Well, okay, it’s not technically summer yet but this weekend we made our preparations as best we could. It was a beautiful weekend weather-wise for doing things in the yard.

We put the screens and curtains up on the poolside cabana, brought out the umbrella and the deck lounges and chairs. (Pool not open yet, but hopefully this week!)

I planted some pots.

I did a lot of weeding of the back flower beds. In doing so I discovered two very different columbines. At least I think they are a variety of columbine since the leaf is the same. They are both in different flower beds and very far apart. Here is the double one.

And this one doesn’t open any more than this but has many layers. Anyone have any ideas? They were not there last year and I certainly didn’t plant them. ? Maybe I pulled them up last year in a fit of zealous weeding but they had dropped seeds the year before?

We planted marigolds in the front flower bed. We planted our kitchen herbs in the old dry sink which join the already planted and potted tomatoes on the deck. I am hoping for a great harvest of patio and cherry tomatoes this year.

Last year we didn’t plant tomatoes because we got such a late start with our trip back to Colorado in mid June. This year we decided to stay home for June since it’s such a lovely time of year here and the pool really suffered while we were gone. Plus, we missed some quality pool time, not to mention firefly season! So, this year we’ll do our cabin trip in September instead.

Water dog Bella had fun with her wading pool this weekend too. She is always sticking her feet and head in the water bucket, so we thought she’d enjoy having a bigger water feature.

...testing, testing ....

hey, this is fun ...

i think there’s a bone in here somewhere ...

I have no idea what’s going to happen once the pool is open. I know she’s going to end up in it at least once. Oh boy.

We went to the Warwick farmer’s market and bought fresh baby lettuces, scallions, radishes, bread, cheese, and a mini quiche for our Sunday lunch. Yum. I’m glad the market has started back up again. It’s a summer tradition for us and one that we love.

So, we had a busy weekend but it felt good to get things done. We ended the weekend with one of our favorite meals last night: grilled artichokes and lamb chops “scotta dita” (or burned fingers because they sell them on the streets of Italy and you just hold them by the bone and eat them quick while they are hot!) while listening to the cool vibe of Bossa ‘n Stones, (the Rolling Stones hits done with a bossa nova beat) which we discovered while eating in a restaurant in San Miguel.

I hope you all had a great kick-off weekend to the beginning of summer!

Tomorrow I’m taking you back to San Miguel again. I certainly hope you’re not getting bored with your armchair vacation ...

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!

I don’t have much to say lately. Sometimes I think I should just stop blogging. I mean, who reads this anyway? This blog was started three years ago when we first moved to New Jersey as a way of letting friends and family left behind know what was going on in our lives. I think that purpose pretty much failed since I know many of my friends just don’t read it. I can keep it for myself as an online diary but I could do that offline just as easily. I hate spammers leaving links to their websites embedded in comments. Just yesterday I had five; all of them total crap.

Rick is in Las Vegas this week at the trade show. I do miss him when he’s gone. A lot. Thanks goodness he doesn’t have to travel that much anymore. I opted not to join him this time as I preferred to go to Mexico instead and we couldn’t afford to do both. Plus, as much fun as Vegas is there is only just so much to see and do that you haven’t done before.

I always struggle with what to eat by myself. This time I thought I’d give some frozen dinners a try and ended up throwing the first one out last night (yuck) and the second one I tried wasn’t much better. I wonder how people can eat a steady diet of that junk?  Yet I always see people’s shopping carts piled high with just that. I think a grilled cheese sandwich would be much better and just about as easy.

I am so looking forward to our visit to San Miguel de Allende in less than two weeks and seeing my in-laws. It’s exciting to be able to see where they are going to live. When I tell people they are moving to Mexico some look at me blankly and ask me this question that I find hilarious: “What nationality are they?” Maybe it’s because Rick and I have lived as ex-pats in several “foreign” countries (Germany, The Netherlands and France) that I don’t find their move a bit odd. Who knows, in years to come we might find ourselves living in Mexico for the winter and the cabin for the summer.

We had our first thunderstorm of the year last night, and of course it was just as I was going to bed. At first I tried reading but with the light on I couldn’t really see the lightening so I turned it off and enjoyed the storm. By the way, does anyone have any idea why they call them thunderstorms and not lighteningstorms? The thunder was so close and so violent last night (not a word normally used to describe thunder but last night’s thunder can only be described in that way) that it literally rocked the house. It felt like an earthquake! My poor house trembled and shook at the concussive blasts. Wow. Mother Nature was sure having fun with us a couple of times.

I am proud to say that it was Bella’s first thunderstorm and she slept through it. Not really sure how she did because it was enough to wake the extremely dead. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced thunder like that. One strike must have hit on the ridge above my neighbor’s house because the lightening and thunder were pretty much simultaneous. So much so that it made me get up to look out the window to make sure their house hadn’t been blown apart by the blast. I kid you not!

Before the storm the peepers were giving a free concert. I sat in the sunroom with the TV off, door open to the night, reading my book. Their cheery trilling acts like a balm for me. I am always amazed at their froggy musical compositions. How do groups of them stop and start at the same time? Their harmony is spot on with one group carrying the main tune and other groups chiming in as needed.  Then all of sudden they all become quiet like someone turned off a switch.Do they have a frog choral conductor?

The peepers are only one of the things I love about living in New Jersey. (I mentioned above that it’s been three years since we moved here. Three years. Where does the time go?) Colorado was my home for many many years and I did love it but it was, well, kind of boring compared to living here. The seasons are so separate here and we have the fauna to remind us exactly what season it is. We have the peepers in spring. Next come the fireflies which arrive in early summer, June through mid-July. I wish the fireflies would stay longer because I find them so magical. When the fireflies leave it’s time for the cicadas to sing their loud scratchy songs from the trees. It’s the sound of summer.

I did finish my second “Down Mexico Way” dish towel and am onto my third. Here is the lovely señorita. Pollo anyone?

Okay, enough going on and on about not much of anything! On to the rest of the day!

Welcome to my view!

The world outside my front door is yellow and blue. The forsythia hedge glows.

This naked tree appears to be wearing it as a skirt.

Yellow daffodils nod their frilly heads in the sun.

And now for the blue. This little flower is all by itself in the middle of the front yard.

Do I dare to say I think spring has finally arrived?