Strange how hard it rains now

Rows and rows of big dark clouds

When I'm holding on underneath this shroud

Rain

--"Rain" Patty Griffin

What do you do when your yard looks like this AND the television is on the fritz? Boogie to some bluegrass, of course! The short people's love of the genre is growing...not sure if I'm as pleased as their father. I like bluegrass as well as the next girl (okay, maybe a little more than the next girl, since it's really not all that popular) but I don't want to hear it EVERY TIME I turn on the stereo or get in the car. Kate requests "a wittle music fo' my feet" to inform me she craves that high lonesome sound. They particularly favor The Mammals "Fall On My Knees" (see http://www.themammals.net/) because there is a "whoo!" they love to sing along with. India emphatically informed me today that "every song should have a "whoo! in it".

And what do you do while you listen to bluegrass? You play the Angelina Ballerina memory game, of course! Thank you, Clare. The girls had a great time and India and I conspired to give Kate a few matches so she wouldn't be too discouraged. Notice Kate's blanket "bebe" in the background; she managed to literally sweep the board a few times as she manhandled her ratty lovey. Allen and Sarah, if you are reading, it's the one you knitted for her and it's still her fave.

I spent a few rounds of the memory game cramming various fruits and vegetables into chicken orifices and boiling chicken unmentionables to make a broth. Not one of the most pleasurable moments in cooking for me, but Tracy's parent's home-grown potatoes should make a delicious addition to our roast chicken tonight. Thanks for the bag, guys!