Time fills up.

The charcoal is warming up, and the rabbit sausage/sirloin burgers are prepped, Alexe is doing payroll, and the kids are winding down with a cartoon.  A moment to catch up on the past week.

Last Sunday the kids and I took a trip to a neighboring town to get a gallon of paint to match the house and finish up the courtyard project, and we took a slight detour to play at the John Deere dealership.

We tried out all the different sizes.  I now know which ones I fit, which ones I want, and which ones I can afford.  They're not all the same.

Caspian and I are pal-ing around quite a bit these days.  We've thought about putting him into a program to match Annaliese's, effectively giving me until noon each day to get things done, but each time I think of parking him somewhere, I look at his little cherubic face and take him with me instead.

On a rainy Monday we went looking for adventure at the river.

We found mud.  We explored for a while in the truck, and then wrapped it up before we got ourselves stuck.

Tuesday was Alexe and my 7th anniversary, and though the morning was disrupted by Caspian's crashing of the car, we had a wonderful evening out, with the kids staying with friends of ours, and a long drive over to Greenwood, where we ate at the Delta Bistro.  Excellent food, and though I imagine everyone is treated well, our friend had called his good friend the chef before we arrived, and we were treated like royalty.

On the table, crab bisque (to rival anything in Annapolis,) fried green tomatoes, and crawfish pizza.  Not on the table anymore, some amazing grilled baby beets, and bread with truffle oil.  Everything up to this point is considered an appetizer.  

My girl.

Me, looking a bit thin in the neck.

Alexe had something with duck prosciutto, I had the elk brisket.  Both were delicious.

Desert, a surprise to go with the coffee we ordered, s'mores with hand made chocolate truffles.

Wrapping up the courtyard on Wednesday, I went so far as to put up bead board. I had to steal some paper from Caspian's giant coloring book to get the stencil right.

Just a wee bit of caulking to finish it off.

And voila, 3 years later, plus a few hours, the courtyard is as it should be.  Well, 30 minutes later after we had cleaned up and swept.

On Thursday morning Caspian and I took the 2 hour drive south to Columbus, where we had found a cute little cast iron tub to put in one of the upstairs bathroom above the BTC.  We're at full occupancy, and this was something that Miss Polly, who is extending her lease to include the neighboring office, will appreciate.

After 2 breakfasts, we were on the road, and Caspian talked about nothing but finding more food.  The suckers bought me about 10 minutes of quiet on that topic.

After picking up the tub at a very cool brick victorian under renovation, we hit a restaurant on the main street in downtown Columbus.  It was barely 11, but there was no putting this boy off.

Our plates were set down, and before I could get a picture, Caspian had dug in.

I have to include a picture of this wheelchair.  The man who rides it around town owns the three buildings left on Main Street that haven;t been addressed.  One has had the roof collapse, fall through the second floor, and blow out the storefront.  He won't sell them.  

That's all beside the point.  The man has a trailer behind his wheelchair!

Soccer continues, as does Caspian's appetite.  

This is Caspian minutes after a snack, holding a lie-in protest for another one.

Friday night I got to play patron of the arts, hosting a concert in my office.  The Kings Road group, hailing from Glasgow and scotland/london/australia/DC/Houston respectively, were passing through town, and our friend KD organized this gathering.

KD sitting in the green shirt, the wife of the guitar/cello/vocal talent from around the world is sitting in Mr. Parker's chair.

They sounded great, the turn out was good, and I was tickled at all the life, music, and energy vibrating through my fort.  

After the concert these fine gentleman helped me lug the cast iron tub up the stairs and into the bathroom. Another good story; I'm not sure many tubs in this town have been hoisted around by a man in a kilt.