It's still time In Easter

... and I found an egg. But first things first.

Getting the new annuals and everything else watered. Leaving for Nashville. 

Out rhododendron will be in its most beautiful state while we are gone. Oh well, small price to pay to see Helen, Ben and William. I should have asked my friend Julie to take a photo. And now as I am thinking of it ... the peonies will do the same. They were loaded with buds. They are a bit hidden in the yard (planted by the former owners) and last year I took single flowers into my kitchen and I so enjoyed their beauty.

The azaleas in the front seemed dead to us after that awful winter but look at them now.

Ok, on the road. We packed a picnic and enjoyed it at the first Tennessee Visitor Center.

It seemed to be tourist day (or week, or month) and we each were given a little snack bag. The previous salads wanted to be joined by these cheese crackers - laid out for the driver to grab.

After arrival on Wednesday Ben and William came over in the evening (when the traffic allowed) and ate supper at the Mexican restaurant close to us. We used to enjoy it but it is not the same any more and we might have to find something else. It was so loud that we hardly could talk and "fled" to have dessert at the townhouse.

Ha-ha, William would have enjoyed seeing what I saw this morning on my walk. 

Yes, about the egg I found!

I walked from our neighborhood to the next. The golf course is in-between and ducks keep wandering. When I passed a row of townhouses with lots of parking in front, there was a commotion of several ducks. Could the lost egg be the reason? 

I walked to the end of a dead end street and all the way back and the egg was still there. I picked it up with a hanky. Now I am having plans. I am all about memories and what a fun memory this would be. I am making what James calls a négligée for it. One of my eggs I am hanging up between Easter and Pentecost. 

This old blog shows some of those eggs. 2015 but some are as old as from 1982 or so.

Flowers on my Chives

I forgot to take a photo of the chives before I cut the flowers off. It looked very pretty. The flowers are edible and I put some on my salad. They taste a lot like onions but are much prettier.

And, of course, a few grandchild-photos. Papa took Caleb to the "every first Saturday of the month children's workshop at HomeDepot". Caleb was very into it - making a Mother's Day present. A little chair holds a flower pot and he got seeds too.

In the meantime I played with the twins until James and Caleb joined us. Some of these photos are done with James' iPhone and have a little sign in the corner "Live". I am not sure how this all works (in the blog) but they seem to be little mini videos. When I click on that sign, Owen says in the first photo "cheese". He always does that when he sees somebody pointing a camera.

And yes, Colin climbing into the stroller meant he wanted to go for a walk. It didn't take Owen long to follow.

Ah, a boy and his dog. Schatzi is so patient.

Sunday we had gone to the early service so we could take care of something afterwards. And then ... an impromptu decision to go for brunch. It was such a glorious day and we could sit outside at the "Toast, New American Gastropub at Winterfield Place". Very enjoyable. 

And the drink? 

Yes, we had the Pimm's Royale. And the Chesapeake Omelet went very well with that! 

Hey, we are retired. We should do this more often.

Freddy and the annuals

James and I had gone to buy annuals for our big garden pots. Because of the strange winter the pansies finally started to look really nice. Usually by this time they are over their prime and look leggy. But if we don't buy the summer annuals now there will not be any later. Everything will be picked over or has suffered in their little pots.

Anyway, we transplanted the pansies into the ground somewhere and used the pots for the new annuals. I planted the mandevilla first and then shoveled and prepared the rest of the dirt. Suddenly, out jumped this little green frog. I gently coaxed him off the concrete into the empty pot. When I was done with the planting of that pot I gently let him go into his "renovated" space. He was still covered with dirt.

Can you see him in this photo?

Or in this?

Or in this?

That was fun. Life is good when you can enjoy the little things.

This and That

No boredom here! Always something going on. My sweet husband is making lunch or dinner when I have a project like sewing or working on the church newsletter. My favorite: Steamed spinach on toast with scrambled egg.

The last of this season. The Richmond Opera was a matinee on Sunday 4/15. We always try to go to the Pre-curtain talk and as always it was brilliant. Dr. Glenn Winters again told us things which made the whole experience more interesting and special. Besides, he has great humor.

Every one in the cast of Lucia Di Lammermore was unbelievable. In the last act I had to hold back my tears. That has not happened very often to me. The standing ovations were very very deserved.

