A slow and easy day, followed by a cooking disaster and a porch party

Cool weather, really cool today. Jacob and I sort of wiled away the morning--we sat on the porch and looked for rolypolys--at one point he was intently watching one crawl up his arm, and I went for my camera. When I came back the rolypoly fell off and he stomped on it. When I protested, he said, "It was a bad rolypoly." I tried to explain about insects being our friends but it fell on deaf ears--he stepped on two more. We had an early lunch and "body rest"--his name for resting but not napping. I was napping, and I told him to come get me only if it was something important. The first time it was: the cat somehow made it up to the kitchen counter (and he makes me believe he's too old to jump!). The second time, Jacob said urgently, "Come on, Juju, come on." Led me into the kitchen and asked, "Doesn't dinner smell good?" I was cooking a pot of beans on the stove and a brisket in the oven.

The brisket was my disaster--my roasting pan was too shallow, and yesterday everytime I moved the darn thing anywhere, I dripped marinade. Tonight when I took it out of the oven, cooked to a faretheewell, it dripped greast and made a slippery mess of the kitchen floor. Fortunately I had the foresight to roll the kilim rug back out of the way. I mopped, I dried, I took the jell-foam thing out to the porch and hosed it down. I dry mopped the kitchen floor. Jacob, whose body rest apparently hadn't been enough, slept through the whole thing. And when his mother arrived she said, "We have to clean this up." I seriously considered throwing the mop at her, but good sense overcame me.

Sixteen people to welcome the new neighbors, who are really nice young people. We all vary in age, so it was a neat mixture. I fixed brisket and beans; others brought rolls, cole slaw, potato salad, salsa, queso, and dessert--chocolate chip cookies with Reese peanut butter cups baked into them--a huge hit. Dealing with the brisket was a huge problem, but Greg managed it, got it out of the juice, let it sit, and carved it masterfully after protesting he was no good at that.

Cleanup tonight took me longer than usual even if Jordan and Sue started on it while I lounged on the porch visiting and Susan stayed to help. This morning, when Jacob and I sat out it was chilly enough I thought it might be too cool for a porch supper, but it was just perfect. Fun listening to all the chatter.  I didn't get the pictures isn the right place and am not sure how to fix them but the first is Jacob in a contemplative mood, studying a rolypoly and the second is him searching for a new one.