Ms Mausi

Liz and Nick had their pre-wedding pig-roast cookout this afternoon. It was a great day even with all the rain, and kids and dogs frolicked everywhere with wet abandon. There was pig. So much pig. There were cupcakes. So many cupcakes. Vanilla. Chocolate. Kettle corn ones. French toast ones with bacon on the top. Strawberry rhubarb. So. many...

I didn't try them all, but I wanted to. And then there were the French macaroons. We had so many Liz gave a few to the Segway tour that buzzed the party. Cherry chili. Salt Caramel. Basil Mint. Chocolate, vanilla with chocolate, and just more delicious yum than I can even think about anymore...

*happy sigh*

Now I'm going to take a hot bath and a giant nap. And do more of this festive wedding eating tomorrow...

It took 6 buckets of scavenged marble, and lots of digging, and some dancing around in the mud, but the patio is done! I'd show you a picture, but I'm letting all the mud I put down dry for a while first. (It doesn't look bad, exactly, just...muddy. Really really muddy. When it's dry I'll take a broom to it so people can see the stones.)

I'm a lot less sore than I thought I'd be, too. Again, this is a source for joy...

Work is all workity lately...so even more than usual I've been treasuring the patio...

My days off have been filled with the back yard patio (pronounced,"paysheo")and it's transformation into something really nice. I'm takng a really deep breath and *gasp* putting down stones under the table and chairs. Right now it's just a dirt circle, with kind of scraggly grass. But I have plans. Horrible, horrible plans...

See, there's this old secret dumping ground for an ancient stone-carving business, and when they didn't like what they were carving, they just chucked it over an embankment into the river. I've been scavening promising-looking pieces for the back yard. The stones are grade-A stuff--alabaster, red granite, black slate, some kind of deep black-green stuff. It's easy to get greedy in the scavenging...I filled a bucket full of nice pieces of rock and could barely carry it home. (Memo to myself: Greed is heavy. There's a lesson there, somewhere...)

So, this weekend I'm going to level the ground a bit, spread out some sand, lay out the rocks and add some pretty stones I already have....et voila--a proper little patio. I'm insane, really I am, but I'm looking forward to all this:)

I got a chance to hang out a bit on the Patio with Ben, Peaty and Phil for a while this evening. It always feels just right, being out there and watching the clouds soar overhead and listening to all the birds. Annablume came over for a bit as well, to interview me in my capacity as Rogue Docent for a class she was taking. She even brought over beer, darling woman that she is... We both enjoyed ourselves immensely.

I think this summer I'm going to find some little solar lanterns to stick in the trees and the lilac bushes, so we can have some kind of beautiful glowy lights out there without the fire hazard to the trees. I love the Patio so much...

I had a very low-key day at the Jade Mines, did some quicky shopping on the way home, and after unpacking the tasty, tasty foods I went outside to meet the new baby goats Peaty brought home. I found my neighbor Rocky in the chicken coop, snuggling the little frail one with the bad front legs to his chest, while the slightly older one was happily chewing things and climbing onto big branches and maaaa-ing. (Their names are Mame, for the little one and Vera for the larger one.) Mame was sat on by her mother, so she's getting a little rehab from Peaty and the other goat foster-moms. I think I may end up on that list myself... So. Unbearably. Cute... The larger goat was really eager about eating all the dandelions I could bring her, and seemed kind of hypnotized when I petted her soft little flanks...

And of course there's pictures...