i woke up this morning thinking about dinner.
sun through my window,
and a breeze,
air warming up by the minute, though.
good bread from the market, yesterday.
lots of fresh greens.
wine in the fridge.
pie on the counter.
but what? what will make a meal of all of this?
what will make a meal worthy of calling friends, stopping neighbors on their way around the park with the dog... "plans for tonight? music later on?"
and so,
i remember something i read a while ago,
and the colander full of little tomatoes on the table,
and it starts to come together in my head.
before breakfast,
but certainly not before tea,
i am smashing garlic
and stripping rosemary from its branch
and sprinkling sea salt.
and then i walk away for a few hours.

when we're ready, later,
after sunday full of walks and cleaning out the garage and swinging from the tree in the park,
there will be dinner.
and there will be friends
and there will be music.


but first,
there will be breakfast.


enjoy sunday! thanks for reading.
tt

so, yes! the weekend is here. and it is the weekend. the one that unofficially turns spring into summer. although the school calendar around here certainly disagrees, as a kid, the pool always opened up on memorial day weekend, and that was as good proof as i needed that summer had arrived.

now, as a grown-up, summer brings a different sort of change: our crazy mixed up blended-family schedule, in which all sorts of extended family branches vie for vacation time with the girls. this weekend is the first of many long weekends that two of mine are off with their dad's family, and it's always an adjustment for me. on the one hand, i miss them terribly, and nothing quite feels right for the first day or so. but on the other hand, there are two fewer people calling my name (or, to be accurate, calling mom???) all day long (and into part of the night...)

it's a different sort of time for me. so, today, at the start of four days with a subset of girls around, i am drawing up some guidelines for myself.

this weekend::
i will not be on the computer at all in the evenings.
i will sleep just a little late...but not too late. quiet mornings alone start my day off well.
i will eat a salad as my meal at least once a day.
i will walk everyday.
i will read everyday.
i will sort through my clothes and give away anything i don't really feel good in.
i will do something fun with anna every day.
i will sit with tim in the garden after dinner, maybe take a walk around the park before bed.
i will write a letter to each of the girls, and leave it on their beds for when they come home.
i will get my feet wet, in pool, or river, or ocean. (i can not promise anyone that i'll swim, though.)
i will call a friend i haven't spoken to in too long. (you know who you are. or, at least, you're married to her.)
i will nap.
i will not do laundry (this is a trick, actually. our machine broke yesterday.)
i will organize my photos.
i will take my camera(s) with me wherever i go.

i will relax and enjoy the friends and family who are around me, and be ready and waiting with open arms monday night, when we are all back in one place again.

i wish for all of you a relaxing, fun weekend, whether or not you agree that summer has begun.
thanks for reading.
tt

{film shots from out in the park last week...}

all morning long i've thought it was friday.
i've been telling people "happy weekend", and making plans, and planning meals for the three day holiday weekend.
i think i better start making some lists for myself.
there is just so much that doesn't get done in the course of a day.

don't get me wrong. a lot does get done, too. the everyday stuff of a household gets taken care of quite nicely.
but there are bigger things, long term things, that just never get their time on the front burner.

i'm thinking a list might help me there. if i have to look at a piece of paper all week with undone tasks staring me in the face, i know i'll take care of them just to spite them.

ok, well, i'll see you again when it's the weekend, for real.

happy thursday! thanks for reading.
tt

top photos::our yard.
bottom photos::our neighbors' yard.

i like these together, though. to me, they speak of spring evenings, and quiet talks out in the garden, a few minutes to assess the day before heading in for the night.

of course, when i took the top two, tim and anna were gardening and lindsey was doing headstands in the yard next to me.

and when i took the bottom two, most of our group of neighborhood friends were right inside the door, eating and drinking and laughing (i think a discussion of movies was going on...).

but still,
i'm diving into mrs. dalloway again right now, and so i look at these and see a quiet evening.

leave me to my fantasy, will you?

more tomorrow. tim and i are headed out for the evening. (but most likely, not a quiet one.)

thanks for reading.
tt

astrid asked me a question.
of course i had a long answer for her, but i could have answered, instead, with just a few names:

rachel.
brian.
shari.
tracy.
heather.
charlotte.
amber.
anna.
and
natalie.

oh, there are so many more that inspire me, too. and it wasn't easy even to choose one photo from each of these to link to. but hopefully, you get the idea.
i shoot film because i've fallen in love with what i see these talented people doing, and want to try, too.

