pickled radishes

crocodile poser

cue up!

Our BIG 2-year-old!
Okay, it's true: he's nearly three. But still, he's so big!

JoyBoy left a dino at Gumpapa's house...it's been keeping busy.
I think Gumpapa stopped playing for money.

my hammock buddy

(The original photo)

(The original photo, rotated)

(playing with my phone's photo apps...so fun!)

saturday morning

(just got a new app for my phone's camera; trying it out.)

Saturday morning with my rock star hubby.

I provided the dinner; Kaemon Ze provided the show.

My sweet boy. When he woke up this morning, he told me, ""In my dream, mama, you were a princess...in your princess house. I was just Kaemon Ze in my house."

more garden pretties

more photos from last week's county fair

Watching jugglers, with the other kids. Just makes me smile!

JoyBoy had to get a little closer to watch this nutty guy, doing this:

Kids! DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME! Good grief! Didn't he know there would be a ceiling?

Cruising on his rod.

Seeing what it might be like to be a long-hauler?

Daddy's dreaming...

...of a cozy little camping trailer.

Mr. Big Boy ditches Dad to sit all by his big-self.

Kaemon Ze was so excited to ride one of these for the first time ever!

It's part of a safety course for kids. Here, he's getting some helpful tip on the road conditions ahead.

The only problem was...he's too big for it! His heels kept hitting the back of the car. :)

Once he completed the course, he got all kinds of neat things, including:

I asked Daddy if he let Kaemon Ze know that this isn't a driver's license to operate a REAL car! He said he hadn't thought of that. Heh.

garden to table

A few of the tomatoes ripened so this is the first salad entirely from our garden (minus the celery and radishes, which I forgot to add).

Left-over kalamata bread, toasted with butter, garlic, and bacon. Move over Paula Dean!

The celery I'm growing for the first time...and I keep forgetting to use it!

Another shot of the glorious rainbow chard. I planted a ton more for the fall. I've been told I can over-winter them. I may have chard into perpetuity!

sunday work day

One of our neighbors gave my Whimsy Guy several stems of rhubarb...the leaves were HUGE!
Now...what to do with it?

I researched recipes and chose "spiced rhubarb pickles" made with orange juice, orange zest, ginger, cloves, etc. The end result was more like a sweet relish as the rhubarb did not retain it's form.

Daddy shows Kaemon Ze how to use this own powertool to remove the screws to fix the door.

And...while my Whimsy guy has the tools out, he fixed up my faerie house.
It had been built with glue, which had begun to melt!

My sweet faerie house.
I tucked it into the grape arbor and added a shiny earring. I'm told faerie's like shiney things and will often take them (without asking, of course). Kaemon Ze and I invited the faeries to come live in and play in the house and in our garden.

JoyBoy is happy to vacuum the deck...and the tree and the dirt!

I've harvested several pickling cukes...guess I'd better make pickles!

I am trying out a "long-fermented kosher dill pickles" recipe. I'll know in 2-3 weeks if I'm successful.

helecopter ride, wine, friends, and art - what a day!

Here's one view of the vineyard, where my Whimsy Guy and I enjoyed a "date" afternoon that included...

...our very first helicopter ride!

It was AMAZING!

I was completely THRILLED! I loved every moment of our quick tour of the surrounding vineyards.

Of course, there was wine to be sampled!

JoyBoy spend the afternoon with his buddy Finn at the river. He was wiped out!

JoyBoy rallied for dinner with our friends, then off to see art at a couple galleries.

Finn and Kaemon Ze check out this painting...

...Kaemon Ze wants to know what it is and if the centipede is "mean" and if the woman is a "princess."

Chris Haberman's and collaborator Jason Brown interpret Dalí.

The theme was mostly centered around childhood. Jason and Chris built a tree house and added a tire swing to the show. :)

Admiring the boob art.

Finn and Kaemon Ze thoroughly enjoyed the pair of circle seats.