Project 365, days 141-147

This past week: we watched mama European Starlings feeding their babies from our suet feeder; we enjoyed a homemade-pizza party with Curtis and Julie, who were visiting from Chicago, and the next day went to the park with them, too; We got all our tomato plants in the ground, and enjoyed our first harvest of parsley from our deck planters; the purple iris that came from my great grandmother's yard via my mother's, have bloomed out front; we even got Calvin to pose for one good shot in preparation for his fourth birthday.

Project 365 days 134-140

We've been so busy with both outdoor and indoor projects lately that I'm lucky I've had time to take pictures, let alone to blog about them, but here's a quick rundown: On Friday we played outside with friends after a good piano class; on Saturday we shopped at the Dexter Garden Club's plant sale in the downtown gazebo and came home with a large variety of plants; on Sunday we planted said plants and weeded, and I found a toad which I originally took for a rock; we also spent Sunday afternoon painting our fireplace wall and kitchen soffit, pictured here on Monday after it was dry (no VOC paints are fantastic, by the way); on Wednesday, after reading a cute book about a stegasaurus, I retrieved my own much-loved childhood stegasaurus friend from the basement and shared him with Calvin, and on Tuesday it looks like we just relaxed in life, but really the relaxing came between spurts of gardening activity, as do most of our summer ativities, I suppose.

Project 365, days 127-133

It was a week of home projects, like installing a new over-the-stove microwave (I'm in love), finally having a water softener and reverse osmosis system put in (it had to be done), weeding the gardens, planting the potted herbs (parsley and basil pictured here with a sunning dog), and beautifying the front with flower baskets. And all that work makes us hungry—hungry enough to eat an elephant, and to try my hands at homemade pappardelle (a success).

Project 365, days 120-126

Rainy days were made for rain boots; TV time—since we don't have cable we rigged up a connection through Jon's computer to watch the online stream of President Obama's commencement speech at UofM's ceremony; Dinner with friends Noah and Isaac; and the remainder of our week was dedicated to Tulip Time, which was somewhat short on tulips this year, since spring had arrived early, but was not short on sun, beach time, good company, or good beer (at New Holland Brewing Company, of course).

Project 365, days 113-119

Fridays are now piano class days and we always get to see Sarah and Marissa, so on day 113 we followed piano class with a trip to Gallop Park; We had a surprise party for Jon on Saturday and Calvin helped Opa make dessert; On Sunday we visited a swan in the nearby river; During the warmer spring days we always eat dinner outside in the driveway because that's where the sun is (as opposed to on our deck), and we are often treated to sidewalk art while we are there; Lastly, we enjoyed some afternoon fun at the big park near Gram and Grandpa's house.