a long weekend

a tuckered pair.

memorial weekend was spent in the minneapolis area with naphtali and aidan. for the last several years james and naphtali have gone camping over this weekend and i've gone up to take care of aidan. with james in china this year i made the trip with charlie and we spent the time doing projects and dodging rain. we had rain on the way up, rain on the way home and rain off and on in between.

saturday morning we took in a farmers market and river walk.

a rainy afternoon's entertainment.

aidan on his bicycle during a weather break. we had such fun together. covered a lot of territory, got a lot done. slept well every night....

charlie travels well. the gas wasn't as high as i'd expected. naphtali (and aidan)can rival the energizer bunny on his best day. tim had his projects under control back home - plumbing was on the agenda - none of his joints leaked!! we're glad to be home.

happy birthday kate!!

sunday is our daughter-in-law's birthday.
kate is a student at eastern connecticut state university. and we're proud to tell you that she's carrying a 4.0, on the dean's list.....looking forward to an easier summer load. just one class. and work. and shasta, lola, baby and jacob to care for.
happy birthday, kate.

oooohhh

oooohhh
aaaahhh i'm thrilled with how these turned out!!
another long, dirty, sweaty day of errands, dog, garden, mowing....but a fun phone call from pam in pennsylvania. another granddaughter has been added to the family. and a call from naphtali confirming plans for the weekend. (when i went in jacob had called and was on the cell with tim!) and at this point i just want a shower. i have clothes to fold and some mending to do and i'm too dirty to touch anything inside the house. i get in the door and what do i see but an unexpected pile of rhubarb that a friend dropped off while i was outside on the phone. wouldn't you know 2 of them are the perfect size and shape to cast. it's such a lovely night. it really was a lovely night. charlie's not ready to go in either. so, yes, i'll mix a batch of cement and process these 2 new leaves....
i finally got my shower. the clothes are folded, another load in the wash and i'm going to do that mending.

the leaf castings turned out well enough that i'll give it another try.
i did make a couple more flat disks. they have leaves from my tree peony imprinted on them.
and the original rhubarb leaf flat. paint will be added on wednesday.
we had quite a weekend. mowing. garden and cement work. progress in the bathroom. water in the basement. we'd had heavy rain a week ago and had water in one corner - my sewing room - so everything had to come out. tim fixed the problem and this weekend i started putting evrything back. but in my mind as its already out it should be sorted, evaluated, shelves cleaned etc. a long job. but i have started. with tim in the middle of projects it's hard to knnow how involved in my own i can get. there was no point in doing my standard weekend cleaning,the water was off and on all day so no laundry, so i thought it would work well to start on the piles from my sewing room. well, then he realized that a book shelf would have to be moved so he could cut into the ceiling/floor to do the drain for the tub. so now i have to find space for the books off the shelf and the pictures off the wall. just keep adding to the piles - garage sale stuff. my sewing room stuff. and now books. lots of books. it is a big shelf. it all got done. and about 9:30 last night i thought it would be good to throw in a load of clothes....water everywhere. i'll spare you the details but we had water on the floor. again. i think we're both glad to be back at work today......

today i tried a project that caught my eye last year.
i made a cement leaf casting. i worked with rhubarb leaves. tomorrow night or the next morning they should be dry and it will be interesting to see if i have a knack or can develop the touch... if they turn out at all well it will be a fun project for me.
i had a little concrete left and so i made the flat one in the pan with the leaf pressed into the surface which is an interesting alternative.

mother's day

mother's day. i had phone calls from my kids. here, you see my son jacob and his wife kate. they're living in connecticut. kate was studying for finals today and jacob was on his way to a kickball game.
and naphtali and her son, aidan. along with hubby, james, they live in the minneapolis area. they were working out in the yard today. james is leaving for a trip to china next week.

we're proud of them all and their phone calls are always a treat. love you guys.

tulips made it

the tulips survived the hail last night. aren't they just a lovely shade??

another tuesday

this flower bed is the latest addition in my campaign to mow less grass. part of this existed as a narrow strip against the fence with a few hosta, which i repositioned,and some lily of the valley.
i've increased the depth and added virginia bluebells, blue flax, yarrow,lupine,a sweet pea,

and room for a couple something elses one of these days.

we had a plant exchange at garden club today and i came home with a few goodies that i was able to get in the ground before it started to rain. we had a storm pass through. some wind and hail. and just this morning i looked at the tulips under my mail box and thought i should take a picture. but no i decided that one more day and they would be perfect. perfect. we'll see what the hail left for me in the morning.

a break in the action

i saw a bald eagle - on the wing - tuesday. it was just above the other side of the road flying parallel with me, so i had a good long look at it. it happens so rarely that its a thrill when it does!!
got some plants in the ground yesterday. and i have time this morning to put in the last few but it is supposed to be cold/rainy (some say snow) tomorrow so i think i'll wait for saturday when its supposed to be 60 again.
tim surprised me with 2 bits of information last night. 1. he ordered the bathtub yesterday. it should be here wednesday of next week. 2. he's taking friday off.
with rain forecast for friday i had planned (and told tim this earlier in the week) to do some sanding and prep work in the bathroom that day. and you know how the dynamics of a free day change when you have to share the 'space' with someone else......so we'll see what tomorrow brings.
i finally have a color for the bathroom. so many different color schemes having been considered that i was beginning to think i'd never pull it all together. but i have. it started with a wallpaper. then a framed print . tim wanted a narrow tile border. he didn't care what or what color. i went to pick something out on tuesday. it was a daunting task. natural stone?? venetian?? colored ceramic?? i had no color at that point so i wasn't sure what direction to go. aargh!! i decided on a white 'chair rail'. it has a swoop to it - not just a flat tile. we had long ago decided on an 'effect' for the bottom part of the wall (but what color??!!) and with the chair rail - how about a wallpaper above?? and i found one. so with the color established i can begin to see the room in my mind's eye. something that's eluded me thus far. i'll stop and buy paint on my way to work after while. and now the details are just filling in......