Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Misty May and Mothers Day

We have survived the first heat wave of 2020. It was in the 80s Friday, Saturday and Sunday; that's summer weather for us. On Friday Poppy got to play with the 'neighbor boy' for the first time since the splint came off; they had a blast! I had to wait until they got kinda-sorta tuckered out to get anything but a blur:



On Saturday evening we took a three-mile family walk at sunset, which was lovely:





But I think all that exercise might have been a bit much; Poppy has been pretty gimpy on her bad leg ever since. ๐Ÿ˜•

Mothers Day was a disorganized jumble, but hey, that can be a good thing – like tossed salad. ๐Ÿ˜†

The neighbors to our east had work for Brian in the morning, which he jumped on since he hasn't saved up enough for his part of the car insurance yet and it's due this month. And Rick took off without notice to his mother's to help her with some stuff, leaving me to my own devices (it's a good thing I don't have a lot of expectations!). So I called my mom for a nice, long chat. Gardening came up, and I mentioned that our plot is ready but for the rototilling, which is a bit of a roadblock. Brian and I were ready to rent a walk-behind; Rick's been stalling because he much prefers to borrow a client's tiller attachment so he can sit on a tractor seat, but we have overwintered kale, parsley, and beets that I don't want to sacrifice. After talking to Mom, I decided to call and ask Rick (as a Mothers Day favor ๐Ÿ˜‰) if he would rent a tiller if he was going to be done at his mom's in time to use it. Glory be, he conceded! He also brought his mother back with him, which momentarily threw me for a loop. But rather than feeling obligated to "entertain" without notice, I went ahead with my plan to shear a sheep. I pulled out Bette, who was surprisingly easy to do (I was able to roo her undercarriage, hence the woolly line at the lower edge of her belly.

It was nice to have a relatively quick and easy shearing job, especially on a hot day. Last Wednesday I sheared Bardot, who I thought would be easy but ended up taking longer than anyone else so far. ๐Ÿ˜ณ But that's seven done; only four more to go.
Bardot's BIG fleece
Bardot, sans fleece

I carried up my fleece harvest about the time Rick finished the garden. He needed to return the tiller and I needed a shower, after which I was looking forward to the mother/son horseback ride Brian had promised me for Mothers Day. But before we got to that, Rick returned from town – with his mother still in tow! Unwilling to give up the one thing Brian planned for me for Mothers Day, I initiated a conversation about how the remainder of the day would be spent (Rick's side of the family is not big on communication๐Ÿ˜). Rick (or his mom?) wanted to drive by the iris fields; Brian and I needed a certain amount of daylight for our ride; I suggested getting take-out food to eat so we'd have time to do both. Win-win-win!






But wait; there's more! After our short ride I asked Brian if he'd be willing to help me with Stella. I thought it would be special to get to sit on her back for the first time for Mothers Day, but realized that might be too much to try for. But with Brian holding her I was able to lay on her back, then put a leg over the saddle while holding onto the arena fence. At that point Brian decided he didn't want me to risk getting hurt so I held Stella and he eased into the saddle from the arena fence – from both sides. Stella was tense and nervous, but stood like a rock and made me proud. So did my boy. ๐Ÿ˜Š


I didn't get store-bought flowers for Mothers Day, but that's just fine because we have so many beauties just outside:






Yesterday after work, I picked up some vegetable seeds and starts. There wasn't enough time to plant everything by the time I got home from Poppy's PT, but I did get the starts in the ground to take advantage of the predicted showers. I got one each of the three eggplant varieties, and two each of the pepper and three tomato varieties. I didn't realize until later that I was charged for 14 starts instead of 11; hopefully the store will take my word for it and give me three more starts when I go to town on Thursday.

That's it for now from . . .

11 comments:

Mama Pea said...

You had quite the jam-packed Mother's Day! (Along with a couple of surprises.) Such progress with Stella. Here's hoping you (somehow) find the time to work with her in the next few months. And also . . . let the gardening begin!!

Michelle said...

Yes, Stella is coming along! Never fear; I squeeze in at least a little time EVERY day to work with her, even if just in her stall to build trust. Here's to a good garden this year for everyone!

Endah Murniyati said...

Beautiful sky and also irises

Cappy said...

That's so exciting about backing Stella! And just wow to everything else! :-)

DianeOart said...

Great picture of you and your son :)

Jeanne said...

I'm so glad Poppy got to play with the "neighbor boy"! It's too bad though, that she overdid it. I hope she's doing okay now.

The sunset pictures you got room your walk are beautiful!

You really had a jam-packed Mother's Day! I'm glad you got to talk with your mom.

It must be beyond great, that Brian was able to sit astride Stella! The pictures are really good.

Michelle said...

Yes, we are blessed with lots of natural beauty in this area, Endah!

Thanks for sharing in my excitement, Cappy. :-)

Thanks, Diane; nice to document the rare ride for posterity. ;-)

She's doing better now, Jeanne.

Debbie said...

Your Mother's Day turned out pretty nice!

Your garden will be amazing.

Thank you always for the wonderful photos!

Michelle said...

It had its treasured moments, Debbie! The starts are getting well soaked; wish I'd gotten the seeds in.

Claire MW said...

Those irises! Beautiful. I do see a couple of mine poking timid shoots up through the soil, but we're still having regular frost, so I don't blame them.

Rachel Wildwinter said...

Very thoughtful bllog