yellows I have loved

I love this time of year. The first 'real' flowers are finally here! My kitchen windowsill is lined with daffodils and lily of the valley from the yard, as well as some forsythia and willows from some ditch-scavenging. And there are more on the table.

morning at the beach

At last, the beach photos I promised. Periwinkle trails in the sand enthrall me. Especially when there's nary a periwinkle in sight. It looks like they were trying so hard to be productive and go somewhere, but the trails loop endlessly over and around one another and don't seem to make much progress.
It was a beautiful, sunny, warm morning. And Phillip was on a mission.
To have as much fun as possible in his "monster boots".

We even flew a kite for a grand total of about three minutes, before it crashed and was destroyed. Phillip had a fantastic time, especially with the jellyfish.

I've been feeling a bit swamped since the whole "crazy floor week" last week. (Did I mention that I took the opportunity when the kitchen, porch and pantry were cleared out to paint the porch? An evening well spent - it looks so much better and brighter.) Really, there's nothing major that needs to be done, aside from the regular stuff, (and four birthdays, Mother's Day, and an anniversary in there) but I have the sense that there is (which there isn't) and that I'm running hopelessly behind (which I'm not). I have accomplished plenty of things over the past few days, and I have several packages to take to the post office in the morning, which always makes me feel satisfied. I'm learning that for me, the general sense of having accomplished something is very important in making me feel sane.

Having said that, I feel better already.

curry village is heaven and other miscellany

First things first: Happy Birthday today to my sister and mother-in-law! If you were here, Phillip would offer you a slice of cake. I found the wooden cake at Frenchy's, and we have already used it several times. The candles and decorations velcro to the top of the cake, and there's even the plate and server. I'm hoping that it will become one of those strange family birthday traditions.
Speaking of birthdays, my sweet husband had a birthday last week! He worked away at this fantastic and improved veggie bed by our back door, where we'll once again plant tomatoes, peas, bush beans, lettuce, carrots, and other yummy things. We're also going to plant some squash and pumpkins in a spot at my parent's house, so hopefully we'll have a productive summer. I took this picture last week, and there's already a huge difference in how green everything is. I love May!
Curry Village is heaven. I was in Halifax last week for work, so Alli and I met up and went out for dinner. I asked her to recommend a place with delicious food, and she didn't disappoint. The butter chicken was so delicious, it was almost painful. Beautifully coconut-ty and divine. To sum: if you're in Halifax, go there! Alli and I then went to Value Village, where I found a few clothes for work (we stayed until they closed, which was kind of fun) and went out for tea. I had a great time, so thanks, Alli!

a wee intro and a new floor

There! I'm back. With another picture from last weekend's trip to the beach. All of the coming and going this week has been due to a few things; I was in Halifax for work, and (drum roll, please!) we had a new kitchen floor installed! Which means that all of our appliances had to be out of the kitchen, in the middle of a work week. It took a day longer than it should have because they didn't have the flooring, after the installer prepped the floor (!) and it has been a bit of a disaster zone. (We did get a discount for the inconvenience, which was deserved.) All of that to say that I'm happy to be back, Phillip's napping, and I've finally caught up on laundry.

You may remember the floor before, in all of its brown and blue glory. It was in terrible shape, impossible to clean, and just unsightly. We couldn't afford some of the fantastic eco options like Marmoleum, so we bought one from a local store. Here's the new one!

Phillip kind of dances (hops, really) around on it, saying "Nice new floor. Nice floor." So do I.

I neglected to explain in the last post that twenty-two pleasant is where we live. The header picture is of some weeds on our lawn that I took one evening last week. I'm tickled with the image; it turned out exactly as I had hoped.