Ha ha ha!

I tell jokes, make funny faces, and have mastered my Lisa Simpson laugh--all to make Ole smile. I just can't get enough of this smile.

Salsa math

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Nana and Papa

Alex's folks visited from Vermont this week to shop for a condo in Portland.  They stopped in to meet their first grandson.

Even stoic James cooed over the baby.

Pat and Ole get acquainted

Putting the hops to bed

The hops have been cut down and harvested for brewing, so now the rhizomes are covered in a thick warm layer of compost.  The hop shoots will emerge before the weeds next spring and Alex will gently nudge them to grow, always clockwise, up the lines he'll run. 
The steam rising off the compost and that sweet earthy smell is comforting on this cool day.

David and Alex shoveling in unison.

David's dad Bill prunes back the massive bee balm plant.

Garden scorecard

Every spring I start off with a mental list of goals for the summer garden.  This fall I take a look outside and see how we fared.

A glorious field of sunflowers...WIN

 

Happy health sweet corn...LOSE! The east wind blew in our latest hot weather and blew the corn down.

 A rainbow of tomatoes...WIN

Beautiful flowers...WIN!  Of course, I can't remember the name of this annual (I always think I will remember, and I never do), but it has flourished and looks like a hummingbird's delight.

Pattypan squash...UNNECESSARY WIN.  From Wikipedia: "The squash is most tender when relatively immature; it is generally served when it is no more than two to three inches in diameter". Well, they somehow got away from us, and we now have a wheelbarrow full of football sized squash.  Luckily, if we chop them up, the chickens will eat 'em up.

 

I guess this summer really shaped up.  Granted, I spent most of it hugely pregnant or with my arms full of baby, so the weeds are the real winner in our garden this year.  But I've got plans...so watch out next year!

Blackberries and unbearable cuteness

 My favorite time of year is finally upon us...harvest time!  The blackberries are at their peak, so most evenings Alex and I head down the path through the cemetery to the good picking grounds below.  We've gotten a little smarter over the years and now bring along a set of clippers so we can access the finest fruits, because they are always ALWAYS just out of reach.

Alex is being swallowed by a particularly feisty blackberry bush.

Ole along for a ride in the sling

The berries must wait while Ole fusses.

Enough blackberry jam for another winter.

Pepper and Maeve sunning themselves in the driveway.  This warms my heart: 

flying time

Little Ole is one month old today...

Making friends

Ole attended his first playgroup last night.  It's the first monthly potluck meet-up with families from our birthing class.  It is great to talk to new parents in the same boat as us and see these friends in a new light.  As an added bonus, the trip to town and subsequent screaming car ride home really tires us all out, and Ole sleeps longer and more soundly after an active day. 

Phoebe and Nick with their boys.

Of the four families in attendance...all boys.  Ole's a bit younger (four weeks versus their nine to eleven weeks), but I think he held his own.  The other babes couldn't stop moving and cooing and smiling--it's nice to see what we'll have to look forward to in a few short weeks.  Below, he's the shrimpy one on the left.

 Please excuse the blurry phone photos.