some pretty things

not a whole lot to report. we are finally on the home stretch of moving tashi to the downstairs bedroom and turning her former upstairs room into tristan's lair. i have to admit, i will be happy when most of the toys in the living room start to reside in his space. sometimes i just want to gaze across the room without having to stare at half a dozen baskets overflowing with blocks, trucks, playmobil, instruments, space ship accessories, gnomes, and wooden farm animals. but right now everything is displaced and/or in transit, so the chaos is at its peak. 

 summer has flown by too quickly, as usual. tashi starts school in just two short weeks. i don't want her to go back yet!!!! we're just getting started!!!! alternately, it will be good to get our rhythm back. things get pretty mushy around here in the summer. some days when we are at home i'm still in my pj's in the late afternoon. i water the garden in my pj's. i play on the deck in my pj's. breakfast AND lunch are prepared in pj's. tristan gets out of his old pj's and into new pj's at bedtime. it can get downright silly! 

in the mean time, these are some of the pretty images that fill my days! happy august!

this wild yard

the days trot along at a quick clip. i'm slightly disoriented. summer is here. but it doesn't seem like summer. school is out! but tashi is soon leaving us for a few weeks with far off family. there is much to tend to, inside, outside, all around. we've been having a bit of a monsoon season. tristan's imagination has been spinning some wild yarns.  in a snap he goes from being fascinated, engaged, and occupied to a puddle of wailing fury and tension. yet still, the smallest, frailest treasures continue to evolve.

the day lilies are greeting us

the mystery tree has dropped its flowers and i still do not know what it is

just a few blueberries this year. why?

  

and a couple handfuls of strawberries. i think they need a sunnier spot.

my wee garden is doing well! the tomatoes plants are growing so fast. 

we dug up some potatoes, and there are more yet to dig. 

the zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins, peppers, and few herbs are coming along. 

there is not much room for the gourds to grow, so i will have to trail the plants out of the bed i think.

there are a few flowers struggling along in my dappled light front garden area, 

the area where i dream of having a cottage garden, against nature's will!

i've been waiting for the mushrooms to appear after all this rain. 

this is the first mushroom spotting in our yard this season. it's tiny.

moss, moss, i love the moss. i want it to take over the areas closest to the house, 

and i want to protect the meadows along the forest, where yarrow and daisies are flourishing.

this wild yard, this gift, it makes me late for dinner. it lines my fingernails with dirt and forces me to shower twice a day. it leaves me with itchy bug bites and traces of poison ivy. it is unkempt, populated with stray cats, and the most exotic huge bugs. the deer ate the buds off of a volunteer patch of black eyed susans, much to my chagrin. and the great cicada die off has begun. at night there is a bird that is plaintive and loud. and the soil is dark and rich with rain. i don't feel like i have enough time,  or energy, for it. but it energizes me and forces me to take time. this wild yard. this gift.

alive on earth

shots from this afternoon in the garden