Summer Days

At last the hot summer days have arrived.
Two days ago, we went on a date.
Not a great date, as it turned out.
For me a great date would be a boat ride, a picnic,
and time to talk without interruption.
We went to Menard's, then to a client's house where Nate needed to fix something small,
and finally to Dinkytown to deliver a used bike to our oldest son.
THEN we went on our date.
We like food that is surprising, but not too weird.
This food was astonishing.
You can see the menu here.
Nate got the grilled octopus and I ordered the "bacon chawan mushi."
The what??!!
 I usually order the cheapest thing on the appetizer course, then I take a few bites of Nate's real meal.
This appetizer was so small, I thought it was a mini candle
 I ended up with a chicken dinner that I didn't order.
Our waiter was nice, and I didn't want to point out his mistake.
Strange little missteps sort of characterized our date.
It took me awhile to recover, but today I feel pretty good again.

 

Yesterday I gave Malachi his first real haircut.
His hair was getting long and fringe-y on his big forehead,
and it needed trimming around his ears.

The pictures don't show how much he moved around.
He looks a little more grown-up now.
Still my baby boy,
when he's up all night cutting new teeth.

And now our garden is getting out of control.
(Not the plants - it's been a slow spring. The weeds are out of control).
We planted it in a rush, using organic seeds that we saved from last year.
They mostly came up, we just needed to replant the beets and some squash.
We've had so much rain that I've hardly had to water the garden.
This morning Anna Kate and I got outside early,
before the steamy heat set in,
and weeded and put down mulch.
We need more straw, since we used up all we had.

Beans and beets in good dark soil.

My favorite peony bloomed.
I wish these flowers lasted for weeks on end, but they're gone all too soon.

And finally, we buy eggs from two different friends.
They come in all shapes and sizes.
Brown eggs on a white platter,
so pretty that they almost rival peonies for simple beauty.

"One day in mid-June Jody saw a cock and a hen run from the grape arbor with the scuttling hurry of paternity. He was wise enough not to follow them, but prowled about under the arbor until he found the nest. It held twenty cream-colored eggs. He was careful not to touch them, for fear the quail might desert them, as guineas did. A week later he went to the arbor to look at the progress of the Scuppernongs. They were like the smallest pellets of shot, but they were green and sturdy. He lifted a length of vine, imagining the dusky golden grapes in the late summer." ( The Yearling, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings)