Thursday

My head is buzzing with kids -- both of the human kind and of the bearded-eats-everything kind, and with that cold that is retreating, but too slowly, and also with summer activities that are about to heat up for me.

So let's go easy this morning. And indeed, it is a gentle morning: still cloudy, so breakfast is in the kitchen...

Ed! I'm ready! (Fallen irises from the garden.)






And then I pull weeds. After a period of constant rain, stuff grows, whether you want it or not.

Let me insert a few photos of what's blooming right now.

We are at the cusp of pink! These are light and frilly. The peonies will be bold and closer to magenta.






(Many buds -- iris and peony -- waiting to pop open.)






(Dance: yes, but what do you have for me?)






(Colorful blooms, up above and down below)







By afternoon, the clouds are almost completely out of here. I'm fine with that!

It's definitely warm enough for me to take Snowdrop to the park. But a snack comes first.











Home again...

(They are all on such friendly terms!)






(Happy really is a good rooster. Remarkably so, actually. The girls have taught him well!)






A new Snowdrop game: "let's design our own computers!" Hmmm... I wonder where she gets her inspiration...






Look who is here to pick you up, little one!






And that's it, no?

Oh, not at all. After Snowdrop goes home, Ed and I get on his motorbike and rumble over to our little farmers market, where we talk to Farmer John (the cheese guy) about.... goats.

Wait til they jump on your car! They love that!
We have old cars... It wont matter...
A visitor might feel differently about it!

You know, there are so many more pressing goat rearing concerns, that this one just makes me smile...



And our evening's not over yet: I want to replace a plant that has been ravaged by.... I don't know who or what. Maybe cheepers, maybe something else. We ride over to the Flower Factory. It's a beautiful evening to be in the open air, scooting between forests and vales, fields and farms. The smells are exquisitely those of late May. The colors are gentle. Many of the invasive species that we see along the roads really should be pulled (honeysuckle, dame's rocket), but their sweet fragrance is in fact enchanting!

I hold two flower pots in my lap ("we've never had someone come to shop for flowers on a motorcycle before!") and we meander down this road, turning on the next, and the next, until we get home.

It should have been an easy supper of eggs and veggies from the market (asparagus!), but we gave away all our eggs. Time to cook up some lentil soup. Dinner is very very late.