Summer Porch

Since we're pretty much past the nights of freezing temperatures (except for the odd frost warning here and there), Tom decided that today was the day to put all the plants back on the porch for the summer.

You can see why we love it out here. This is where we eat most of our meals and do our socializing in the warmer months. It's like a little mini jungle with all the lush greenery, and the furniture is actually quite comfortable. The wrought iron bench and table is where I like to set up shop on a warm summer day, with the ceiling fan spinning in lazy circles above my head to keep the air moving.

The view of the Jay Range from the big window to the south is almost distracting some days. All you can see is big, green mountains and blue sky!

Some friends gave us this big, antique-looking cabinet where we keep our collection of natural artifacts (sticks, rocks, an old paper wasp nest) and the egg collecting baskets. We also keep the bird seed in a big tin bucket on the bottom shelf.

Late at night during the summer, if Tom and I can stay awake, we move this candle holder to the metal table and light a candle while we listen to the sounds of a summer night. This is, I think, the third one of these that we've purchased since we moved to the Adirondacks back in 1999. The first two fell victim to unabashed doggy joy, first with Rosie, then with Moose. By the time the second one broke, the Mexican store in Saranac Lake where tom bought it had closed, and I don't remember where he found the replacement.

We've watched some crazy storms from that back porch in the last few years. When Colden was just six or seven months old, we watched a storm blow through that got so bad, we decided to take refuge in the basement until it was over. I remember when we came back upstairs, we discovered that the wind had been so strong that it knocked over the wood pile under the pole barn, and the metal pole of our clothes hanger was bent in half.

So, if you're looking for me this summer, chances are you'll find me out here on my back porch, most likely with my beads, my computer, and a big, cold drink.

After talking to a couple of folks this week, we seem to have come to a solution for the raw dairy problem. Tom got a gallon of raw milk from the CSA yesterday, and tonight or tomorrow, we're going to pasteurize it ourselves before we give it to Colden. I know the chances that we might actually get sick from the raw dairy are very slim, but still, it's a risk that I just can't justify.