Friday

Well, never say never. Ed has a friend. A cheese farmer who comes to our Thursday market with his cheeses and curds. If you're a Madisonian, you may know him -- Farmer John. They always chat. Yesterday, Ed was spelling out our chicken issues: no one to butcher chickens we may choose to raise for their wonderful succulent marbled meat. And wouldn't you know it -- John has the equipment. He'd be happy to help us out. So maybe we're in business? At least the issue is on the table again: should we pick up three to four Bresse chickens, to add to our flock of five? yesterday, the answer was a clear no. Today, it's looking closer to a yes.

I suppose this is the moment when I'm getting to be a little nervous: will they get along with our other chickens? How will it feel to pluck the four young ones out and send them on their merry way to the roasting pan? 

How ever did we embark on this interesting detour??

Meanwhile, it's a beautiful morning... (Hey, Peach, you may be getting some "pen pals" soon!)

I'm just waking up to it, when Ed reminds me -- you said you wanted to wipe down the glass roof on the porch?

I did. I mean, I do. Perhaps not at the crack of dawn, but it is cooler in the wee hours of the morning. I climb out of bed and out the window, onto the roof. He throws the hose up, I take out a bristle broom and get to work.

I have learned to navigate that ever lightly slanted space even when it is wet and slippery. As I brush and hose, I think to myself -- will I do this into my 80s? Or will we let the pollen settle in, creating a permanent milky patina over the surface? Ed says he doesn't mind the haze on the glass panels. I'm the fussy one. 

He feeds the animals, I take a quick look at what's blooming. Let's go back to where the good honeysuckle is mixing with the sweet William and asparagus.

Oh, hello Happy! Nice to see you resting in the dirt... Ready for more girls?

I love the full grown cover crop we put in next to the new peach orchard. It reminds me of fields of wheat in Poland. (This is, however, cereal rye.) It moves with the wind!

And speaking of future years on the farmette, Ed finally reached the people who have been tending the land to the east of us (Heartland Ecological Group). This strip of property is part of the development that is going up all around us, but by virtue of our proximity to the wetlands, we have a wide buffer that has been designated as green-space. The strip to the east was supposed to be used for community gardens, but in the end, that project has been scrapped and instead we are getting a prairie. I mean, is that luck or what? The farmette is going to be surrounded on two sides by a blooming landscape. I could not be more tickled. (Here's a view toward the farmette across the soon to be prairie. The farmette extends all the way along the thicket of trees that Ed never wants to cut back! You can just barely see the roof of the farmhouse poking through.)

We reflect on our luck as we settle in for a beautiful breakfast on the porch. Black walnut cranberry bread from the market. With jam for me (strawberry and basil -- Ed calls it my frou frou jam), butter for his slice. And note the strawberries -- they are local. The season is coming on strong. I'd say we'll peak in the next two weeks. 

And then in the late afternoon I get in the car and head down to Chicago. Time for my June visit with Primrose and Juniper!

And as I pull off the highway and drive over for my usual first stop at Olivia's -- to pick up some flowers and other life's essentials -- guess who I run into, walking home from school!

Well now! I have company for my errands! Someone to help me choose the appropriate flowers...

(The young family finishes their walk as I drive the few blocks to their home...)

Such changes... I cannot believe Juniper is in "school" now! 

(I bring some Wisconsin berries for the one who loves berries...)

Oh, how quickly they zip through these early years of life!

Primrose, of course,  is the big girl in town. I do so love this age of both independence and playful engagement. 

I eat dinner with the kids. Well, Juniper is just learning to work her way through mushed avocado...

Primrose and I are a little more advanced in our eating habits.

And then the parents go out for an anniversary night on the town (which is more like a dinner out on some patio, since both kids are still without Covid vaccinations, though not for long now!). I stay home with the little ones. As usual, I am the world's least reliable "get them to bed by bedtime" grandma ever. I mean, Juniper is out, but Primrose? I'd never seen the movie we were watching! How could I possibly turn it off at the most exciting point of the story?! And she needed three books! Plus a story! Plus an extension of the story! 

Phew! I better be out of here tomorrow before the parents realize they have an over-tired and under-slept little girl!

Some of us just don't know how to pull the plug on fun.

With so much love...