We may have an oopsie

 Someone may or may not have spilled a glass of water over my not-yet-elderly-but-getting-there laptop, so I'm at the library for a quick second to blog. We haven't assessed the damage yet as I told said child to let it dry out and decide if it feels like starting up again (ever) or not. Just thought you should know! 

As usual, I have tons of pictures on my not-backing-up-because-I've-run-out-of-room-on-the-cloud but the issue is making time to sit down and tell stories. We'll get there. 

Right now, however, I'm off to see a friend at the farmers' market and other assorted Shenanigans. Stay safe and have a lovely Positive Energy Thursday! Seize the day!

It’s been a little warm

Thing Three took a selfie at the city pool, one of his very favorite spots on earth. I figure the kid would be a Newfoundland if he was a dog- friendly, wanting to be wet, affectionate, happy to play but just as content to lounge. 

One of us who is NOT a fan of the hot would be the Honey Bear. I know, she looks like she's smiling in this shot, but she's panting so hard her eyes are half closed. She digs a big hole and snuggles down into the dirt until someone takes pity on her and stuffs her back inside the house.
 

This was last week. While I didn't see it hit 100, I can verify it was at least 97 last Wednesday. We hit 97 again this week, so today's 82 feels terrific. Be safe out there, especially you athletes and laborers! 

Baltimore orioles

 

Adventures by car

 I promise I was only driving for one of these photos, and because the family of geese was crossing right in front of me I was all but stopped anyway:

That's a lotta kids.

At the corner of happy and healthy, haha:

My sharp eyed kiddos spotted the hitchhiker:

I’m ready for my close up

Most of these are unedited, pulled straight from my phone. Sorry for the lack of polish or professionalism. This is real life, folks, no filters. 

Damon, who is back to sleeping like a nomad now that school is out, on the morning of his birthday:

Bosley being cute.

Damon said the blisters on his nose looked like eyes, so here's a face with a tongue sticking out.

Apparently you're never too old to play with a box. I believe it was accompanied by "hat on" which is something Damon used to say that cracked my parents up every time. They (and we) still use it regularly.

Nameless out front Snek in the phlox. He truly is tiny so don't be alarmed, but I did zoom in to catch his face. My previous attempt had him hiding behind a leaf.

Moth in my lupine. I was so glad I got this picture and a few others because that night we had a downpour strong enough to knock over some of my tomato cages. I put the dogs out in the morning and this lupine, the tallest, was prostrate on the ground!

Daddeeeeeeee, my rose bush came back. He's still tiny and I don't think he's getting enough sun to thrive. We may have to rethink where to keep him.

Any chance to play with my phone...

My bad, someone not ready for their close up, haha!

 

Twelve years of the Damonater

Another school year on the books; last day of sixth grade for the Damonater. Dada and I had to perform the traditional we-must-embarrass-you-at-the-bus-stop ritual which included sign and pirouettes from Dada. He threatened to wear a pink tutu while he did them... methinks I should find elastic and pink tulle and call his bluff. Watch out, Damon- Dada might actually have a tutu for the last day of seventh grade next year!

So then this kid went and had a birthday. Yes, for those of you keeping track, I didn't forget the firstborn's (again), but these pictures were easier to access and therefore get to go first. Since this kid loves A) anything water related and B) sugar, he got a fair amount of gifts relating to one or the other. 

Yes, that is indeed the Christmas tree still up in the sunroom. Don't judge. Let's talk about that: Honey is terrified of not just storms but also precipitation. We have a metal roof. It is incompatible with her terror of water coming down from the sky. Especially if there is lightning or thunder involved. Therefore, if we leave the tree on like a big nightlight, she is a little bit less affected by the variations of darkness versus darkness with lightning. We also play music through multiple rooms if we know it's going to rain. And we leave the basement door open. Any mixture of those actions may or may not invoke a night of sleep for the rest of us, or she may still decide to bull her way through the baby gate into the kitchen with an almighty racket which then leads to sleep deprived family members staggering downstairs into the light and music to reinstall said gate and grumble. I actually spent a night in our playhouse out back this week so that I could sleep through a rainy night and not have to deal with her. So yes, tree is still up. 

Or the short version, we're supposed to keep the Christmas spirit in our hearts all year long.

Or the shortest version, we like it lit up.

Yes, that's an 8 on the cake along with four red candles. Dada was in charge of the math and he declared that two red candles plus the 8 equaled 10 and then two more red candles makes twelve. 

How can our baby be twelve?

He was laughing about the difference in our skin tone and I told him I've been sitting at his baseball games and working in the garden and he'd been in a shirt in school, so it wasn't a fair comparison. He'll get there. While we protected his arms and neck and ears his first day at the pool this summer, his nose burned and then his mask rubbing made it blister which he then peeled off, hence the scab(s) on his nose.

I was tremendously pleased with his cake. I figure it's Grandma Barb worthy, and that's high praise. It's all gone now, so I must have done something right!

