Two pairs of pear chairs

My favorite find: handmade chairs decorated with pears. I have a side table made by the same artist

we had this cutie the other day. Garage sale bat ballerina costume

Tessa is now a preschool graduate

The chipmunks have been nibbling on the oranges but the squirrel is making sure he gets every last molecule of orange. I hadn't seen the squirrels in 3 weeks. I assumed big red coyote had eaten them all but one was missed

We went on a garden walk yesterday. One of the homes was owned by two glass artisans who filled the house and their gardens with zillions of glass creations. I did buy a plate

This is the fountain in a courtyard of a restaurant near my co-op I lived in as a student. So many times I had gone there!!!They still serve alcohol in mason jars forty something years later. My friend had never been but wasn't impressed with her tough as nails chicken. They gave her free sangria to appease her

We went to 6 gardens, all within city limits. Some lots were quite small. All were very shady so lots of hostas. Back at my house on the prairie, I have very little shade so I couldn't use too many ideas from these gardens

I am getting faster on my bike. Out the door this morning as the sun was coming up, I finished my 32.5 mile bike ride before 8. I was in downtown Whitmore Lake in an hour (distance there: 14.5 miles) As I travelled west (against the wind!), my body cast 50 foot long shadows on the road ahead of me. The cool air felt good against my numerous poison ivy lesions. At least new ones have stopped forming. I got another week before they start to fade away.

But it will be hot here for the next 4 days, real summer. I prefer cool. No rain either for another 4 days. And we only got a few drops of rain on the day they predicted 100% thunderstorms.

I've been shopping. Got a $160 fancy bike rack for $7 at the Salvation Army and my artisanal chairs at a garage sale in a fancy neighborhood. I am holding off on clothes until my weight stabilizes. I had zipped through 2 sizes without even wearing some of the clothes I had bought. Fortunately I didn't pay much for them. Also I ate out twice this week, much more than I had been. Once with ex-colleagues and then with my friend. I made a bunch of matzo ball soup from my left over Costco chicken, one of the better deals out there. One can get this massive  rotisserie chicken for $5. We got several meals before I diced up the remaining chicken breast for chicken salad to feed my friend. The soup was made from the remaining carcass.

More gardening to do and then I rest for a change.