On the street where she lives

This is what I am up to today.
I am making another rag basket, and I baked a lemon bunt cake.

The two are totally unrelated, except for the color scheme.

I am not at all happy with the basket, so later this evening I will rip it all out, reroll into the big ball you see there, and start over. I am thinking a shallow elongated bed for the dog.



Freyja is a obsessed with the girl next door.

At least 10 times per day she demands to go see if Diane can play.

She walks right up to the end of Diane's driveway, and then loses her nerve to knock.

It usually takes her three or four tries, before she makes it all the way to the door.

If we say no, she screams and cries for a long, long time.
Sometimes she stands on our front porch and yells across the two houses in between our house and Diane's house in a plaintive wail-

"D i a a a a a a n e"

We catch her, and bring her back inside and the madness that is Diane love continues.

Sometimes I welcome this obsession. I am delighted that someone other than me, is playing kitty, or playmobile, or whatever, with Miss F.

Often I wish there were other little girls on the block though- Diane is a very energetic little girl full of games like (draws a circle in chalk around Freyja) "anyone in this circle is a dummy", that zips around the neighborhood in kid high heels on her razor scooter. She drinks Coke, and eats donuts and has an impressive Hannah Montana collection. She is pure perfection in F's eyes and her father and I are arch villains for not allowing her to move into Diane's house. On top of all the other perks, Diane has a dog.

Not a measly poodle, but a real dog. A big, black lab.

I planted a couple of new lavender plants today.

The one I had in this pot on the front porch for five years finally dropped dead from neglect.
It was huge, and hadthrived, until we had that long cold snap this past December. That brown thing, is a very lovely terracotta snail Maxwell made in 1st grade and the white thing in the back is one of my ceramic heads, that Rolf broke earlier this week, but I couldn't stand the throw out.



The photo below is of my little sad quince tree. This year is has about 10 beautiful blossoms on it, so I am really excited to see if it bears more fruit this fall! The flowers are the most beautiful pink in the world.



Maxwell returning from drama class right when the sun was shining in a really bright and remarkable way outside. right before sundown, when it looks really bright.

You know those bible pictures where Noah walks out of the ark, after the 40 days and nights and sees the rainbow? That kind of lighting.

Freyja "chalking", in our shamefully unkempt driveway.
I think she thinks, if she keeps it up long enough, she will get some Mary Poppins action, and jump through the painting, into some beautiful scene, but no dice so far.

It is chilly as hell out, but I have given up on fighting her to put pants on. so it goes.