Summer: NH, Fri. 7/9

Another rainy day. Andrew took the car to a body shop this morning, hoping to get the bumper fixed; no luck, since they're booked till September. Looks like the duct tape will be around for the foreseeable future.

The girls and I read lots of Harry Potter (while they colored) and played Chinese checkers and Rummikub. The kids did math review, then embarked on an elaborate game that sounded, from where I sat in the other room, like the AG dolls repeatedly falling down the stairs, accompanied by much doll-screaming and drama. 

The sun came out late in the afternoon. L&G did more doll photo shoots outside while I played with Farrah and Andrew went to pick up lobsters. He then cooked and picked the lobsters (none of us want anything to do with any part of that), and then made lobster rolls for dinner. Delicious. (The kids were not fans.) Lobsters for dinner is a NH tradition.

Andrew and I were woken up in the middle of the night last night by active rustling of a mouse in our closet. Then I fell back to sleep but Andrew heard coyotes howling by the pond. Today there were a few ticks to brush off but no other wildlife encounters. Lots of flies, though, but fortunately I have my bucket hat to keep them away. I've had this hat for about ten years--I bought it at the Walmart up here and it stays in a bag in our closet. It is not a stylish hat. Black canvas, faded now in many spots, with a thin floral border. It sits very low over my eyes. I INTERRUPT THIS BLOG POST BECAUSE I JUST FELT SOMETHING CRAWLING ON MY NECK AND WHEN I CASUALLY BRUSHED MY FINGERS AGAINST MY NECK A GIANT TICK FELL ONTO MY HAND. SCREAMING.

Okay. The tick has been disposed of. But I now feel one thousand ticks on me.

My point, undermined now, is that the hat is not stylish but it protects me from bugs and ticks falling out of trees. The kids do not like this hat. This morning, in the yard, Greta said mildly, with the thinnest shadow of disapproval, "Mommy, I see you're wearing your bucket hat." I was. And I will continue to.

Do you feel a tick on you right now? Me too.

What We're Reading:

Margo: The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

Andrew: Beat to Quarters: A Horatio Hornblower Novel by C. S. Forester

Lucia: A Dash of Dragon

Greta: Fairy Tale Reform School #4