Sunday in six chapters

chapter 1: Do Not Neglect the Day Lilies!

If you're going to set for yourself the task of clearing away spent lily blooms, then it's important not to fall too far behind. Especially in the week when there are people passing through, who may enjoy a well tended garden. (My younger daughter asks me -- would it look that bad if you left them to their own fate? The answer is complicated: most gardens I've seen let the lilies be. But most gardens are not built around day lily plants. Mine are. The lilies dominate in many spaces and believe me, the beds do not look as magnificent with spent flowers drooping from long stems.)

But tending the garden should not creep too much into time spent with visitors (the younger family!) who are here only for the weekend. The conclusion? Get up even earlier than their wee one (who herself rises at 6:15)!

And I do. And I work quickly. I do skip a handful of beds and even so, I snip off upwards of 700 blooms. And I'm back in the house by 7.

Memorable images from my morning work:






(The bed to the west of the porch is quite dense this year. I'll have to reign it in a bit next spring. Note that most of the lilies here have not yet bloomed. They're August lilies.)






(The Big Bed is quieting down. One of the readers proposed that I do an album of the Big Bed through its seasonal changes. It's an excellent idea! A great winter project!)






(One doesn't have favorites among kids and grandkids, but one does tend to find delight in a selection of lilies each year. These girls are definitely up there for me this summer!)






(The lily bed by the porch in the early morning is only partly unfurled for the day. The flowers will open up right around breakfast time!)






chapter 2: Good Morning!

Well now, there's stirring in the farmhouse! 

We ready ourselves for the day. ("Mom, do you need some more cream?")






And of course, there is breakfast. Primrose ate her way through her fruit bowl as together, she and I were preparing the fruits for all of us. But there's still oatmeal! And kefir, and yogurt, and really bad coffee for some of the older folks. (My new machine did not arrive on time. Ah well. It made for a good story all weekend long.)






Youngest, oldest. He eats she eats.






And now my daughter arrives with her two kids...






chapter 3: The Blueberry Adventure

Snowdrop had been eager to go to the blueberry patch with her cousin. Finally, this morning, she has her chance to lead the way!






Everyone wants to be in on it!






True, it is a little bit hot and a little bit buggy. But we get our berries! The two girls are the experts here: both have picked the warm little berries before.











Having sampled the fruits (and reaffirmed for Primrose the connection between what she eats and where it comes from), we follow the path back to the farmhouse!






... with a pause to have Primrose get to know our cheepers up close and personal. We have very well behaved, non-intimidating chickens!






chapter 4: The Band of Cousins

There is a slight scuffle as to who should pound the xylophone. Bring out the drum. Two more sticks to distribute. We have a band!






After a very loud performance, we (thankfully) settle into quieter play. The key here is to take possession of the reader's lap. It's an ever-changing configuration of little ones.






So ends the farmhouse romp. The younger family is packin' up.






chapter 5: The Brunch

I had wanted to fix brunch for everyone, but it was pointed out to me that this would require too much time in the kitchen. Our days together are not long. I've cooked dinner. Let's eat out on Sunday!

And we do. At Sardine.

(waiting for the last two gentlemen to arrive)





Snowdrop does her marker sketches, Primrose attempts to do the same.






Sparrow, who likes tall people, has a conversation (of sorts) with the waiter who admires his teething biscuit.






And now it's time for everyone to leave and go home. This home, that home.

I'll take all the hugs I can get!





Good byes are so hard.


chapter 6: Back to the Farmette Flowers


At least the flowers haven't gone away. They're there to comfort, to inspire...






But it is awfully quiet this evening at the farmette. Ed and I plant some peas, then I throw one last glance at the flower beds.

Hi, Dance...






Hi little kitten, hiding in the lily field.





Flowers, cats, kittens. Gentle moments with my sweet partner in crime. Daydreams about future days, when the farmhouse will be buzzing with the sound of young voices again.

to the fullest

I don't really buy into the idea that you have to "live your life to the fullest." It seems if you wake up, take a leisurely stroll, eat a lovely meal and then read a book all day -- that may appear tame to someone on the outside, but mightn't it also be heavenly? And full? In my mind, all days are full.

But I do think that some days are just packed with significant moments. They come flying at you, one after another and at the end of it all, you're happy, exhausted, whirling from the pace, yet deeply satisfied.

And you have no time to reflect, to write about it, to offer commentary. Midnight's awfully near, and your feet are aching, and you don't trust yourself at the computer: you may end up resting your finger too long one one key and dozing off, only to wake up later with pages upon pages filled with F's or A's or Z's. It's happened more than once.

