Summer of Rain

Welcome to my blog. It has only taken me a year to get this going. And what's it about anyway? Just a chronicle of life in the country. I'm thinking about all the things I could have chatted about: the ice storm, the ice storm, the ice storm. Whoops, we folks who lived through the ice storm are a bit obsessed, that's for sure. And we're still chatting it up. Yesterday, at the lake with friends, they noticed that the tree line had really changed. They moved last year and didn't know about all the trees that had to be taken down. The silver lining, the tree that was in the middle of the parking area (Frank reminded me EVERYTIME, watch the tree, is now gone.) No shade over there, but no potential hazard either. And everytime we have a thunderstorm the kids want to know if we can sleep in the living room again. They can't quite understand that we slept downstairs beause that is where our wood stove is and the only heat we had in the frigid December weather here in New England. Enough about the ice storm. I could have written about Jerry's many antics and Yarrow's 999 drawings of princesses. About dress up and spontaneous concerts and dance performances in the kitchen. About our trip to Jamaica. So much. But that was last year when I didn't write a blog. Today is today. Raining for the 26th day straight, or something crazy like that. June, the month of sunshiney mornings, baby birds and saying goodbye to black flies, has been in stead, the month of rain, fog, cabin fever, great spinach but questionable tomato plants and slugs on the lettuce (it is really hard to wash slug slime off the lettuce, ick). It has been wrought with too much tv; a battle between our stubborn insistence on using the laundry line and having enough to wear; and the yearning to be lakeside.

Anyway, now to looking forward.

Forward to what? In the next little while at least, hopefully some sunshine and days spent at the lake. A family trip to Nantucket at the end of July, where we will officially begin our homeschooling odyssey with a mini-unit on the ocean. Jerry's birthday in August. Our gardening adventures. Our efforts to be local/sustainable as much as possible and our challenges in that regard too. Like the mango addiction. On the other hand, we have 36 bags of strawberries in the freezer picked by Yarrow, Jerry and me at farms nearby. That should last us well into the winter if not through it.

And in the fall, as Yarrow embarks on kindergarten and I embark on staying organized enough to give her an awesome kindergarten experience, I hope to have lots to say and many questions to pose. And hopefully there will be some answers to.

Now I must join the kids on the couch to read the "summer" afternoon away.

End of Summer Blues

Hurricane Hannah may have marked our official end of summer, the last swim at the lake. Always a melancholy moment. And usually not realized for a couple weeks. We hope for a few more warm days, that the water will hold out, stay warm enough for a last swim. But alas, the kids are even choosing the playground over the lake, so perhaps it is more natural than I want to admit. But lets review. We did go to the lake nearly everyday. On the very few days we weren't at the lake, it was either raining, or we went to the ocean. So I sure can't complain.

Yarrow's swimming really took off. She is now tooling around without any flotation at all. She still doesn't want to get her eyes wet, but she is getting there. I'm sure she'll be going under next summer. Jerry may be as well. He doesn't have the same water-in-the-face phobia. He is a natural daredevil and wants to do everything his big sissy does. No hurries, just speculating.

Anyway, it is still one of our very favorite places. Here are some photos from the summer swims.