Saturday - 148th

Weekend mornings are leisurely. I know for you, the reader, there isn't much difference here: I take care of animals on all days of the week. I tend to the garden, then eat a breakfast with Ed, almost always on the porch, every single day. But on a Saturday, I ignore the clock. I just don't look at it. I move at a comfortable speed, I work outside until that vision of a mug of coffee with steaming milk is just too powerful, at which point I tell Ed -- breakfast is soon! And he says -- sure it is. Call me when you're sitting down. He knows that it will take another half hour or more for me to actually give up the work and concentrate on fixing and mixing bowls of fruit.

Our flower beds are August flower beds. There hasn't been much rain this year and so the soil is dusty rather than richly moist, as it is in spring. The colors are there still, but there isn't a doubt in my mind that we are nearing the final stages of a summer season.

Today's garden photos:

(bee, coming in for a landing!)






(I learned from one of Snowdrop's book that most frogs shed their skin once a week. Where are all those skins? Oh, the frog eats it up! Yum!)






(Stepping out of the farmhouse door...)






(Eyes towards the driveway)






(There are still lilies to be had...)











(The meadows...)






Followed by a very late breakfast:






Followed by veggie gathering: our own tomatoes -- the ones that haven't been chomped down by deer. Corn: from our local farmers...






And the CSA box, which has grown heavy, overflowing with green, purple and yellow veggies, new potatoes, little tomatoes, and today -- melons. I'm beginning to realize that one box per week is a lot for two people. Perhaps we should have gone with the "every other week" plan. Still, I've been mostly keeping up! When we eat a week's supply of beans or broccoli, we eat mountains of it in one night. Somehow, by the end of the week, the fridge empties out.


And here's a small twist to the weekend: Snowdrop and her mom are here for a sleepover. Since the farmette will be off limits to the young family come September, we are all soaking in its small magic at every turn now. And so we have this special additional time here on a summer evening that is rich with the sounds and smells of farmette life.

A few photos from this sweet farmhouse interlude. (We are determined to not give in to the sadness of it all. You just can't think in those terms. Every contact with my young families, live or streamed through the internet, is meaningful and grand. And it will always be meaningful and grand.)






("Would you like to look at a cook book, mommy?")






(I don't think that Snowdrop has ever slept over here when there hasn't been a home made pizza..."






(Two pizzas today!)






A movie, some books, lots of snacks. Popcorn. Late tuck in. The two younger ones sleep. The grandparents stay up and marvel at how quickly they all grow up.