In which I hit a big decade mark, and I count so many blessings

Apparently "60" also means "getting distracted by my life and wandering away from the blog before publishing a post."

This post has been unfinished in my queue since April.  I guess I originally planned it to be mostly photos of things that make me happy, and I still like that idea. 

So, here's the post, and now I'll scamper down to the bottom of it and add more blessings that have happened in the last few months.  See you soon.

 This is what 60 looks like:

Fox and Pooh Bear insisted that we would all fit nicely on the chair

The Dragon celebrates my birthday every year by throwing confetti hair.

I am rarely far away from a helpful puppet at work

We don't go FAR and we don't go very FAST anymore.  But the Dragon and I are out
on the trails together almost every week.

The gardens.

This is the surprise my colleagues built on my desk for my birthday.  

Birthday cupcakes made by a colleague.  I am so lucky to work with wonderful people.

Have I mentioned my horse recently?

This is a painting, not a photo, of my mare Story rolling in the snow.  My auntie Judy
made it for me and it's one of my favorite things.

My mom commissioned a friend to build this stained glass stack of books for my birthday.
We saw a cheap plastic version advertised online, and she said "I bet Larry could do this better"
and she was right.

Birthday pizzas.  I love having friends and family visit.

Now for the update:

Today is September 2, and it's raining, which is a blessing in these days of climate change.  I had other things planned for the day, but for now I have a comfy chair and a cup of tea and I can doodle around on the blog for a little while. 

Jim got me this perfect mug as a birthday gift, and he fills it with tea each morning.  

The Dragon and I went to the ocean in June! 

Our young mare friend Teddy was very dubious about coming close to the Large Predator,
but the Dragon knows the rule: "stand still so we can get a photo."

Telling stories on the Adventuress!  Friend Catherine and I were trotting down the trail
and singing sea chanties together one day, and decided that I should tell stories
on the schooner she manages. This year, we made it happen--on company time!

Brunch with friends is always a big thumbs-up from me

The farm, the garden, the horse, her minions.  It all brings me happiness.

Jim has always been a joy to me, but lately he has added "gardening" to the list
of things he's especially good at.  He's turned this garden bed from a weird dumping ground
for misfit toys into something that looks like it's owned by grownups.

Jim and I were garden gnomes at the summer renaissance faire, and traded wooden acorns
and packets of flower seeds to other magickal beings at the event.

The sunflowers have done well this year!  This was planted by a bird, and is a single plant
with many flowers.  I'll collect seed from it for sure.

Tomato Curse, version 2024.   I've learned a few things in 15 years (!) on the farm, but tomatoes
are still a challenge.  This year I upped my game by building a Very Strong Trellis, 
spacing plants further apart, and pruning off extra branches starting in July.

The result:  I am actually harvesting some edible tomatoes!  The weather hasn't been ideal (that's part of the Tomato Curse), but I'm now picking tomatoes as soon as they have a slight blush so
I can ripen them indoors with the help of a banana.

We have really raised our harvest game in recent years.  So far this season we have preserved 
rhubarb marmalade, berry-ginger jam (I grew the ginger AND the raspberries), blackberry jam,
plums, and tomato sauce.  We put eleventy-thousand quart bags of berries (mostly blueberries, some raspberries) in the freezer.  There are even some potatoes.  The apples haven't started yet!

Garden glory, and collie-flowers.  

The rain is slowing, I think it's time to go ride my horse.