Now that they live in Montana, Sarah and Todd are spending a lot of time traveling and visiting the parks and scenic areas of the West. The Memorial Day holiday was no exception.
They drove to the Bighorns and looked for mustangs and moose.
Two mares with foals and a third pregnant mare. (I love how Sarah talks to me as she films.) I don't have any more pictures from the herd yet, but I will post them when I do.
Here in Indiana, Curt and Vanessa invited us to join them for a BBQ. Knowing my family members well, I made potato salad to share.
A BIG bowl. While Curt loves potato salad, Mila takes it to the next level. She will tell you that it is her favorite food of all. No birthday cake for her; make her a potato salad on her big day!
Sure enough, she filled (FILLED!) a dinner plate with the potato salad, grabbed a book, and snuggled into some blankets. No hot dogs or chicken, no pasta salad or fruit, just potato salad.
Now that school is out for the summer, we can play games later into the evenings. Curt had joined Jessica and Andrew earlier this spring in Las Vegas for a board game convention and he'd come back with some new ones to teach us.
Tumblin' Dice was one of those games. Easy to learn and play, it's a lot of fun. Lukie beat me again - I don't know how he does it, but almost every game I play with him, he wins!
Down at our park, I got to check on the mallard family I have been watching. It is an unusual group of two males and one female that I first noticed in March. It is not uncommon when females are in short supply that two males will share a female mate but I had never seen it before.
They have five ducklings that they are raising together.
Pepper and I walked the lake's perimeter a bit and discovered some mulberry bushes that have taken root along the banks and are currently fruiting. The birds will love those! (So will the turtles, and the raccoons, and the muskrats, and the deer...)
I also came across a patch of purple crownvetch.
I always plant my flowers around Memorial Day and this year was no exception.
Because they are pretty, easy to care for, and will grow quickly and fill out a planter, I always plant begonias. White, pink, or red, I love them all.
I wish I could figure out how to repair this fountain's pump so I could use it as a fountain again, but it does look nice as a planter.
My patio is bookended with two large planters, both with horsey garden stakes in the middle. The one closer to Nan's house has my dragonfly solar light next to it. When her husband died last year, I bought two - one for her and one for me in his memory. I always make sure she can see mine from her windows.
It's been years since I planted a large tomato garden and canned all the produce. My canning days may be behind me, but I still like fresh tomatoes straight off the vine. So, yesterday I planted two tomato plants and one bell pepper. I still need to put in some support stakes as they will grow and branch quite a bit.
I hope to finally get to the front porch flowers today. And the stepping stone garden needs some weeding and new mulch. Ian, Mila, and Lukie are going to help me with that.
It's not quite summer yet, but it's feeling like it!
