happy memorial day

We're flying our flag to honor those who died serving our country,

spending time with family,

and waiting patiently for the first summer harvest.

Happy summer!

random bits

A new tree from the Arboretum's plant sale:

It's a dwarf bald cypress and shouldn't grow more than about 8' tall. The needles are soft and feathery and make your hands smell piney.

Potted mandevilla in front of a gate:

The gate is on its side in front of the pool equipment, and the mandevilla will cover it nicely by the end of summer.

And coffee on a Sunday morning:

Working in a school means that the month of May passes in a blur. At this point, it feels like I've run several miles and the end is in sight. A half-finished laundry room curtain has been sitting on my sewing table for months. My sweater sleeves are buried at bottom of the bag. My friend is moving to New Jersey, and I'm trying to finish a small knitted item for her. The get-the-house-ready-to-sell work has stalled. One more week of craziness, and then I'll restore order to this chaos. Or not.

a new quilt

It's time for a new quilt. We have a wonderful new fabric shop in Inwood Village, CityCraft. I was only planning to look around, but in the end, I couldn't resist and walked out with a pattern and fabric stack.

There are, of course, a few projects ahead of this one, but I can see the finished product gracing a boy's bed, and it looks pretty sweet. I don't know what I'm going to do with this:

but it sure is cute. I like long-legged chickens. Speaking of which, I managed to hit a few stops on the coop tour a couple of weeks ago. Very cool coops and lots of good ideas for next time. I think they'll have to wait though. It looks like the house may go on the market soon. So much decluttering to do (says the girl with the new fabric).