May 31

Hallelujah!  I've gotten to the end of the month and can take a break from beading.  All the flower photography did make me pay attention to the wonders of the merry month of May.  Now it's time to gear up for a joyous June....  Mary

May 30

Many things to do after work today:  Took Anne downtown to absentee vote for the recall election, picked up new glasses (not ready so had to kill time), and pick up more supplies for the calendar journal.  Had to do this block very quickly so I can get some sleep....  Mary

May 29

As much as I've enjoyed beading again, next month I need to choose something a bit less labor intensive.  Beading is all I get done in the evening.  Everything else goes by the wayside since daily posting is required. 

We don't get enough sun for ornamental cabbage, but I do enjoy them and the fact that they hang around all winter long getting more wrinkled and odd as the cold months go on....  Mary

May 28

There are lots of new metal sculptures throughout the gardens at Olbrich.  This is one of the newest....  Mary

May 27

Rick and I went to Olbrich Gardens this morning before it got too awfully hot.  It is, as always, one of the loveliest places I know....  Mary

May 26

The impatiens are really starting to fill out and bloom.  After the rain we had today and the 90+ temps tomorrow, they should explode....  Mary

May 25

There is a rose bush, planted by the previous owners, near our front door.  Today it bloomed....  Mary

May 24

The French knot garden at Allen Centennial Gardens....  Mary

May 23

Tonight I put together a flat pack bookcase.  It turned out nicely.  Almost had the whole thing together and I managed to slice the end of my index finger on a sharp edge.  It's a minor cut, but it's always surprising to become aware of how often I use an injured body part.  You cannot work a track mouse on a lap top with a band aid on your finger.  The keys hit exactly on the cut each time I use that finger to type.  It is also pretty difficult to pull a needle and thread through with a bandaged finger. 

As soon as I'm done posting, I will seal the cut up with crazy glue.  This works really well.  It immediately stops the cut from hurting, and by the time the glue wears off it's healed.  And it keeps the cut sealed and the germs out....  Mary

May 22

Books are really heavy, especially when you lift nearly every single one in the house in a single day.  Only half are back in place, but I did reach my desk top before the evening was over.  And we can sleep in our bed.  There is a three day weekend coming as well, so we can really finish putting things back together again. 

The new windows are beautiful!  And I can open the windows in my studio again.  We are not air conditioning people unless it is ungodly hot.  Now there is actual ventilation and air moving through the room.   I may be bone tired, but I'm in heaven....  Mary

May 21

No beads tonight.  Too much dismantling and moving stuff around to do....  Mary

May 20

On Tuesday we will be getting some new windows, which means about half of my studio will need to be dismantled so they can replace the three windows in there.  It will mean a lot of work tomorrow evening, but I've been wanting to reconfigure the room so this is the perfect excuse.  And now I will have windows that work providing ventilation for the summer months....  Mary

May 19

Chipmunks are all cute and everything, but they need to stop digging up my potted plants!  The impatiens, coleus, and even tomato plant looked like excavation sites.  Tonight I sprinkled the dirt in the pots with cayenne pepper.  Really hoping that discourages the little chubby cheeked rodents.... Mary

May 18

Hostas do not get lovely fuschia, pink and coral flowers the way impatiens do, but they will grow just about anywhere.  When we moved into our old house, there were some raggedy, overgrown old hostas by the front steps.  We dug them out but did not plant them behind the screen porch.  We just dropped them in the corner back there figuring we'd do something with them later.  Those hostas took root where they were dropped and 17 years later they were still thriving back behind the porch.  The front of the house got full afternoon sun, and the corner of the screen porch got a just a bit of eastern morning sun.  I can only hope to be as adaptive in my environment as those plain old hostas....  Mary

May 17

Clover is such an ordinary little plant.  It is an invasive species, but it's also soft and lovely and sweet.  And as weeds go, an easy one to pull should I be so inclined....  Mary

May 16

The plumber was here in the morning, and I had a dentist appointment this afternoon so I didn't go into work.  I did spend time mending one of Eileen's favorite dresses for her and making today's square.  While doing those things, I watched the first part of "Being Brave", a DVD of the retreat given last summer in Nova Scotia by Sakyong Mipham and Pema Chodron.  Sakyong Mipham talked about Basic Goodness and the western tendency to head straight for basic badness in our thinking.  He stressed the need for a sense of basic goodness in our culture and in the whole world.  So far the DVD has been wonderful, and I haven't even gotten to the Pema part of the talks yet....  Mary

Maple helicopters in the bird bath

May 15

Alas, our beautiful Korean lilac by the garage doesn't get enough sun to bloom any more.  We have a couple of flower heads but not many.  The leaves are still very soft and lovely with their purple stems though....  Mary

May 14

All of the impatiens are planted under the little crab apple tree.  I'm really sore from kneeling and stretching amongst the hosta.  It will all be worth it in a month when the flowers are in full bloom.... Mary

May 13

Happy Mothers' Day to all, and happy anniversary to Rick and I.  We spent most of the day planting annuals - impatiens and coleus - and a couple of new hosta in our very shady front yard....  Mary

May 12

We got up very early this morning to drove to Illinois.  It's my mother's birthday today, and we took her out for a lovely lunch.  Then back in the car and home.  Definitely not setting an alarm tomorrow....  Mary

May 11

This work week is done.  I have enough comp hours to take Monday off, and I intend to do just that....  Mary

May 10

Only one more day to this work week, and it will  be done....  Mary

May 9

The message from today is that this week cannot be over soon enough.  So tired, must go to sleep now....  Mary

May 8

Today in the dharma talk on the bus ride home, Pema Chodron talked about never running out of messages if we are just willing to listen.  So tomorrow I'm going to try and listen for the messages at work....  Mary