merci!

this is the sign jacob made for me.

i had several comments on it at the farmer's market today.
it is well made and lovely. thanks again, jacob.

32 years

we've managed without a toaster cover.


for whatever reason it has been the hot topic this past few weeks. if i had a quarter for every time.....

we now have a toaster cover.

bete noir

nothing - or very little - grows under the large linden tree along the driveway. there isn't enough sunlight or moisture too support even growth. too many tree roots. hard to mow, generally covered by one of the many things that fall from the tree. i've tried a variety of ground covers and nothing has taken. this spring i moved some lily of the valley and hope to see them come up again next spring. so this season for what ever reason i had grass - long, lush, green grass in just the corners. its been on my list all summer to give some attention to my bete noir. friday was a free day and perfect for outside work. it wasn't until i was well into the job that i realized i'd forgotten to take my 'before' pictures....not a problem. i would get pictures of the other side. and of course i began that part early saturday morning and photo ops never crossed my mind. so you're left with a glimpse of the finished project.

i've carved out the two corners, tried to trace around the lily of the valley with some loose rock and added a few stepping stones that i made this summer. i've added blue glass pieces from time to time figuring that if nothing would grow i'd still have some color under the tree.



each corner has a 'bowl' for hens and chicks which should eventually spread the whole corner. one of my large rhubard leaves has found a place under the tree and i'll have to add some more rock to the scattered trail. you don't know how i'm counting on the lily if the valley to take hold under there....
i had 2 delightful days to work outside. today is one of those humid days that make you fear your envelopes will seal themselves...

happy birthday, james

today i'm sending birthday greetings to our son-in-law, james. i'll have to admit that i'm short on pictures of james. nothing intentional. (i have very few of naphtali either) but they've both made observations along the line that they take second place to a particular little guy...but you can see james here. james is a good dad. he holds his own with naphtali, is an accomplished international student/traveler and he has our good will and continued best wishes.

potpourri

i'll try to cover a big chunk of time with this entry. we've seen our first hummingbird. a sight that never grows old. they like the honeysuckle.
this is tim's last week of class. he will be done. his last assignment is due at midnight tonight. but he has an extension (sunday) due to a crazy week at work. we spent the weekend writing, proofreading etc. early in the process he said "i just want to turn in a paper. i'll take a 'c' and walk away." (i wondered how long that attitude would last.) he was almost done when we called it a night saturday. sunday morning found him at the computer saying "i had to start all over. it kept going a different direction...." (what happened to the fast and easy 'c'??) anyway the paper is good and would have been finished on time if not for the difficult family on memory support, nebraska health care assoc. meetings wednesday and thursday in north platte and tomorrow in lincoln. (he's president of this district)
i'm leaving for fort dodge in the morning. it sounds like lunch at the orchard on saturday. i have a load of laundry to fold and dishes to wash when i get off the computer.

i had farmers market today and debuted my 'fall line' to favorable reviews.
i'd had several comments to the effect that they don't have outdoor space for the bigger pieces but would i be able to do some smaller fall colored leaves?? so i did.


the small ones are actually more work (though easier to handle) and lack the drama of the large leaves. but they sell.
this week we celeb - marked - our 32nd anniversary. we'll do the actual celebrating next week. we'll both be home. the classwork will be done. a real celebration.
and that, i think, captures the main points of the last week. the normal routines of work and home were accomplished along with the extras. we stayed up late a couple nights (against our better judgement) to watch olympic coverage. i've been impressed to find tim at the computer every morning around 4:30/ 5:00. i'll rephrase. when my morning starts around 6/6:30 it has been a source of wonder that tim would have already been busy with his class work for over an hour. which has been his routine through the whole process. makes me tired just thinking about it.
hope you all enjoy your weekend.

butterfly afternoon

we had a lovely afternoon.
the weather was cooperative and charlie and i spent the afternoon outside.
the yard was full of butterflies.

it was close to cool after supper and we enjoyed another opportunity to be out in the yard.
tommorrow should be a repeat.

9:00 monday morning

i'm waiting for my straw
berries to warm up so i can eat my breakfast. i've walked charlie, watered, weeded, planted a few things, swept the patio, taken out garbage, got a letter ready for aidan, checked my email, (checked tim's email) looked at everyone's blog, done my blogging, you get the idea.....and it's 9:00 monday morning. i do work afterwhile and the blood bank is in town today, tim needs bananas, i have leaves to paint tonight, a load of clothes to wash....so i guess the tone for the day has been set.

it's been relentlessly hot this week with a few days yet to endure. we are thick in the midst of summer reading mode at the library - chick lit for some, slogging through reading club selections for others. i've cheated this week and used an audiobook (the new james bond no less) in addition to reading the new daniel silva.