Sunny Day

We've had some beautiful days of sunshine for the past two days. We're expecting nice weather all week, although not as warm as yesterday and today. And what a lovely Mother's Day I had. The first part of the morning was spent transplanting the three zucchini plants I started from seeds.

Also, I had about a dozen sunflowers to transplant. I've tried various methods of marking these without resorting to some sort of expensive permanent sign. The methods I've tried always fail because it takes no time at all for the sun to fade the permanent marker I've used. This year, I tried peeling the painter's tape label off the pots they were growing in. I wrapped it around a bamboo skewer like a little flag. I'm expecting the markings to fade again, but it's worth a try.

They don't look like much yet, but it won't take long until they'll be blooming big fat flowers. I love the sunflowers.

While I was doing that, Mike was hard at work building a bench for me. I've wanted one for years, but it was the plaque that Sue gave me for Christmas that got us thinking seriously about it. Mike purchased the end pieces from Amazon.com and then he just needed to supply the lumber and the elbow grease. Within a couple of hours...voila! One park bench. We sat there in the latter part of the afternoon, and it was very nice.

As for the plaque, if you missed the story behind this, you can read it right here.

So my thanks go to my dear friend of so many, many years, and to Mike for this sweet Mother's Day gift.

I took a little walk around the yard yesterday after I'd finished my planting. The white azalea is blooming in profusion now.

Also, this is the golden chain tree Mike gave me for my birthday last year.

This is our third attempt with this kind of tree. We planted it in a different location this time. Our neighbor has one, and so I know they'll grow in our little micro climate here on the hill. We had it in a place with poor drainage before, and the roots rotted away. This one is in a better spot, and so we're hoping this third time will be the charm. The flowers aren't yet open, but when they are, they're very fragrant, and a favorite of bees and hummingbirds.

We were invited to Erik and Mae's house for dinner. When I went upstairs to take a shower, I happened to notice the Quiltmaker's Garden quilt again draped over my sewing chair. Where's Sadie? Has anyone seen Sadie?

She really likes her little quilt fort. It'll be a shame when I'm finished with the quilt. I might have to put a stand-in there for when I'm not working on a large quilt like this one.

Speaking of cats, I got some good pictures of Erik and Mae's kitties last night. This little one is Cricket. She's very friendly, afraid of no one, and very photogenic.

Her sister, Clementine, is more shy, and it's been very hard to get a good picture of her. We were there long enough last night that she was willing to come around and to allow me to approach for a good image of her.

I'm wanting to make their pawtraits one of these days. Either of these photos will work. Also, I took a picture of one of their poppies. These are the poppies I brought back from Ireland. My seeds have sprouted, but they're just barely getting started. I'll give them a little longer in the greenhouse before planting them outside.

This morning Sue and I got out for our regularly-schedule walk. The hills near my house are ablaze in red clover right now, and so we walked out here.

There's my favorite barn.

Just to the right and outside the frame of the image above is another old barn. I caught that one from a different angle this time, and you can see it in the image below.

Of course, I photographed most every blooming thing we saw.

Here's a more mature golden chain tree. I hope I live long enough to see ours reach this size.

Here are its flowers up close.

We saw lots of wild iris along the sides of the road.

When I got home...this...

It's never a good sign when I see him hanging out next to the refrigerator. Mike tells me Sadie was the culprit who brought in a mouse and promptly lost it behind the refrigerator. Smitty will get it if he has to sit there for a year. As for Sadie..."Hey, thanks, Smitty. Let me know when you catch it, and we can eat it together." Then she was on her way back outside.

I've done no sewing for a couple of days beyond getting the third block for Friendship's Garden ready for stitching.

It says, "Your friendship has planted a little garden in my heart." This morning I hooped it up and got a small start on it.

I'm just about to go make some lunch, but this afternoon, I'm definitely getting back to my quilting. It's going to be a busy week, and I want to make some more progress before I need to leave it for a few days.