all that's past is prologue...

Though Beatrix likes to remind me that she's been a Tay-Tay fan since she was tiny, it was not until Folklore that I fell in love with her. I'm a sucker for a concept album, and that one was  alright spot that got me through a heavy part of the pandemic. Back when we were measuring closures in weeks or even months instead of years, I thought it would be a great first concert to bring Beatrix to. But it was not until two more albums came out that the tour was announced, and though I dutifully became a "verified fan" back in November, we all know what happened with the ticket sales for this tour. Completely shut out of the first wave of ticket sales, I joined a few Taylor Swift groups on Facebook, tried to buy tickets twice through people who turned out to be scammers, looked at resale ticket sites and marveled that tickets were in the 11K range for a single seat, and resolved us to settle for watching livestreams on TikTok. Until ten days ago when I got a text from Ti...

Just because I pay people to do work around our house does not make it any less our project! In this case, it was a new roof for Ashland (house and garage) after some hail damage last year. We got the claim in j-u-s-t in time, and our great roof guy Andrew at New Life Contracting lobbied to get it included the our insurance company was initially dubious. Before (though you can't see the damage):   During — the amazing crew got most of it done in one day. After (oops, I guess I don't have a garage pic): They did a great job cleaning it up, though between that work and the dryness my entire yard is pretty well trashed. I guess it gives me an excuse to do some replanting. It also shows how badly we need a paint job. Projects are never done!

We've had a really lazy Father's Day so far, celebrating this awesome guy: And I spent some time missing this guy: When you lose a parent, there are a ton of different stages of grief, some of which are very present and some of which are deep and far-away feeling. And sometimes those moments are right next to each other. Our yoga teacher, Viv, apparently talked a lot about her dad Norbert in class yesterday. Norbert is amazing. He is a woodworker, and a beekeeper, and I have loved talking to him every time I have had the chance. He's 85, and is having a series of small but significant medical issues that might well mean that this is the last Father's Day that Viv has with him. So I knew going into this weekend it would be hard for her. Apparently though someone yesterday took issue with it, that Viv talked too much about that without thinking about those who had lost their fathers. Which is a point. I get it. When I was pregnant, and I would see expectant moms shopping ...

On Saturdays, Beatrix has double trapeze, paired with Aidan, who she has known since toddler classes. We tend to go in and watch, and today Aidan's mom Mel got some great photos. I too rarely post about these circus moments.

Tonight was our seventeenth anniversary! Which is a big number but a weird one, right? We missed celebrating with our friends Bob and Ally, celebrating their tenth. Instead, we went to Joan's in the Park, which has long been a bucket list place. It turned out to be as good as hoped for, with great food and really incredible, personable service. What a gem! Course #1, the bread course: Then the appetizer. The great part about multiple course is we could share items. Both the shrimp and the salad were amazing, I am not sure which I would recommend more! Course #3. Yeah, I had basically lost my mind may now, and not just because of my dinner companion. They were super sweet about discussing substitutions, like "Oh, it's white asparagus instead of asparagus because Chef liked that better. " Oh, ok! Sign me up! We both had the fish for the main course because our waiter, Dan, described it so well. He was right! (Aren't the little hearts cute? He came and dropped them o...

I spent much of today dealing with All Kinds of Client Things, and then at 5pm I *should* have kept on working but just could not anymore. So I went out in the smoky haze to tackle this flower bed. It's a little strip between the bluestone and the house, and I did not want to do much to it because we are getting new windows later this summer and it will get trashed. But it looks like hell right now. So I pulled out the weeds and the rabbit-girdled rhododendrons and re-buried the irrigation system and dug out lots of old roots and crap, and planted a big batch of zinnia seeds. It's not perfect, but it looks better, especially after I moved the tomato plants over! Come see it Friday for the pool party! Same as usual, starts at 5, bring something to share/grill/drink!

I'm up at the cabin, which has me thinking a lot about my family history (more on that later). But for now, it's nice to just spend time outside looking the lake, and making s'mores at the firepit while hanging out talking to our kid. Other family activities: - Managed to (finally) check out Flour and Flower bakery in St. Joe's on the way up (yum). - Hit the end of Prairie Days and then went to The Long Drive-In to see The Little Mermaid (which did not end until almost midnight so we did not stay for Fast X .) - (Of course) went to Vintage Village and hung out with Jerry. - Checked out the new-ish DragonWillow Vineyard. I have to admit, it was a little disappointing looking when we pulled in, but we decided to stay anyway and they were really nice and it was fun to try — we even bought a bottle! - Went out to Carlos Creek/22 Norseman where we enjoyed good food, drank some beer, played Cards Against Humanity, and watched the SPA graduation livestream. We've only bee...

Sometimes the small projects take the most time. Today cleaning out the pool toys and testing the inflatable took far longer than it should. So did planting a tomato. And let's not even talk about bringing over the cats and various settling-in things. It feels like there are 1000 things to do so instead I think we'll go see a play.

We've had a lot of discussions about social media in our household lately, and how the image it presents is not always accurate. So in that spirit... Getting ready for pool season at Summit is always a LOT of work. Getting the grill, the furniture, and even the party supplies out, ordering propane, assembling supplies, and making small repairs and preparing the garden is a heck of a to-do list. Add to it the fact that the lovely young man from Italy who was staying there (Albi, I hope you all get a chance to meet him) just moved out today means we've had relatively minimal access. This year we had to add in: - replacing the pool liner - Patrick rebuilding the whole deck and part of the fence - me clearing an area and planting a whole new native garden Which is to say that I really wanted to make it awesome and perfect for you all, but it's not going to happen. My attempt at repainting the outdoor furniture was a fail: The room where the paper goods is stored got somehow loc...

This one's actually Patrick's project, not mine. The fence at Summit is ... struggling. This is one section he was working on last year, but wood was too expensive to finish it before the snow flew (we also have a huge section that collapsed with the ice storm, but that's another thing altogether). But we move in with the dogs tomorrow, so he had to get the fence finished to keep them from going on walkabout.  I present to you — before and after! Now I need to landscape that area. Anyone need hydrangeas? If you're coming to the pool party tomorrow you'll get to see it in real life. You'll also get to taste this bad boy, donated by a friend to the event.