A boy and his sailboat

We took our inflatable mini-catamaran to the cabin yesterday. It's perfect for a boy of 10 on a lake the size of Sweet Lake. My husband spent the morning showing our son how to stay on course with the rudder and adjust the boom to catch the wind. Sam spent the afternoon sailing the lake.

A successful experiment

I harvested some beets yesterday. They were one of my gardening experiments. Last year's was potatoes and onions. This year's was beets.

I have never bought a beet in my life -- let alone grown them. But I bought two different varieties, golden and candystripe, at a fundraiser for my son's school. I transplanted them into two big pots, and watered them during dry spells.

I grilled these in the oven with olive oil and pepper. Then tossed them with some scallions and lemon juice, put them on some lettuce and topped them with crumbled feta. They were delicious!

The missed shot

I was checking on our blueberries when I noticed this young robin sitting in one of the bushes. He didn't seem to mind as I quietly observed him. In fact, he had barely moved in the time I walked back to the house, grabbed my camera and returned.

Several minutes later, however, he sent off a squawk when my husband reached for a few blueberries on his way out to the garden shed. "Help, I'm being attacked," I heard, rushing out the back door to see two adult robins squawking and flying wildly around my husband. One actually hit him on the head. The young robin, meanwhile, made a low escape through our backyard gate.

Too bad I didn't still have my camera in hand.