End of August Beginning of September

 The last two weeks have been full, as usual. Look at this beautiful collection of spices! My neighbor who grew up in India has been teaching me some of her recipes and these were the spices (some of them) needed to make Biryani this past week. 

I took Michael's mom over to visit my mom for lunch this week. All this outdoor entertaining is wonderful and it was the perfect weather.

My mom's flowers are just stunning, and they went with the tea cozy!

David and Laura picked out pumpkins from the patch they helped Grandma plant. Earlier in the summer they spent quite a few days helping with garden work. 

The pumpkin patch grows in a big field. 

Of course we had to say hello to Job the donkey and his attentive care-giver.

Mom keeps busy taking care of her people and bringing them lots of joy and love and good food! 

I took care of myself this week by scheduling a kayak time to my secret point. I enjoyed studying, planning, reading, and painting, not to mention watching all the wildlife and doing some plain old thinking.

I spent some time creating flat lay pictures for my nature blog -- do you know about that? It's where I blog about nature! And soon I'll be sharing some of my favorite nature books!

It's dahlia season and on the weekends my sister orders lots to put up for sale. They are just too pretty!

Sometimes my morning walk is extra special. What a gift.

Since I last wrote we had a son turn 18! Congrats Drew! We decorated by finding a whole bunch of things one can legally do when one is 18 and hanging those ideas from the bunting. Finally Drew can buy spray paint and actually get a job without having to get a work permit.

I've worked at the flower shop quite a bit lately -- lots of weddings and extra orders. This was an anniversary bouquet made to look similar to the original wedding bouquet. Those types of orders are fun to fulfill.

One Sunday afternoon we met at the park to celebrate Drew and cousin John's birthdays. 

The cousins enjoyed seeing each other -- we all enjoyed being in nature!

One weekend we had a lot of social engagements and I made A LOT of pies. 

This one was rhubarb:

This was a peach tart:

Once in awhile I get a chance to paint the flowers at work.

My online nature journaling classes started this week! I am very excited about them -- can't wait to "meet" everyone I don't know in person. My mind is bursting with ideas for the next five weeks.

One last picture of flowers.

Our Labor Day fun plan was cancelled due to rain so we are now working on house organization and the to-do list. Wondering if our evening meal will be rained out too! 

Celebrations Begin

It was a busy week as our family celebrations began! Working at the flower shop provides a quiet beginning to my week with beauty to focus on.

We had friends over to play in the creek that runs near our house. I find it so relaxing to escape to the woods and the running water.

I've started two days at the shop now -- Monday and Thursday. Beauty refresher midweek! Sounds like a good plan!

When I'm not working at the shop I'm working on developing nature journaling courses and part of that involves figuring out an indoor filming place. I'm making progress!

We had a church fellowship event this past week! Maybe our first since the pandemic? It was a chalk drawing night in the parking lot complete with popsicles!

David's toad (frog?) won a prize!

Drew painted the shutters for us! I've been wanting them to be painted for several years now and it makes me so happy to have them match the front door again!

I stopped by a friend's to see her amazing Hummingbird nest! What a treat for her family to have hummingbirds nesting right outside her patio!

James is playing a lot of tennis this summer in prep for the school season. I drove him to his first tennis matches and mentally prepared for a few more months of this!

We had a beautiful foggy morning this week and on one of my early walks with neighbors I captured this beautiful scene:

Laura is reading the Cherry Ames series and it takes me right back to being her age. I loved the Cherry Ames books (about a girl who studies nursing in college and goes on to have quite a glamorous career at a number of nursing jobs).

Drew went to prom. Yes, they had prom! I'm not sure it was quite what it usually is, but this year I made sure I was in on the pictures.

And got one with him too!

In the midst of life we took time to celebrate our 21st anniversary with a picnic.

Drew's graduation open house was Saturday at a nearby park. It was a great day and we so enjoyed visiting with all his guests.

I made some flowers for the food table.

We made all our food individually packaged: veggies and dip, fruit salad, and salami, olive, tomato, and mozzarella bites. Shaved ice for dessert!

Sunday we celebrated the birthdays of both of our moms! We had peach or blueberry pie for dessert. Yum!

And we ended the week with a beautiful rainbow out back and a peaceful light over the garden.

 And now we are headed into another week of graduation and birthday celebrations.

Life on the Home Front: Another Birthday

Our weekend was filled with birthday preparations and celebrations!

My first task of the weekend was rescuing Jenny Wren. She flew into a hole in Laura's screen in the morning and moved on out into the loft where David and Laura had her surrounded somewhere beneath bins of felted wool. They wisely closed all the doors to the bedrooms and came to get me. I managed to grab her between the shade and the window and carry her downstairs to the open front door. Such a darling bird, but always getting into trouble indoors.

I baked two cakes on Saturday: gluten-free carrot cakes. One for Laura and one for my sister which we left at her doorstep.

Saturday evening we sent Laura up to bed and everyone else helped to decorate the dining room with a "letter-themed" birthday celebration, including a stuffed owl hung from the ceiling like in Harry Potter. Special thanks to everyone who sent something in the mail. We banned Laura from the mailbox for a week and collected two dozen pieces!

 We used lots of candles to mimic a Hogwarts feel, albeit with pastel colorings.

 Laura requested waffles for her birthday breakfast. Yum yum!

No complaints on the food choice from anyone!

Surprise! Surprise! The cousins and some grandparents showed up in the afternoon for a drive-by party! Presents and candy delivered to the doorstep.

Happy Birthday Laura!

Everyone wanted a glimpse of baby Teddy, born just a few weeks before lockdown started.

Continuing with the letter theme, Laura was thrilled to receive a typewriter for her birthday!!!!

We eventually ended the day with cake and tea.

That pretty much sums up our weekend, except for "church" Sunday morning and church zoom Sunday evening. Heading into the rest of our seventh week at home.