Toady who lives in/on/under/between our front porch.

Good-bye for nearly two weeks, Housey! I’ll miss you!

Independence Day 2024

Gardening teaches me gratitude! Because although the rabbits may have eaten all my spring vegetables, I still have a jungle of tomatoes.

Occasionally I still work on my “Inventory of Everything” project. Today I learned I have exactly 100 issues of Spin-Off, fondly dating back to Summer 1998 – when we first got angora goats. I also have 24 Wild Fibers – that was a good one, now defunct. And 35 Ply. I don’t like the vibe of Ply as much as Spin-Off somehow.

Yesterday was rain off and on, mostly on. We did not bike. We went driving. Between rain, sometimes during rain, we saw people on bikes, which made me feel slothful. This is a lovely picture of a store in Burke, Vermont. I am up to 143 Vermont towns on my extremely lackadaisical mission of capturing all 251.

In the wonderful book I read last year THE GREENGAGE SUMMER, the protagonist, a girl named Cecil, the second oldest among 5 children thrown into dire straits, is having a distraught moment. The Mystery Man who has befriended the children for the summer is comforting her. She cries to him, referring to her beautiful older sister, “I’m not beautiful like Joss.” He kisses her and says, “No, you are beautiful like Cecil.”

If you ever find yourself comparing yourself disfavorably to someone, someone real or just some image you have wished you could live up to, you can tell yourself, “I’m not beautiful like her. I’m beautiful like [your name here].”

My first produce of the season!

White mohair, white mums!

Just me hanging out.

No, I thought I’d bring out the Lorraine dolls at give them each a prominent position in rotation.