Flats, Failures & Taters

It's been kind of a weird weekend here in the House of Peter. Ups and downs and run-arounds. Adding to my woes was the fact my laptop sort of went blotto on Friday (missing kernel error or something after a failed system update -blah blah blah)

Saturday:
Gray and rain. Up late. No biggie. Big breakfast set everything right. I had my mind set on a goal. I made my way to the pool and did my 70 laps (it's pretty bad when you brag about accomplishing half of what other people do) and went home. Except I think I probably over-extended myself. Ended up having a monster headache - like the headache that ate Tokyo. The rest of the day was a drawn out tragedy of late street cars, jostling at an over-crowded Apple store and absolutely no luck in getting my laptop fixed. I dragged myself home and slipped into some fine Angela-wrought soup. Press reset hoping Sunday would be better.

Sunday:
Determined to improve the weekend I set about backing up all the data on the laptop and re-installing the operating system. Many restarts and reboots later all seemed well and to salvage what was becoming a beautiful day, I got my bike gear on and took to the road.

One pothole and flat tire later, I'm walking for 40 minutes back home, only to find the laptop still not so frisky. Another hour or so lost in the confines of watching a software installer install itself and voila. Back to the land of the living. Of course, it was wiped clean of any remnants of its former self but I was glad to have it back nonetheless.

Of all of the salvageable acts this weekend, none was more satisfying than digging a fork into the dirt and dredging up the familiar and friendly potatoes we've so hopelessly ignored this season. Yet there they were, awaiting us under their cover of clay. The dark Papa Negra was hard to distinguish from a stone. The blush skinned potatoes shone out like magic fruit illuminated from within or like some weird plastic apples. They roasted well, and calmly punctuated this most trying two days.

Thank you, Potato. Your comforting starchiness is my salve.

Virgo Rising

Virgo Rising

August and September are so full of birthdays in this family it's hard to keep track and easier to give one big shout-out (August: Gina, Angela, Mom, Aunt Stephanie and Therese; September: Lucia, Brian and Louisa).

Here's some video from the combined Gina + Angela birthday done a week after Gina's and a week before Angela's (the video is about 90 secs long but 22 MB so it may take a moment to load).

Click here to see the video

Enjoy. If you can't view the video for some technical reason then try viewing it here.

Bugs 'n' Stuff



Sometimes it's surprising just how quiet our backyard can be and how loud that quietness can be. I just stepped outside and I was struck by the sound of the crickets chirping and cicadas buzzing. Beneath the insect flitter was the flutter of bamboo leaves and the breeze through the grasses. Even after walking back inside I could still hear the hum and shuffle of the sounds outside. It was a shame to close the door but the bugs have been real bad this year.

The Littlest Birds

The Littlest Birds

Little Birds from rowdyman on Vimeo.

A lazy pre-Canada Day afternoon spent with 3 generations of Iarocci ladies.

Summer Garden

Summer Garden

Summer Garden from rowdyman on Vimeo.

Our little backyard has finally come back to life. The Virginia Creeper is creeping and the grasses are growing (both the Karl Forestor and the Bamboo) and the potatoes look fairly healthy too.