A month of fun, flowers, visitors, and heat

 

we have had two mom's meetings

hummingbird moth on butterfly bush

my favorite time: when the tiger lilies, liatris, Russian sage, and coneflower are in bloom,

Fordite or motor city agate  Paint used to build up in layers in the car painting room.  Workers would scrap up the layers. Fordite is a thing of the past as they paint cars with less waste now. Mine is from the 1990s Ford Taurus plant

I love my new silk scarf. When will I wear it

There is a sculpture park in a nearby town along with a band festival with food trucks every Thursday night. Steve and I went

apricot lemonade cosmos new variety this year

tiger lilies. I have 6 varieties and want more

dahlia darlings

my art fair splurge. Will look good with my new pendant

how can my baby be turning 42

glads of various colors are popping up despite the deer munching on them

our family guests taking Shanna out for a birthday brunch

A family tradition euchre. As far as I know, only played in Michigan and Ohio. Correct me if I am wrong. The New Yorkers were fast studies

Grandkids chilling out on our bed while we watched unsuitable for them stuff in another room

the future is now. This food carrying robots have become a fixture in downtown Ann Arbor

Steve and his brother at a downtown Ann Arbor restaurant. Main Street is now a big dining room

Grandkids on our shrimp chair

In the beginning of the month, Maya turned 11

We had a birthday party at a bowling alley. The kids had bumpers

two lanes of fun. Hannah needed a ramp to direct the ball

Still biking a lot in the morning. Nearby lake at sunrise

Steve's sister, his brother and his wife stayed with us for 11 days. Lots of dinners, hikes, excursions. We went on a 7 mile hike together and had lunch at the end. Kaya the German Shepherd, lives for these hikes

Onion blossom. Lots of zucchini and patty pans this year

the neighbors had a big noisy wedding. The flowers were sent over to appease me. Still hate the woman though I am gaining some allies

have been doing my nails with these covers. Now some of my friends are using them too

We went to Ohio to meet up with Steve's cousin. I got us lost but it all worked out

chicken of the woods fungus on one of our walks

I liked this reflection

Steves brother with all the grandkids

This has been a busy  with birthdays to celebrate, art fairs to go to, gardening, house guests, lots of cooking, bike rides, runs

My favorite bird is the Baltimore Oriole which shows up in May here I feed them grape jelly and oranges. Someimes as many as 20 show up but this year much less. And by June they seemed to be gone. In the past a few stay to July But this year babies on their parents showed up at the jelly feeder in July. 

at first the babies perched nearby demanding that their parents feed them but now they fly here by themselves. They are the same size as adults but not so colorful. So all in all, I have 7 orioles. I was going through a big jar of jelly every 2 days but they are slowing down or are

 disturbed that the bumble bees are now flying around 

Our annual fight:  Steve and I don't fight very often. Once a year? Though the last time I think it was two years ago in Utah because I chose a bad b&b and I allegedly should have known better. I make all the plans and he does all the critiquing. Doesn't seem too fair The fights consist of him sighing

a lot and then giving me the silent treatment for a week, annoying when we are away from home.

We have a 5 burner stove which I always thought unnecessary  Who needs 5 burners. But the other week, all 5 are going. Cooking this, cooking that for as many as 16 people. I spilled some bread crumbs and he said something about could I be any messier, sighing and starting to clean them up in his unbelievably inefficient way being in my way and I snapped at him to get away, not done with the bread crumbs and I was going to clean them up once there was a break in the action  I raised my voice to him, a cardinal sin made worse as his family was there  I was forgiven, I guess in less than a week

The grandkids like their great auntts and uncle, especially Maya who hangs all over them. One night they just wanted to relax watching a show inappropriate for kids I was tasked with telling Naomi that they could just spend an hour here as everyone

 was tired. Yes she does shoot the messenger.

I am getting some allies in the neighborhood  The crazy lady across the street who at a neighborhood meeting said my big flowers were bringing the value of everyone's house down has been insulting others too. A new couple, two young men. moved recently next door to her. She told them she doesn't like the way their backyard looks when she is sitting on her patio. One of the men came over for gardening tips, ha! said they love my gardens and want some of the flowers, which I shared. We now are friends  

it has been a record year here for rain with lots of flooding. As we sit in a bunch of sand, we are spared that but the resulting bugs are not fun. I never have seen mosquitos around here during the day, Now they are biting me while i try to keep the gardens up.

I usually miss the big Ann Arbor Art Fair because Im away on my bike ride. As that was canceled, I was free to go but the only day my friends could make it was very rainy and most of the booths were shut down I did get some stuff though

No thanks to the delta variant and crazy uneducated people who think getting vaccinated means they are a commie Biden lover, covid is on the rise but not in our county (ann Arbor allegedly being most educated city in the US)  Most of this is happening in the south. My gut feeling is that these idiots were warned, let them get sick, lessTrump supporters going forward, but of course they take the innocent down with them' My favorite story is one of their 'conservative' talk show host who has been telling his audience not to get the vaccine, is in the hospital fighting for his life. He has since changed his tune as have a few of the deplorables who realize this will eat into their base

How did we get so stupid!

