May

 May is such a busy month. Our weather finally warms enough to get outdoors to plant the pots, cut the lawn, wash windows, but it's also time for spring sports and PH and I have said that as long as we CAN go, we WILL go watch the grands. Bleachers can be a pain but oh, well.

We were really lucky to have Charlie here on this side of the state for a LaCrosse tournament last Saturday.

Adelaide is jumping hurdles (she's the one in the middle)

Elizabeth is rowing on the river and this morning finally got a gorgeous day. It's been a very rainy and very cold spring so this morning they were very lucky to have a stunningly beautiful day. Such a peaceful sport.

I've been fighting the chipmunks.  Every year they or one, digs a hole in this particular pot and burrows in. Every morning I sweep the dirt back in to the pot and every night it  repeats. It's this one pot. So the other day I went to the dollar store and bought seven jars of cayenne pepper.

After putting the dirt back in I sprinkled one jar all over the top and around the rim for good measure and it did the trick.  Mammals don't like cayenne. Birds don't have a salivary gland so they can't taste it, but the squirrels and chipmunks and raccoons and any other mammal won't come near it again after they've tasted it.    Last night I was sitting outside and saw the pot on the other side of the step had been invaded.  I got more cayenne and doused that pot.  Two can play this game.

Last night Donna organized another zoom night. They are a lifeline to be sure. These gatherings put a face to the name on a blog, and if you have the time and can log on often enough it's really not unlike having a cuppa with your buddies.  

Sometimes it's quiet, everyone working on what they are working on. Sometimes it's very chatty. Sometimes we compare the weather, we don't have to talk about covid so much anymore, we show our projects, some give advice, some just stitch and listen. I don't have the stamina the others do, nor the time. When it's 4 p.m. on Friday here it's 6 a.m. the next day in Australia so they have the day ahead of them.  The girls in Europe are even deeper into the night than I am. 

 And as you look at the other girls' work space they have entire dedicated sewing rooms.  This is what my station looked like last night. It changes every time. It's been a hot week here so sitting outside was perfect. Usually in the summer I do sit outside for these zooms but change up where I am so the view behind me is different.

 I scrambled earlier in the day to prep the river I was going to applique to the new thinking project I talked about in the previous post. But it was a big hassle, I couldn't get that perfect piece of fabric to make those curves in the river.  I was using batik and after much help from most everyone I decided Lou was right, the batik was the problem. After 3.5 hours I had just that first  curve done and didn't like it. As much as I fiddled with it, it wouldn't curve roundly, it needed to be pleated and it looked weird. So. I tore it off.  I am going to take someone else's advice and embroider the river.