all that's past is prologue...

I was reminded that this is what my poolside garden looked like last year. I had just gotten a Lawns to Legumes grant and gotten it planted. I worked really hard with the program in learning about plants and ordering them and such, but the plants that took off best were the gifts from people! It's been a hard year for the garden. Patrick had to take down and rebuild the fence, and (as you can see), I have not gotten out to weed it. But I have to say I'm pretty happy already with how it has developed!

So here we are, taking a risk with a "Midea" dishwasher because it had hella features, a long warranty, a low price, and an installation rebate. The Bosch that we had before was lovely and ran well for us, and I will miss it. But it was getting long in the tooth, and we need something reliable for renters when we're not here. So all of the paneled appliances are now officially gone. It's the end of an era. (I also apparently can't take pictures straight, especially when I am trying not to show how much crap is on the counter.)

In 2019, we were on our way back from spring break when Cheryl, who Beatrix had interned with at GiffyDog, reached out to us about fostering a pomeranian (since she knew Beatrix loved the breed). The day we got back, the person who had been fostering him brought him over. Brutus sauntered in, grabbed a rawhide as long as he was that Coya had been chewing, and settled in next to me in the chair. Patrick says "I knew at that point he was never leaving." And he didn't. He got the name "Brutus Brewpup" when, as we initially had him and thought we should expose him to people who might want to adopt him, we took him out to a taproom and found he LOVED it. Pretty soon, taking him to taprooms turned into a regular pastime. But he liked other things too. He loved Christmas: And Halloween: And springtime: And snow, especially the first snowfall: And really winter in general: He loved to go up to the cabin (and I'm so glad we got to go up this last weekend): And to sun...

We had intended to get a deep clean done at Ashland this summer, but with everything going on, that just won't happen. Nonetheless, Patrick deep-mopped the living room the other day, and I did the hall and library, after I had washed the rugs. A big goal had been to do some treatment on the floors, so which do you think looks best? #1 - Living Room Used traditional paste wax. Realized I no longer had a buffer, so buffed it in by hand (which was hard and I'm not sure I did a stellar job on it). -- #2 - Front Hall Used some spray floor treatment left over from my dad. Super-easy. -- #3 - Library Used Rejuvenate Floor Treatment that was on super-sale on Prime Day. So, what do you think? Which looks better?

  Why am I starting a blog post about reading with a picture of cupcakes? Because I made my book club read Just for the Summer , and I promised them Nadia Cakes cupcakes (the author, Abby Jimenez, is a fantastic author — my friend Julio's favorite — and also owns Nadia Cakes). So it's really 2 treats in one! We all enjoyed the book and found it a great light summer read. But I'm on a bit of a local reading kick in general right now. It started with my friend Jeremy's book, Trauma Sponges . (I also made my book club read that, but they did not like it as much). I, on the other hand, think it's one of the best books I've read in a long time. It's a hard read, and Jeremy has no qualms about beating you over the head with his message. But that's because it's that important of a message. This is not a book filled with amusing fire station anecdotes. It's a hard look at how race and poverty and social systems play out in our health and emergency care, ...