In which we spend a quiet Memorial Day....

I know it's been awhile since I updated - it's been a little busy here. Maddy and I were planning on taking a bunch of pictures when we drove over to Cold Spring for the grand opening of her friend's new salon, but the weather didn't cooperate. By the time we left A Twist of Fate, a nasty thunderstorm was bearing down upon us, so we hightailed it home instead of playing photojournalist. Next time....

Anyway, remember that rhododendron? This is what it looks like now and it isn't even entirely bloomed out yet. Maddy was just standing at the bottom pointing her camera up for this shot, and she's five feet tall. I bet the rhododendron is about thirty feet at the apex. John-John said it was the Mount Everest of rhododendrons.

While we were getting this shot, we kept hearing an annoyed "mew - mew - mew" coming from quite close by...

We finally tracked it down to a catbird way up near the top of Mount Rhododendron. We're not sure, but it looks like a female on a nest. Maddy said it wouldn't be the first time they've built there.










~*~

Meanwhile, in the back yard...

A treehouse would be nice right about here. Maybe one with a hot tub...

"Caroline! Get down from there before you get hurt - ow!"

Emmaline was okay - she just tripped over a root.

The rain didn't wreck all the peonies....

 And John-John and Maddy have finally figured out that the vine taking over the old TV antenna on the back porch is in fact the grapevine her father tried, and obviously failed, to get rid of because it wasn't producing grapes. It looks like it's going to have plenty this year. If we're lucky, we might even be able to get a few before the birds, squirrels, raccoons, etc., eat all of them.








On a more serious note, Maddy is trying to think of something to contribute to the auction the members of Hittygirls are putting together for the Oklahoma tornado victims.

"I don't think I'm good enough at making dresses yet to make any for the auction," she said. "Making a Hitty is out - I'm not a carver and I think they really want a wooden one."




"How about a quilt?" Shel said. Maddy, Val and I all jumped - none of us had heard him come in the living room.

"Sorry..." He looked sheepish. "But this one came out nice."


"That's not my pattern," Maddy said. "I don't want to use someone else's."

"Make a pattern," Val said. "Maybe like a heart or a whale or something."

"Or a ship," John-John suggested from the other room.

"That would require me learning how to draw first," Maddy replied.

I don't know about them, but I think we're onto something here....