Getting a Kick out of Music

After church this afternoon,

Joy sat down at the piano to play "A Short Story" . . .

. . . and Daniel sat down in the recliner

to gently kick her in the back.

Over and over and over.

That would have driven me nuts,

but they both thought it was hilarious.

The Berry Thief

This year's bucket garden . . .

. . . includes several herbs, a habanero plant,

and a bunch of alpine strawberry plants I divided last fall.

The strawberry plants were laden with delicious little berries 

a couple weeks ago . . .

. . . but lately there are none,

and I finally figured out why.

This chipmunk has apparently decided that our deck

is a fine place to have a tasty breakfast.

Or lunch.  Or afternoon snack.

He was a lot cuter before he started eating my crops.

Fuel and a Puppy Hat

When we stopped at a gas station today,

we noticed that they weren't just selling gas.

They also had an assortment of hats for sale.

Anna tried on the white bonnet . . .

. . . I tried on the black one . . .

. . . and Joy decided to do her own thing.

The peaky cap looked good on her.

The yellow puppy hat?

Not so much.

Although, with the right attitude,

you can make just about anything look cool.

Tia the Bathing Beauty

For my birthday . . .

. . . I bought myself a tricolor sedum because it was pretty

and because I am rather prone to impulse buying

when I stroll through a plant nursery.

On a completely unrelated note,

Joy made this little bird meme today . . .

. . . and I photographed this beautiful depiction

of how Tia envisions herself

whilst reveling in the glory of the bath. 

Sunday Duets

Sunday is a nice day for . . .

. . . a duet with Daddy . . .

. . . a game of Checker Flick . . .

. . . making carrot cake . . .

. . . and another Daddy duet

(thanks for turning pages, Todd).

Stay Broody

Reesey the Chicken has gone broody,

which means she likes to spend all day sitting on her eggs . . .

. . . and everyone else's eggs too.

. . . it's kind of annoying for her coopmates,

but we like the fact that we can pet her glossy feathers

as much as we want to

and she won't leave the nesting box.

Go ahead, Reesey.  Stay broody all year.

We won't complain.

Yes, That Concord

Our family celebrated the Fourth of July . . .

. . . by taking a little trip . . .

. . . to a community picnic in Concord, MA.

As in Concord and Lexington, 

where the Revolutionary War kicked off

exactly 250 years ago this year.

There was a live bluegrass band . . .

. . . one of those

 throw-a-ball-and-dunk-some-stranger-in-water games . . .

. . . and good old-fashioned apple pie.

Later in the day, half of our family

went for a fun motorcycle ride together.

I feel so grateful that we live in a land

of such freedom and opportunity,

where we have everything we need

and some to spare.

Happy birthday, America!