It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

...hey, at this time of year, our standards are a lot lower. Meaning that although it was a mostly grey day, it was also a mostly dry day. And flowers are blooming!

Yep, the annual grand floral parade has started. We will have something – or things – blooming from now until first frost next fall. (Don't hate me because I'm . . . name that commercial, ha . . . blessed.)

The ewes felt blessed, because they got a taste of grass today. When first turned out, they stopped and stared, immediately noticing the changes at our property line.

Then the youngest girls, Blaise and Bree, developed rocket launchers while the older girls stuffed their faces. Vienna, below left, looks like she's working on triplets again; OY!

Some neighbors had asked me a couple months ago if they could bring their granddaughter up for a "pony ride" when she visited this winter. Today was the first day that weather and schedules permitted – a good thing since she and her mother fly home to France this weekend!

What a charming and articulate little lady this five-year-old is! I had a dream last night about her giving me a handwritten note in beautiful penmanship, and after meeting her I wouldn't be surprised if she could. She's fluent in English and French, and knows some Algerian and Spanish, too. Color me jealous; I wanted to learn other languages when I was a small child but didn't get the opportunity.

 Oh, and I'm going to have flowers indoors, too! The orchid that Rick gave me for our anniversary in June sprouted a new shoot on the old stalk,

and also grew a new stalk that's budding! I'm excited, because I've never had any success with orchids before this. As fast as the buds are developing, I expect to see blooms before the weekend is over.

That's it for today from . . .