with a little bit of free time...

I'm thinking that with Snowdrop in school until the afternoon, I have enough time to not fall back on any excuses: if I truly want to finish my Great Writing Project, this is the time to do it!

But first, there is the backlog of small stuff to attend to. (Excuses? No! Just me, catching up on life...) For example -- complicated dental appointments. And so immediately after breakfast (again indoors)...





... I head out for a very protracted dental visit. This, of course, is not an interesting topic for discussion here and still, I learned something today: creativity knows no bounds. Even for those whose work takes them to dentistry. Here's the deal:

I need a crown. On a tooth that is terribly visible. I mean, you can't help but see it. And so my dentist recommends that I travel across town to the place where they create the crowns, so that I can get a "perfect color fitting."

As I wait at this factory of nonwhite crowns for the expert to come up with the perfect match, I look around me. And I notice a poster with photos of teeth with little sketches on them. What is that??

I come closer to study the message on the poster. Well now, did you know that you can have handpainted icons ("tattoos") on your crowns? Anything you want: a favorite dog breed. An American flag. A skull. Anything!

I try to keep an open mind and still, I can't imagine how a tattoo, even a creatively hand-painted tattoo could ever look good on a tooth.


I pick up Snowdrop feeling greatly relieved that the little one hasn't yet the desire nor the ability to tattoo her own teeth.






She asks for coffee shop today.





And playground, on this blustery, nearly fall day.















We were stunned (in a good way) to learn that she had napped in school. Her mood with me was made better for it.






In the evening, Ed and I settle into the quiet of the farmhouse. It's really cool outside and I almost turn on the heat, but I hold back. We still have summer in our bones. 

first day of school

For nearly all Wisconsin kids, school begins today. We used to have earlier starts here in Madison, but we are a state that relies heavily on tourism (and the availability of older kids to help keep those tourist spots running smoothly all the way through Labor Day) and so the tourist industry lobbied heavily for a uniform post-September 1st start day and sure enough, the law here now says -- unless you can demonstrate exceptional circumstances, your district, indeed, all Wisconsin districts must wait until after Labor Day.

Is there a downside? Well yes. Many educators argue that Wisconsin does no favor to high school kids who want to take Advanced Placement exams -- always scheduled in May. Our high schoolers have fewer reading weeks to prepare. There is the inevitable debate as to whether the current law should be repealed, but I'm guessing that the Wisconsin Dells people will prevail over the AP eggheads every time.

Preschools and private schools follow this statewide directive and so Snowdrop's first day of the new school year began today. Since her school isn't too far from the farmette (about a ten minute drive), I offer to meet the young family there at drop off time to take the little one's "first day of school" photo.





I make a whole morning of it: I first go to the bakery to pick up some breakfast breads and, too, snacks for Snowdrop and then I pull up by the school (I'm about twenty minutes ahead of schedule, that's how focused I am on this important event!) to wait for the arrival of the young family.

I watch other families arrive with their children. Just about everyone takes a photo of their child's "first day of school." For once, I am not the only camera clad person there.

The young parents used this as the little girl's "first day of school" photo:





And yes, Snowdrop is that happy about her return to school!

And here's a first for Ed and for me this fall (or more accurately -- late summer): a breakfast... in the sunroom!






When the temperature on the porch is still below 60F (15C) at breakfast time, it's far nicer to eat indoors, bathed in the sunshine of a lovely day. (You think Ed might need a beard and hair trim? I think so too. I get to it soon after breakfast.)






I pick up the little girl from school at a later hour.
Sweater change? -- I ask the teacher. (She'd been in a yellow cardigan this morning.)
Yes, she dug into her cubby and found stuff she wanted to put on...






Where to? Predictably, we go adventuring. But it's cold today and the wind is strong! She swings for a bit in the lake front park and then we make our way back to the farmette.

She hasn't napped. (Quiet time at school has the bulk of kids napping, but that's not Snowdrop: she sleeps on her own terms. Reliably, but when she is ready; at school, she was not ready).

I worry about her stamina, but she holds steady and stays strong. What's the big deal?!






Ahah! Come eat at my restaurant! I have some carrots for you!






And peas! 






Ahah, wait here for some more foods! I'm going to get them!
Ed -- she has more energy than ever...






(And he continues) -- how is it that she is just like you: serving food, wanting to please through eating together? I guess it must be genetic...






(A pause for reading...)






And then the day draws quickly to a close. Calmly, sweetly. The girl goes home. For once, Ed joins me in dinner preparations.

It's a beautiful day to be exactly where we are today....

