Inauspicious beginning to the day: rainy and gray. Ditched the tentative farmer’s market plan because that’s all outside. But then we thought we might go to check out a farmstand in a town not too far away that we’ve been meaning to visit to see what kind of stuff they carry.
As it turns out by the time we got through with breakfast getting dressed and all sorts of Saturday morning dilly-dallying the rain had stopped. We had a nice trip to the farm which turned out to be even more farmish than we anticipated.
Bella looks at sheep. (The other girl in the foreground is not Sophie.)
Bella and Sophie were delighted by the big sand pit with all sorts of shovels and pails and dump tucks. Also there was a huge slide, a bunch of swings and some tires to climb on. Even better, there were sheds with cows, goats, rabbits, sheep, chickens and a big turkey all being raised by a 4H club. Bella and I enjoyed the flowers too.
The farm store had quite a good selection. Not too much local stuff this early in the season: some lettuces and cilantro and oh yummy strawberries (100 times better than grocery store berries!) But they had a good selection of produce brought in from other sources, a nice selection of baked goods and deli items and local cheeses etc. We didn’t try the smoothie bar or sandwiches counter. Maybe next time.
At home I made a wonderful lunch with the leftover tuna salad from last night (tuna with sliced green olives, oranges, bell peppers and green onions) on some of the country loaf we bought. Oh it was heaven. Followed up by a bit of dark chocolate.
Dom mowed the lawn while I did some reading and then called my mom. He then told me to go out and look at the rose bush which was covered in cheerful golden blooms.
My sunny yellow roses!
I am so blessed to be enjoying the fruits of someone else’s labors.
After the girls woke up from their naps we all paraded out to look at the yellow roses. Then Bella and Sophie went and stared at the little girl next door who was shooting baskets, while I sat on the lawn and watched. Then we had some of our fresh strawberries, Sophie dribbling them down her chin and all over her shirt and overalls.
Sophie points at A. next door playing basketball.
Dom sits outside with his beer and laptop while the charcoal heats up. Sophie sits in the wagon happily for half an hour. Bella plays in the dirt.
For dinner Dom grilled some chicken breasts and potato wedges, simply dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper. I served the chicken sliced over a green salad: romaine, sliced radish, red bell pepper, tomato, cucumber, avocado, and goat cheese. Sophie especially loved the goat cheese. The chicken was so tasty, incredible what flavor a little charcoal smoke adds. We ate outside which also added savor to the meal. I love summer!
I love this photo Dom snapped of Isabella and Sophia playing under the glass-top table outside.
I do wish it was longer, but I agree about the ending.
I’m actually a big fan of the difficulties Fr. Luke has in expressing his views. Maybe because sometimes I feel like him, and because it speaks to the priority of love over knowledge. He’s almost entirely a failure, and yet not.
DN,
Oh I agree. On one level I do appreciate how well Fr. Luke’s difficulties in expressing himself work for him as a character. Like you say, it is very much about the priority of love over knowledge.
I am very much aware that my hyper-intellectual approach to faith isn’t always a good thing. I hope I was clear that the difficulty I had wasn’t the result of a flaw in the book so much as my own quirks getting in my way of enjoying the story. On the level of story it works great. I just have a hard time putting aside my own hobby horses. It’s probably a character flaw.