to drink the clouds- - - -because they're nice

::::this day was a beautiful one. we went to the beach with finn's 2nd cousin, keegan (who we've been hanging out with all week, fun!!), later peter and i went on a date and got martinis and went walking along the iowa river, & the clouds were so nice over the river, as they had been earlier over the lake, oh and before all that finn & keegan ran around the elm tree alot. . .

blisses, domestic

i have a new plan. my last plan was too lofty, and i'm trying to ease up on myself but still feel motivated and still enjoy summer:::: here's the simplified version::::

1. read/ start 1 or 2 new books a week
2. first draft of 1 new poem per week, new draft of an older poem
3. sew one useful thing
4. try one new recipe, baking or cooking.

here is this week's new recipe:::;chard with parmesan!!;;;;it's from alice waters' book "the art of simple food";;;;;you simply cook a bunch of chard in salted boiling water for about 3 or 4 minutes, then you drop 2 or 3 tablespoons of butter in a skillet and saute the chard for a few minutes, adding a handful or so of freshly grated parmesan::::: and yes it is delicious! our new favorite way to eat our greens!! and finn loved it too!!
happy flower moon last night::::happy first official week of summer:::::: and here's to self-ed plans, old & new::::: (or are they just tyrannical?)

here's how i occupy finn as i cook: i ask him to get some of his plastic or rubber toys to "wash":::it works pretty well!

a thing i do that makes me think of my mom::put some tea out on the porch to get sunny:::suntea!

task completed::gave the Q-dog her beginning-of-summer bath;;;; pictured here are the remnants of that endeavor::::

and i always feel good when i manage to get the diapers bleaching out in the sun:::: although, i have to admit, as i speak, half of these right now are still out in the yard, dripping wet with the incessant nightly rain. . .

well it's moving water, brown, white

please indulge me in my love for creekside trail and the creek thereof(called??) (here i am searching for muddy water laugh-in-light and sublime this)

celebrations/ starting with s (homemade samosas and sangria) Yiy!

one thing: when we made these samosas is when finn really learned to say YAY!!--this he learned from aleta, who would say that everytime at the end of one complete samosa. except finn would say YIIY!! (rhymes with eye);;; and now he says it all the time YIIIIYYY!!

also: clover, millet and a children's moon (trying to take pictures of moths and failing)

more summery

last week was fun;;; aleta came to visit and finn & i played in the wading pool;;;;


also i finished this quilt! and baby-swapped so finn & corbin got to play and be crazy together;;;;

one afternoon was spent at home ec, where i sewed this bunny fabric over the "all-american boy" patch (shout-outs to melissa who also does this kind of re-purposing on toddler clothes!)

and we bbq-d!;;;;;

p.s. peter is the photographer of many of these photos, of course. . .

summer lake love (happy summer!)

here's what we did on the solstice;;;played in gray's lake in des moines;;;

spotted poetic signs;;;;

one little nearly-two-year-old entered the lake by himself;;;

well this was last week but nonetheless so summery, a boy in the grass;;;

walked by nodding fields of black-eyed susans, moths winking at us too;;;

breakfast with finn/ new 10-minute super-dog shorts for finn

quilts-in-progress!

here in our new spots where we've been practicing writing, and being, and singing together, and how to be happy ( a summer plan, a list or two, new)

boy in the rain, baby purple finch about to leave the nest, catalpa tree & blossoms, boy in the rain--




also as you can see in this post i am showing you some of our new spots! new places where finn & i (and sometimes others) have been writing, reading, sleeping,playing music, making lists, and hanging out. sometimes it seems that i am taking pictures of my writing spots more than i am actually writing, though. i think this summer self-ed plan might be too ambitious. my friend lauren suggested that i just try to do one of the things on this list, to make sure i can get it done, and thus to not get angry with myself for feeling i cannot do anything, like can't even read one single book! we are human beings not human doings, lauren says, human beings not human doings---

the page "how to be happy" is photographed from the book "Living Simply with Children" which is a book i have been skimming through, and which i like for clarity of statements like this: "happiness comes from close relationships with family, strong ties with your community, and a feeling of making a difference" /////but beware that the tone in the book is sometimes rather righteous; there seems to be an assumption on the part of the author that her audience has all swallowed american materialistic values hook, line, and sinker. and to that i say whaat! i have always been awesome even before i had a kid! i have never much cared for money but i still need to figure out how to be happy don't i!!