Hot, summer weather is with us still. I'm up early. Peonies: it's all about the emerging peonies out there...
And irises. Don't forget about the irises.
Lots to fix, organize, get ready. Primrose will be spending the day at the farmette. It's a perfect time for it, though I could do without the emerging summer bugs. Buzz, zap! I move many of the day's planned activities onto the porch. The cats are very unhappy about having their access blocked for the day. Sorry guys, make do!
Snip irises, start fixing breakfast, oh! She's here!
She has eaten already, but she joins Ed and me for the morning meal.
And then we plunge into play.
Like all the kids who pass this way, Primrose is drawn to the toy foods -- cakes, veggies, fruits, pastas, pizzas -- over the years they've all been added to the stash.
And like all the little ones, she is so very happy when I offer her the wading pool.
Each child plays differently in water. She is into the mechanics of transport. And food delivery.
As she plays, she, like Snowdrop, hears the amplified sound of birds. And like Snowdrop, she asks -- what's that?
It's the birds, talking to each other: want some food? want some food? Yes please, yes please! Yummy yum yum! Chiiiiiirp!
And like Sparrow, she is concerned when a loud construction truck rumbles by. Sometimes I think we who live here stop listening to the sounds all around us. But when you're weeding, snipping spent flowers, or sitting in a wading pool, you hear it all.
And from here, it's a short stroll to the sandbox!
(Hold on, I need to get you a sun bonnet!)
Oh, but it's hot! It feels like a beach day, where you've slobbered on the sun screen and now you're all sandy and it's all sticking to you. Well, we have the tools for sand removal. No kid objects to being showered off with a hose.
Inside again, cooled off, ready for more play all the way until lunchtime. Her mom comes down from her sequestered work space (a bed in the lemon guest room) and I whip up a frittata.
Primrose loves veggies: you tell her there's spinach inside and she positively sparkles!
Naps, books, more play... Hey, is someone climbing on my back??
(picking peonies for the dinner table...)
And then the older family comes here for a farmhouse dinner.
(Dessert: yogurt bars and watermelon. Which would you eat first?)
The kids have less space to cavort in the farmhouse, but they manage. Oh, but who can doubt that these three are best friends!
They leave soon after dinner. The bedtimes are always late during these visits and the kids are tired. But a wonderful, beautiful tired after a day well spent. The kind of day each and every one of us deserves to have. No fuss, no clamor or great to-do. Just sharing a day, a meal, with the people you love.
(Evening peonies)
And irises. Don't forget about the irises.
Lots to fix, organize, get ready. Primrose will be spending the day at the farmette. It's a perfect time for it, though I could do without the emerging summer bugs. Buzz, zap! I move many of the day's planned activities onto the porch. The cats are very unhappy about having their access blocked for the day. Sorry guys, make do!
Snip irises, start fixing breakfast, oh! She's here!
She has eaten already, but she joins Ed and me for the morning meal.
And then we plunge into play.
Like all the kids who pass this way, Primrose is drawn to the toy foods -- cakes, veggies, fruits, pastas, pizzas -- over the years they've all been added to the stash.
And like all the little ones, she is so very happy when I offer her the wading pool.
Each child plays differently in water. She is into the mechanics of transport. And food delivery.
As she plays, she, like Snowdrop, hears the amplified sound of birds. And like Snowdrop, she asks -- what's that?
It's the birds, talking to each other: want some food? want some food? Yes please, yes please! Yummy yum yum! Chiiiiiirp!
And like Sparrow, she is concerned when a loud construction truck rumbles by. Sometimes I think we who live here stop listening to the sounds all around us. But when you're weeding, snipping spent flowers, or sitting in a wading pool, you hear it all.
And from here, it's a short stroll to the sandbox!
(Hold on, I need to get you a sun bonnet!)
Oh, but it's hot! It feels like a beach day, where you've slobbered on the sun screen and now you're all sandy and it's all sticking to you. Well, we have the tools for sand removal. No kid objects to being showered off with a hose.
Inside again, cooled off, ready for more play all the way until lunchtime. Her mom comes down from her sequestered work space (a bed in the lemon guest room) and I whip up a frittata.
Primrose loves veggies: you tell her there's spinach inside and she positively sparkles!
Naps, books, more play... Hey, is someone climbing on my back??
(picking peonies for the dinner table...)
And then the older family comes here for a farmhouse dinner.
(Dessert: yogurt bars and watermelon. Which would you eat first?)
The kids have less space to cavort in the farmhouse, but they manage. Oh, but who can doubt that these three are best friends!
They leave soon after dinner. The bedtimes are always late during these visits and the kids are tired. But a wonderful, beautiful tired after a day well spent. The kind of day each and every one of us deserves to have. No fuss, no clamor or great to-do. Just sharing a day, a meal, with the people you love.
(Evening peonies)
