I was lucky enough, in fact, to wind up with 2 that I actually like. While it’s nice to have choices, I actually prefer to have one obvious shot-of-the-day so that I can process it, upload it to flickr, and be done. I do not, I suppose, appreciate the hard decisions that I sometimes have to make.

And so, I am going to leave it up to you all to decide. Tell me in the comments, please, do you like:

Broad Shouldered Hawk in Pine Tree?

or

Broad Shouldered Hawk in Maple Tree?

I await your decision.

no worries, I definitely like peonies!

1. Exercising. This is still my goal, to like exercising. It helps knowing that even people who exercise regularly don’t necessarily like it.
2. Making salad. I love to eat salad and I know I’d eat a lot more of it if I liked making it. Honestly, though I abhor making a salad.
3. Crocheting. I keep trying and thinking that if I did it more I’d learn to like it but it hasn’t happened yet.
4. Hiking. I have friends who go on these cool hikes and it sounds great. And then I get out there and I get winded and sweaty and I hate it. I do like the part of hiking that involves having a picnic, though.
5. Cleaning. I could save a lot of money if I didn’t hire someone else to do this.
6. Winter. It’s no secret that I love spring and summer and all that goes along with those seasons. I wish I could like winter, though, so that I wouldn’t be so miserable when it’s here.
7. Meditating. It’s supposed to be really great to clear you mind and just be but I have such a hard time with this. I think about all the things I should be doing instead.
8. Math. I do what I have to do for work (budgets, spreadsheets, statistics)  but I sure don’t enjoy it.
9. Reading the paper. I know it’s a great way to keep up on local news but I hate the smell of the ink and I hate getting it on my hands. I find the whole thing just annoying. Thank goodness for Facebook and online newspapers.
10. Stacking firewood. I put this on here for Dale because I knew HE really wishes I liked doing this. Heh.

If you’re writing a Ten on Tuesday post be sure to add your link below!

It’s a pretty floral pattern that actually reminds me of Monet’s waterlilies with lots of green and a bit of lavender and purple thrown in. As I was driving home from the store and mentally running down the list of shawls that I have I wasn’t really hitting on anything green. Nevertheless I was sure I would find something that would match once I got home.

You know where this is going, right? There was nothing. No. Thing. That. Matched. Not green, not purple, not lavender. There was, however, some lovely green Douceur et Soie yarn in my stash, that blended perfectly with the darkest green in the dress.

I can totally knit a flower basket shawl in a week.

Here’s the iris from Wednesday as it looks today. The sun came out and it popped, just as I predicted it would.

It’s supposed to be a glorious weekend and I’m planning on reveling in it. I hope you do, too!

Anyway, these are No Purl Monkeys and I made the mistake of leaving them on the dining room table. I didn’t really think it was a mistake, they were just sitting there waiting to be photographed. And then Hannah moved home and saw them and asked if she could have them. What could I say, right?

The yarn, because I know you will ask, is Yarn Pirate Superwash BFL in the color Cicada. It pooled and striped in a way I did not anticipate but I like it just the same. I also really like the socks and had definitely planned on keeping them for myself. As it turns out, though,  I don’t think they would have fit me since Hannah had to struggle a bit to get them on. She says it was meant to be.

I say she’s been home less than a week and she’s already stealing my socks. Sheesh.

Mason has nothing on his to-do list except eat, sleep and play. 

1. Wash the windows. This one is actually mine and I plan on doing it this Friday if the weather permits. Our house is close to a main road and boy do our windows get filthy over the winter.
2. Plant some new perennials. Our town’s Garden Club plant sale is this Saturday and I plan on going and picking up a few things for the perennial bed.
3. Buy annuals and plant them. That’s also on the list for this Saturday.
4. RSVP to all the graduation and birthday party invites. ‘Tis the season!
5. Put the Adirondack chairs out on the deck. It’s time!
6. Replace the broken board on the deck.
7. Clean the gutters.
8. Paint the trim on the windows facing the street.
9. Paint the picnic table.
10. Have a fire in the fire pit. Not everything on a to-do list has to be work, you know!

That would be my kid who is home from college. And not just temporarily this time. You see, she has transferred to the university in the next town over from us . . . and she doesn’t want to live on campus . . . so she’ll be living at home for the foreseeable future.

I’ll just give you a moment to let that sink in.

There are many reasons why this transfer is the right thing for Hannah. First and foremost, the school she was attending didn’t offer the program she wanted to study. Let me explain –  while she still wants to be a teacher (that hasn’t changed since she was 5 years old), she has decided that she wants to be a special needs teacher who works with children with several physical disabilities. This decision did not come as a surprise to me since she has spent the last two summers working as a teacher’s aide at a school that provides specialized programs for kids with all kinds of physical and medical problems and she has loved it. By making this decision she really then had no choice other than to change schools and it just so happens that one of the best schools in the state for this course of study is the one that’s only 10 minutes up the road.

The second reason, and the one that’s at least equally as important to Hannah, is that she just wasn’t happy at school. She hated living in the dorm, she constantly complained about the food in the cafeteria, and (according to her anyway) she just didn’t fit in. So she asked if she could live at home and commute to school and we said  . . . yes.

It will be a big adjustment for all of us – Dale and I have really enjoyed the freedom of being empty nesters and Hannah has equally enjoyed the freedom of coming and going as she pleased. But I’m proud of her for knowing what she wants and recognizing the best way to get there. It will be cheaper and more practical and I’m keeping an open mind and thinking that we can make it work.

Of course, the irony of how I felt in those first weeks when she left two years ago as compared to now isn’t lost on me.

Life sure is funny that way.

I think it’s wonderful that Macro May coincides with the blooming of all the tiny spring wildflowers – it gives me a great excuse to take pictures of Star of Bethlehem!

Have a fantastic weekend, my friends!

Anyway, I spent the better part of Friday morning doing some baking – peach crumb bars, cherry pie and pumpkin bread and then we set up our camp on Friday afternoon. It was a bit rainy but we managed and Dale actually slept in our tent that night. (I’m no fool, I went to my nice warm, comfortable bed which was less than 1/4 of a mile away.) For the event on Saturday we had fair weather – it was cloudy but it didn’t rain – and we had a great turn out of reenactors and spectators. We set up a recruiting station and everyone who wanted to participate “signed up” and received the name of a Civil War soldier from our town who enlisted.

We had some, errrr, interesting recruits. But I’m betting they learned a bit about what it was like to be a soldier and I’m also betting they had a pretty good time.

Dale and our good friend Doug did a roll call and the names of our soldiers were read and each participant assigned to that soldier’s name responded with a loud “here!” It’s actually a very cool moment during the day and we think it’s a fitting tribute to the sacrifices of these men from 150 years ago.

The best part of the day, though, was when my friend Wendy presented the reproduction flag that our town’s Historical Commission hired her to paint. It’s an exact replica of the 29th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry flag and Wendy painstakingly created it from partial photographs and information. Of course you can’t actually see Wendy in that photo – she’s shy and standing by Dale’s shoulder – but you can see what an amazing job she did painting this flag.

Once the flag presentation was done the company marched across the street to the cemetery to pay respects at Frank Harlow’s grave. (It’s not really his grave but you already know that.) Dale said a few words and they fired a salute and then our friend Ted played “Taps.” There were more than a few tears shed, I can tell you that.

The soldiers then marched back through the cemetery and over to the common for the remainder of the afternoon. We relaxed a bit, talked to spectators about camp life during the Civil War, did some socializing and knitting and . . . wait, there was one other thing . . .what was it . . . oh, now I remember . . .

Celebrated Kentucky Derby Day!