the week of people

You have to admit -- Ed and I lead pretty quiet (one could almost say reclusive) lives. We can go for days without having adult conversations with people other than ourselves. Yes, there are Sunday dinners. And there are always kids at the farmhouse. But as compared to others, I'd say we're pretty tame when it comes to socializing. We love our close friends, but for reasons of geography and circumstance, we just don't see them very often.

The week before us (starting this evening!) marks a departure from this. There will be people, grownup people, with whom we'll eat meals every day. There will be family. There will be friends of family. There will be friends who are almost like family.

I have wanted to get ready in slow increments, but life kept getting in my way. Too, Ed is the original pokey puppy when it comes to ticking off tasks in preparation for gatherings. And so, much of our efforts got pushed back until this day. And as a result, things got a bit hectic.

"Ed, the microwaves have to go!" "Yes gorgeous."

These are the kind of conversations we have been having all day long.

Of course, I do get up early and I do snip spent lilies, and I count them once more, just to see where I am at with these flower beds. I am shocked that I come in at 1025. Not a record, but close to the high of a few days back. Yes, it's been quite the lily workout for me this year!

Three garden photos!
















Breakfast. Goofy guy.






View out the porch...





And then I'm off to grocery shop for the week. (It takes forever. You have no idea how much time I spend in the produce section alone!)

By the time I come home, unpack, and put away foods, I have only a second, to gulp down a coffee, and then I spring right back into the car to pick up Snowdrop.

She is excited. She has something for me! It's a secret.

Finally, revealed: a couple of not yet ripe blueberries...
Should we let them ripen on the window?
No, they're yummy!






At the farmette, she tells me -- today, I want to follow the path to the meadow.

She says this because yesterday, when I had wanted to show her the newly mowed path through the young orchard, all the way to the blueberries, she had said -- "no, I like the path to your house best." But on this day she is adventurous.

Walk with us!












... all the way to blueberries. Call it a blueberry Friday!






... and back again.











One last book in this week of Katie Morag books.







Evening. The light always hits the back of the bed...





It grows dark. Fireflies do their stuff. And later, so very close to midnight, the young family arrives.