The year of the Cicada

 

Italian irs

house at dawn

Naomi selfie

Maya at the farmer's market

Chalk paint project. We have had Maya with us a lot. I try to have her go on a bike ride with me every day

lots of day lilies in bloom asiatic  lilies are almost open Tiger lilies next week

Calla

Salad for my friends along with cauliflower tacos. From my cooking class. I grew the cilantro and lettuce

nearby lake at dawn

Brood X 17 year cicada. They prefer oak trees.I didn't realize I had an oaktree until recently and it is good sized.  It is pretty far from the house so I didn't look at its leaves

For the past few weeks, we have been treated to the constant hum of masses of cicadas especially in the wooded areas where I run. They are harmless as they lack  mouths though somehow they drink. They live above ground for a few weeks mate and die. Their offspring  then spends 17 years underground.  How old will you  be when you see them again? Parents ask their children this, practical math. Maya will be almost 28 and grandma? Will she be alive then?

I have busy, mainly gardening. I keep thinking I am almost finished but I always find things to do. Things should  look their best in a few weeksI think all my gardens look good but this self appointed beautification person on the board claims my big flowers are dragging all the values of the neighborhood by at least $300K per house. Interestingly Zillow claims my house is worth $100K more than hers even though they are the same size. She thinks we all should spend $1000 on new matching mailboxes and we should beautify the front entrance Our share for ripping down perfectly fine crabapples would be $2700. Hell no to that. I sent a note to the whole neighborhood questioning the priorities during this time of covid recovery. She also wants to fine people for what she sees are infractions. Crazy, crazy lady. I said that she was toxic to the neighborhood vibe, not mentioning her by name I was nervous sending this not knowing if people supported her but fortunately they don't.

My injury is almost healed and I am slowly increasing how far I run. The early dawns mean I can bike before rush hour, which has mostly returned. Zero new cases of Covid in our county yesterday! Lots of biking. The sweet smells of wild phlox and honeysuckle have been replaced by the even sweeter aromas of sweetgrass in the country and lindens in the neighborhoods. Today I saw a newborn fawn.

And a return to normalcy. We have eaten inside of restaurants and I even went to the movies. True there was only 4 in the audience. We saw In the Heights. It was wonderful

And I have been cooking and having people over so that is fun. Next week Steves Family comes

Planting season

 

I have columbines of 4 different colors

I

A good friend has been making jewelry for us during the pandemic. When Maya saw the key chain made for me, she wanted one too as did Naomi

One of my many purchases for container gardens

The vegetable garden three days after planting. Lettuc came up by itself. Rhubarb, onions and asparagus are always there

Chestnut tree

Maya and I on the shrimp chair. It has a canopy and rocks

White bleeding hearts. Still have two pink ones still in bloom after 6 weeks

Fancy coconut margarita for Mother's day

Some of my 4 sets of Mother's Day flowers

Grandbabies on Mother's Day

Early morning sunrise on nearby lake

female hummer I have about 4 of them arriving early in May with the Baltimore orioles

Maya on University of Michigan campus

Every 17 years thousands of these cicadas hatch for 2 days then die Its that year Usually they are in forests but this one made its way to my garden

Hours and hours have been spent preparing multiple beds and planting 16 flats of annuals and vegetables and numerous perennials, some bought and some donated. Also planted a lot of seeds and will distribute them as they are bigger to beds  What I really need to do is mulch all these beds to minimize their watering and weeding. I also planted dahlias, gladiolas, Cana and calla lilies. Aside from making some of my planters prettier and never ending weeding, I am almost done

On some mornings, I am up before 6 riding my bike or running when there is less traffic, heat and wind. I am still not running as far as I was before my injury but I am gradually improving. I have biked more; so far almost 2100 miles between the indoor and the outdoor bike.

I have hosted work friends one night which was warm (too warm) for us all to sit outside. All the kids and grandkids came over for Mother's Day. It was the first time the cousins were all together since the pandemic. Oliver had his first vaccine a few weeks ago; Daniel will be eligible this summer. Might be in the fall when they approve it for the under 12s. Michigan in April had one of the highest Covid caseloads in the country. Too many stupid trumpers. But finally the infection rate has gone down considerably. As some of the newly eligible are not adults, in some states, they need adult permission to get the vaccine. Other states let the kids decide. Lots of cases where the kids want the vaccine but their ignorant parents won't let them.

But as it is warm out, I can meet with my friends outside and have which is nice. The CDC says that the vaccinated can sit inside without masks with each other though some of my friends do not want to take chances. Vaccinated people still can get sick but they rarely die so I feel much better about the pandemic now.

Some states are providing financial incentives for vaccines. Ohio had a million dollar lottery for the newly vaccinated. Ha A Michigan person won.