a blog about the garden of life and life in the garden
We finally got our patio set out this past weekend so now when I take a break from gardening I have a great view of the birds coming to drink. First one is a Tennessee warbler and in the second photo he is joined by a Yellow warbler.
Look who flew in to join the yellow warbler...
a Nashville warbler.
Soon there is a female American Restart and a...
pair of American Goldfinches.
Break time is over...time to get back to the garden.
In reading my friend Debbie's blog this morning I saw she joined an event called Mosaic Monday. I clicked on the link to hostess, Mary and her blog, The Little Red House, and starting viewing the others. What a wonderful idea and what beautiful and creative mosaics. Click on the title of her blog for the link to see the other's participating. I have a busy Monday planned but took time to run out and grab a few photos of my current blossoms for a mosaic. While other areas of the country are past the blossom times of the tulips, daffodils and crab apple trees mine are still going strong. We also have wild plum trees blooming and I look forward to the lilacs in a week or two. The spring scent around here is so wonderful and lovely but allergy inducing! 
News from the garden: 
While his sister, Alexis, may be the Dancing Queen...Ben is definitely the Piano Man.
Last night, I had the privilege of watching Benjamin perform at his second recital and he did a fantastic job. Click HERE for a flashback of last year's performance, you are not going to believe how much he has grown in one year. Once again the recital was divided into categories and these were Ben's choices...
the first blooms on the autumn brillance serviceberry tree I planted last fall...
wild plum blossoms...
busy bird feeders...
and little spots of color.
Jayme & I had the pleasure of watching Alexis in her dance recital this weekend. At 4 years old, she danced "like no one was watching" in a packed auditorium...a little pro at her first recital with no signs of nervousness. Her first routine was a tap dance to "Rhythm in my Nursery Rhyme".
She stole the show at the end of this dance when her high kick sent her shoe flying. Below you can see her surprised look when it flew off and her "how am I going to get that shoe while not screwing up the dance" expression. She just kept on dancing and didn't break arms as she grabbed the shoe and danced off the stage at the end of the performance. A fast thinker our little Alexis is...
She showed her ballet skills in her next performance to "Let's All Sing Like The Birdie's Sing".
How many of us can say we can blow kisses while jumping and circling? This girl has talent...
We fell in love with her the moment we laid eyes on her...such a loving puppy who grew up into the smartest dog we have ever had. Jeff's constant companion who loved nothing more than hunting and just being near us. My devoted garden buddy who always kept watch for rabbits and squirrels...
Next to hunting nothing compared to riding in the ranger...she could hear it start up from across the yard and was ready for any rides and would wait in the seat for the next ride...even after parking it in the garage. Her last few years were hard with surgery, more tumors and going blind. Her last weeks were pain filled...may she rest in peace... 
Once again, I am joining Suzy, Kitchen Bouquet, for Flashback Friday. I usually combine it with Foodie Friday over in the kitchen blog but I am skipping that this week in order to have time to work on my Mother's Day event post which will be up tomorrow.
We parked in the lot and hiked to the trailhead to this view. If you click you might spot the tiny hikers high up on the rock. According to the sign it was a 4 mile round trip to the top of the rock and back so we decided to go for it.
The views as we hiked were amazing...
but soon two out-of-shape and middle aged hikers were out of breath from the climb and decided we had enough. We made half-way up the dome and sat on the rock to rest and enjoy the views from this point.
Many others decided this was as far as they were going as well ;) There were lots of families taking photo ops and enjoying the view, we are about a mile from the trailhead and if you look closely you can see the roof of the shelter in the center of the photo.
After resting and enjoying the view, we decided it was time to hike back...who knew hiking down this slanted rock surface was much harder than going up?? Your toes push to the front of your shoes and soon your knees are pushed to the limits. About half way down my bad knee was reinjured when my kneecap slipped but after another rest we ventured on...
and things went well until we faced this at the end of the trail ;)
About now you are probably wondering if there is cheese with all this knee "whine"...Don't worry, the knee recovered quickly after the trip and last week when it came out once again gardening - it is almost 100% again today (So with the ortho referral I got he'll wonder what I am complaining about). It's the pits getting old :-)
I was excited to welcome two more new visitors to the garden today. This morning I spotted the Harris sparrows and there are at least 10 of them at the feeders at one time.
The yellow rumped warblers are still here...
but look at the handsome fellow that arrived at dinnertime tonight! The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is one of my favorite birds...
and this one fed for quite a while at the barn feeder.
Speaking of barns...Charlotte and her web have finally joined Harley, the horse on the back of the barn...and like the old painted advertising of years gone by...
Hershey and I thought we needed some advertising on our barn.
I took all the photos for the tulip post yesterday late in the day so I was pleasantly surprised to see what the orange ones in the second photo looked like in the middle of the day today. Tonight they are closed back up into tight tulip shapes.
Allow me to hold May to my heart,
After a long winter's sleep the garden awakens in May, and I am loving it!