good day, all. thanks for reading.
tt

hello, friends.
it's sunday night, and i am ripe for bed.
but this was a good day,
and the girls are tucked in,
and i am also not too tired to have a moment
to think about the day.

this was a good day.

we took a long drive up to cornwall, connecticut,
and took a steep, rocky path
to the top of breadloaf mountain.

we ate cheese and cucumbers and crackers and cookies.
and anna brought along a book about animal families.
and today she made the connection that we, too,
are an animal family.
this is an important connection to make.

we stopped at an estate sale, and a nursery.
we bought some plants,
and made home with some free glasses that
were only going to waste,
but have found a place in our cabinets.

we ate dinner and dessert and lit a fire and did some homework.

and now,
the day is done.

but i think we'll remember
some sliver of today
somewhere,
always.

more tomorrow. thanks for reading.
tt

ps:: i know it's been confusing with the blog name: we'd been hosting it ourselves, but blogger needed us to change that...so in changing the hosting, we had to change the name...you can see why we chose public::bookstore by reading this...but mostly it's just that tim decided to get the job done tonight, and i was busy putting people to bed. hopefully, you'll stick with me anyway.

pps. while i'm at it, i guess i should reiterate that blogger doesn't let me see your e-mail unless you say so, and that makes it difficult to respond to your comments. if you give me your e-mail, i'd love to thank you for visiting or do my best to answer any questions you have.

and also::
look who's blogging!

best wishes, friends!

i've got a half-a-cup of random for you today:
beginning with this photo, which is of our dessert last night, an hour or so past anna's bedtime, still gardening with her dad, and two sisters walking home from town with ice cream cones and their friend, and me walking around the yard with my camera and a glass of wine. this is pretty much bliss, to me.

and those chairs, there. they've been sitting, underused and peeling-paint, in our front yard since we moved in. i loved the way they sat perched overlooking the park, suggesting lazy afternoons reading while the kids played.
thing is, we never made it out there, though. we'd get as far as the front steps and plop down with the phone or a drink and listen to the voices coming up from the creek, until the sounds turned from playing to crying, time to go rescue someone.

so now they're in our back yard, freshly whitewashed and perfect under the apple tree. i think i might spend the whole summer there. i bet you i'll still be able to hear the kids.

i've four more chairs for painting this weekend, snatched barely in time from the garbage men this morning, off of our neighbors' curb. i have some fabric callie bought me for mother's day, and some white paint left. it's a do-able project, i think. even for me.

and there are girls coming home, and farmer's markets open, no real plans, and lots of time to stretch out through the weekend.

and tim just called on his walk to work, to say that he came across a newborn fawn and her mother, in the woods at the end of our street.

spring is good. enjoy the weekend! thanks for reading.
tt

hi.
i'm ready to cheer things up around here. there's lots of green out there, and although there are still some raindrops hanging on the branches, it's hard not to imagine better days ahead.

birds are all around our house. it's funny, because we have these two cats, and frankly, they are both killers. sweet, furry, purring killers. but yet the birds. they stick around, taunting them, making their nests and singing their songs. and i swear that anna and i just heard a woodpecker hammering our house.

i've been craving green. not just outside, but on my plate, too. i can not get enough of cucumbers, for instance. i've always made cucumber salad, but right now i'm not even bothering. on lindsey's suggestion to "make them like steve does", i'm just slicing them up, and splashing them with the tiniest bit of olive oil and vinegar (white wine or rice vinegar are favorites) and pepper, and usually end up eating the whole bowl standing up at the counter.
i may try sitting down today, though.

ok. that's all for now. i'm going to do some major cleanup in the girls' rooms today. the eighth graders left at 6:30 this morning for their Washington DC trip, and it looks as if a hurricane went through their closets. seems like the right time for a purging.

hope you get a little green in, today. thanks for reading.
tt

well, hi.
i haven't been very good about keeping up my usual pace here. i'm over at habit for the rest of this month, and i love it there. and i miss being here. but life has sort of gotten busier and...well...heftier lately, and i haven't been able to keep all of the balls in the air. so to speak. ahem.

there have been some bright spots: beautiful weather, and lots of porch-sitting and stoop-sitting. the stoop sitting is new, but with a five-year-old on a bike this spring, i find myself out front more often every day. that's ok with me. makes it easier for the neighbors to stop by.

and we've had lots of good times and good meals with friends. everything from a full blown grown-up party, to the throw-it-together and hang out in the yard sort of night. both so good.

ok. hope you are all well. i'm going to try my darnedest to get back in the swing of it this week, if only to show a few photos i took this weekend. this one is little abigail, growing nicely, i'll say.

