First Dip of the Season

It was 68 degrees at 8 P.M. here. The water temperature was ... cold. And yet, it was necessary to get the first swim in before June 1 ... not something we wanted to do, but something we HAD to do. So G and I did. (She was the first in and the first submerged.) It wasn't as bad as some years, but it would have helped if I'd remembered to bring towels out.

Me, taking the wussy way in (G already in and under)

Me, screaming from brain freeze

Sign us up for Survivor!

The Pool Is Open!

We usually pull the cover off Memorial Day weekend, but it got away from us this year. It's not too grody, but it is subterranean-icy cold because we are pumping in water from the well. I've challenged G to a full submersion after swim practice tomorrow evening!

Memorial Day

Our friends Alex the Fort Master and Ben the Rocket Man came back and brought their dad Chris (Beth was on call), as well as our friends Peter, Ella, Madeline and Jack. They all threw me a birthday party later in the day, and I now have my very own binoculars to watch the hummingbirds.

A barrel of monkeys on a mule ride (with cousin Cha in the mix)

Checking out the back 40

Typical Sunday

It was a gorgeous day here, so there was lots going on. G and Dan were up and out early doing chores.






A big box elder (a trash tree) limb came down in some high winds we had the other day. We had to pull it away and clean up the mess. Fortunately it missed the house.

D made me a hummingbird feeder stand for my rooftop container garden. It was up less than a half hour when we had our first visitor.

The whole lawn needed to be cut. G got in on the act. Maike was only slightly less nervous than I was.

The locust trees are in bloom. Their scent is intoxicating.

At the end of the day, G & I relaxed with a fire in the chiminea. (The solar lights in the background were a birthday present.)

They Say It's Your Birthday

Birthday greetings to Carson Deffinbaugh, my high school tennis coach and father of my Senior crush, and to Bob Shriner, art director extraordinaire.

Also, to Beverly Sills, Ian McKellan, Dixie Carter, Jamaica Kincaid, and Anne Heche and, one therefore presumes, Celestia.

(It's my birthday too.)




Lily of the valley, my birth flower. My garden was started with pips from Grandpa Bud, who shares a May birthdate with my Nany Adda, who loved Muguet du Bois. Can't have these flowers around without thinking of both of them.

8 Days and Counting

The last few weeks of school are always busy. Yesterday G's school staged a "Lewis & Clark Museum," during which each child acted as a docent for a topic pertaining to the Corps of Discovery. G's presentation was on York, Clark's slave, who accompanied the Corps on the journey.

G showing D a diary she wrote in the person of William Clark

G's class has a Toshiba America Foundation Science and Math Improvement Grant to study the ecosystem of the local watershed. Today the class split into small groups and visited various sites to take water samples and make other observations.

G using a Secchi disk to gauge water clarity

Observing a mudpuppy

Identifying a snail with Mrs. Meler

A Visit

Our friends Beth, Alex and Ben visited today. We did all the typical farm stuff ... asparagus, kitties, cows, bees and goats.

Ben and Alex feeding asparagus to Iris and Marigold.











Alex, Ben & G

Cocoa's Kittens

Cocoa's kitten's eyes are open! They are adorable, pudgy and already have distinct personalities. Two snuggle when G holds them; one immediately starts hissing when she puts her hand near it; and one starts mewling at the top of its lungs if she picks it up.

The two snuggly kitties

The Cuddler and the Hisser

A Little Help From My Friends

My mom underwent a second knee surgery today. Because of her "lung status," they did a spinal instead of putting her under general anesthesia. She seems to be very alert and doing well now, all things considered. Let's hope it works this time, and the rehab folks do what they are supposed to be doing.

Here's a big shout-out to my homegrrls Jeannette and Marianne, without whom my mom would be in even worse shape.



Marianne (left) with my mom and their friend Adi




My dad and Jeannette (one of my all-time favorite pictures)

The Lazy Gardener

Lots of people ask what our garden is like. It makes me laugh, because I do not ♥ gardening. While I do love flowers and fresh produce, I hate dirt, weeds, bugs and physical labor (especially in the hot sun).

