Well, not entirely off—I had to take one call and a few emails in the morning—but for the most part I was able to unplug and enjoy the day.

Started out with some pottering among the roses . . .

. . . then off to the garden center to see if I couldn’t finish my pond. As luck would have it, I not only did I find some shade-tolerant water celery, plus some fairy moss and duckweed (which may or may not tolerate shade—we’ll see!) to go with my water lily, but on the way home I also found a petshop with a fresh shipment of pond goldfish! So we’re officially in business on the water garden front . . .

Leaving the fish floating in their bags to acclimate, we set out on a 10-mile bike ride to the beach and back. The weather was perfect and I was grateful, again, for being able to live in a place of such great natural beauty.

The rest of the evening was an unglamorous dash to finish a few key errands before the work cyclone starts again, while Justin took care of some of his own work deadlines. But we still managed to close out the day with the first rooftop grill of the season: grilled pork chops and asparagus, with fresh apricots for dessert—what a terrific way to end the day.