Where Did May Go?

Dear Oh Dear….Where did May go?
I can't believe sometimes how quickly time passes.   I have taken plenty of photos over the last few weeks with better than great intentions to convert those into blog posts…but life just plain and simple got in the way!
So here we are at the end of the month and I will try and recap with pictures!
Let's started from the long weekend…

Mom and I got all the plants and seeds for the garden.   She spent a lot of her morning planting while I weed whipped.
Here she is…and I am happy to report that now 2 weeks after this was taken almost all of the seeds have sprouted and we will be eating fresh garden lettuce in about another 10 days!   Hurray!

Here is the garden from the other angle.

Mom and I also made it our mission to clean up some brush and old shrubs around the house and along the fence line.  This is the area where are propane tank resides.   It was over grown with forsythia to the point that it never even flowered.  

Before

During

After

Mom and I also chopped the overgrown raspberry bramble that was more that just slightly out of hand!

Before

During

(~~Note that my mom and I got a really good belly laugh going when the 2 of us were trying to light a brush fire with spent racing fuel and a kleenx.   It's a wonder we both still have our eyebrows!)

After

My Dad and DH spent their weekend working at removing the old round pen from the driveway / parking area.   All this dirt is being used to build the platforms that we need for the shelters in each of the pastures.  

Last weekend DH and I removed the old clothes line that was nearly falling over.   It was discovered the posts where only in the ground 18-24" so it was no wonder a full load of wet towels and high winds from living on the hill were ripping these post right out of the ground!   All 4 posts are gone and new posts will be set in soon so that outdoor fresh drying of clothes can begin!!

We got some new windows in the house.   These are the 2 largest window in the entire house.   After the winter that we just had and the extreme, extended cold spell; we knew we had to try and improve the insulation value to reduce the rather big expense to heating the house.    The new windows look great and were installed by a local craftsman.

Back Entrance to Mudroom - After

Front of House - Before

Front of House - After

It's amazing what a difference having a cross breeze in the front room makes now that we have windows that open on that prevailing west side of the house.   Now we need a new front door and a patio!!   :-)

On Victoria Day, I took this picture of the local Robin that has taken up house in the tree beside the pergola.

Here is the nest on May 19th.

Here is the nest on May 29th

My friend Theresa and I have been trying to help each other get our running mojo's back.   After being sick for an extended amount of time without really knowing it…I am finally diagnosed and feeling better now that I am on an iron supplement.  Funny how symptoms in isolation really don't seem to mean much but when you add them all up and lump them together it makes a whole lot more sense!

Lastly, I was fortunate enough to spend the last several days of May with a wonderful group of woman in a clinic with Josh Nichol.    More to come on the clinic in a later post.   For now, my synopsis in a line is that I am very blessed with a lovely little horse and to share time and space with Josh so I could embody his philosophy of training, living and being present in our everyday existence.