma was in fact) -- a person who needs to ready everything because the grandkid is coming!
A warning: I'll be posting fourteen photos from this first day of Snowdrop's farmhouse vacation. Unless you love tracking a grandma's devotion to her little one in every detail, you may want to say good night now and call it a day.
But for the grandparent in all of us, here's the start of Snowdrop's farmhouse stay:
Her babies have a new high chair (that they share). Ice cream and tea anyone?
I'm playing "hello everybody!"
If you say so, Snowdrop...
Can I do yoga on the mat?
Go for it!
Dinner: chicken brats and market corn and garden tomatoes.
Do you want to try an ice cream bar? (It's really a strawberry Greek yogurt bar, but hey!)
Yes... What is that?
Here, try it! Ice cream on a stick!
Can I have ahah's too?
Like it?
I do like it!
After dinner, I clean up, Ed plays with her.
Ed, are you really supposed to turn a kid upside down right after a meal??
From Ed: shall we go pick tomatoes?
From me: the bugs...
Ed: They're not the worst. We can wave the paddles.
We're off. Snowdrop is thrilled to be out and about at the farmette once more.
She loves freshly picked baby tomatoes...
Purple clover is pretty nice too...
But tomatoes are better.
Finally, quiet play, with a new addition for all her countless character stories that she so loves to spin...
An old book, a new book, a kiss and a hug.
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