Quiet Charlie

We have some big news: a new puppy! He is a purebred Border Collie, eight weeks old. His parents are working dogs from a small sheep and cattle ranch in Gunnison, Colorado. R named him Quiet Charlie.



We have waited so long for a dog. Our beautiful Border Collie Gracie died when R was two, and Gracie was almost 15. It has been a long time without a dog in the house. R has always been an animal girl. She has known how to behave around dogs since she was a toddler. But we wanted to wait until she was old enough to help with the training and have it really be her dog. She has been begging for a puppy for years. She really earned this one, and she is very calm and kind as she trains him and plays with him. She is so happy she cries, and asks us "Are you sure Quiet Charlie doesn't mind happy tears?"

Charlie is a gem of a little dog so far. He is getting used to his crate at night and at naptime, and hasn't had a single accident in the house. He is a genuine Border Collie, all the mannerisms and intelligence and affection and eagerness to work and to please. It's already all there, just in a tiny package.

Ginger nectarine ice cream

I had a bowl of ripe nectarines, so I made this ice cream from Epicurious.com. I added fresh ginger to the infusion. It's always half melted by the time I take a photo.

Then we had a beautiful firey sunset just at dusk.

Close-up:

And thick and fast they came at last, and more and more and more

I always think of that line from Lewis Carroll's "The Walrus and the Carpenter" when the garden finally starts cranking out vegetables.

And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more --
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.


Our first Brandywine tomatoes

Elegant Japanese eggplants

Zucchini and lettuces. Big bare spots where the rabbits have eaten new lettuces down to the ground. For the longest time, they didn't bother anything, and then they made up for lost time.

Zucchini

Picking greens for dinner.

The first zucchini harvest! Now there is a thrill that will not linger.

Rainbow chard and onions

I planted sunflowers on either side of the walk going to the shed, thinking they would make a little house for R when they get tall and I tie the tops together. There are morning glories twining up them, but they are closed up for the evening and hard to see. Most of the sunflowers were bent to the ground by a giant gullywasher of a rain we had two weeks ago. I staked them up, and we'll see if they survive and set flowers.

Front yard garden. Peppers and zinnias in the foreground.

Charentais melons, in the back with the pumpkins rambling behind the sheds.

Pumpkins.

Dinner was penne pasta with tomato sauce, organic chicken sausage, zucchini and basil from the garden. There was supposed to be swiss chard but I forgot about it sitting in the salad spinner.

Salad with our lettuces and nasturtium.


And best of all, dinner al fresco tonight!