Monday, May 24, 2010

My surviving perennials


Last year I planted those pink flowers. Two years ago I planted four ivy plants. This is the lone remaining ivy plant that has emerged triumphant this spring. I love perennials and the changes that occur in the flower garden as they grow and spread, or as in my case, die. It's like a surprise party every year.
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Sunday, May 23, 2010

Snipping paper

I really do like making my own cards. I also realize that my sidebar says this blog is dedicated to the aforementioned hobby. Alas, I rarely find time these days to actually sit down and get all crafty. What with a baby crawling around, eating dirt, pulling the cats tail... I do realize this is her research. Believe me my baby does a lot of research. She is all about discovery, cause and effect, textures, tastes, sights, sounds, smells, laughter, crawling, and reading. She will sit and turn the pages of any book she can get a hold of. She is very careful with paper books and actually prefers them to board books that are made for people her age. If it has to be a board book then she prefer it have flaps to lift. This all along the theme of discovery and research. Lift the flap and see whats hiding behind it.

With all the graduation announcements arriving in the mail I thought I should make some personal cards. Thanks baby, for not eating my craft ribbon.
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Monday, May 17, 2010

All the little birdies



Here are the hummingbirds in the evening. They are all getting a drink before they head off to bed.

Sweet nectar


The hummingbirds have returned. This means I make nectar once a day. We now have two feeders and in the evening when dusk settles in, they come for a drink before retiring to bed. There can be anywhere from 10-20 at the feeder at a time. My husband calls them little piggies. I don't mind feeding them because last week I scored a great deal on a ten pound bag of sugar at the grocery store. Lucky little birds.
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I planted a tree.

This post is a little late, but its never too late to mention taking care of the earth. Our school celebrated earth day on Friday May 7th. The community members, along with the school teachers and students combed the grounds of the town cleaning up litter. I volunteered to walk with the second grade class. We were assigned the football field and the bushes that line the parking lot of the school. We found wrappers, plastic water bottles, soda cans, paper, and bits of plastic. The strangest items we found were a pizza and a full unopened carton of chocolate milk. Now I understand why my dog likes to sniff around in the bushes. The kids throw their uneaten food there.
Our community has a paper bin at the post office where patrons can put their magazines, weekly newspaper ads, and other recyclable papers. This saves a ton of paper going to the landfill. When I moved here they were seeking a volunteer to empty the small post office bin each week to the large county bin. I found this task manageable and volunteered for the position. I usually ride my bike with my bike trailer, or push my stroller to the post office, fill up the back with the papers and take them to the county bin. In appreciation of my efforts, I received this little tree which I planted in my backyard. Is it going to grow tall like those other trees? It's little and tiny and I think its cute.
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Monday, May 10, 2010

Memory Flowers


When I was a little girl we picked irises and took them to the cemetery on Memorial Day. I would carefully wrap the cut stems in wet paper towels so we could transport them in the car. They carry special meaning for me since my mother past away. I think of her when I see them. How I would love to cut some and carefully place them on her headstone. I would look at her name etched on rock and remember how she loved her babies. I'm her baby, only all grown up now, with little ones of my own. I think of how she loved to make handcrafted gifts and pick irises to remember her loved ones by. I was so elated to see that there were some irises growing here when we rented this house. In the fall I transplanted them to my flowerbed. I can't believe the blossoms this spring. I'm off to kiss my baby because they grow up way to fast.


Linking up with:



Sweet Shot Day
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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Kee Kee


For my everyday beauty shot this week I followed the cat around like the paparazzi follows a movie star. She was full of spunk and zest and tried to pounce on every moving blade of grass. Here she is in crouch mode...
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Sunday, May 2, 2010

50,000 Strong!


I did it! I entered my first race. I picked the Bloomsday Run, a 12K... call me ambitious or crazy, but I set a goal, worked at it, and ran the entire thing without stopping. I thought of my Mom at mile 4 and got choked up. She would have loved to run again. She passed away at the age of 37 from a rare form of heart disease. The closer I get to that age the more conscious I become of keeping my heart and mind strong. There were approximately 50,000 runners. My daughter wanted to know what place I got.

I bet you do too...

I was 11,159th!
Just to give you some perspective: I grew up in a town that had less than 8,000 people in it. It was amazing to be part of this group of runners. Amazing!
So get out and get fit! Find something that inspires you and run with it!
(Did I mention that I use to loathe running?)

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