life is a wild ride, no?

best wishes, and thanks for reading.
tt

goodnight, all.
no matter what, there is rain and grass and sun, sometimes.
and each of us.
we are still here, too.

xo,
tt

when tim comes home from work at night,
rain or shine,
he walks up the driveway,
which runs up the east side of our house
at a moderate incline,
bringing up whatever bikes or recycling bins or garbage cans
have been left at our curb
while he's been at the gallery.
he usually comes home
about thirty five minutes later
than he says he will.
i've come to expect this,
and factor that in
precisely,
when judging when to have dinner,
or a beer,
or the girls,
waiting for him.
he comes up the driveway
and then,
with his laptop case and sometimes
a hat,
(he likes hats....)
he stands out back
as i've said,
rain or shine,
in the yard
and surveys
what has happened in his garden
while he was away.

tonight
he came in
smiling,
with one of the irises
which he had snipped off
for me.

i had watched him doing it,
but i still smiled
and kissed him,
and said
"for me?"

more tomorrow.
thanks for reading.
tt

ok. so here are some photos from one of my favorite places...i feel lucky to live so close by.
i can go here at least once a week without effort...and sometimes i run up to get eggs, or take a walk, or take my camera. some days, when nothing is quite firing right and i don't have a shred of inspiration left in me...i know where to go.

i also know where to go when i need me a good piece of frittata. (why does that sound vaguely obscene?)

anyway. i need your help.

you all know by now that i cook, and that what we feed our kids is on the top of our list of priorities.

but we're in a bit of a rut. i'm big on fall food, and summer food is easy. winter food is my specialty. but what now?

my girls are gobbling up avocados like candy, and they are always ripe for a taco or salad night. but i could use some input on what else you all are feeding your kids-and yourselves- this spring.

come on. help me out.

thanks for reading.

tt

hi.
today was just about the best day in a long while. and with the long succession of good days we've had, that's saying something.
i love sundays.
i have since college. i think it has something to do with feeling that the pressure is off. you no longer have to plan the good time, the big party etc...
sunday, to me, was always the day to take advantage of the last moments before the week started up again. to use up whatever was left from the weekend. to re-hash with friends what had taken place during those crazy days before.
now, it's just a free day.
the gallery is closed. we usually just have one girl home for the morning, but then two more come back in the afternoon. friends are usually around, and we often end up having some sort of easy get-together in the early evening.
sundays are good around here.
and today, we made the most of sunday.
i feel very happy, lucky, and tired tonight.
best wishes for a good week, friends.
thanks for reading.
tt

we are living outside now, as much as we can.
the light in the evening glows.
the kids are loud (even louder) and can barely sit at the table for the duration of the meal.
they are up, and out in the street, and in the park, faster than we can ask about homework.
we are so glad for the peace that comes once they go,
but we pay for it past nine, close to ten, honestly,
when they are now worrying themselves to sleep,
with a long-ago sharpened pencil still clutched in their hands.
these are the hard, in between days, when we (they) are ready for summer, and spring teases and strings them along. but school days regularly pull us back from letting go.

but still.
these are the days.

more tomorrow.
tt

the fabric of these days::
slow, full mornings. each daily chore, daily ritual, moving me closer to the time of the evening when i will not have a thing left to be done.

outside, if only as far as the porch, each evening. until, and sometimes way past, dusk.

busywork, paperwork, tugging my thoughts away from what i want to be thinking. dispatching things, finally and quickly, so the tugging stops.

birds and cats and flowering plants often moving to center stage outside the kitchen door.

shouts and laughter outside the windows; not always being clearly play or trouble.

pausing now, and now again, to really look at one another. to say hello, just to each other.

cleaning up and snacking and cooking and cleaning up. eating together.

the weather determining so much of where and how the day will go.

trying to walk the line between being in charge, and being myself.

these days are good.
tt

hi. just stopping in here to say hello to you and may and monday.

these are a few film photos i took last weekend around my house.

those lilacs have already come and gone, drying up now on the branches. i really didn't cut too many this year to bring inside, as i've read that over pruning them will mean less blooms the next year. and since we'd already lost several large branches of lilac in the snowstorm, i didn't want to take away very much of what was left.
lucky me, i could smell the scent all the way up the driveway and into my kitchen. and if i looked out the window at just the right angle, i could see them while i stood at the counter and cooked.
so i enjoyed them from afar, mostly.

and,
the peonies are about to burst open any minute now. well, certainly this week.

best wishes to you.
tt