Friday

Sometimes you just have to reset and restart, or even do an about face. You plan on X and Y happens. That's surely what my older daughter had to do last Friday when the school called her and told her Snowdrop was sick and needed to come home. (Not Covid. She'd already had that.) And that's again what she had to do today, as another school called and told her Sparrow was sick and needed to go home. (Not Covid. He'd already had that.) A trickle of adjustments follow. Snowdrop was supposed to visit with her other grandparents this afternoon (as were her brothers). That's not going to happen. I was supposed to take care of details that will set the rest of the month for me. That's not going to happen either. Reset, about face.

But all this is not unusual. Covid has made us tense about being sick, even as young kids inevitably parade through bugs and viruses all year long and especially in the colder months.

Today, by the way, is a colder day of a colder month. I did not need a thermometer to tell me that. Happy, the rooster, always trembles in the cold. This morning he was trembling.

That's one reason to bake. Warm smells, warm kitchen, and a snacking cake to get me through the last of the winter weather. Plus I need to use up a tub of ricotta cheese and a basket full of soft blueberries. Let's make this totally woodsy and atmospheric. I light a sapin (fir tree) candle and put out a sapin honey for the fruits...

Ed invites Friendly to the table. I put up with Friendly because he and Ed really like each other. Personally, I think that cat's too needy. Sort of the opposite of Ed. Perhaps therein lies the match.

Eventually the skies clear and I pick up a happy Snowdrop at school. (She is a child who is quick to pop a smile and tell a happy story from her day. It's always about friends.)

 

 

 

We have a longer play time at the farmhouse... 

 

 

 

 

 

... and it is nearly dinner by the time I drop her off at home. (Remember: one brother's down, but the other? Not at all. At nine and a half months, Sandpiper never sits still. Ever.)

 

And then, just as the first star lights up a darkening sky, I drive home.  

Oh, but it surely is grand to be moving toward these longer days, to be made magically even longer this weekend (Daylight Savings). Now, I'm not making any plans for tomorrow. If nothing is set, there will be no reset, right? I'm just going to wait and see what the day brings. Watch it bring a boat load! Shush! 

Happily counting the days (9!)  until spring!