daily habits

These three dates have always stuck in my mind: the 4th of July (US Independence Day obviously). July 22nd (the day we celebrated Polish liberation under communism), and July 14th (French National Day). That second date has slipped into a storehouse of childhood memories, even as the 4th is very current and the 14th -- well, it reminds me of croissants and baguettes and sipping a cafe creme for breakfast.

I read about President Macron's recent order in France (where, like here, the Delta variant is gaining traction): you want to go to a restaurant, or bar, or cafe, or movie, or nursing home, or ride a long distance train? Show proof of vaccination or negative recent Covid test, which, by the way, is no longer free. Within hours of his announcement, over a million vaccine skeptics tried to sign up for a vaccine. Get a test before each trip to a restaurant? That's not for the French! They need their daily dose of cafes etc the way we need our daily dose of... come on, help me out here, what can't Americans live without? Car rides maybe? (When was the last time you had a day without a ride in the car? Ed is excluded from this survey!)

Me, I admit to having had many car trips today. Two appointments, a pick up of Snowdrop and an unexpected visit with her here at the farmhouse, a return of the little one home, and finally a trip with Ed to Lake Mills -- that's a town some 40 minutes east of the farmette. I feel as American as apple pie!

It's too late to work up a text for you. But the photos tell you all that you need to know about this wet and stormy, car filled, lily packed Bastille Day. Allons y! (What? No French in your life? It just means let's go!)

(find the monarch in the Penstemon!)

Breakfast? Yes of course, stuck in between one thing and the next.

(Ed is working on making friends with one of the young chickens, Unie. With some success!)

(On the way to pick up Snowdrop at school...)

(Snowdrop, on the school's playing field)

(Book time)

(Meanwhile, back at her house, Sandpiper is stirring...)

And now it is time to visit our friends. In Lake Mills. On the lake. We dodge the storms, thank goodness. I'm admiring the water here: so clean you could easily swim in it! Just not today...

A pause in the rain allows for a great outdoor meal...

Bonne nuit, mes amis!

animalia

I got a haircut today at tiny Bang salon. No big deal, right? Well actually it was a big deal. My last one had been in March 2020. Yep, just before the lockdown. Such innocents we were then! My hair cut person had already been wiping down the chair (because we all thought that was the key to stopping the spread), even as no one wore masks. So we sat in clean chairs and talked freely and inhaled deeply and my, how things have changed!

Some months back, I could not stand my long hair anymore so I cut it off myself and it looked fine, but I missed having it actually styled by someone other than me and so today I was back in a chair with my old stylist, both of us wearing masks, because she has a kid and I'm around kids and it's just better that way for now.

I have to say that there are many moments just like this, where I return to some prepandemic habit and think deeply about it in ways that I never did before. I still have a few to go! Ed and I have yet to eat at a restaurant indoors, I have yet to go shopping in a grocery store (this is just me being busy or spoiled, take your pick). And I have yet to fly, which then leads me to the final step -- to fly across the ocean. Hey, one thing at a time! Today I got a haircut. Pretty short, too. Going wild in my reentry into a saner world. 

 

In general, it is a day for me to think about putting my feet up. Literally. Ed and I agreed that we could use one comfy chair for reading/writing/lounging on the porch. Just one. He thinks it will look too cluttered with two and I'm not going to push him on it. He can stay on the house couch. I'm the one who is pining for a front row seat with a view toward my flower beds.  

 

And speaking of flower beds, I am back on schedule, snipping away spent lilies. I notice that on some days there are a lot and on other days there are fewer. Lily blooms seem to come in waves: a big show on one day, then a pause, then the next big display a couple of days after. It's as if they needed a break between each performance. 

 

Aren't you going to bug me about the title of the post? Animals? What animals?!

Well it just so happens that all the photos today have an animal in them. Some of this was quite unintentional. I have photo bombing cats and a rooster, but then too I have the elusive hummingbird and the athletic tree frog. And don't forget the deer!  So, photos for today: no kids, but lots of splendid animalia.  

 

A leap toward a better world, or else why bother?!

hopscotch

It feels like I'm jumping today: from this to that and back again. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Jumpers typically are fit and nimble, so you could say I'm training to stay in the league of the movers if not the shakers. Still, there isn't necessarily a flow to the day.

Take the morning: I had a mess out there in the flower fields. Yesterday's day lily trimming was modest and today the garden seems ragged. It honestly does not look pretty (in my opinion) when so many lily heads are wilted and hanging by a thread. So I snip away! And admire what's out there.

