at the table

So much of our family time is at the table! I suppose I always knew this, but never was it more evident than today. Apart from the garden photos, nearly all of this day's pics are from around a table.

But first -- the garden. It's a stormy morning and a buggy one too and in my dash to let the cheepers out I hardly pause at all.

But I do admire the phlox in last year's new bed...






And the wet day lilies in the bed to the west of the porch...






And of course, I can never resist the entirety...






The young Minnesota couple is staying at the farmhouse and this gives us a few idle minutes together on the porch...






I think about how wonderful it is to have that chance to just sit and bring out the details of their plans, and my plans for the months ahead.






And then we all gather (at Julep) for a family brunch. Ed unfortunately must stay home and continue his tireless work on his machine project, but the rest of us are there, outside, having this one last meal together.






A game of "who will wear these sunglasses" begins.











Mostly, Snowdrop is just so happy to have everyone there with her. I so understand her swells of total joy.






But the time does come for us to say good bye.
I have another game we can play and another and another.
Good bye, Snowdrop.






What if you wear your sunglasses upside down? Wouldn't that be funny? Wouldn't it??








See you soon, spirited, lovable Snowdrop.






At the farmette, the flowers are brilliant still, but they seems a touch less forceful now that two grand admirers who were, after all, married in their midst, have left to return to Minnesota.






Ed brings in a treat: the first ripe tomato from our patch!






And eventually I roll up the sleeves and work on tonight's dinner.

Snowdrop comes with her parents, and she finds Ed and they do their wonderful romp together...






And then we head out onto that place of all places -- the porch.


 



Where the girl eats as if she hadn't seen food for weeks.






One last walk with the cheepers -- offering the rare photo that is not from around the table.











I do hope that you were able to lose yourselves just a little in the thick of this midsummer's magic.

how good is that...

On a perfectly beautiful July day, when the farmette flowers are at their best and the weather matches their mood, my younger daughter and husband drive down from Minnesota and join my older daughter and her husband and Snowdrop for family time in Madison. The story of the day will be told in photos. No words. (Really??? No words??? Promise???)











































































































My two...





[Menu, much of it shamelessly copied from what I ate on my last day in France: chilled melon soup with Muscat over fresh mozzarella, topped with a bit of prosciutto, tajin chicken with apricots and roasted almonds, couscous with market peas, cherry and almond crumble. Snowdrop devoured it all. And yes, I kept the Muscat de Beaumes de Venise out of her portion of the soup.]









How good was that!

Friday

It isn't easy to think calm thoughts if you keep abreast of the news and at no time has this been more so than in the past weeks. And still, here, at the farmette, you'll see only the uplifted faces of my flowers.  Pink...






Orange.






It's a buggy world out in the fields these days, but I step out each morning nonetheless to trim the spent blooms. I don't have to do it, but I think that the beds deserve that degree of upkeep. The life of a day lily is so very brief. I truly think it is my job to create an environment where each flower can shine in its full glory.


Looking toward the sheep shed...






Looking toward the farmhouse.






Breakfast. It's cool this morning -- a tiny break from the summer heat.






And then I'm off to be with Snowdrop. I bring her freshly picked berries from the farmette.






And fairly early on, we go out for our walk. And again we pause over a cup of iced tea (for me) and a scone (for all to share).






(Here's a hastily taken photo of a girl who loves to run -- seen here at the coffee shop, after putting back the high chair in its rightful place.)






At home, we have our usual game of me putting on a hair clip and Snowdrop removing it. It's getting harder and harder to trick her into not noticing the little clip.







Lately, I've been leaving little "S" letters (for Snowdrop) in various places. Today, she was thrilled to play with the sticky papers for quite a long time. All was fine...






... until she decided that it was great fun to take the pen and try her hand at writing with it... on the couch. Paper not necessary.

In the afternoon, I do the weekly grocery run. It is a bit more complicated than the usual shopping trip, as I have special house guests arriving tomorrow. Expect a foodie post tomorrow! For now -- good night!

Thursday

Oh, the flowers of July! Soak up the sorrows of this world and keep our collective smile alive.

Here are my pink girls, fitting in with the yellow flowers that I planted so long ago that I don't even remember what they are.






Here's an unusual and beautiful day lily:






And here's the field of them, today:






Breakfast.






And now it's all about Snowdrop. She has gym class early in the morning and I'm there with her.

And yet... do I note that dance stretch creeping into the tumbles and climbs?






Ah, Snowdrop... I hope in life you do not have to carry the burdens of the world upon your head...






This is one of her favorite moments -- when she gets to play ball. (Soccer champ? Maybe...)






Afterwards, we go to Paul's coffee shop (right next door to the gym!) and I buy a batch of pickles and a cookie to be split between Snowdrop and Ed and I have to say, I am too lazy (tired?) to haul over a high chair, so I tell the little one to just stand in the big chair and eat. She obliges, though there's that look in her eyes that seems to ask  -- am I understanding this right? you want me to stand? Correct?







Okay. (Or, as Snowdrop says it -- okay okay okay!!) We go to the library next. Chaos. Some group of young ones is running wild. Snowdrop is not sure what to make of this. Neither am I. We don't stay long.

Back home, she has her bath and then we move to her play space. I put on a record. This child is no stranger to music, but the record player just mesmerizes her.






Here's something impressive: our mosquito population took a nosedive overnight. And so Snowdrop and I head outdoors to explore.

She is a bit tentative... Until I take her to our blueberry patch and let her taste the warm berries straight off the bush. She stuffs them into her mouth... So good!






The cheepers see us. They come running.






Stand back, girls. I'm trying to take a picture of the lilies in the heat of the day.






We retreat to the farmhouse where Snowdrop practices the set up for a somersault (expecting me to flip her over, and I do) again and again and again.






Lunch, nap -- it all moves so quickly. Here she is immediately after her nap with that look of sleep still in her little face...






I give her fat crayons and a piece of paper and, as an afterthought, a cup full of blueberries and all this amuses her no end: what's a girl to do with all this stuff??






(Focus on the blueberries.)





She goes home soon after.

Near evening at the farmhouse. Admire the day lilies, water some distant beds. Go out with Ed to the local market, talk to the cheese guy and, too, to the guy from Greece who sells his olive oil (come pick olives with us in January! Meh... I don't think so. Travel less, be here more...), eat dinner, admire the lilies...





The world is a troubled place. Finding peace is so very hard. But here, at the farmette, it isn't hard at all. So lucky to look out and view fields of flowers. So very lucky.