It's summer...but it's different

Ginny is the only one living at home, now. I am glad that I cut back just a little on the garden this year. Not too much, because I still intend to can, and part of my crop can be used in trade.

The gnomes in the garden are becoming ridiculously cheeky, since I don't have as much regular help with de-gnoming. Why, one of the little blighters had the effrontery to...to MOON me on my way to the henhouse this morning! Ginny is excellent with the bees, of course, but Fred and George were the best at clearing out the garden quickly, of both weeds and gnomes.

The whole Burrow has a different feel this summer. The ghoul is almost puzzled not to have an audience. Ron always used to bang on the wall if he grew too loud. The dining table seems so quiet with just Ginny and me, compared to the racket of years past. Of course, it's pleasant to have a comfortable cose with my daughter without being interrupted by jokes about bodily functions--and at the dinner table, mind you! And there aren't nearly as many arguments about whose turn it is to spellwash the dishes. Still, I almost miss the uproar, at least sometimes.