Jeni turns 4

Her actual birthday was yesterday, but I was there on the weekend. Saturday involved copious quantities of cake, which must be eaten with ice cream, if you're under 10 (why is that??). Jeni likes her cake.

...with the added bonus of getting to "help" Grandma with the baking:

And, what better follows cake than some Chinese food? Too bad nobody was hungry. Mom takes the opportunity to demonstrate how to make noodle fangs.

Purple Lily

Once again, I've gotten a bit intimate with the flora of my front yard.

Pilings

In an inlet in Annapolis.

Gyro-tini

And now, for something truly disgusting - or is it a tasty Greek-inspired cocktail?



Featuring: 1 slice gyro meat, a dash of ketchup, 1 finger any leftover hard alcohol and a lemon chaser, served in a Splenda-rimmed shot glass. Mmmm.

Green muck

Happy July 4! This pic has nothing to to with the holiday, sorry.

This is one of the more odd manifestations of tidal seaweed. Kind of looked like the set from a low budget sci-fi movie, in an otherwise picturesque spot on the Maine coast.

Baby Mango

The mangoes were ripe and runny a few weeks ago, so I planted a bunch of the pits. Three of them sprouted, giving me a summer project: keeping these mini trees alive.

Yeah, I probably need more excitement in my life.

Stamen

I have no idea what this thing is. It was one of the plants that came with the house and blooms for about a day before showering its pink petals.

Bald-off

When nature falls short, it's good to have both a sense of humor...and company (Joshua and his friend, Josh, compare domes)

Lobster Trap + Boats

The harbor of Manchester-by-the-Sea, as seen by a hypothetical dead lobster.

Sarah - again

It's my youngest neice, Sarah, again. She's now up and about, at 16 months.

I'm somewhat fascinated by how oblivious babies and toddlers are to being photographed - that you can practically get up in their nostrils and if they care it has nothing to do with the camera, usually.


And at how rapidly the facial expressions dissolve and change.