June 12, 2013

Dear Jellybean,

Today we have owned a house for a full handful of years. I wish I could say I hadn't aged a day.

In that time we have reworked nearly half of our yard, become honeybee keepers, vegetable growers, grain-grinders, bread and cheese makers, preserve your store canners, overall adequate farmers.

Oh, and I basically learned how to sew!

We got met Zumo and Gilleon. Lyla was born. Your granddad went on a permanent golfing vacation. I got a new school. We got new cars and discovered the joy of Groupon.

We have painted new colors, added crown moulding and window sills. We remodeled a kitchen.

I have lines on my face that weren't there before. I smile when I get carded instead of feeling annoyed. I recon we are both five pounds heavier, but maybe in someways we are five pounds lighter, too...

We'll forget years from now, but today we went to breakfast, we had pedicures, we bought a passion flower for the yard. We sat for just a few minutes in the sun and talked about the changes we've seen. And, wondered at the changes still to come. In five more years will we have finished the yard? The bathroom? The garage? How about master's degrees. Will we be done with those?  No doubt we will see other people (and perhaps pets) come and go. We will no longer get carded. Ever.

When we have reached two whole handfuls of years we'll be nearly 40...Just think of that (or don't if it's just too depressing and scary). We will have seen twice as much. I intend we will be twice as thankful for it.

Happy Houseiversary Kylene-KMQ-Jellybean-Kumquat. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Love and a big hug-it-out,

J.

Good News/Bad News

Good News: Tonight for dinner we had broccoli, lettuce, and strawberries from the garden with our pasta. Nice! Also, the peas are coming on and they taste delicious. 

Bad News: Aphids ate nearly all of the pepper plants under the grow light. Decimated them. Decimated.

Good News: The orange blossom has rebounded. It's a beautiful, fluffy, shape...Just like Kumquat promised.

Bad News: The bees seem to have lost their queen. Without the queen they have no direction. Without direction they will die. The backyard bee colony is simply days from collapse. Tragic.

Good News: We have cauliflower! Which we've never had before. Also, the potatoes have flowered, Lyla ate our first ripe raspberry, and baby there are fireworks. The artichokes number somewhere around 20 and the squash are in the ground.

Bad News: Gilleon will have to live out the rest of his days indoors. He's being punished for killing birds and bringing live rats and birds in the house. None of us are thrilled about the current situation, but it seems essential in the wake of his terror.

Good News: We're counting down. 6 1/2 more school days until SUMMER!!!

Happy

It's 7:20 and I'm pretending it's not a Sunday evening. It's not so hard to do. Pour yourself a gin and fizzy beverage. Mix up some guacamole. Take a walk with your friend through the neighborhood. Enjoy the sun. 

Monday means back to work, new assignments due, responsibilities that can't be ignored. But, for just a few splendid minutes this evening there were none of those. No chaos. No frustration. No angst. Just the sun and the garden and me. Happy.

Yesterday, I cleaned the windows. Just a few weeks behind schedule. These were a welcome treat!
The strawberries are so amazing this year. Prolific and delicious! You just have to get them before the
slugs find them and much their shining tips... 

The honeybees are so happy, buzzing about the poppies. They emerge with the deepest, black pollen sacks.
It makes one appreciate the complexity of these flowers even more.