Last Richmond Forum of the season on Saturday 4/21. Totally different but very interesting too.

Saturday April 28 was Powhatan Fiber Festival and the Colonial Lacemakers were demonstrating how to make bobbinlace. The Festival was from 10 am to 5 pm and we were signed up from 10 am to 1 pm. I had promised my friends to help. The drive was longer then I thought but it was a fun time. 

I had never been there but was impressed. There was a big tent with all the different demonstrators who had different time slots. There were plenty of other tents of the vendors and of course food too. By chance we were right next to a big field were a dog showed off herding sheep. The picture was from my place.

After the demonstrating I brought my stuff back to the car and wandered around to see all too. I have plenty of photos but here are just a few.

Got my lunch here! It was delicious. They even had little portions of mint jelly to put on the sandwiches.

A sample of what you could do with the wool offered.

I had never seen sock knitting machines. And here I saw actually three.

This lady demonstrated spinning but not from wool but from an angora rabbit which perched on her lap. He (or she) was very content. Probably considered it grooming.

Sunday April 29 afternoon - I had a ticket for the Richmond Quilters Tea and Quilt at Tuckahoe Plantation. This is a historic house, entry and tour was included in the ticket. It was a gorgeous day and lots of beautiful quilts were hung all around the gardens. Inside, outside and the piece of cake - all was very nice. 

Unfortunately I didn't get the call that I had won the quilt behind the registration table. The raffle ticket was included in the ticket price too.

Monday April 30 - The May Cloak (church newsletter) was done and e-mailed but when I had to go to the church for a meeting I couldn't resist taking these photos in the Memorial Garden. 

It was probably too late in the day for the above photos but the sun was just right for the next one. I love it!

And that's it for now. Happy summery spring!

Could there be Spring?

Driving back from Nashville there were stretches of wonderfully blooming redbuds. So pretty. A purple haze. We were wondering what ours was doing since it looked kind of dead for so long. But yes, it had just starting to bloom too. Spring is just late.

Sarah invited us to dinner and we were early to play a little with the children outside. They had a little snack outside.

The following weekend we had Schatzi as a guest because "her humans" went to Pulaski for Nana's birthday. We had done some work around the house and James was stretching his back on the floor. Schatzi was very concerned about him.

When we had to go out we left her in our bedroom. Sarah had said that she might jump up on the bed. She looked so innocent when I peaked in. Luckily she doesn't do that when we are in it.

We had some busy times. Besides our usual meetings we had season tickets for the Opera and the Richmond Forum. Both were super. 

Our opera tickets are a Sunday matinee and we try to go to the pre-curtain talk. We saw Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti. The information we had received at the talk made it much more enjoyable. The singers were unbelievably good. No ... great. And at the end ... Lucia and Edgardo had me in tears. That does not happen often. Everybody deserved the long standing ovation!

The evening with Joe Scarborough & Newt Gingrich giving their "Perspectives on the Party in Power" at the Richmond Forum was of course totally different. But very interesting too. Never like to miss either of those events.

When we had to take care of Caleb, Colin and Owen on Thursday because two of them were sick and couldn't go to daycare, it was a bit chilly outside but several times for shorter times we went out anyway.

No shortage of things to play with inside though.

And when it was late and everybody was tired there were books and the TV.

Saturday we helped out again. The Meadow Farm Museum at Crump Park had a special event from noon to 4 pm: Sheep to Shawl. We had their van with the three car seats and the stroller. It was nice weather and a great success. 

Caleb was so interested in EVERYTHING. He got to spin (and keep the piece of string) and weave.

He kept asking whether there were horses and declared they were his favorite animals. We think this was a mule but it didn't seem to matter.

There was music and all three danced. Too cute.

At the end Caleb got to make a sheep at the craft table. And then it was time to go home.

All three fell asleep and when we reached their house so James and I took turns staying with them in the parked car while the other had a quick lunch.

And that is really it. After 10 years in this house we still finding things to improve and did do some assembly and mounting of shelves in our bedroom closet. What an improvement. James' side is done. Mine got planned and bought today.

As always I did some handwork/sewing. If you want to see you need to go to that blog.
Looks like I am caught up with this and its back to work on the monthly church newsletter.
Happy "hump day" today.