This is the year that I learn that gardens can be so forgiving. I don't always plan to be such a careless gardener (of either the flowers or food), and there's a lot you can do to make plants grow well and be productive, but a confluence of factors meant there just wasn't going to be a lot of time spent out there this year. Still, sometimes you just put the tomatoes in the exact same holes they were in last year and scatter some seeds with your fingers crossed and tell yourself a weed is not worth pulling until its knee-high and you find that the garden has a lot to give that you feel you don't deserve. Somehow the the tomatoes are growing alright and the lettuce is going crazy (even if it is hemmed in by weeds). The poppies reseeded themselves (in even more splendid colors) and the chamomile and cilantro did as well (in fact the cilantro that reseeded itself over by the tomatoes is growing better than the stuff I put in in the herb garden this year). The ferns I planted and neglected last year came back. The raspberries tolerated my hasty pruning and lassoing in the spring, a plethora of peaches hang from the tree like a promise. They're free gifts that I gladly but a little sheepishly bring inside, robbing the dirt and the brambles of spoils exceeding my toil. Common graces.

Also pictured above:

Baskets full of basil.

Finger painting, my worst nightmare and therefore the best exercise in taking a chill pill.

Growing belly sneaking into so many pictures.

Toad hunting.

We usually start planning summer trips with my family sometime in January or February, and at that point it always seems so very far away. I look forward to it for so many months and then it's upon us so quickly. In my head it was sort of the last bridge to cross before baby number three, so I really can't believe it's already over! If this baby is born three weeks early like Tenny, I might only have four weeks left! Oh mercy! I might be one of the very few people who would be glad to go to my due date. I have a lot of imaginary things I need to get in order before I'll feel ready for our new little family member to join us. I guess I feel similarly about having a baby as I do about vacations: I like to have everything done and taken care of beforehand so that I can just relax and enjoy the baby (vacation). Despite the wrench of having to deal with a good bit of water in our basement the week before leaving for the lodge, we still managed to check off most of my list and leave a relatively clean house behind, and the 10 days we were able to spend up there this time were relaxing and fun. The kids swam, we caught all kinds of little creatures, ate delicious food, read and knitted and enjoyed the early summer flowers (so many forget-me-nots! one of my favorites!) I'm so glad to document these memories here.