Why is it that I could not pick up my embroidery without humming that song that Willie Nelson sang ...

South of the border down Mexico way
That’s where I fell in love when stars above came out to play
Now as I wander my thoughts ever stray
South of the border down Mexico way

Gee, maybe it was because this was the name of the pattern for them! The tea towels are finished! Here is the last one.

And as requested by a reader, all three tea towels together. I’m not sure which one is my favorite. Maybe the last one with the guitar.

My hands feel idle now. I certainly enjoyed doing them and now can’t wait to get started on some towels of my own, but that will have to wait until our return. I hope Rick’s mom likes them! I have a feeling she won’t use them, but if she just gets enjoyment out of looking at them hanging on a hook that will be enough for me.

On the Mexican vacation front ...
We talked to Rick’s mom last night as she wanted to see what we were thinking in regard to our trip to visit with all the swine flu hype. She told us that there are no reported cases in the entire state of Guanajuato in which San Miguel lies. We are not flying into Mexico City (thank goodness!) but into a smaller, closer airport. Schools are closed there but life is going on as usual with added care taken to sanitize hands. She told us to bring plenty of wipes since they are no longer to be found there.

We are armed with Tamiflu pills, immune boosters from the health food store, masks, hand sanitizing products and our own good health. In a way I feel like I’m in one of those science fiction end-of-the-world-style movies with my arsenal of “stay healthy” products.  I’m sure we’ll be fine. Please don’t worry about us!

Things may be a bit more quiet in San Miguel than normal but we have been assured both by Rick’s mom and his cousin that a good time is still to be had. So, we are going. I get very strange looks from people when I tell them we are headed off to Mexico. Incredulous looks. Are you sitting there reading this and shaking your head in agreement with all those people too?

I don’t think I’ll be blogging at all while down there. Our only internet access will be from Rick’s cousin’s house and we might go once or twice to check our email but not sure how much time I will have to post anything. I will try to at least post a photo with a quick update.

The kids here at home will be looked after by our dear friend Carolyn who is going to house-sit for us. I’m sure she’ll have them better trained in no time. Either that or they will train her just as they have trained us over the years to bend to their every whim. I feel great going on vacation knowing she is in charge.

eBay reading the San Miguel guidebook

Now I just have to decide which clothes to pack ...

This morning Johnny had his first mowing session and he was raring to go. I think he enjoyed having his old mowing deck back on again after wearing his heavy winter garb—the snowblower. Kind of like trading boots for sandals. It seems a bit early for the first mow of the season, but it really did need to be done. With the prospect of rainy days ahead for the next couple of days before we leave, I was anxious to get it done.

The birds were singing (the wood thrush is back with its wonderful song!) and the air was cool and fresh. The smell of onions permeated the air as Johnny’s blades lopped their tops off. The trees looked so pretty in their “new green” leafiness. Round and round all the trees and obstacles, up and down all the slopes and inclines. I did notice a flower-like plant in several spots in the back yard and even more of them in the front. Unfortunately I ran over one before I realized it might not just be a weed. I took more care in the front and tried my best to mow around them. I’ll be watching for them to bloom to see what they are. They looked like something my neighbor Aileen had coming up in her yard—some kind of wood lily something-or-other.

Before I knew it the back yard was finished and then, just as easily, the front. Good boy Johnny!

With the extremely warm temperatures we’ve had over the past several days (89 on Saturday, 90 on Sunday and 89 on Monday) the trees and bushes are on fast forward. If you blink you might miss the further unfurling of a leaf.  On Friday there was just the tiniest bit of green fuzziness appearing and now it’s an explosion! Last night I could still see through the trees and into the back woods, but this morning the leaves are out so much that it’s not possible. They’ve doubled overnight.  It’s a little early for them to be so advanced but it’s kind of nice. They say we have one more day of this unseasonably warm weather and then we go back to more normal temps in the 60’s. I’ll be glad for that. I don’t need summer heat in spring! Photo above taken yesterday; photo below taken this morning.

The forsythia is still in full bloom but soon its leaves will take over the flowers.

I’ve got a new lens that I am fooling around with, a Lensbaby. It’s an odd little lens that allows you to blur objects by tilting the lens around and have one spot that it’s in focus. The photos above were taken with it. I still need lots of practice but I’m semi-happy with some of the results.

While the trees are on fast forward, there are still some things that take their time. The ferns are taking it slowly. See all the little fronds waiting to unfold?

The Lensbaby also came with a set of two macro lenses. You know me, I am a macro girl! It creates some other-wordly looking results.

I’ll be interested to hear what you think of the Lensbaby results.

The dogs aren’t too happy about the weather either. They can’t go with me anymore in the car when I go on errands. That’s their favorite thing to do. Hopefully today will be the last day of that and we can enjoy some lovely spring weather along with our newly green trees.

P.S. In case you are wondering, our trip to Mexico is still on at this point. We are waiting to see what happens in the next few days with the swine flu, but unless they cancel all travel to Mexico we will still go!

This morning around 7:00 a.m. we had a our first bear visit of the year. It was just a small cub, probably one of last year’s. He/she stopped for a few minutes to check out the bird food station, then walked up our driveway, pausing to check out one of our light posts.

I think it’s the same bear we’ve been seeing in the woods lately, and probably the same bear that wintered in our neighbor’s tool storage container. It seems a little young to be on its own, but maybe something happened to its mother. Perhaps it’s one of the fantastic five of Myrtle’s?

It was nice to see!

Ever since we moved here I’ve been finding various things, such as toy soldiers and lego pieces, that surface in the woods within our yard and just beyond the yard boundaries. At first I didn’t think about it much since I knew that the people who first built our house had children. Why else the paranoia fencing around the pool? But they keep cropping up. In the past I’ve just picked them up and thrown them away without thinking too much else about it, but now I am going to document them just for fun.

A few days ago I was roaming around looking for things (anything at this time of year) to photograph when I saw two things lying on the ground that were not naturally occurring colors: bright neon green and bright yellow. The arrows mark the spot in case you can’t see them. For some reason the yellow doesn’t show up very well in the photo.

Upon closer inspection I found two lego blocks within 50 feet of each other. I photographed them just as I found them—not one leaf or twig did I move.

The strange thing about this is that they were not there a couple of weeks ago. Plus, they are on top of the leaves, not buried beneath them. If they had been left in that spot by the previous owner’s children you would think they would be under last year’s leaves. Are squirrels hoarding them and then dropping them from their nests? Where are they coming from? Any ideas?