Long weekend

1. Rachel getting interested in the chicken thighs S and I were eating for dinner. She ate most of the meat I cut off one, then asked for the bone which she gnawed pretty clean.

2. Saying ‘screw dinner prep’ and going outside to play with Rachel. After a bunch of side trips, she ended up wanting to go in the garden. I started weeding and she started breaking up little clumps of dirt and putting it down the holes in the logs around the raised beds. We both got dirt under our fingernails and both were a little sad when I realized it was probably time to make supper.

3. Poking some extra flower seeds into the bare spots of my flower garden. I think it got picked over by the birds when I first planted.

Defiant, reminiscing, enchanting

1. The lone red tulip in front of our neighbor’s house.

2. Rachel wanting her play mat that she hasn’t used since she became mobile.

3. The Great British Baking Show. I’ve only seen one episode, but what fun to watch. I don’t generally like reality shows, but I’m making an exception for this one.

Sunshine

1. Seeing a cardinal pair flit through the back yard.

2. Rachel’s happiness that I was wearing a sun hat too.

3. Rachel wanting me to put the two dandelions I picked for her back where I found them.

The One & Only Bouquet

Summer’s end

1. My flower garden did so poorly this year – only half the flowers even came up, and those only attained about half the height they should have – that I never got to pick any of them. Yesterday I decided I should pick what I could for the sake of getting flowers in the house once, plus I wanted to take some pictures. Seeing that bright little bouquet on the table this morning made me smile.

2. I cooked Hoppin’ John for lunch today. I wasn’t sure what ham hocks were before making this, but I’ve had the recipe bookmarked for at least three years. It was pretty good, especially when paired with lightly sauteed spinach.

3. Baby’s top teeth are almost through. She seemed less uncomfortable today and had the patience to sit in her high chair for some banana and broccoli. I shared some of the black-eyed peas, but she wasn’t interested.

Orange and blue

1. I got to practice getting Baby on my back again today. She woke up early from her morning nap and wearing her kept her more relaxed and allowed me to finish up chores that I started while she was sleeping.

2. A successful orange zinnia in my flower garden looks especially pretty against the blue bachelor buttons.

3. Making spicy banana bars for the church meal tomorrow. I’m a little uncertain about the glaze since it has lemon juice, but it was in the Pillsbury Best Cookies Cookbook, which generally produces great cookies.

She doesn’t know why she swallowed that fly…

1. The title is click bait, Baby didn’t actually swallow it. The dead fly we noticed on the floor when we got home this evening ended up in Baby’s mouth. We saw her working on something and I investigated and fished it out against her will.

2. Getting Baby on my back in the woven wrap without using a mirror. The wrap wasn’t perfect, but she was secure, safe, and mostly happy while I cooked dinner.

3. A piece of ivy from one friend delivered by another, plus a nice visit. I admit I cried when my ivy died a few weeks ago. It may be a little silly, but it was just too much on top of my flower garden and the vegetable garden doing so poorly. This ivy has been back and forth, with one of us always keeping some alive to give back.

Backlash

1. I let Baby try drinking from my glass after dinner last night and I think I forgot to rinse it out. Oh well, I don’t think she has germs yet and it was funny watching her burble the water in and out and sputter when she got a mouthful.

2. I weeded my flower garden today which involved getting rid of most of what was growing in there. I left Baby in the grass next to it while I crossed the yard to get the bin for weeds. She’s such a tiny girl anyways, but especially from across the yard. She looked like a groundhog could carry her off.

3. Vacuuming out the guts of the dryer to prep for putting the new belt on tomorrow.

 

Coffee makes me happy too

1. Baby waving goodbye to S this morning. We’ve thought before that she was trying to wave, but this was nothing ambiguous about it today.

2. Measuring my coffee beans into the coffee filter instead of the grinder and catching myself before I went any further. Also, Baby grinning when I run the grinder. I don’t know why it makes her happy.

3. Watching an Eastern swallowtail butterfly hanging out around the hosta plants and my flower garden.