In our neighborhood people are stacking wood next to their outdoor saunas, stacking wood on their front porches for their woodturning fireplaces and wood stoves, and chewing up some of the first fallen leaves with their lawnmowers. Ripening apples on trees are anticipated, and Concord grapes are being harvested from…

She’s always up to something, even when she’s not really up to anything.

I had always wanted to live in a house covered by vines. When we bought our lovely old house more than a decade ago, I was so happy, but there were a few things on my “wish list” for a house that our particular house did not have: A big,…

The bumblebees love the lavender plants on the deck. This one happened to come along right as I was sitting next to the plant with my camera.

The last Sunday Night at the Beach for the season happened the weekend of Labor Day. Even though there was no soccer practice that night, for some reason we were rushing around. Only one kidlet decided to come for a super quick trip down to the water with me, and…

Sunday birthdays are always a little hard, like school day birthdays. A lot goes on during the course of the average Sunday around here, and that means all the birthday loveliness gets squeezed in around the busy. The day started out with breakfast in the bathtub when exactly half of…

This past summer the boys in our family drove down to Minneapolis for a weekend trip to see the Minnesota Twins play at Target Field. They met my parents who are big baseball friends, and my brother’s family, and the whole troop attended two different baseball games. You can only…

As August winded down, we didn’t get to the beach until late into the evening on Sunday night because of soccer practice. Our visit might have been shorter, but the lovely sound of the waves made it worthwhile just the same. The Banana was so tired from her practice that…

So, I was behind before my unintended blog vacation, and now I’m really behind! Our first day of school was last Tuesday. It was a chilly, rainy morning. Mr. Trouble on Feet is our resident third grader. The Banana had just gotten up right as Mr. Trouble on Feet was…