I know, I know…I’ve been MIA in blog world for a couple of months.  So here I am once again playing catch-up!  Now that we’re in June, this past April seems far away, but it still held some good times.  May brought a couple of challenges, but it also brought happy moments.  Let’s just dive in…

APRIL FAVORITES!

FAVORITE #1

I ended my March Favorites by showing the promising buds on our purple bearded irises.  My first favorite of April shows that they fulfilled their promise!  This photo was taken on April 8th.

 

FAVORITE #2

My second favorite from April is also from the 8th.  I know it seems like old news now, but since it’s the last complete solar eclipse that Big Eagle and I will probably ever see, it’s still a favorite that needs to be recognized!

On the Saturday night before the eclipse, Big Eagle and I went to Flying Fish in Fort Worth for dinner.  As we checked out, the cashier asked us if we’d like these complimentary  eclipse shades.  Lucky for us!  We hadn’t acquired any yet, so this was great!

On the day of the eclipse, Big Eagle was painting the garage, and he kept taking breaks here and there to watch the progression.  I wasn’t working in the garage, but I, too, kept taking breaks to watch what was happening.

Above is what it looked like on our property during total coverage.  Nature is amazing!

 

FAVORITE #3

Our son Danny and his wife Erin had left a car seat with us when they were here in January.  Erin’s Aunt Sarah and Uncle Dan agreed to pick it up from us on their way through from visiting relatives in Rowlett, so that they can take it up to Erin’s parents this summer.  We had met them at Erin and Danny’s wedding, and it was so nice to see them again!

I’m really glad they sat with us and visited for a while.  Good people!

 

FAVORITE #4

Midway through the month, a former colleague of Big Eagle’s was coming through town while taking a road trip, and he had arranged to meet up with us and another of their colleagues for dinner.  Although they’ve kept in touch through phone calls, I think it had been around 20 years since Big Eagle, Lew, and Randy had seen each other. We all met at Randy and Teresa’s to visit beforehand, and then we went to Mac’s in Arlington for dinner.  It was fun catching up with everyone, and I wish I would have thought to take a group photo.  Ah, well!  I did get this one:

FAVORITE #5

Our only grandson Leo turned one year old on April 18th!  Erin planned his party for the weekend following his birthday.  Since they’re in Vilnius, we were unable to attend, but fortunately they had many friends there who were able to come and help them celebrate the big day!

 

Erin did such a great job with decorations!  And his cupcake/cake was the cutest!

 

FAVORITE #6

In the second half of April, we took a road trip to Louisiana and Florida.  I’ll break this down into 4 parts

PART 1

On Saturday the 20th, Edith was competing in the Louisiana State Elementary Fitness Meet.  She had already competed in the District Fitness Meet which I posted about here and finished as the second overall girl.  So her team of 4 progressed to the state meet.  We met her and Cara in Pineville, where the meet was being held.

There they finished as the second overall team!

PART 2

After the meet we grabbed some lunch and then headed to the Bovet house where we planned to stay until Monday morning.

Did a little grocery shopping with Cara and Helen on Sunday morning.

And then Sunday afternoon, both of the girls were performing in a local children’s theater production of Annie!  Helen was playing the part of Lily (Rooster’s girlfriend), and Edith was playing one of the orphans.

The theater had pictures of the cast posted in the lobby.

 

 

No pictures are allowed during the show, but we had the opportunity to greet the cast outside afterwards.

PART 3

We left the next morning to drive to Florida with plans to visit Big Eagle’s mom and sister and my sisters, too.

Always love seeing Wynne’s baby Chloe!  Loved cuddling with her and petting her while we were there!

 

It was so nice to visit over the few days we were there with Big Eagle’s mom and sister.  The last night we were there, Wynne’s son-in-law James and grandson Devon joined us for dinner.  Glad I thought to snap a picture!

The second day we were in the Clearwater area, we were able to meet up for lunch with my sisters Nancy and Susan and Susan’s husband Rob.  What?  Emily, too?!  My niece Emily lives in Hawaii, and I had no idea she was in town visiting her parents until we met up at the restaurant!  What a GREAT surprise!  We had lunch at Frenchy’s Outpost on the Dunedin Causeway, and got this pic on the huge adirondack chair they have outside.

 

And then this one of just me and my sisters:

As we were leaving, we noticed Nancy had a new ride!

Sweet!  She told us she bought it in September.  It is her dream car!  Love that!

That night we all met up again at Susan and Rob’s house for a night of pizza and catching up.  I got to see my nephew Austin!  Also got to love on Susan’s dog Dekes.  But…duh…didn’t think to take any pictures.  Still, it was a fun time, and the memories are there!

PART 4

After 2 1/2 days in Florida, we headed back to Louisiana.  Stayed in Crestview Thursday night, and drove on to the Bovet’s the next day.  We wanted to be there to see Helen in a teen performance of Chicago on Saturday.  After a visit to the farmer’s market on Saturday morning, back at the house, Cara worked on getting Helen’s hair right for the performance.

