This Evening

Just a girl and her chicken (and my wellies). xo 

Ten Years Ago Today....

This feels like just yesterday and  a lifetime ago all at the same time. xo

From The Rose Garden

And they smell just as gorgeous as they look! xo

On Father's Day

Some dads spend Father's Day kicking back and relaxing. Some, like this guy here, use it to get some projects done. At least he chose a project (painting our bedroom) that involves being inside where it's cool on this hot day! Thank you, David, for all you do for all of us! We are so very grateful and wouldn't want any other guy to be the blue in our house of pink (or purple in this case)! Happy Father's Day to all the dads that we connected to. It's an honor to know each and every one of you! xo

In Celebration Of Summer Solstice

It almost escaped us that today was the Summer Solstice. The pandemic has us all thrown off and it's hard to remember what day of the week it is lately!  If this was a non-pandemic Father's Day weekend we would have been at the recital all day today, followed by the Summer Solstice celebration at the Old Manse in Concord the next evening. But since it is a pandemic, and everything is shut down, that wasn't (and won't be) the case. Instead, I share with you, one of my most favorite pictures from the Summer Solstice Celebration in 2015. I just love everything about this picture of Emma and feel that it captures her (and Summer Solstice) perfectly. xo

A Week Full Of News

This week has been a big one for just about everyone in the house.

 The chicks moved into their cottage.

I was offered (and accepted) a job that has me returning to The New England Center for Children. Where my career began after I graduated from the University of Hartford. It's crazy to think that almost eighteen years to the day after I last worked there I'll be walking back in and starting a new career. 

And the girls will be starting at Oak Meadow as enrolled students a year (or in Emma's case two) sooner than originally planned. This was always the plan for their high school years, we're just speeding it up a bit.  It was important to the girls that they get to continue homeschooling and we are happy to be able to make that possible due to some creative planning and willingness of friends to be present with the girls each day. 

For as excited as I am about all that's in store for all of us beginning this August I also find myself very weepy about it today, too. I'm pretty sure that I am grieving the end of this chapter of my life. It's been a truly incredible fourteen years and I am so very thankful/grateful/blessed that I was able to spend all day, every day, with two of the sweetest souls to ever walk the earth. I would not trade that for the world! There is no doubt in my mind that we will all rise (once we settle in to our new rhythm) but there is also no doubt in my mind that there will be days that I really wish I was still able to be home with them. Like when I wake up on that first perfect autumn day, and I  find myself sad at the notion that I can't say "come on girls today is the day! Let's get dressed and head to the apple orchard before all the field trips arrive." It's things like going on adventures and having a quiet morning just snuggling on the couch reading that I will miss so very much. I am grateful and excited but sad and not ready. I just hope that I have done enough. I dread that I haven't. I wish that I had one more year, but at the same rate, would one more year really be enough? I just wish I had known that this lesson year would be my last at home full time. Just like I didn't know that Emma was to be my last baby,  here I am, once again not knowing, now grieving, but also remembering that it all works out as it should. xo 

Love Must Be Louder

Yesterday with posters in hand and masks on we gathered with other members of our church and attended the rally on the common in Framingham. It was wonderful to see so many from our church family in person rather than on a screen after all these months, and it was equally as wonderful to stand with so many who feel as we do- that it's time for this awfulness to stop. We understand that we will never understand, however, we stand. xo 

Membership Has It's Privileges

This weekend CSA members were invited to come to the farm and do some strawberry picking before the fields are open to the public next week. With a gorgeous day and the chance to get in the fields before the rest of the world we couldn't possibly pass up the opportunity to go to the farm and do some strawberry picking. And while it was lovely to be back in the fields it was super weird not to be able to eat any berries as we picked! Of course, we had to sample a few as soon as we got to the car! The berries are as delicious as they are gorgeous! xo

Our Week

I have clearly been a blog slacker lately (but especially this week)! Needless to say, I wanted to share a few pictures of what we've been up to since my post on Monday. 

 Lovely reply sent to the girls from Samantha Perlman. 

 We participated in the dance team car parade for the graduating seniors on the team. It was super fun and incredible to see everyone (even from a distance) after all these months! 

We had a popover recipe to test from America's Test Kitchen. They were super easy and super delicious! 

Dave put the finishing touches on the coop this week and we moved it outside today! 

 Our gorgeous David Austin roses are blooming and smell as incredible as they look! 

 To me, this is what June should smell like. My mom always called it "June perfume" and I have to say that has stayed with me since I was a little girl. When we were looking for a rose for Grace when she turned ten, my one requirement was it needed to smell "like  a rose". So many roses are gorgeous but have no smell. I am so glad that we discovered David Austin roses, an incredible grower out of the UK. The roses from David Austin always smell as gorgeous as they look! 

 Though the coop needs to be leveled out (and turned to face into the yard) it is done and absolutely perfect! 

 The chicks check out their new space. 

The second of our three David Austin roses is also in bloom. 

We are hoping to add two or three more rose bushes to our rose garden this year.

So that's about it for what we've been up to this week! Wishing you all a lovely Friday night and a wonderful weekend! xo