Dual Sport

Tonight I was outside with the grandkids while Steph went to the store.  Aaron was driving the truck while Nora, still in softball uniform, was playing basketball.

Actually it was more than dual sport for her because she went on to playing football.

And she and Aaron both rode bikes.  Great Friday night.

Time to Load It Up

This week I've been spending lots of hours outside and am happy to have my second raised bed in place.  My goal was to do it last month, but it's just as good this month.

And now, it's time to load up both the raised beds and the bed beside it.  I have a lovely rosemary plant from last year and I've put in a creeping rosemary and a parsley in the new bed.  My plans are to have flowers toward the street, veggies and herbs toward the back.  I need some more flowers in the "hill" bed too.  So much more yard work to do, but this is a good start.

I've been pretty quiet about my exercise program this year, but it's going pretty well.  My long-term goal is to climb Mt. LeConte in September without making a total fool of myself.  I exercise about 300 minutes a week, in various forms. 

But here's the thing:  despite all that, my legs are really sore today after putting up the raised bed yesterday and hauling and spreading the dirt.  You'd think that I would be past that, but I guess there are many kinds of muscles.

And one more bit of whining:  I have blisters on my palms, too.

Flower Baby Quilt

This month's theme for the baby quilt group is "flowers."  It's pretty hard to see, but I embroidered lots of flowers then did connecting free motion.  It was very disappointing, not what I had in mind.


Then, when I was putting on binding, fussing I might cut up the quilt for smaller things, I snagged my finger on a pin and smeared some blood spots before I realized what was happening.  Into the washer and dryer it went, and there was just enough shrinkage in the batting to draw up all that stitching and the resulting look was more like what I wanted.


I want to try this again, I think it can be extremely nice, but this one is ok.  No cutting it up.  I'd be happy to have my baby on it.   

Spring Planting

This spring would have been so perfect to have started the yard work and gardening early, but I've been reluctant to do more than the minimum, which means mowing the yard and pulling the biggest weeds.  I know that once I start it will be pretty consuming and I haven't wanted to commit.  But, I want a pretty yard.  A nice garden.


So, in that spirit, I did put flowers in the planter yesterday.  The easiest thing.  They don't look great in the picture because they are totally rain-soaked, which is a good thing. 


I want to paint the masonry along with bottom of the house before I get into serious planting, which is one of the reasons I hate to start.  But, really, how hard can this be?  It's all low, there isn't much.  I can do this, I just need to get going.

Aaron's Day

I felt pretty bad sending the kids home tired and worn out after their Saturday evening/Sunday with me.  Here's Aaron eating his chocolate chip ice cream in the car - which absolutely spoiled dinner for both kids. 

Aaron was disappointed that several of the library's train cars were missing and he spent little time with the trains.  There was still lots of do, though - blocks, Lego's, "pretend" with the bin of hats, and trying to catch a peek at the gerbil, who was absolutely hidden out.

The park at the top of my hill has new playground equipment, nothing big or complicated but perfect for immaginative play.  Aaron had a store with drinks and ice cream, both of which had to be ordered at different windows.  This is the drink window.

The park also had a marked mini trail in the surrounding woods.  Aaron was the happiest guy at finding the yellow diamonds on the trees and being an excellent hiker.


It was a funny day for him, changing from being absolutely happy to struggling and back again.  Guess it's part of being four.

Myra's Dionysus

Mini carnations, aka pinks, on the table at Myra's Dionysus in Cincinnati.  And below, my friend Welda at the restaurant.

Myra's is just a tiny restaurant, plus patio.  I thought that perhaps Dionysus meant restaurant in Greek, but Wikipedia tells me that Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, ritual madness, and estasy.


I had really good baba ganoush with whole wheat pita, baked tofu, and edamane.  I'm not sure whether edamane and tofu are Greek food, but they are something I enjoy.

Maps Reveal

Maps.  The theme for the Twelve by Twelve May 1 reveal.  In January a few of us decided to form a small online group to play along, but now, in May, there are just two of us.  Joanne has posted her quilt in this new 12" x 20" format.  Check it out.


Ancient maps were vague because the view of the world was vague.  Sometimes more writing with some vague shapes.  That's my bottom "layer."  A very few years ago, we got maps before we planned a trip.  Studied them.  Looked at the roads and the cities and the grid lines.  When we got home we put them in a drawer to save them for the next time.  Those maps were my next layer.


But now . . . the GPS has come to the fore.  The paper maps stay in the drawer and we follow the voice and pay attention to the arrows and watch our car go up the "road."  Our world view can be very precise and we even use google maps for a picture of where we're going.


You can check back a few posts if you're curious about some of the musing behind this quilt.