June Already?!

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June already?! Where did May go???

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Actually, we really enjoyed the change in weather and spent a good part of the month outside puttering around in Little Boy's garden, riding bikes and going for walks. He just loves flowers and plants! Here is a photo of his prized bleeding heart, plus photos from various walks. Bring on the warm weather!!!

Notice the pink boots? They are a "spare" pair and he has liked them well enough all winter. But one day - he refused to get out of the car to go into school with PINK boots on! Oh, ok - got sneakers in the car anyway for wearing inside and it was a day they weren't going outside because of the weather. The pink boots will go to a little GIRL cousin for next year. Too bad the influence of peer pressure starts so early.
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It was a month of a fair amount of travel, including complicated connections which involved some long waits. But - my good little traveler - as long as I buy him a plant somewhere along the way - he's a happy camper. Here he is with marigolds and a geranium. See what a prepared traveler I am? Have apple juice, little bag of necessities, writting folder, extra blanket - and of course, Elmo - yup, ready to travel!

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A gardener I am not - as evidenced by this photo of MANY tomato plants in 1 pot - a kind friend set me straight on the basics of starting tomatos and we got them all seperated and now in individual pots! But - I am willing to learn. Honestly, I don't think our cold climate is condusive to growing tomatos and I am thinking we might have better luck with pumpkins and sunflowers. But no matter - it has been a fun project.

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Here is a photo of Little Boy just sitting - enjoying watching his garden grow! Isn't that too cute? He has pulled another chair up for Momma. He planted just about everything in there and knows every plant by name. I can just imagine him sitting in this same spot when he is 80 year old - watching his flowers grow! We all should learn a lesson from this wise little guy!

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We spent some time chasing a bald eagle, but never got the perfect shot. He arrived on his fishing rock late in April, but the tide has to be right and then the correct time of day for the lighting AND then the eagle has to be there! One of these days... I am keeping the BIG zoom and tripod in the car just to be prepared. I am going to TRY to make an effort this summer to take some nice photos rather than just using my little pocket camera all the time. But good photos take a bit of time, patience, the right timing, luck(?). The little pocket camera does manage to capture our daily doings just fine! In the meantime - here is a photo of my little photographer taking a photo of the fishermen's net fields with the big camera in late April. He also took this photo of me - taking his picture taking photos. Net fields? Well yes, fishermen have fields like farmers - except instead of growing crops, they put rocks all over them so nothing grows and then spread their nets out. Some of the nets are huge!

May is also my birthday month and a sweet lady at my quilting group makes a cake every month for all the birthday girls. Here is a photo of her super May cake! Of course, I made my own birthday feast - we had enchalidas, Mexican rice, re-fried beans, orange/onion salad, gaucolmole, shrimp dip, pork kabobs (my favorite) and blueberry cheesecake. All from scratch - Mmm, mmm good. All the recipes are over on my kitchen/cooking blog - see sidebar. Well, almost all of them - I still have to post the shrimp dip recipe. We aren't big on presents but rather our celebrations center around food! Here is a random photo of the goof-ball cook (yup that would be me!) doing a late night clean-up in the cold kitchen. I am wearing a beret one of my sister's crochet for LB. Anyway, Little Boy got me a toy at the Dollar Store and my ever so romantic DH got me an ice scoop - because we needed a new one! LOL. Good thing my Mom taught me to buy my own presents... except this year I really couldn't think of anything special I wanted so I have a present in the bank, so to speak.

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Little Boy had Pre-school graduation. The school got a cake and had a little pot-luck afterward. I made 2 dozen deviled eggs, I just love any excuse to use my cute egg plates! I think there were 18 kids who graduated and there had to be at least 50 people who showed up. It is nice to live in a community that really shows their support for the kids. He only went 3X a week for 2.5 hours, but believe me, I made good use of that time. Next year... kindergarten, oh my!

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Unfortunately, May was also the month of "the cold". A very nasty, long and prolonged cold that made for many sleepless nights as it hit each and every one of us at various times and lasting for over 2 weeks a whack. Ugh. Add that to a very busy workload and needless to say, I am very tired.

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A special treat was that our local choir had a concert just down the street from me. I was able to slip out (alone!) for a wonderful night of beautiful music. Amazingly enough, for a small community, there are over 30 people in the choir and what a talented and dedicated group of people. I got the 2nd to last seat and after that - it was standing room only along the back wall. It was great to see them pull in such an audience.

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With all these things perking along in my life, obviously I didn't get much sewing done (or blogging for that matter)! I've been plugging along on my String Tulips, working on my HST stars, started some string 6 pointed stars and go to quilt group 1X a week. But a little progress here and there slowly does add up to something!

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And finally - just a note about the seasonal changes around here... May brought budding leaves on the trees and it was so good to finally see GREEN again! Daffadils and tulips bloom, the rhubarb is up and the woods are full of fiddleheads. Fishermen are mending nets, herring sticks are delivered and being prepared. Wood has been delivered and everywhere the new wood is neatly stacked in rows or "haystacks" to be ready for next winter. The bald eagle has returned, 2 male pheasants squable and make a ruckus all day long in the back yard, the robins are here and the first of the hummingbirds are zipping around. We had a few warm days. Ah, May!

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Just in case you are wondering - a photo of the herring sticks - they are cut and numbered by how long they are. You can see the weir drivers in the background.