Saturday

Everyone slept well last night. The kids, the grownups, presumably the animals. This is most unusual: with little ones, someone is always a little off schedule. With grownups as well: oh! I shouldn't have had that extra cup of coffee, or another helping of wine, or that extra hour at the computer! It's too hot, too cold, too much stress, too much to do -- you know, the usual regrets you have in the middle of the night.

But not so last night. At the farmhouse, the windows were open wide, the breezes were cool, the sun filtered into the room at just the right hour.

It is August alright: I'm slowing down with my morning garden work. If July is lily care time, August is sit back and let it do its own stuff time. Oh, sure, I still spent an hour early today trimming and snipping, but I am noticing more and more lily stalks empty of buds. This is it for you, my dear! The last bloom until next year.

(There are exceptions. For instance, these lilies would beg to disagree!)











A person who is meticulous about her flower beds would plant for all three seasons: spring, summer and fall. Me, I concentrate a little on spring, a lot on summer (especially July), and not much on fall. And so I'm nearing the last stages of the flower beds' riot of color. And that's okay: there's plenty to admire in the garden come late summer and fall. Abundance can be found in places other than the flower fields.

(Cheepers, racing out of the barn in the morning!)






Breakfast...






And then I meet up with Snowdrop and her mom for our farmers market outing.

(Success! I have finally managed to keep a "cherry earring" on a granddaughter for longer than three seconds!)






(The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence...)






(Shoes off!)






(Snowdrop loves to dramatize her facial expressions for the camera. Case in point.)







By early evening, we get the rains! Fleeting but heavy. Ah well, the ground needed a quick soak. What's August without a late day storm!