1. We have a working glider, thanks to my brother’s ingenuity. When he was here on leave, he suggested replacing the metal supports with chains, pulled taut to support the weight of the bench. He and J rushed right out to Tractor Supply and bought the wrong sized bolts, so they weren’t able to do the job before he had to leave. J was able to exchange them, and my brother’s idea worked perfectly, so the girls and I are now enjoying our time rocking together. We placed it to face the lake, and it’s a beautiful view. Next steps are scrubbing it with a wire brush and giving it a new coat of paint. I’m thinking sky blue, or a light turquoise…

2. Until then, we’ve been sitting on our picnic blanket, flung over the seat to protect clothes from the rust, and curious little fingers and mouths from the peeling paint. Truly, I think this simple blanket might be the best $20 I’ve ever spent. I found it on Etsy close to ten years ago, and it has weathered more events than I can count. It’s just squares of vintage sheets patchworked together, backed with another sheet, and yarn-tied. There isn’t even any batting. I think it’s actually the simplicity of it that appeals to me.

3. My veggies are growing! We have little green globes on the cherry tomato plants, and lots of flowers on the cucumber vines, both pickling and slicing. The peas are stretching out their tendrils for the chicken wire, and I’m beginning to think I didn’t request a tall enough trellis for them. We shall see.

4. I’m sure we’ve all seen the tutorials about how to re-grow your celery from the stump in the fridge. I had never actually done it, but the other evening – maybe two days ago? – I took the leftover end from our rainbow fish project and plunked it into an empty space in the ground. It was dried out and did not look very promising so I didn’t expect much out of the experiment. I went out tonight to weed, and lo and behold, there are celery leaves poking out of the dirt!

5. The light tonight got really strange, in that yellowy sort of way that usually means a storm is coming. It made the flowers really pop, particularly the yellow ones. I was bent down snapping pictures, and got closer to the milkweed than I have before. It’s so fragrant! J and I had been talking about how we’d like to plant some to support the monarchs when they finally arrive up here, but I had no idea what it looked like, having no real experience with it. When my parents were here, my mom pointed out that it’s already flourishing in the wilderness that is our front garden. I’ve been checking, but no sign of eggs or caterpillars as yet.

6. Our neighbor Barbara has a rack of handmade notecards in her shop. Each one is an original, painted and collaged by an artist in Farmington. I don’t remember seeing anything like them before so I snagged a couple. One I’ll save for something special, but the other is already on its way to a sweet friend that it made me think of.

7. My clothesline snapped, so our laundry is piling up in the kitchen next to the washer. Classy, I know, but I refuse to use the dryer, so tomorrow our number one task is to get some strong new line and string it. J is out fishing, so I’m hoping he’ll return with an offering from the lake to grill for tomorrow’s dinner. I’ll keep you posted.