You may have surmised from my post title that I am feeling a bit rambly. So settle in if you've a yen for a good ramble. Here we go...
The weather turns -Beginning Friday, a heatwave broke out (relatively speaking that is). The sun was a star and sweaters were considered but, ultimately found unnecessary. It was a weekend where I pondered how people are like plants; after winter's interminable dormancy, we stretch our necks out to the sun, unfurl our tendrils - leaf and bud and bloom...and begin to brush up against each other. Suddenly, a whole social scene comes to life. You got your birds, your bees; your flora and your fauna. It occurs to me that I may be taking this a bit too far. All I am saying is, everyone is out and about interacting and smiling at one another because the sun is shining.
Even yours truly, through some deviance of nature, was transformed from 'House Mouse' into social butterfly.
Which leads me to
Confession #1 -I confess, when it comes to social networks such as Facebook, I have a love-hate relationship. Wait, let's call it a fascination-trepidation kind of thing. Whilst I sometimes feel a bit silly about the whole thing, I have also had the opportunity to re-connect with old friends that otherwise would have been out of reach.
Which in turn leads me to
long losts being found -Through the slippery slope of Facebook, yes you guessed it, one of those long lost friends showed up. Plans were made, a meeting took place, and 13 years (give or take) is a lot to catch up on. We did our best and as I was driving home I felt so glad to have the chance to know him again.
When I got home from my meeting up, I found the Engineer on the front stoop sitting with 'The Quiet Bachelor', our across the street neighbor. Yes, the season has started. This is where
we come over all neighborly - for the next night was spent with our neighbors to the side, in front of a fire pit, summer drinks in hand, and the lazy feeling of a backyard get-together settling in.
Sunday was
Family Dinner alfresco. There was a gorgeous feast, a wild rumpus commenced, and of course frozen pops. Amidst all these goings on, in all of this summertime feeling...the days jovially skipped along. Which is what us leads to
Confession #2 - I am a terrible mother. I got so caught up in our
'Sunshine Family' weekend, that I completely forgot about the very big important end of the year school project that Pony Girl needed by Monday morning. As I write this, it is late Sunday night, the girl all tucked in and sleeping. So, if I'm up early and small miracles happen, she will wind up at school with a presentation of the basic facts and a doubtlessly shoddy diorama.
As we were cleaning up from our family dinner,
the weather turned again, with thunder and lightening and of course, drops of rain.
Edited to add: It is now Monday afternoon and I can happily report that small miracles do indeed happen. Pony Girl went off to school with her project tucked under her arm, a trial run of the presentation under her belt, and a pair of pink feathered curly antennae atop her mop for good luck.I am wishing you all your very own small miracles this week.
I do love where I live. I love that on the spur of the moment, at 3 O'clock on a Sunday afternoon, we can decide to jump in the car and go fishing...and only drive 20 minutes outside of the city. We can sit at a lake, under the tall trees, catch our dinner (and some other critters), and have a great time together as a family. Oh, and there were peacocks too!
Salamanders!
And a little post fishing snack!
It was a fine, fine day.
It was a long weekend, a holiday weekend, it was busy, raucous, sweet, colorful, fun, and did I mention long? I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. 
My beautiful (and very colorful) sister was in town for a couple of days. It was so nice to have time with her. We spent most of it sitting on the back yard swing relishing the gorgeous summer weather. She is such a unique and precious woman, I love her madly!
Random goodness #3
Meet Hazel!
Woke up this Saturday morning to find that the Engineer had hatched a plan to take Pony Girl fishing! So, with some quiet time on my hands, I made myself a large cup of delicious coffee and took a little tour of the garden. Just to see what I could see. 
Peas! They were planted so late I wasn't sure but, here they are coming along nicely, sharing space with tiny spiders.
A riot of potatoes!
Introducing the newest member of the flock, Cookie! She's a Barred Rock pullet, very sweet. Unfortunately, our other 2 ladies have not been ladies at all, instead they have been quite rude to the new girl. It is to be expected, pecking order is very real. Still, each day they seem to grow a little more used to her presence and soon the novelty will wear off. I hope.
Guess where we went this weekend. No, it wasn't the deep green woods...
It was the beautiful downtown Portland Farmer's Market!
Oh how I love Ranunculus!
Asparagus of wonder!
Pretty peas.
Ruby red Rhubarb.
Cavorting Kohlrabi.
Colorful Clematis.
And of course, a rocking horse balloon hat!