 

Cottonwood season

I didn't know anything about cottonwood trees growing up. There must not have been any in our neighborhood because I had no idea they were a thing until we moved here. And I still have no idea where the ones are who are shedding all their fluff like so much windblown cotton candy, but I do wish they'd keep it to themselves. It looks like it's snowing, they get sucked into my nose or mouth when I'm running, Damon had one float into his eye which just about drove him to distraction, and you can't sweep them up because they just start swirling around again! Liam parted a pair of curtains to confirm that they were blowing, took one look and declared, "yep, that's it. I'm not going outside until October."

They do look pretty snagged in the Japanese Meadowsweet which grows out front. If I was a flower, I think that's what I'd want to be. They look so tickly and I bet the bees just love them. Look at all those little spikes with balls on the end! I'm thinking Best in Show for Bee Massage.

 

Yet another dump o’random

This is Precious, Pap's dog. This is not her bed, it's Bosley's. He barely fits into it and she is larger than him, so it's especially funny to see her curled up like a rolypoly in it. She doesn't seem to mind and he knows better than to complain. 

Damon, waiting his turn at the eye doctor's office. It used to be a play area but thanks to Covid there are no toys or games in there anymore. So he just bounced around and flopped until they called him. Such a nut. Look how big those not-quite-12-year-old feet are. Sheesh. 

I especially love the light green of this tree against all the darker green surrounding it. I'm normally not a yellow-green fan, never have been, but this little tree makes it look glorious in the morning light or right after a rain. 

\

Found a new recipe that Dada and I enjoyed which the kids wouldn't touch- chicken breasts with tasty cherry tomatoes, baked garlic and chickpeas. It was easy and reheated pretty well too, wins in my book.

Bos loves being outside in the sunshine. He doesn't care how hot it is. If he finds a sunny spot, he stretches out and turns into a sun dog. I think he must be related to me. Of course there's the added benefit of chasing any squirrels stupid enough to come into his reach, and we have an amazing  number of stupid squirrels. I don't know if he knows what he'd do with one if he did actually catch one...

Speaking of dumb, we had a mourning dove I named Heather make a nest in the gutter outside the boys' bedroom. The father, Herbert, would come check on her. I think that's him on the edge and you may be able to see the top of Heather's head in the gutter if you click on the picture. The screen makes it hard to see. Sure enough, they had a chick that the boys couldn't agree on a name for. Damon voted Hershey and Liam wanted Hogarth, I think? Hrothgar? Hmmm... at any rate, Heather was smart enough to build her nest on the far side of the downspout, but she did look pretty silly sitting there in the rain with a waterfall coming down on her head at times. Good thing the baby didn't get washed down the drain!

And the robins also had a little one, who is out of the nest and was perched all alone, beak agape, in the middle of our front landscaping. I'd sit on the porch swing, hear rustlerustlerustle and a robin would hop up into the landscaping from lower down in the yard, wrestle through the bushes, feed the baby and take off again. I suppose that's one way to try to be stealthy and not draw attention to the sitting duck...?

Goofing off with the firstborn

Marvin the Martian goofing off on my oven controls

The firstborn and I went to see the senior art studio downtown and discovered there was also elementary art in a separate venue down the street. I'm ashamed to say I didn't get the artist's name in this photo to give proper credit, but we both giggled over the adorably smiling bug. Such cuteness! Well done, artists. 

 

Random poetry

Cleaning off the deck;

Flowers, flowers everywhere;

Our Sticket has a Snek!

Dada and Liam used the pressure washer that Pap brought on his last visit to strip all the old stain off the deck. Then the boys were out there with rollers and brushes applying new, fresh stain. It looks much better, just in time to be covered with all the seeds and blossoms from the trees out back and bird poop from the robins that nested on one of the floodlights. 

Snek is apparently Internet slang for snake. Since I think it's cute, I tend to use it a good bit. We've declared the Sticket Snek is Stevie. There's another, nameless one out front, usually just called Snek. And there's another, larger one out back who I sometimes find in the smaller garden. 

You know that yellow Don't Tread on Me flag with the snake? I'd seen one a few years ago that read "no step on snek" which I found hilarious. The kids loved it, and we should have bought it on the spot. Instead, we let the opportunity pass us by. Last summer, en route to the OBX, we stopped in the same shop and hunted for it to no avail. Only Don't Tread on Me ones, which doesn't light my fire whatsoever. So Dada being Dada ordered one and now I have this huge flag and have no idea where to put it! It's especially funny as Snek must be related to Bosley Underfoot- I head to get water out of the creek out back and Snek darts between my legs into the creek and eyes me with suspicion. I march out to the clothesline and Snek is squiggling madly through the grass ahead of me, trying to avoid my rainbows. One of these days I am going  to step on Snek because I don't see him in time! Guess I better go fly that flag!