California So Far...

We are one week into our California trip and I have just had four rolls of film developed!  This trip is totally digital-camera-free.  It is somehow freeing to know film is all I've got, I do my best, I catch the moments I can, and I let the rest of the moments live on simply in memory. 

My cousin's wedding (the excuse for the trip), was the first wedding I've attended in a long time where I wasn't working, so I took what I considered a bit of a risk and brought only the Pentax K1000.  What fun I had!  And the anticipation of getting film developed only increased my delight when I discovered I had done a pretty great job even without the reassurance of an instant-view LCD screen.  So fun.

We're having a good time, although Seamus is having some trouble adjusting to the time difference (especially since we keep waking him up and hauling him off to do fun stuff!).  And in our remaining week, we have plenty more fun stuff, so perhaps by the time he gets adjusted to the time change it'll be time to go home again.  Poor kid. 

So far on this trip we've gotten to see Aunt Carol and Uncle Phil (Seamus and Aunt Carol share a birthday among other things like their appreciation for dark chocolate), we've attended a wedding, visited Plain Ol' Grammy, seen tons of family, made the wedding programs, went to Bravo Farms, Simonian Farms, played in the water in Grammy and Grandpa's backyard, finished shingling the roof of the shop, listened to a thunderstorm and rain on the patio's tin roof, played with innumerable dogs (each of whom Luke claims to love the best in the world), and eaten lots of great food.  I'm not sure what could be better than eating great food with people you love...except maybe having ALL the people you love in one place at one time.  

We miss you Derek!

 

Autumn Colors

Last week I cleaned up the garden - and just in time!  The frost hit really hard the next evening, and everything would have been toast.  I brought in seven bell peppers, a bowl of tomatoes (a bag of green ones are still reddening up in the pantry), a crisper full of carrots, a dozen pumpkins, and seven cucumbers.  The last harvest.  In some ways, it really saddens me to say, "The last harvest", because I will miss watching my garden grow, and I will miss eating fresh garden produce.  But alternately I feel a little relieved to have it all cleaned up and gladdened that we got through a successful season, and now get the rest Winter necessitates.  Oh how hard work pays off: in fruitful harvests, and glad rest.

Osh Kosh b'Gosh

I have a weakness for kids in overalls.

Especially when they're all sleepy and rumpled.

Bubba bubba bubbles

There is much bubble blowing around here ever since I dug out the fun blowers (which I bought at the end of season last year and put so deep in storage that I didn't find them until the end of this season).  But the real skill comes in another kind of bubble blowing...chewing gum.  Adeline has endeavored to teach Luke the trick of it, and with much picking up of wads of gum blown out on the ground and re-chewing ground gum (because we can't waste bubble-licious), Luke has now officially mastered the art of bubble blowing!

Seamus was enamoured by the bubbles coming out of everyone's mouths and couldn't figure why he couldn't just stick his tongue out and make one too.  Well, kid, first you gotta learn to chew gum without swallowing it!

Bubbles.  Learning nonsense skills.  Playing in the sun.  That's what friends are for...