Labor Day

I don't think many of us who take time off from work on the first Monday of September think much about the essence of this holiday. First proposed by a leader of a machinists' labor union in New York, Labor Day eventually was recognized as a holiday honoring workers and labor unions. Parades, speeches, time off from work. Over the decades the parades fizzled, the speeches dwindled and we are left with a day to close off summer, to roast a few more things on the grill and enjoy one last meal outdoors on a day off from work.

I'm no different. I think grill thoughts today and set the table for dinner on the porch. In my mind, May 1st feels more like a time to celebrate workers. Labor Day feels more like a late summer extra free day in your pocket.

Luck would have it that weather wise, it's a pretty decent day. So that in fact, we begin with breakfast on the porch. I'm not sure how long this lovely warm weather habit will continue, but today we're still happy to eat outside.





I should have then taken to heart the directive to take time off from all work, but, the garden still beckons...






... and so I do some pruning, because things always look so much nicer when the flower beds are more or less well tended...





... but, I twist too hard and cramp some back muscle and as a result, everything is just that much harder to do for the rest of the day.

But not so hard that we can't go on a bike ride in the afternoon. I suggest we check out the new segment of a bike trail that plows through our beloved local county park (just a couple of miles up the road from us) and then traverses over the segment of the Yahara River that joins Lake Waubesa with Lake Monona. The newly opened bike bridge is nearly a mile long and it is an easy way to zip now straight into the town of McFarland on the other side of our lakes.

It is, in fact, a lovely ride -- initially on the bike path that weaves its way right past tall prairie fields...





But when we veer off to join this new segment (appropriately called the Lower Yahara bike trail), we see that we are definitely not the only ones checking out the new path. It is crowded today! Our quiet little corner of woodland and prairie and lakeshore has been discovered!

Well, so be it. The bridge itself is lovely and you have to be pleased that so many will get recreational use out of it.

(There was this one second where it wasn't too full of people... This is it!)





We easily reach McFraland and we note that there are three burger-bars right by the path and they are doing a whopping business today. But downtown McFarland is a bit of a pedal still and the local residents remind us that it is a holiday and everything there is closed today.

I stretch my back on a bit of grass and we turn around to make our way home.



In the evening, it's time for that dinner out on the porch and we have the young family joining us tonight!

But first I want to ride my bicycle!






Grilled chicken brats, the last of the corn.

Salads, sauerkraut, tomatoes, avocado.
Is that real avocado? (Snowdrop has a toy one in her play kitchen.)
Yes it is. We like it.
I like it too.






When she is done, she wants us to play. But we linger. How many more dinners will have outside this year?

She comes back for dessert. And now we all linger...





But not for too long. Labor Day ends with the setting sun (which for us is 7:25 pm). And at least one little person needs to get to bed right at that time. Tomorrow the new school year begins.

one last tickle

Yes, that's what it is: a tickle of warm air. A sunny day with a bit of a haze, but gorgeous to its core! Afternoon temperature: 82F (near 28C). And tomorrow it will be cooler and on Tuesday -- cooler still. Consider this then one last plunge into summer.

As Ed and I tend to farmhouse cleaning, the phone rings. Who gets calls these days, especially on a weekend? I see it's my daughter's number, so like the worried mother, I begin with -- what's wrong??

Oh! It's Snowdrop! She must have found that to be an odd greeting!

Of course, she wasn't really picking up the phone to call gaga. Rather, her mom had some scheduling things to convey and so long as she was reaching for the phone, she let the little one do the initial chat, but it struck me that it was a first phone conversation of perhaps many to come. Not facetime, or skype, or something that simply places her before me, but a regular old fashioned phone call, where I ask her what she is up to and she tells me that she is eating cheddar bunnies for a snack and that soon she and her mommy will be going to the park.

Snowdrop is well practiced in phone talk. She pretend-calls people all the time and she has engaging fantastic conversations on her imaginary phone (no toy needed -- it's all pretend). But this real one was just another indication that the girl is forging ahead with growing up.


I do not see the young family today as they are busy doing things that take them near and far. Instead, Ed and I have planned a small hike for the two of us on the trails of Indian Lake County Park.

But first comes breakfast. As I fix the fruits and other morning nibbles, I glance out the kitchen window to admire the pretty colors of the morning. Say what?? No wonder the tall yellow flowers have been breaking at the stem! I have a flower thief!





The groundhog nimbly pulls the tall flowers down and chomps away.
Ed! Look at that animal!
Ed, of course, gives an approving nod. Plenty of flowers left for us all to enjoy...






As we drive out for our hike, I pause, as usual, to admire the sandhill cranes.
How many times have you paused to take photo of them already? -- Ed asks with a laugh.
A million. And I'll keep on pausing so long as they're here. Which, may I remind you, will not be for very long...





