Friday

It's been a busy week. A friend described for me her plans for this day and they were leisurely and vacation-like and I thought -- shouldn't I load up my summer with vacation-like days? The kind where you go to coffee shops and take walks and maybe plunge into a pool or a lake somewhere out there. And eat ice cream cones and read beach books by the dozen. Doesn't that sound nice?

Someday.

For now, I get up early, tend to the animals, pull some weeds. (The light on a summer morning is magnificent!)

(The early lilies)

Though here's a nod to summer fun: I had an ice cream cone. Not exactly alone. I had picked up Snowdrop from her last cartoon drawing class and we headed to the zoo. She'd been begging me to go every single day (we drive right past it after art, on our way to the farmette) and I said on Friday we'd go for sure.

And so long as we are there...

... we may as well get ice cream and since I'd been musing about it just this morning, I decided that I owed myself a cone as well. Vanilla for me. Chocolate for the girl. How she manages to get that deep rich chocolate all over her face is beyond me, but she does! All over. (The clothes miraculously stay clean.) Lovely summer colors!

From there it's a short walk to the merry-go-round...

... and I realized that the "zoo" is an umbrella term for "let's have some fun and go on rides and eat sweet things and maybe see an animal or two." I went along with everything except picking up that stuffed toy at the exit. There is no way that Snowdrop needs another stuffed animal. No way.

It's another hot day here is south central Wisconsin and after a zoo trip nothing feels better than an afternoon inside an air-conditioned farmhouse. I think we're done with temps in the 90sF (over 33C) for a while and that's a good thing. You can't get tired of summer so early in the season!

In the evening I do a lot of listening and processing. Ed has stuff he wants to run by me, and of course, there's much in the news that needs our attention. It's a different sort of busy work -- much of it sifting and sorting through piles of complicated information. I'd say I got my workout from all sides today. So I need a head clearing moment. And nothing works better than an evening stroll around the farmette.

(A whole new category of iris is starting to bloom...)

(Do you know what flower dominates here, at the farmette? Of course you do -- it's the day lily. Ah, but do you know what the second most commonly found one here is? The phlox. One form or another blooms from June all the way until the end of September. I love the delicate flowers that form such a large cluster! And the colors! And on some varieties, that phloxy fragrance...)

 

Oh, hello. Are you here on a repeat evening visit? 

You will stay away from the tomato plants, wont you? Go ahead, knock off some cherries if you want. Just leave our veggies alone, okay? Thank you! And good night...