Lottie's in love...Lottie's in luuh-uv....

So Lottie has this new girlfriend, and her name is Pehz, pronounced like the candy dispenser. And while I have not lived with two dogs in over 5 years, I have not missed it. It's a lot of work, somehow. But not really. Or something. They play. Constantly. Like, nonstop. This causes me mild anxiety. Not sure why. Perhaps it is because we don't have a big yard for them to romp in like my past double dog lifestyle. Perhaps it is because I had an incredibly long week at work and I am simply tired and would like some quite time, newspaper in hand, with my feet up. Sadly for Lottie, Pehz in only with us for the weekend, as her mom had to travel unexpectedly to North Carolina and will be back on Tuesday. Luckily for me, there is an end in sight with less dog hair in my mouth.

They are definitely having a good time, despite my mild need for peace and quiet. Maybe I will volunteer to go grocery shopping this afternoon..:)

Summer Half Time

Shockingly, summer is half over. I feel mildly despondent over this, as we have not had very much sunny weather and the tomatoes are offering up a mild sigh of fruit. Partly we are super distracted with the upcoming Baby Abbingsole arrival, and partly we are still learning what this incarnation of the Oaktown Farm can produce.

Also, I can't quite find the time to just sit in the garden and enjoy it. I am training for an ultramarathon in September and the training for it takes an entire weekend day. The next weekend day is spend recovering from said training. Couple that with weeknight shenanigans (birth class, pre-natal yoga, dog walking), and evenings in the luminescence of the carnival lights seem to melt away with the Bay Area fog.

These are german catchflies, which are my new favorite. They sway in the breeze with a certain majesty. I put them in two spots and wish I would have planted more. They re-seed easily, so next Spring we should naturally have a whole carpet-full. Annie's Annuals is a Richmond, CA treasure and is where these are from. We took my Mom there for a garden tour over Mother's Day weekend. Annie has an awesome array of native and non-native annuals and some perennials. It's a must see!

This evening we are having an pack of gals over for some Malaysian spareribs, coconut rice and stir-fried green beans from Oaktown Farm. The ribs rested in a brine for 7 hours prior to going into the smoker for 5 hours. I will let everyone know how they turned out. I did not do a test run, so keep fingers crossed. If it is awesome, I will post the recipe here later in the week.

Mexican marigolds are the final sign off today. Nature's natural pest deterrent.