 

I’d say she did a GREAT job!

Again, pictures of the cast were displayed as you moved from the lobby into the theater.

 

I think it’s right to say that Helen was part of the chorus.  She didn’t have a highlighted role, but she did have a fun solo line to speak right before the last song/dance.

Paul was there, too.  In fact, he took this picture.  But his seat was closer to the stage, so that was kind of fun.  He had a different perspective from which to watch.  We all really enjoyed the show!

Afterwards, we greeted the actors outside.  I love this picture of Helen with just her grandpa. 🥰

 

And then we also had someone take this one with the whole family.

I so love time spent with family!  But the next day, it was back to Texas for us!

 

FAVORITE #7

My yucca bloomed this year!

I bought and planted this yucca two years ago.  It’s right outside my closet window, which is where my desk and computer are.  Twice since it’s bloomed I’ve seen a bird land on the bloom stalk and stay there for a while!  So cool to watch!

 

MAY FAVORITES

Time marches on!  Let’s look at my May Favorites!

 

FAVORITE #1

The very first Friday in May, I picked up my friend Lynn from her house, and we drove down to Waxahachie!  We had plans to do coffee and breakfast and then head to the Vintage Market Days!

They have a really cute coffee shop in Waxahachie that’s in an old train depot not too far from downtown.  It was the best place to hang out and have a leisurely breakfast to start our day!

We sipped on our coffees and chatted, and then when our order was called out, Lynn went to pick it up.  Here she is bringing it back to our table.  Thanks, Lynn! 😁

Everything was so good!  With our bellies full, we headed to the Vintage Market.

I don’t know what was going on with the gal to my right, but she wouldn’t leave the bench while we had our picture taken!

We browsed all the rooms and booths, chatting along the way, and let me tell you, there was A LOT to see!  We even ran into a colleague from our teaching days!  Would you believe we left without making a single purchase?  Truth!

It was early afternoon by the time we left, and we decided to stop at 54th Street in Mansfield on the way home to have some wine and nibbles.

It didn’t matter that we made no purchases.  What made the day was just the ability to do all the catching up with each other!  It had been too long!  We need to be better at intentionally making time for our friendship.

 

FAVORITE #2

That same day, when I got home from my outing, there was a delivery waiting for me from Famous In Oregon!  I had placed an order the previous Monday during the live sale.

The one on the left is a Philodendron Congo Rojo, and the one on the right is a Calathea Rosy Roseopicta.  As I was looking around for a pot, I found this one that I had purchased and given to my mom when she was living here.  Oh, the memories!  Anyway, it seemed like a good one for the philodendron.

 

A closer look at the calathea.  I just love the color!  And all the new growth, too!

While I’m on the topic of plants from FIO, I have to say I was THRILLED to see my Miltonia Orchid that I purchased last year blooming again!  I feel like I have learned so much about houseplant care by following Tanner the Planter!

 

 

FAVORITE #3

Just a couple of pics from the vegetable garden.  One of my favorite hobbies once we start nearing the end of January all the way through June!  Here was the status of the garden on May 8th:

Cucumbers starting on the far left, two short rows of green beans next to them.  Two short row of sugar snap peas in the back left with three bell peppers planted between them.  Eight tomato plants (two Celebrities in the foreground and six San Marzanos behind them).  Onions on the far right.  Unobservable in this picture: dill, basil, and one jalapeno pepper plant.

One of my favorite sights every year is how you can see each individual pea in the pod while the sun is shining behind it!

 

FAVORITE #4

On May 16th our son Danny texted us a video of his son Leo starting to walk!  Here is a screen shot from that video:

Big milestone for our boy!  Yay for you, Leo! 😍

 

FAVORITE #5

Near the end of the month, I received another order from Famous in Oregon.  During the Monday live sale, they offered their mystery boxes again, and I couldn’t resist!

Bella had packaged my plants, and they arrived in great condition! I’m most excited about the Philodendron Twisted Sister on the left!  I already have two snake plants, but thankfully neither of them are the same variety as this one. I also ordered their light meter.  One of the many things I have learned from Tanner the Planter is that proper light is one of the main considerations in the health of your houseplants.

This will be my last order until cooler temps return.  It’s just too risky to have those plants sitting in the UPS truck all day in these sweltering Texas summers!

 

FAVORITE #6

Around here we can tell when it’s about to be June without a calendar.  When the daylilies at the back of the house send up these budding shoots, it’s a sure sign that June is arriving!

 

FAVORITE #7

Blooming daylilies are not the only thing in store for June.  On the last day of May these were sitting on the bar in our kitchen.

A clear sign that June will be the time to let the salsa making begin!

Whew!  It is not my favorite thing to combine two months of favorites in one post, so hopefully I will stay on top of things better now!  It’s been a while!  Maybe you have something you’d like to tell ME about after all this time.  I’m listening!