07.29.10 8:48 pm
Enter the sunflowers
posted in: In the garden - No Comments
07.28.10 7:07 pm
The red ones popped out a couple of days ago, and I looked out this morning to see three yellow blooms make their debut.
Morning in a field
posted in: Everyday - 1 Comment
07.27.10 8:47 pm
I had to snap some photos of an early morning gathering in a field. Yes, a field. Because this group was gathering to look at trees. Walnut, cherry, oak. You know. The things with the branches and the leaves. These trees, though, are baby trees. On their way to becoming something bigger. There’s an environmental thing going on here, hence the interest in the seemingly ordinary trees. I liked the trees, certainly, but I can never resist Queen Anne’s Lace. Especially when it’s glowing in the morning sun.
If I hadn’t been wearing sandals, which were getting wetter every step I took, I’d have hung out longer. I should spend more mornings out in a field. It’s a rather lovely way to start the day.
How does your garden grow?
posted in: In the garden - No Comments
07.20.10 9:32 pm
Summer is when you’re supposed to garden, yes? But it’s also when it gets really, really hot. Planting, weed-pulling and other such tasks just don’t seem as much fun when it’s 90 degrees and humid outside. Today was one of the cooler days of the last couple of weeks. (We’ve even turned off the AC…yay!) So I took the opportunity to attack a few pesky weeds and check out the progress of the growing things
I’ll omit sharing the photo of my butt that Devin took. He was out there with me and found it quite amusing to photograph Mom bending over the weeds. Six-year-old humor. Very sophisticated.
Repeat after me…YUM!
posted in: Food & Drink - 2 Comments
07.14.10 9:41 pm
I rarely eat out. You wouldn’t know it from the past several days, though!
Dev and I were famished after the Children’s Museum on Sunday so we grabbed a bite at San Chez. That would be the berry risotto above. Creamy!
On Tuesday I had lunch with Edris and Chelsea at The Green Well. I tried to resist my mac ‘n cheese urge, but their’s is just the best.
I have no pics of dinner at Marie Catrib’s that evening, unfortunately.
And today I met up with Amy for lunch at the Grand Rapids Brewing Company. Tomato Basil Pizza to be exact.
I’m brown-bagging it for the rest of the week. Honest!
Possibly a few too many raspberries
posted in: Food & Drink - No Comments
07.07.10 8:26 pm
The recipe called for two cups of raspberries. I didn’t feel like measuring so I dumped the whole bag in. A few of them ended up more berry than muffin. That can’t be a bad thing, can it?
The sparkle is over
posted in: Everyday, Family - No Comments
07.05.10 7:28 pm
Just a smattering of photos from last night. We had a small family fireworks display on the sidewalk, then tried in vain to view the Reeds Lake fireworks from our traditional vantage point across the street. But a four-story retirement community has been erected since our last celebration, and it most definitely blocked our view. Next year I vote for riding our bikes to the park and watching them in person!
The blooms have arrived!
posted in: In the garden - No Comments
07.02.10 6:27 am
Last year my hollyhock plant shot up big and bold — but without any flowers. Just big, bushy green leaves. Not that I have anything against leaves. It’s just that the whole appeal of the hollyhock plant is the flowers that burst open on the various branches. Otherwise, it’s more like a bush.
This year the same thing appeared to be happening. All of the “buds” turned out to be more leaves making their way to the party. And the bush was getting bigger and bigger as summer came closer. I grumbled about this a bit. Because it’s so large it basically dominates my garden and it was doing that dominating without any flourish.
Two weeks ago, though, as Devin and I lounged about on the deck, I looked over and saw flowers. Three of them. And then I did my little “Happy Hollyhock” dance. (Which will, I’m sure, embarrass the heck out of him when he’s old enough to register that his mom is a loon.) So, yes, there are now dozens of lovely pink blossoms on my very tall and imposing hollyhock plant. Everybody say, Hallelujah!
Meet my second child
posted in: My kid, friends - No Comments
06.24.10 9:21 pm
We don’t have many kids in our neighborhood. Parents have kids and move out before they hit school age so they can avoid sending them to our public schools (which have a pretty low graduation rate). We have two under two nearby and a nine-year-old and his three younger sibs down the block and around the corner.
Donovan, though, is right across the street.
He lives with his mom during the school year and comes back to Michigan during the summers. We met him two years ago and he and Devin hit it off. Even with a nearly four-year age difference. Last year they played a few times. This year, though, they’re nearly inseparable.
I love that Dev has a good buddy. And that he now crosses the street and knocks on the door and asks, “Can Donovan come out and play?” And I love that Donovan is actually a sweet, well-mannered kid who can act as a role model. (Although he was teaching Devin how to sing “I Want to Rock ‘n Roll All Night” as we took the dog for a walk tonight.) One never knows what types of kids their children will end up hanging out with. There are a lot of brats out there. So having him hanging around my house so much is not at all annoying.
At least not yet!
The other thing that’s fun about him is that he was terrified of my dog, but now he’s fascinated with her. He asked me tonight, “Can we take Juliette for a walk?” The first few days he wouldn’t come into the house unless she was put into the backyard while he and Dev scampered to the basement where they could close the gate. Now he’s sitting on the floor in front of her and asking for doggie kisses.
Number 5,339
posted in: 365 project - No Comments
06.23.10 7:02 pm
I’ve had my D90 for nearly a year now. Two months shy of the date. It’s funny sometimes to look at the counter and see so many thousands of photos that have been taken. Some people think I’m insane, but I think most photography-minded people probably see the sense in it. You have to take a lot of pics to get the good ones. And you have to take a lot of pics to become the photographer you want to be.
I’m still trying to get to that point. Even after six years of playing around with cameras. And I’ve actually slowed down in my snapping quite a bit in the last couple of years. Coincides with the time I started working full time, so it makes sense. I can go back to 2007 and see nearly 12,000 photos in that folder. And there have been many days in a row when I’ve not even touched my camera, which feels odd and wrong. Priorities, though. Can’t forget about those. The kid, the husband, the pets, the house, the garden. Among other things.
Maybe I need to present myself with another challenge ala my 365 Days effort. It succeeded the first time, but I gave it up nearly a third of the way in on the second try. Ponder, ponder.