(pastel)

(ruby)

(dark)

(froggie, surfing the spent lily)

(Whirling Butterflies and nasturtium in the pot, lilium, day lily and phlox in the bed)

 

 

(a corner of the Big Bed)

 

But after snipping off number 616, I stop. To be finished later. We have a scheduled event at our local county park: one of the horticultural specialists there is leading a walk through their restored prairies. Ed and I thought we might learn something. There isn't time for breakfast - the walk begins at 10 and snipping lilies took a long time. We head out hungry (in my case) and coffeeless (again only me: Ed isn't a coffee guy). One must make sacrifices!

The walk was just okay. There were four other walkers and none knew much about prairies, so the explanations had to be necessarily basic. When one of the older participants asked "what's a bumble bee?" we excused ourselves. Still, it's close to noon before we sit down to breakfast. Left over croissants!

And it cannot be entirely leisurely: I am scheduled to pick up Snowdrop at French Camp at noon. 

Picking up the girl is always exceptionally wonderful: you get an insight into her mood immediately after. And today (first day of the week-long camp) she is jubilant. 

It's easy to understand why. She is one friendly kid and the presence of classmates put her over the top. Gogsie (her newest nickname), did you know that "purple" in French is like the little flower (violet)?

At the farmhouse, after lunch, we do a lot of reading. She is old enough for Judy Blume books and this makes me very happy, since I loved reading this author's stuff when my girls were young. So often, books lose their relevance over time, but Judy Blume's novels always seem to me to feel current. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing is a book about a boy who has a pesky little (nearly 3 year old) brother. Would Snowdrop identify with the older boy?

She doesn't! Snowdrop defends the little guy and has little patience for the big brother. 

We always think we can identify kid feelings. It's good to have this chance to listen to what they are really telling us.

(When here, Snowdrop always takes the time to make friendly overtures to Dance. The cat is finally accepting her as part of the household. Still at a bit of a distance, but she does stay put when Snowdrop reaches out to pet her.)

After dropping the girl off at home, I return to the lilies. Two more beds to clean up (for a total of 901 today)! I'm caught up!

All that and a few raindrops too. Not bad for a jumpy day!

Sunday meals

The sleepover continues. Of course it does! We all wake up to a lovely farmette morning. 

Oh, we are lucky with weather! Snowdrop tells me she had a conversation with the weather fairies and this time they listened to her. Well now, thank you. No pouting skies and thunderstorms. No rain either (we could use some more rain, but it was very decent of the weather fairies to hold off on that for at least this one day). Just a mild and sweet set of Sunday hours, where the doors and windows can be kept open to the lily scented air outside.

I do get up very early, before Primrose wakes up. I can't possibly snip off hundreds of spent lilies, but I do tackle a few dozen of them. If the young families look out at the flower fields, they'll see a mostly tidy garden!

The little girl wakes up and we have an early morning meal together.

Both young families will be here for brunch and despite my young guest being with me this morning, or perhaps because she is here, I get ambitious with the prep for it. I'll be making a frittata in a bit, but for now, let's bake blueberry muffins!

And again, my sous chef extraordinaire gets to work: prepare the tin, grate the lemon rind, whip up the wet ingredients, sift in the dry.

(She continues to help as we set the table for the noon meal.)

Because the weather is so good for this, Primrose and I do a lot of going in, going out. In, and out...

And eventually the cousins arrive..

 

 

 

 

 

And her parents return from their little getaway and we are all together and it is grand.

Lingering on the porch after a meal, where you're still nibbling at the leftover muffin or croissant, or reaching for another cup of coffee has to be one of my favorite activities. Really, right on top with all else. And we have the perfect day for it.

Of course, the day moves forward. We can't just stay put. There's beauty in movement as well.

And yes, the younger family has to pack up and hit the road. And the local young family is off as well and all this is okay, because I have this deep satisfaction in knowing that they are all doing well. The difficult year has left its mark and indeed, in many ways it's not over yet, but nonetheless, we are here and together and the youngsters are growing into such good, good kids and that just makes me so very happy.

The day's not over of course! If it's Sunday then it must be family dinner at the farmhouse! Yes, the local guys come over again, this time for an evening meal on the porch -- the usual foods, with the usual joys of eating together, outside again.

So ends a weekend that has all the essential elements packed in to the fullest.

Deeply satisfying. Yep -- happy.

With love...