This morning I took the walk we do most days; three miles to the creek and back.
We go past the old church and I usually stop to peek inside through the locked door and say hello to God. I sometimes have a request or a thank you and then head back for home.
This afternoon I was expecting my mother-in-law and when I opened the front door, there was a beautiful butterfly sitting on my welcome mat flapping her wings, brilliant in orange and brown. I greeted her and she flew around me and then landed on my chest. Just then Joy came around the corner carrying a bouquet of lily of the valley from her garden. What a heavenly aroma! Delightful gifts right at my front door!!
Recently we added a screened room to our deck and my oh my what a difference it makes!
It's like a new room in our house. It's 13x10, has a floor and completely enclosed to keep the mosquitoes away. We love sitting there listening to the birds and feeling the breezes. The view out back is now a million shades of green, dotted with bright red cardinals and the bluest blue jays.
Joy and I went to the hanging basket sale in the grocery parking lot last week. Oh what fun! hundreds of baskets to choose from. I came home with lavender geranium, purple petunias, pink double impatiens, coleus, and a yellow one called million bells. Three of the baskets are hanging on our screened deck.
Jonathon, Mike and I volunteered for set up for the Cultural Festival last Friday. It brought back memories of BTS and all the years of set up! We all went to the Festival on Saturday and so did another 12,000 people or so!! We ate Jamaican food, bought baskets from Ghana and Kenya and origami from Japan. We saw German dancers, Flamenco dancers and Native American dance. We ate German potato cakes and sweet scones from Czechoslovakia.
On Mother's Day we had a lovely brunch at the Wooden Chair and then walked over to the Clay Corner and got their schedule for painting and pottery classes! It's on our list! Mom especially wants to paint on canvas. Next stop; Geppetto's Workshop where we all became kids again looking at the toys, books, games, and puzzles. I had the strongest urge to buy a stuffed animal for myself. :)
Jonathon and his brothers are refurbishing the pontoon boat to get it ready for the summer.
We are looking forward to many boating adventures all around the area.
Flowers and trees are budding and the woods are coming alive again after a monochromatic winter we are officially in technicolor!!! Kinda like the scene in the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy's house lands in OZ and she opens the door to COLOR!! Wha-la!!
There are two new baby girls in town and another baby on the way! Baby showers are such fun!
Recently we had a lovely visit from our friends who live in Middleton who were in nearby Iola for an Arbor Day run. They drove over for lunch and we sat and had a nice long "catch up" and a walk down to the river. These are dear friends from Back To School in AZ, who moved to Wisconsin 5 years ago.
Right after Easter we had a whirlwind visit to Arizona! I tried to pack in a visit with at least 40 people in 5 days, which of course is IMPOSSIBLE! But we did see many friends and of course family and it was just what my heart needed. We had dinners, and lunches and brunches and shopping with the girls and even a girls night out!!! It was PURE JOY to be back in Arizona. We celebrated the sun! the flowers! the color! the light! the warmth!!! and most importantly the people so dear that we miss so much. I feel renewed and energized and when we came back to Wisconsin the weather here was warm and lovely and it was the beginning of Spring!!
Tonight we are going to Aunt Anne's for a grill out! It is a gorgeous, sunny day, but rain and thunderstorms are predicted for the next four days! We'll see what develops. The forecasts change every hour or so. It's fascinating to live where there is actual WEATHER!! LOL!!!
