A new day

I took the easy way out this morning with my post title.  Since I have no particular focus on what this new day holds, the title works. 

Yes, this is a new day with new, unknown directions.  For months I've looked ahead to one of the major events of the summer:  the Aussie visit.  Virtually everything I've done around here kept that event in mind.

When our new friends headed out the driveway yesterday morning with their little Australian flag fluttering in the breeze off the side of their car, Bill and I walked to the house and agreed that it had been a good visit.  

We were pleased, and it was evident from the good byes that our visitors agreed.

There's always a transitional period after such events, sort of a "where do we go from here?"  In my case, it was getting back to the regular routine---watering, picking up around the house, thinking ahead about what's next, etc.  For Bill, it was heading off to work. 

I noticed as the day unfolded that my usual burst of morning energy began to subside fairly quickly as a bright sunny day turned cloudy, gray, windy and wet.  That change served as a cue for me to just plain sit down and relax.  That R and R lasted about five minutes.  

I did not want to waste the day, so I drove over and visited with my sisters who are having a new covered porch added to their home.  The construction workers were there, and talk freely flowed for about an hour.  

Then, I drove to town, grabbed a much-needed cup of coffee from Miller's Country Store and stopped in to visit my mother.

Mother's birthday---her 90th on Aug. 12---is the next big event of the summer.  So, on the day of Aussie departure for Calgary and eventually on to their homes Down Under, the planning switch flipped pretty quickly.  

Details associated with the birthday celebration will dominate day-to-day summer stuff for the next several weeks.  

In the meantime, the grandpuppies will be showing up pretty soon.  Their mommy and daddy are headed to Seattle this morning, with plans to be part of tonight's raucous crowd cheering on the Sounders as they take on England's Manchester United. 

Todd and Brooke will be with us for the next few days, and I'm hoping both have plans to STAY with us rather than at unknown destinations here in the countryside.  

There's also picking to do.  The raspberries are just coming on.  The cherries are still trying to ripen---albeit more than two weeks late.  Juicy, tasty strawberries still continue to turn bright red deep within their weed-infested jungle.  

I'm thinking I could almost get away without protective netting this year cuz I don't think the robins can see the berries, and those thistles are pretty prickly when my fingers scout out berries to grab. 

The broccoli is heading out, and I need to sprinkle on some powder to send those little green worms elsewhere.  It's beautiful broccoli this year, so we'll be sampling it fairly soon.  

Last night I fixed a sampler of garden peas and new potatoes, topped off with slices of Wood's German sausage----delightful!

Yup, the summer moves on, and who knows what each new day will bring.  There's no set plan except for that daily watering, turning horses out and bringing horses in, mowing lawn and pick, pick, pick those garden goodies.

Love it!  Happy Wednesday.