But I have to say, the stunning surprise of the day is the prairie that has grown to the east of Indian Lake. It's breathtakingly beautiful!





We leave the car and head down toward the water's edge. All around us are the wildflowers of a Wisconsin prairie, most of them taller than either of us.





And the dainty beeblossom! (aka my beloved gaura...)





I've been coming to Indian Lake for more than thirty years. It's always lovely, but today you surely have to admit that it's like a slice of heaven!

... A slice of heaven, until we turn in and follow the trail to the forest. Initially, we trudge happily along... It really is pretty here!






But as we walk more deeply into the woods, the bugs come out to remind us that their time is not up yet. Despite the appearance of the first blush of red (see it?)...





...We're surely just at the cusp of fall. Summer, including the pesky bit of summer, is not done with us yet.

We re happy to get out into the open (and bug free) field again. A touch of autumn, no?






At the farmette now, I sit for a long while at the courtyard picnic table, facing the farmhouse and the bedraggled garden before it.





I'm halfheartedly waiting for the reappearance of our resident hummingbird. But the minute he (she?) sees me, he takes off. Still, I am amazed that I can sit for ten, fifteen minutes outside without any sign of a mosquito or pesky fly.

We've turned the corner. Maybe it's a slow shift in gears, but, for better or worse, we're moving out of summer's grip.

work day

Two months of a significant mosquito population at the farmette may not have stood in the way of day lily maintenance, but it most certainly gave me the excuse (was I looking for one?) to neglect much of the rest of the yard.





(By the way, there are still late lilies blooming... and late frogies snuggled in the fading blooms...)





Today, a somewhat cool and cloudy day, is the day to finally do some weeding -- in flower beds, pathways, and in places where the camera never goes -- like along the face of the farmhouse, where a vinca minor and a lily of the valley crop covers an uninteresting terrain. Significant weeds have crept into every corner of the farmette. Time to dig in.

And so right after a very cool breakfast (sweatshirt weather!)...





I attack the invasives, while Ed picks up the power saw to cut down a tree that had fallen during one of our summer storms.

There is a lot of beauty in these early autumnal months. The yard is different, yes, of course...






But it still has sparkle and color. And so I give it an all out effort. Scotch and Henny keep me company. (Java is yet again "roosting" on nonexistent eggs.)





Snipping, digging, pulling, all the way into the afternoon.

(The front bed: so lovely in its pinkishenss!)






Wait -- is that all I do today? Snip dig and pull? Seriously? That's it?

Of course not. Ed and I make one final run to Stoneman's for their corn. They held a dozen ears for us -- a dozen prized delicious ears.  (This is the very last stack for the year...)






(Ed sits down and visits with their pygmy goats... Should we take in a couple of these small lovable animals ourselves? The recurring question: what animals might we take care of at the farmette?)





A full day, don't you think?

September gold

A nip in the air, a blue sky and a burst of gold -- this was our September greeting!

I fold up and put away my mosquito garb. I wont be needing its protection any longer.

Breakfast is still out on the porch, but I'm wearing my fleece. Ed scoffs at that, but I think 60F (16C) is bracing!






It's my weekly grocery shopping morning. I'm happy to see plenty of berries, cherries and peaches (Snowdrop favorites) in the store, but I know that these are no longer from the Midwest. I'm supporting the fruit growers from other parts of the country!

In the afternoon, Snowdrop's parents are at work and so I take the little girl to her new class/new teachers orientation. She'll be on the young end in a class of bigger kids. She wont mind: Snowdrop takes exactly two minutes to shed her shyness toward others.

Though in fact, she is not totally in a world of strangers. She seems to know teachers and they know her. And the class room is just lovely! I predict a good year ahead.

(With one teacher...)






(Out in the big kids' playground: bliss!)






(Yep, I think she's going to like it here!)






At the farmhouse, she has a million ideas on what to do before nap time.

Ride a bike. Read a book.











All to the tune of "just one more minute, Gaga!"

Finally she settles into an extended game of "restaurant" and I know I'm losing the nap battle big time.

I need to sit my babies at the table!






Just a few carrots!






And pineapple! And mushrooms! And pizza! And sushi! And and and....






Ed returns just then from his techie meetings. And now we all have to "eat!" Babies, be quiet in a restaurant! Yelling hurts my ears!






Oh, Snowdrop! You're getting to that age where a whole lot of life happens every waking hour and I don't know a fraction of it! I used to know every whim, every fancy, and every peccadillo of the little babe. Not anymore. She is, in other words, growing up fast!


September. Sunshine, cool nights, golden landscapes. We're ready for all of it.