Today was very very full of those grand moments. Perhaps to the Ocean reader it seems ho hum: get up, eat, go to market, cook, eat again, clean up and go to bed.

Oh, but wait! It's all in the details! I don't have time or enough oomph to write about it, but let's look at the photos together.  People, doing very ordinary things. Thrilling, ordinary, beautiful things.


Up early. I have house guests! I have to run through my morning routines before they stir. And they are early stirrers!

I snip lilies, just enough to make the flower fields look happy. Some 500. And when I look up, I see that Primrose and her mom are on the porch. Throw down my pail and go inside.

Hi little girl!






Do you want to walk the magic path with grandma to pick blueberries? Yes? Okay!






The girl does love blueberries. Straight off the bush -- they're heavenly! Primrose's little fingers deftly search out the ripe ones...






The path is pretty nice too!






Breakfast. First at the table? Primrose and Ed.






Soon to be joined by parents.






My two little girls....






Today is the first day that our local corn growers (Stoneman's Farms) are selling corn! To eat sweet corn picked early that same morning is bliss. So we drive over, just four minutes up the road and let Primrose sit in their tractor...






And, too, I let her pick out our dozen+1 ears.






A trip to Stoneman's always involves a visit with their goats.











From there, it's straight to the downtown Farmers Market, where we meet up with the other young family.






I have quite the list. Peas. Asparagus, 'cause someone still has it. Dill. Basil. tomatoes and carrots in many hues. Flowers. My bag fills with the essentials of summer.

Eventually, we turn toward the shady lawn of the Capitol. It's a warm day. We rest.


My awesome threesome.






Well, some of us don't rest for very long!






Slow down, little ones! Sit with us!






Later, I'm at the farmette, I'm getting busy. I'm cooking dinner for ten. I fall back on a menu my daughters loved when they were young ("crunchy chicken"). It goes well with pasta and today -- corn! For dessert, I look for what's growing in the garden. Rhubarb. Lots of it. And of course, blueberries. I bake a rhubarb-blueberry galette (from Ottolenghi's book).






They're all here! Time to get that photo that I covet twice a year -- once in the winter, then again in the summer: me and my brood!






Dinner. Despite the heat, everyone votes for the porch.

(Two young families, a good friend, and Ed...)






Old and young. Big and teeny...





Happy, just to be sharing a meal, at the two tables pulled together. Until the light grows dim and the little ones get a little tired and the big ones get very, very tired.

A full and beautiful summer day!

the week of people

You have to admit -- Ed and I lead pretty quiet (one could almost say reclusive) lives. We can go for days without having adult conversations with people other than ourselves. Yes, there are Sunday dinners. And there are always kids at the farmhouse. But as compared to others, I'd say we're pretty tame when it comes to socializing. We love our close friends, but for reasons of geography and circumstance, we just don't see them very often.

The week before us (starting this evening!) marks a departure from this. There will be people, grownup people, with whom we'll eat meals every day. There will be family. There will be friends of family. There will be friends who are almost like family.

I have wanted to get ready in slow increments, but life kept getting in my way. Too, Ed is the original pokey puppy when it comes to ticking off tasks in preparation for gatherings. And so, much of our efforts got pushed back until this day. And as a result, things got a bit hectic.

"Ed, the microwaves have to go!" "Yes gorgeous."

These are the kind of conversations we have been having all day long.

Of course, I do get up early and I do snip spent lilies, and I count them once more, just to see where I am at with these flower beds. I am shocked that I come in at 1025. Not a record, but close to the high of a few days back. Yes, it's been quite the lily workout for me this year!

Three garden photos!
















Breakfast. Goofy guy.






View out the porch...





And then I'm off to grocery shop for the week. (It takes forever. You have no idea how much time I spend in the produce section alone!)

By the time I come home, unpack, and put away foods, I have only a second, to gulp down a coffee, and then I spring right back into the car to pick up Snowdrop.

She is excited. She has something for me! It's a secret.

Finally, revealed: a couple of not yet ripe blueberries...
Should we let them ripen on the window?
No, they're yummy!






At the farmette, she tells me -- today, I want to follow the path to the meadow.

She says this because yesterday, when I had wanted to show her the newly mowed path through the young orchard, all the way to the blueberries, she had said -- "no, I like the path to your house best." But on this day she is adventurous.

Walk with us!












... all the way to blueberries. Call it a blueberry Friday!






... and back again.











One last book in this week of Katie Morag books.







Evening. The light always hits the back of the bed...





It grows dark. Fireflies do their stuff. And later, so very close to midnight, the young family arrives.