Another Best Day Ever

I have to say I'm loving this time of year and my lack of responsibilities.  It's a lazy person's dream.

First of all, I'm glad I got the tooth fairy pillow repaired, because it was needed last night.

It rained yesterday and during the night, so with my windows open, it was nice and cool.  So refreshing after an almost warm day.  I found the light on the balcony and sat out there and knitted and listened to House of Mirth by Edith Wharton until around 10:00.  Children were all asleep, and so many dogs were being taken for their bedtime walk.  I'm familiar with a lot of them, but there is a new yappy dog that moved in close by, and it has the craziest bark.  It's a little fuzzy white dog with a high-pitched bark, but at the end of every bark, she/he gives a little anemic scream.  I'm afraid there's a problem, or maybe it's just old, but it's one that I don't like to hear.

Our crazy cats just sit out there with me and pretend to be scared of all the dogs and the occasional car that drives by, but they're not really.  They just want to be with us.

I sewed the last triangle on the second quilt this morning, so I've officially pieced both twin-sized quilts.  Now to measure and get those borders on.  I think I have them already cut out.  It's been so long I can't remember.

I went by the grocery store for a few items I'd forgotten and picked up some snacks for the girls, because today was the day they chose to go get a Slushie.

It's funny how just one time of getting that drink made such an impression that now it's a "tradition."  We make sure we have our masks on and wave at ourselves on the mirror as we go in.  Katherine especially loves that and can't stop staring at us.  Now we know where to go and just how to pull down the lever to fill up the cup.  Today it was mango favor, and I like the idea of that better than that blue stuff they got last week.  They're so sweet and polite and thank the nice clerk and wave good-bye to him.

We had walked by the garden, and it's so lush and green.  Most of them are.  We saw beans and corn and sunflowers and lots and lots of tomatoes.  I hear they don't grow well with the short growing season, so I'll be watching them.

I sat on the porch and waited for the girls to finish cleaning their rooms.  Emily said they were up in their window watching me swing.  I love this peaceful spot.

They started out with a sweater and jacket and me a flannel shirt, but we all were down to a T-shirt before we got home.  We wore our masks faithfully except when we were drinking or eating.

I can't believe how big this baby is.

We walked over to a little park that we call the Water Park because it used to have water coming out of a hole in the big rock - but no longer.  We don't know what happened, but it's still a fun place to play.

I get away with Mimi treats and had bought them little packets of Nutella and pretzels along with some mini orange cupcakes, and they were so thrilled over it all, even though they didn't really eat much of it.  It's just the idea of having treats or maybe it was those mango slushies that they drank on the way.  They got a Happy Dance of Approval anyway.

Graysen was happy to find this roly-poly (she thought) and let him run around on her hands a long time.  Katherine said, "I don't like to see his eyes" and refused to hold him.  Then Graysen tried making it roll up and it refused, so she thought maybe it was a different kind of bug and threw it away and screamed. 

They then played house in the little clearing, claiming all their rooms and beds and fireplaces, etc., and I just sat there and thought about what a beautiful day it was and how happy I was.  The day couldn't have been any more perfect.

And then this happened. Graysen fell out of a tree.  They were behind me, and the tree was pretty small.  I had told them not to go on the smaller limbs because the limbs might break, but somehow she just fell and probably handed on a branch before she hit the ground.  I was afraid she was going to have a big bruise, but when we got home, you could hardly see any redness.  I made sure she could move her arm and shoulder and told her again the story of her mother falling out of a tree and breaking her nose when she was 6. 

So we moved on.  We had been gone an hour-and-a-half by then and had 30 more minutes, but I thought we would never make it home.  The school looked lonely, so they needed to go up and look for "crystals" in the school yard and pick bunches of flowers (weeds) for Mama.  Then we saw Ellie and her dad and little brother and had to stop and talk to them.

It was soooo hard to get them to walk and follow me home, and I was feeling like I had been out a couple of hours.  They stopped to examine everything, which I love, but so many stops!  We did get to stop and watch two middle-school-age boys bully another one, and we stared and judged while the boys made the third one cry.  We may as well have been invisible.  Little brats!  The girls were very impressed and sad and hopefully got a little free lesson on being kind.

Just pretty things they wanted to take pictures of.

Almost touching a slug.

When we got home, I talked to Emily briefly about the latest news on school openings - probably going for remote learning this fall.  We really wanted them to get back to school and all the experiences, but this would take most of the worry away.  We won't know until August 12th, I think.  Emily and a couple of other mothers are looking at "buying a teacher" to work with a small group several days a week.  I'm not sure how that would work, and it makes me sad to think of how hard that's going to be on most everybody.  I hope I'll be able to help in some way.

It was nice to get home and have a glass of tea and catch up with the day's news, the majority of which I can't stomach and just tune out before I get angry.  

Just breathe slowly, be thankful for what we have, and pray for some good changes soon.

Spirits are Lifting

I'm not sure why we're feeling a little bit better about things this week.  There's certainly no reason, given the continuing spread of Covid-19 and the uncertainty about schools opening.  I want to put our family in a cocoon and just wait it out, but unfortunately that can't happen.  And wouldn't be good for us if it did.

I'm managing to be with the girls maybe twice a week and hear from them between times, and that has to do for now.  They seem to be happy and adventurous and creative - the children anyway.

Our goal is to have one special day a week and another spontaneous visit, and then if I happen to pass by or they happen to, we can have another little bit of time together.

I found out Emily was going to water the garden yesterday, so I asked if I could meet them there, and that was a nice idea.  The girls had on their skates and kept me on my toes catching them and cheering and fretting on my part.  It was probably the hottest day of the year so far - that I can remember - all the way up to 76.

These are some fancy skates with plenty of protective pads and helmets, and they need them.  There's way too much falling down to suit me.

Emily is looking over her farm:  zucchini, broccoli, kale, strawberries, carrots, and tomatoes.  The banana pepper I planted isn't going anywhere, nor is the pumpkin - yet.  They're not dead but just not thriving.

 The girls got so hot at one point that they just sat down and played with flowers and grass.

Once we made another round of skating and catching and sweating, I took them home to cool off in the back yard.  These were from a seed packet that said poppies, but Emily thinks they're not.  I think they're a mixture, maybe some cone flowers, anemones?

The hammock and swing make good spots for cooling off in the shade.

Lots of glittery bright nail polish happened over the weekend.

They had lunch outside, and I read them the rest of their Geronimo Stilton book and started another.  Graysen especially loves those books.  I brought one home with me so they can call me and let me read some more from my house.

I walked home after a few hours, and it was a nice walk.  Not too hot yet and a little breeze.  Inside the apartment was a little toasty though.  I took a shower and sat in the shade on the balcony until I cooled off.

I ventured into the sewing room this weekend and made a couple of masks, trying to find the size and pattern that's the most comfortable.  It's bad enough to have an extra piece of fabric to wear without the elastic pulling on your ears.

After only 3 teeth, the tooth fairy pillow needed some repair, especially since it will be needed very soon for the 4th one.

I did a little bit more tweaking on the quilts.

This should be plenty of dish cloths for a while, but they're fun to do while I listen to my books, so I'll start making some for Emily and Ryan.

It's a nice place to sew, and I get to see what's going on beneath me.

This is how I felt when I got home yesterday.

I stopped by the library and dropped off my books - finally.  I've had them since March.

I hear gymnastics is going well and lots of fun.  There were a few more little girls who showed up this week.  If I can get a booster seat in my car for Graysen, maybe I'll get to take them Thursday.

And that's all I can remember from over a week.  There may have been several spontaneous naps and some phone calls and emails and a broken vacuum cleaner mixed in there.