Friday - 84th

I've come to the conclusion that on busy days, no matter how early you get up, you never get everything done anyway, so you may as well sleep in. I wish I had followed that advice today, but in a naive effort to get ahead of myself, I gave up on sleep at 5:30 and began my day then.

I had no choice, really. I needed tortillas. But they seem to go like hotcakes because every time I put them in "my cart," they disappear. Sold out by the time of delivery. At midnight, I spot them  on the virtual shelves of my grocery store. So I quickly put in an updated grocery list, for delivery at 6 a.m. I figure it would not be possible for them to sell out, given that the store's closed for the night. Click. Order in.

Unfortunately, there is to be a confluence of events at that early hour: the grocery delivery, a drive-by drop off by our local farmer Aggie (she is selling us her prize sweet slicer cucumbers) requiring us to leave her a check, and finally -- a storm. All three at the same time. I had to be up and about to juggle it all. And as long as I am up, I should feed the animals and oh, that tiger lily -- aka ditch lily -- is invading my true day lily bed again, so I must dig it up and transplant it to some remote corner of the farmette lands (Ed does not like it when I ditch the ditch lilies).

In other words, it is a hellaciously busy morning.

Not so busy that I would ignore the garden!

(A Big Bed view...)






(You cannot forget about our second lilac -- the late bloomer. Its position is to the side, but its fragrance is nonetheless fantastic!)






(Perhaps our most floriferous peony -- right in front of the lily bed.)






(A pretty sight as you come up the driveway...)







Foods washed, cucumbers delivered, animals fed, lilies transplanted, storm never made it our way. Ed and I eat a quick breakfast on the porch. We briefly discuss the value of a liberal arts college education (it's always interesting to hear the perspective on this of a mechanical engineer) and then I note that it's late, except I have one more detail (mom related) to take care of and now I'm really late.

But, never mind: all's forgiven. I show up at my daughter's house for a day of play with Primrose and her two cousins.






This is what we did today:

(Always the frolic!)






(A walk to Stricker's Pond)











(With a run and a chase out on a big field...)











(Deck play)











And in the later afternoon?

(Primrose with aunt...)






(A tower, built mainly by Primrose, with Sparrow's experimental assistance...)






(So... how do we play baseball? Like this?...





... or is it more like this??)






I stay for a dinner of grilled foods. There is a beautiful selection of burgers, brats, and hotdogs, along with beyond burgers for the diehard no-red-meat-ever people. For a minute I am tempted to jump ship. Ed and I no longer grill stuff and of course, we're not red meat eaters but that doesn't mean that on that rare occasion that someone offers it I am not tempted.

Still, there is a cultural grip on us all that we too often fail to acknowledge, let alone understand. Having, myself, rejected the idea of (red) meat, it's hard to not feel weird eating it. With a sigh, I settle for the beyond-meat burger (a plant based burger for those who haven't been following this stuff).



Pulling into the driveway of the farmette, I take in the majesty of this weeks blooms.


 


And then I come inside. I tell myself I really have to do better in the sleep department. This simply means that I should go to sleep before midnight, but that really is not possible because, well, the evening is the time to catch up with the news, to put my feet up, to eat popcorn with Ed.

But no more predawn wake ups. Really, no more! (A promise I'm not likely to keep.)