It's the newest Thursday yet....

  Not sure where this picture came from, but I like it.

  Interesting how some peoples idea of cleaning things up differs so radically from mine.  lol  For instance. I have neighbors whose idea of cleaning up their yard/property has been to cut down every  other tree in sight, scrape the ground bare, eradicate every piece of anything green that might be visible from outer space. THEN replace it with expensive lawn benches, gazing balls and godknowswhatelse. Oh, and don't forget the expensive artificial and/or designer, non-native plants. They mow every other day (probably not, but it seems like it). I'm surprised they haven't had the sod removed and replaced with astro turf.

  Not that ANY of this is any of my business.

 I'm sure they think we are slobs. Our property is full of gardens and fruit trees in the front yard, berry brambles and wild honeysuckle all around the perimeter like a compounds barbwire fence. There are beautiful patches of Queen Anne's lace, wild daylilies, violets, Bethlehem Stars, yarrow, trillium in spring, wild roses tumbling all over each other and patches and pods of lilies and other flowers planted all willy-nilly everywhere you look. And I love it.  The backyard has grown so wild around the edges that I can barely see lawn benches or gazing balls, lol....it feels like you are in a small secluded park back there.

  No accounting for other peoples taste, I reckon.

  It's my weekend and I picked up the freckle faced boy on my way home last night so he could come spend the night with his puppy. He said, very seriously, on the way home "Nana-do we need buttermilk for our waffles in the morning?"   These are the little things that he will remember when he is all grown up and sullen and hiding in his room for months at a time. lol  And that we took his puppy so it wouldn't have to go away and him never see her again. And all the nights that he could come stay the night and sleep on the big pull-out bed with all the dogs and cats snuggled around him...something he can never do anywhere else he sleeps in his young life. 

  And the best waffles in the whole wide world. And he may even go out and pick blackberries so we can have some fresh blackberries...either on the waffles, or in a little bowl with a little cream on top. Something that, the first time he had here (picked himself 6 years ago, when he was still "a kid")  he declared to be THE best thing he had ever eaten, in the whole wide world.

  The Irishman left this morning for work, but came woke me up and said--you have to see this, honey. We walked out in the living room and there he was, asleep, with his arms around 2 dogs on either side of him, and a cat curled 'round his head, like a tiny crown on a sleeping prince. He is safe here, and happy, and all the troubles of his life melt away in the wake of whooping and hollering and chasing and feeding chickens and picking berries and beans. Soon enough he'll go back home and face the reality of not seeing his real dad for a year (he turned himself in yesterday felony DUI...3rd offense). He'll cope and we all will help however we can. His young life will take a turn, one way or another, guided by gentle and loving hearts and hands. I fervently hope it turns the best way for him.

  And this is the stuff life is made of, isn't it?  We take every opportunity possible to teach him about walking gently on Mother Earth, about conservation, about healthy choices in every aspect of life. When he was little (he's been in our life 10 years, since he was 4)  it was all about joy and fun and loving. Now there are new dimensions added all the time, as he matures and we (gasp!) mature along with him. He's wicked intelligent, and we have some great conversations about everything under the sun. I am blessed that he loves me and trusts me and wants to let me be his old granny.

  We have a big day ahead and I should get in there and get those waffles going. It's going to be the hottest day yet in our little heatwave (they said on the news last night that it hasn't been this hot this long since 1936.). The heat indexes are supposed to be 112 today. I'll not be doing much...it was 82 already at 7 AM.

   If I was truly a good wife, I'd be out there picking beans before it got any hotter....not looking too good for that....lol

    Have a remarkable day everyone...

 Namaste.