The Laurel School

Last week Casey, Orin, and I visited the Laurel School,
a school for preschoolers through 5th graders
located on 2 acres of beautiful land complete
with 5 playgrounds, a pool, and 2 greenhouses.
Their curriculum and mission seemed to match
what we were looking for
(lots of arts, language studies, and a whole
horticulture/nature program)
so we signed him up for two days a week.
This picture was taken at the school picnic
(sorry I didn't get a better one)
I will keep you updated about how the first day goes.

For Andy

Hurricane Hike

Hurricane Irene was supposed to hit the Cape hard,

with forecasts of inches of rain, high winds,
power-outages and flooding, but by mid-day it became clear
that we were missing the brunt of it
so Casey, Orin, and I headed to the cranberry bog
to get the most out of whatever was left.

The Hardest Goodbye

This morning, as the winds of Hurricane Irene began to pick up,

my beautiful baby girl passed on into
whatever comes after this life.

I am convinced that Purple was the most loving, loyal,
and amazing dog to ever live and I feel so grateful to have
gotten to share so many wonderful years with her.
Memories of Purple will live in our hearts forever
and I am sure that her spirit will remain with us always.
I know she would have it no other way.

I miss you already my love, my baby girl.
Thank you so much for all of the joy you brought to my life
and know that I will never forget you.

Story time

Grape Vine!

We finished making the grape arbor today
and planted a grape at each of the four corners.
We are hoping that all the plants will take well
to their new home and that in a couple years
we will have a full-blown grape vine.
Here is a picture of us in middle of the project.
Orin finds that he works best in his underwear.

Bye tree!

Tomorrow we are going to begin work on the grape arbor

which means that today was a good time
to remove the dead tree from the arbor's planned location.
It was a one-man job.

Pond (again!)

If you think we spend a lot of time at the pond,
you would be right.
I think we have gone almost every day for the last two weeks.

But it is summer, frequent pond visit required.
So here is another picture of the wet child,
this time post swim.

Grandma and Grumpa to visit

My mom just finished the 6 week long Northern Tier bicycle ride
she has been on ever since we moved to the Cape,
so she came down to visit with Grandpa Dean.
We had a great time visiting with them
and hearing about the incredible ride that she just finished
(I can't even imagine riding my bike 1/100th of that distance!)
Next month we are all going to do the
Hub on Wheels (Boston's charity ride).
I am already trying to figure out how I will
get in shape in time!

Masked Dad

Today Casey and his coworker began work on our house.
He works for a company that does energy efficiency consulting
and installs their recommended products.
Our house was painfully under-insulated when we moved in
so today they worked on insulating and sealing the attic.
Here is dad on his way back up, ready for battle.

Flower power

Seal in another life?

Happy on th Cape

For the last year, this plant has been struggling to survive.
It kept putting out leaves only to have them die
and has looked so pathetic at times,
I wondered why we were keeping it.
But Casey never gives up on plants and it is a good thing
he didn't give up on this one because as soon as we got to Mass,
it put out a new set of leaves (which didn't fall off)
and then promptly went into full bloom.
It must just like life on the beach.

Camp Out with Daddy!

Tonight the boys had a camp out on the deck
complete with a camp fire and smores.
(You can just barely see the tent in the background)
While I joined them for smores,
I retired early to study for my final exam in school.
(Almost done!!)
From the morning report,
it sounded like the camp out was a success.

Time for relaxing...

Plants (day 2)

After putting everything from yesterday in the ground
(minus the grapes which are still awaiting their arbor)
Casey and I decided that we needed to fill in a couple gaps,
so we headed back to the nursery which had one day left on the sale.
Once again, we loaded my car
but this time I decided to photograph the plants after they were out.
Some day I might submit this picture to Subaru
with a caption like "all this with 2 adults and a child"
And yes, that is a tree in the background.
Why we didn't take the van, I do not know.
Maybe it is the thrill of a challenge.

Plants

Casey and I are working on creating a native/ functional yard.
In order to do this we planted a whole row of blueberries
with strawberries running around them, sectioned off room for
an orchard and a grapevine,
planted every possible perennial herb you can imagine,
and sectioned off an area where next year we will build raised beds
for an annual produce garden.
Interspersed among all of the food-producing plants
we are planting Cape Cod native plants
that are known to provide habitat and food for wildlife.
Our goal is to create a little oasis of flowers, fruits and veggies,
pollinators, and wildlife.
Of course to do this we needed a lot of plants.
So when we found out that one of the local nurseries was having
a 50% off sale, we paid them a visit...
a serious visit.
I don't think my car could have held one more plant.

Kitchen

Casey and I finally finished painting our kitchen the other day.
It was the only room in the house that we had
put off decorating so it felt really good to finish it.
Here is the final result.

Zooquarium

Today we went to the Zooquarium.

Cape Cod is too small to have both, so they have condensed their
zoo and aquarium into one.
The trip was really fun and the boys loved running around.
This was one of my favorite moments,
Orin feeding the deer.

Hiker Man

Orin has been wearing his binoculars

around the house for the last couple of days,
periodically stopping to say
"shisshhh... it is a red-eyed heron"
(or some other bird that doesn't exist),
or "mommy, I am a hiker man!"

Feeding the girls

Playing Favorites

This pond is quickly becoming one of my favorite spots on the Cape.
Just a short walk through the woods ensures that it is always deserted
so the dogs can tag along without fear of bothering anybody
and the water is crystal clear and shallow enough for Orin.

Sweet pepperbush

I am letting my hikes inspire my thoughts about what to plant.
This pepperbush plant smells like heaven when it is in bloom,
so it has definitely earned a place in the front garden.

The plan

The other day I was out in my front yard scribbling up my plan

for a functional/ native garden.
My neighbor caught me in the middle of deep thought
and yelled
"uh, oh... someone is plotting something!"
Ah, just wait untill it all goes from the paper into the ground.
More pics to come.

Detour by a pond

Black Wing Dragonflies

The man and me

Play days

Animal Crackers

Swimming at Horse Pond

Mimosa Tree Puff