thirty

i didn't expect the end of the month so soon. i've still got posts waiting to be written. i guess that's a good sign. there were certainly days when the posts here were a bit slim. so i'm not an advocate of posting for habit's sake. if there is something to say, then by all means pound it out. but there's no harm in sitting quiet for a few days either.

M has inherited a play structure from our neighbors. (i tried all day to upload a video of her going down the slide with no luck.) i really can't imagine a more perfect gift at the beginning of this season. she is ripe for it! it's plastic. but not bright and awful. earth colors with moss growing on it. the climbing walls are a bit too big for her (next year!), but the stairs and slide were getting a workout at 7:30 this morning.

i can't tell you how nice it is to have a green place to sit. our new fence keeps the girl in, but she's got plenty of room to roam. the garden, the pool, the play structure. and we have a baby scrub jay too. she hops along behind her mama, crying out little calls. her gray head gives her away. and the plaintive way she opens her mouth when she calls. such richness. what were you doing this morning?

strawberries

our strawberry patch in the front yard is producing so much fruit. we eat alot, share alot with our neighbors, let the scrub jays eat their share. and still our fridge is full of berries.

so i smashed a couple cups, mixed it with cream and sugar and an egg, and gave it a couple of turns in the ice cream maker.


home made strawberry ice cream. so good. look how fast the girl can get a taste! i'm going to whip up a little cream to eat with this morning's berries and watch tennis. strawberries and cream...breakfast at Wimbledon. it sort of counts as church!

twenty nine

so it happened. i didn't make it to the computer yesterday. my streak is broken. i did not blog every day. oh well. i did think of it as the little one was nursing herself back to sleep. it was 11:54 pm. and i could have popped in. but i stayed in bed and rested my bones. the right choice i think.

twenty seven

this is just amazing. you can read a bit about these two beauties on the video's Youtube site. there is also video of her birth.

it's no surprise that M is already learning the differences between mammals and other animals. she knows that whales live in the water like fish, but give their babies milk to drink. and that's one of the first questions she asks about new animals. she cradles an imaginary baby to her breast and asks, milk? do these mamas feed their babies milk?

i was very newly pregnant with M when we went to the Lighthouse in San Diego to watch the whales migrating down to Baja to birth their babies. that's when i first learned how baby whales drink milk, that the milk is the consistency of cottage cheese and the mama squirts it into the water! this is a crazy, amazing world we live in!

twenty six

word on the street is i'm thinking of moving this blog over to Wordpress. i know, i know! big news. i've never really liked Blogger. just the name sounds silly to me. i hated the address: onedeepdrawer.blogspot.com. those two short "o" sounds right next to each other. yuck! Wordpress sounds much more dignified to my ears.

so the plan is to stay here through the end of the month, and then move here.

and another link for those who don't like change:

http://onedeepdrawer.wordpress.com/

it's not that big of a deal is it? if it is, just let me know. nothing's final. and i might find that Blogger really is more my speed. we'll see.

twenty five

ladies and gentlemen, may i direct your attention to our Flickr page. many, many pictures have been uploaded in the last few days, so let me get you up to speed on our comings and goings...

1. our trip to Yakima...i can't decide if going down the water slide was the most fun part of the trip or eating shave ice. my favorite was green apple with a squirt of sour zinger. yum! and don't you just love the sense of style that Jess has? by the by, the pictures from Hood River are from the trip home. we stopped for a Big Dinger Dog and Cokes. more yum!
   
2. swim lessons...i've already mentioned those, but here are a few more pictures. Maisy Layton has almost the exact same suit as our Mamie.
   
3. picking strawberries in the front yard. such bounty. i'm going to make home made ice cream with this morning's pick.
4. Nicki + Kev...are moving to town from Bellingham. M is quite fond of them and the sweet dog Zion.
5. the garden and the girl in the bonnet...what a harvest already.
6. Jude...came for a visit. Marg and Thad went out for her birthday to a yummy dinner. and we got to spend the evening with Jude painting and playing.

that's what's up with us. and you?

twenty four

it's Papa's birthday!

a little cake. a few presents. this is not quite half of AP's presents. looks like it's going to be a good year! he's gone just now doing work stuff. he was supposed to take the day off, but something came up. so he'll be home soon. already this morning we went out to breakfast with our friends, Nicki and Kevin. they'll be moving down from Washington in a few weeks. so we took a look at their new place and ate at Petite Provence. we hadn't been back since last spring when we came for a visit. such yummy pastry. cheese croissant! happy birthday indeed. i don't know what the rest of the day holds for us. it's going to be warmer today. maybe we'll make some homemade strawberry ice cream if we have enough ripe berries. we've been giving so many away! home grown Oregon strawberries make for happy neighbors.

here's to a great year for Andy and our family and many happy returns of the day!