Wednesday, May 20






in honor of another cool clear sunny day, we went for a walk yesterday. well, zoë went for a run, and we walked swiftly behind her yelling "zoë, come back! stay on the path! don't touch that, it's yucky!" and things like that. it was fun.

Monday, May 18

i'm about to pop round to the grocery store, but i thought you might want to see the results of the first sunny day in 2 weeks... or at least that's how it feels. it's been raining off and on for days, and i think we were all getting stir crazy. zoë relishes playing outside, and believe me, there have been not a few tears shed in the attempts to get outside. so today, at long last, she was able to run around in the sun. it was cool, breezy and perfect. i wish the weather was like this year round. it hardly feels like mid may, and it scares me a little. if the weather is this lovely, then what sort of awful summer are we headed for? hopefully not. dear Lord, hopefully not.































Friday, May 8

a little behind












nothing better than strawberries right off the vine. or plant.

looking pretty pleased with herself.

pointing at the goats (small petting zoo at the farm) but refusing to go near them.
pumping water at the strawberry farm
trying to watch the water come out

it's been a busy week for us. i kept forgetting to post more pictures, and i know some of you are waiting with baited breath. :)

we went strawberry picking on monday, and i made my first batch of strawberry preserves. the problem is, they really turned out like strawberry ice cream topping. i didn't cook the strawberry mixture in a large enough pot (first time doing this, don't forget) and when i added the liquid pectin, it boiled up so high, and i burned my hand, and at that point, i couldn't do it anymore. so my guess is that i didn't boil it long enough. since that's what forms the gel so needed in this sort of thing.

but it's okay. i'll probably use it in muffins, and on ice cream, and oh yeah. in oatmeal. since it's so sweet, you just gotta mix it with plain oatmeal, and voila! strawberry oatmeal!

zoë discovered we have small wild strawberries in the backyard, and walked around all day on monday saying "pick strawberries?" we had to tell her not to eat the ones in the backyard, much to her disappointment. i'm transplanting my tomatoes soon, and the garden will get going, hopefully this week or so. and hopefully she won't eat those too.

we're still waiting to see what happens on the school front this summer. we were counting on my attending classes in may to ensure we had financial aid money to pay rent. now, with the delays we're facing because of lack of communication from college, i might not get to enroll until june. which is still fine, it just means more faith, and more tightly scheduled classes. i guess this is what we signed up for when we moved here, faith and planning.

we've got friends coming over this weekend, which has actually happened pretty much every weekend since we moved in. and i love it. to finally have our own place again, to truly feel like we belong. and i really do. there's so much i love about being here, not the least of which, is seeing zoë blossom into this sweet little independent girl, who wants to play in her room, and have us hide in her playhouse with her, and yet still wants her own space. she's growing up so quickly, and it's kinda bittersweet when we think what life will be like when i graduate in 2 years. or what zoë will be like in 4 years when spencer's done. to hope that we did a good job with her while trying to desperately make a change in our lives.

we're already making thanksgiving plans, hoping to get down to florida to see family. i think zoë will have a cow at the beach. she'll either love it or hate it, and i'm hoping for love.

all that said, we love our little house, in our little neighborhood, in our small southern town.