G on the other hand started lobbying for a garden almost as soon as she could talk. My compromise to this wish was to buy containers and planters of various sizes and let her plant in them. When there is the stray weed to pluck or other maintenance, we can cart them into the shade. It is gardening for lazy people like me.

G planting cosmos, petunias and marigolds in a barrel at the corner of the porch. (My Happy Boy sat in the tree and serenaded the whole time.)


Maike guarding tomatoes (white buckets) and flowers from flies and bees. The chimes spell GARDEN (a gift from my SIL Kayleen), there to remind folks what they're looking at.

Your Bird Can Sing

The oriole stuck around all weekend. He's been at the feeder a lot and is going through half an orange a day. I call him "My Happy Boy" because he sings most of the day (including this morning at 4:30 a.m., which made D "My Unhappy Boy").

Additionally, we've seen a lot of activity at the hummingbird feeder. We think that one of the females from last year (or at least one who matches her M.O.), Nervous Nellie, is back. Unlike the other hummers who perch and sip from the feeder, she hovers-sips-hovers-sips-hovers-sips. No sign yet of her putative mate, Commander Kamikazee, who lurked on a dead branch in a nearby tree and dive-bombed any other male who dared to stop at "his" feeder.

Asparagus

We've got more of these green spears than we know what to do with! Since it's been relatively warm here, G and I have been picking it just about every day. We bake it (marinated first in EVOO, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce) or saute it (in an EVOO/butter combo), but my friend Carolyn says it is wonderful microwaved for 2 minutes and then sprinkled with garlic wine vinegar.

Hive Mentality

So it was time to recover the queen bees' boxes and check on how things are going. D borrowed a smoker from our nephew, because smoking calms the bees down so you can get into the hive. Jamie assured us he'd done it gloveless and his girlfriend Becca was right there without the Hazmat suit. It wasn't quite that easy, but D and G did manage to inspect the hives and get the queen boxes out.





G styling the Hive Look.













Smoking the first hive to calm the bees.








G gets in on the act ... the second hive seemed a little more active than the first one.

Success!

At lunch time today, there was a female oriole at the feeder. I'd occasionally check to see if there was any other activity, but other than some hummingbirds, I didn't see anything. Then around 4 o'clock, there HE was! In my excitement I scared him into a nearby tree, where he sat singing. I took his picture and gave up that he'd come back down while I was watching. But fingers crossed that the two I saw are a pair, and they'll hang around!

Moon Cow

Some people wanted to know what Crescent being the "Moon Cow" means. A few years ago, a photographer for a nearby city newspaper caught this picture of our cows on the back hill early one morning. It made the front page locally, and then went out on the AP wire. It was published in papers all across the country and was also picked up by some online services, including AOL, where it was featured as one of the "Pictures of the Week."

More Babies

G wants everyone to see these photos too.



Sassy with her heifer calf Molassey










Starlight with her all-white bull calf

Wonderful Baby

We had lots of new babies today!

About a month ago, G built Cocoa a Kitty Kondo out of boxes. Cocoa hasn't used it much. Imagine our surprise today when we found four kittens in it! They were born some time between 10:30 am and noon.

This is the newest calf, born today to Crescent (of "Moon Cow" AOL Picture of the Week fame!). I think she looks a little moose-y.

For the Birds

We had a gorgeous male oriole show up in the yard late this afternoon. We've never had one before, so D quickly put together an oriole feeder to entice him to stay. (FYI: Orioles like oranges, grape jelly and mealworms.) Let's hope it works!

50th Anniversary Party

My mom and dad have been married for 50 years. When we visited York at Easter, we had a family dinner at Windows on the Green.

Rich learned that you don't challenge G to a game of Connect 4!

The Beemen of Rainbow Hill

Someone had a brainwave that bees would be a good thing to add to the farm. So we did. Our nephew Jamie came into some beekeeper equipment, which D augmented with some Hazmat suits. They looked like Space Invaders, but the bees were successfully (mostly anyway) installed in hives near the apple orchard.