My mom completed her first plumbing job 64 years ago, at age five. She fixed a sink.

My grandfather was so impressed, he wrote her a song. Something about

“When I plumber earns five dollars an hour / I guess that ain’t so bad.”

Which it wasn’t: minimum wage was 40¢ an hour and the average annual salary was $3,600 per year.

In a full-on attempt to out-do her, Iris tackled her first plumbing job at a year and a half.

Despite the fact (or perhaps because of the fact) that there were numerous people involved,

the sink is still not fixed. 

Nobody wrote a plumbing song for Iris.

I got ANOTHER new camera: Fuji x100s. This is my first post.

I think the colors are even more delicious-er.

Grades 5 through 8 had a cross-country race in the field. There were many schools.

On the sidelines, Joshua and Iris came up with their own game.

It was called “Put the Cup on Joshua’s Face,” and it was hilarious!

Iris’ best friend.

I decided to stop by Kathy’s house. She was just getting home when I biked up.

Scott had been working on her truck, so she’d borrowed his car. But oops, she scratched it!

She felt horrible, giving him something else to fix when he was doing so much work.

But he forgave her. See? All those electric wires criss-crossing everywhere and—

Zoom! Zoom! Electric wires so hot they shoot out of Scott & Kathy’s heads with a kiss!

 (Wait. Or is that a dormant tree?)

Kathy thinks its funny that I like photos of people sitting on front steps.

Kathy & Sabien chat over popcorn.

Between the Inn and the Carriage House at Shelburne Farms.

Joshua and Iris pose on hay bales

Iris takes pleasure in Joshua’s good nature.

For dinner we had

ox heart stroganoff

with barley

and peas.

And raw milk. Iris loves raw milk from an assortment of mammas.

I mean, mammals.

She ate a good amount,

mostly before sitting at the table.

Papa feeds her. We both adore him.

Bizou a Papa!

Mama! Mama!

Two toddlers, both short on sleep, get together on a rainy day to study color theory.

 Iris discovers the many shades of brown.

This is your typical shot of a professional painter hard at work on one of his canvases.

Joshua got a new bed.

He and Iris jumped on it until they were breathless.

Heather was leaving them uninterrupted to act like crazy kids.

I came in late with the camera.