I Like #124

It's been kind of an up and down week here-  Anna has been staying with me and going to daycamp at the Zoo which has been absolutely fantastic, but we've also had some deaths and serious illnesses in my close friend group and some stressful days at work.

In any case,  it's been less hot than usual (thank goodness) and so the summertime goodness keeps on coming.

1. The pups!  Bentley has decided he doesn't like being outside in the heat but he likes smelling outside. So he just uses his giant head to open the back door.  Unfortunately it can only be latched from the inside so if I'm out in my building I can't secure it.  We air conditioned the back yard for about three hours the other day before I realized what he was doing.

2.  Quilting!  What was I doing in the studio you might ask?  Well, I was actually quilting.  I made a fair amount of progress on my latest piece (hooray),  here's a quick snapshot. 

3.  Crabapples.  My tree was covered this year, and Anna helped me pick them all over the last couple of evenings.  She was great at getting all the low ones.  Even though the tree itself is small, I think we have enough for two big batches of jelly. 

You can see them here,  full filling the bottom crisper drawer and fully filling that large roasting pan.

4. Anna!  Anna is by far the very best thing to happen this week- here she is tying her shoes with Blue's help.  He loves to help- help with breakfast, help with shoes, help with hair braiding, help with sunscreen application.  One of us is going to trip over him and break a hip.  

5.  Houseplants outside in the summer.  I move a couple of my houseplants outside in the summer and they've been doing great.  This mother of thousands is taking over the world, and some of the giant new leaves are so big that the leaf edge babies have leaf edge babies.  Fractal plants!!  Hooray.

6.  Of course my flowers.  Thanks to the cooler than usual weather, they're still going along.  Dahlias and zinnias and even a few marigolds and petunias.

I hope you all are having a good week!  Thanks to LeeAnna for keeping us positive!