three days, whew!

That not so long weekend went fast.  What was I thinking, that there actually would (could) be time for knitting on the deck.  I managed not more than 6 rows on Onerva and maybe 20 or so pages of one of the best books I've read in a long time.  More on that.  It was, however, a glorious weekend.  I picked an additional few gallon bowls of string beans, another of blackberries, and a bag of summer squash.  We lunched outdoors, on sandwiches of rosemary and olive bread, filled with melted local cheese, grilled peppers and thick slices of tomatoes and snacked on almost sweet apples that we managed to get before the critters ran out from wherever they're hiding to grab the drops.  Finally, after years of procrastination, the woods roads were cut.  Sunday morning, we put the brush hog onto the tractor, and with me walking ahead (pushing through the underbrush and high ferns) to scout out deep holes, uneven ground and rocks that we wouldn't want to hit with the blades, C drove 'Millie' through the woods.  It looks SO nice.  And it makes it SO easy to walk through the woods.  When I look back at what I'm writing, it sounds rather idyllic, but let me tell you, I am exhausted.  

The book.  Last summer (it IS after Labor Day, so last is appropriate), I bumped into a friend that I hadn't seen in a year, at one of the local fairs.  I asked what she was reading and she said that she had just finished one of the most beautiful books she'd read in a long time.  Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett.  She was right.  I enjoyed every minute of this read.  If I had the luxury of reading it in one sitting, I would have.  I used every available free minute I had reading it.  The book isn't long and an easy read.  I'll look for more by this author.