Monday

The green bucket, used as a rain gauge, tells me we've had at least two inches of rain in the past two days. That is perfect. We can stop now. For a while.

The flower fields are letting out their last exhale of blooms. I see that the ones I snip and the ones that are currently flowering are the tail end of the season. It's been such a long and robust summer run for them! The flower field along the secret path was new last year and so this is the first season of full grown plants. I'd say it's currently my most healthy set of flowers, in that everything is in its adolescent splendor -- full of energy and youthful optimism. It really makes you smile to watch the flowers outperform each other there.

The lily field by the porch has been strong too, but I really must address some of the older clumps in it. And unfortunately, that work should be done now, while I see what's there and working and what needs a divide or replacement. Of course, the very last thing I want to do now is dig up a flower field. Most likely, I'll just make educated guesses next spring. This has been my modus operandi all along: work with whatever grabs me at the moment. Monet would be appalled.

It's still gray outside, but I do my work, and we eat outside, still enjoying the summer vibe in the air.

(And on the ground...)

And then it gets a little hectic. I pick up Snowdrop from the last of her summer camps -- this one is "art and outer space." Yes, all in one!

We come back to the farmette...

(fraises de bois)

... and after lunch, she and I read the next in the series of books that she likes and I tolerate (Pilkey's stuff, which can be funny if a bit oddballish.) We do art, she plays. And tries as always, unsuccessfully as always, to annoy Ed. (He is never ever annoyed by her.)

Late afternoon -- we're back on the tennis courts! As we walk in the park toward the courts, we both comment how cool it is. I put on a sweater. We look toward the left field where last winter she learned how to skate. Could it be that we're starting to turn away from summer? Are we ready for that step? I'm wishing I had a warmer wrap as I sit and watch her play. My summer blood isn't primed for the burst of cool air.

I take out my laptop and I catch up on mail. I had just received a very sweet email from an old friend in Poland and all I could think was how correct that NYTimes article was a few weeks back when the author urged us to exchange more pleasantries over texts and emails. They matter. Sending positive stuff matters. It seems obvious and yet we take care of the needed correspondence and neglect that which is unexpected and without obvious purpose! 

At the end of her lesson, her teacher says: she is persistent!

I return her home. Where her brother just wants to be with mommy.

And now it's evening. I swing by Walgreens, all the way in McFarland, to take care of one important errand, then I am back home.

So, a little bit of a nutty day, with beautiful elements throughout. I suppose that describes a good many of farmette days, don't you think?

With love...