A Princess in her castle

We have a plum tree in our yard, and it's never really done much. But this year we have a bumper crop of fruit, I think, because of the wet spring we had.

The branches of the tree have been virtually brushing the ground with the sheer weight of fruit, and today I decided it was time to relieve them of some of their burden.

Marli and I went outside with a large bowl, and I busied her with her Princess castle (more hideous plastic - but once again - she adores it) whilst I reached for the ripest fruit, leaving the rest for another day (and squirrels and jays).

I made the mistake of placing my bowl on her castle, thinking she couldn't reach it, only to be proved wrong, of course. And she was most upset when I insisted upon removing the pits from her mouth, to prevent her from choking. I set Cookie to watch over the bowl after that, on grass that looks very green, but like the rest of the fairytale castle - is plastic!

I didn't mean to pick so many, as there are only so many things I can do with them today, but there were enough for me to have some fresh, stew some for fruit crisps in the winter, and leave some on a neighbors doorstep!

A long, long time ago

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, it was Marli's Adoption shower. I say that, as I am so far behind in blogging, that it is now almost a legend! Life has been incredibly busy recently, as as you all know, when that happens, blogs go out the window somewhat.

I thought I'd just take a second, however, to post a photo or two of Marli's tea, as it was rather lovely. High tea has to be one of my favorite things. I think it's one of the only 'British-isms' I have left in me (oh, and maybe Marmite)

Good friends were invited and we supped on cardamon, earl gray and herb teas. My friend Sima kindly organized it for me, and the food was fantastic, from curried chicken sandwiches to lots of cakes. The table looked lovely, and all credit goes to Mr Colin (husband) for taking such great shots of the table before we attacked it. The tea set pictured here is from the UK, from the 20's or 30's I think.

I have been working on many things recently, including glass designing and casting, and creating a work studio in our yard (now we are currently not moving) so I will try and post more of all of those things at some point.

Mr Baxter continues to come and go, although I haven't seen him much as I fear he was scared by all the banging and crashing whilst the studio was being built.

Baby is into everything and more, dogs are well, and me, well, I'm just exhausted!!