It’s been a little bit wet here. All my plans to be outside in the garden these last three days came to naught as it has poured almost continuously. I went out long enough to see that the weeds are doing well.

Our new bees arrived but can’t go into their hive until it stops raining. When they go in their new hive, the top of the hive has to come off for a couple of hours while they buzz around, getting settled in. Bees hate rain so we are hoping to wait until it stops before moving them. So far, no break in the precipitation to finesse this transfer.

Here is a new Flower Essence made on a trip to Bennington, Vermont where Lizzy goes to school. Does it surprise you that the Flower is called Dutchman’s Breeches? I will sit down with the Flower soon to ask for data but in the meantime, this new Flower Essence has been the butt of some jokes, pun intended.

I went down to Bennington to see Lizzy dance last weekend and then I was there again this weekend to help with a sprained ankle. During a dance improve class on Friday, Lizzy and another dancer had a run in with Lizzy’s ankle.

This weekend we watched it rain, plied Lizzy with Flower Essences, and suggested she stop trying to dance for just a few moments ( it’s amazing how much moving around one determine dancer can do while keeping her leg elevated on a pillow). There also has also been MUCH debate about ankle problems and whether it is fair to say that the family’s ankle problems come from Jim’s family of origin, not mine.
Jim has sprained his tiny, delicate ankles 7 zillion times. Ben comes in a close second with 6 zillion sprains including an especially dramatic sprain last year in Prague that left his entire foot black and blue for weeks. I have sprained my robust and sturdy ankles but once when I was twelve and barreling down a mountain with no skiing skills to speak of.

Jim claims these facts offer no proof of anything. Gardening, he points out, is not like pick up basketball. Jim comments that had I continued on with my budding ski career then we would have a chance at valid statistical analysis. Point taken, but I still think that while the children got their athletic talents from Jim’s side of the family, they also got their weak ankles from him too. Basically, my gene pool was worn out before we started having children. All of them looked like Jim clones from birth. As one gentleman in the village put it, “You can tell the Sheehans are a poor family, they could only afford one face.”

Back to Lizzy, here she is just a few moments ago on her way back to Bennington with several bottles of Essences and some crutches that she is really looking forward to dancing with.