Sierra had a mountain bike race today in Indiana. She won and sent me this photo.

We had storms again tonight and the strong winds took out the top of this sweet gum tree that was right out back of the house. That makes 2 trees damaged in the last week. Last Saturday, winds split a small red bud tree right in half. The local TV station said that a tornado touched down briefly at Hwy 92 and R57, 4 miles from our house.

About that walk.......................

This is Tristan's first try at the BMX track. It was pretty rutted from all the downpours we've had lately but he had a pretty good time despite the roughness.

G'ma, Tristan, and I went riding today. Tristan tried a few of the MTB trails and found them very muddy, surprise!

Yo Shelbs! You are missin' out on a GREAT week on the bike trails!! I've gotta go now, it's too hot on this pavement and I must find water. L8TR

Mother and I went on a garden tour today. The hostesses at each of the 7 gardens were dressed as Southern Belles. This was at the first garden on the tour. It was called "Urban Shadows".

Today, Mother and I went to Becky & Denny's "Summer Soltice" Party. We had a great time listening to the "Bandaides" and eating a picnic type dinner!

Today, I met Warren and family after work at a Casey's north of the house. They were off to eastern Iowa for a bike ride and brought G'ma along. I picked her up to spend the weekend with me. We'll meet them again on Sunday to pick up Tristan who will spend a few days with us.

I've continued with my recycling art - this was a fire pit that I got in 2004. In May of that year, a straight line wind took out 2 of our 100+ year old oak trees. A branch fell on the pit and bent the screen beyond repair. It makes a pretty nice planter.

After our visit to the Grassroots Art Center in Lucas, KS, I decided that I would try to recycle some things instead of buying new. I found this interesting pot in the basement. I remember a long time ago, we had a pencil plant in it. It looks great with this chenille plant in it, don't you think?

Here is my very first blueberry harvest - 26 berries total today! I ate that one in the middle right after the photo, yummm! Shelby, I hope you are jealous!

I’ve had this Penstemon in my perennial garden for over 10 years. I remember calling it Beardtongue Penstemon. Now, when I look it up on the internet, I see it has been cultivated at the University of Nebraska and is now called Husker Red Penstemon.

Today, I went out to the garage to look for something. I heard some chattering noise and think that I need to rescue a bird. I go get my camera first, of course. Then I crawl around and here's what I find - a little momma raccoon and her one baby. I left them alone after getting a few pics!

I was getting ready to pick these cherry tomatoes today but wanted to take a pic first to document the early date of these red beauties. Hmmmm, something seems to be missing! Did he really think that I wouldn't notice?

I found this book in the mail box today! It is a gift from Shelby. It is her documentation of RAGBRAI 2009. She did a fantastic job and it is very interesting to read her account of the ride from the perspective of a first timer. I love it!

We had a big storm 2 nights ago and the wren house came down. They had one egg that did not survive the trauma. They immediately started to build a new nest in the other house that I had hung. But here it seems that one of the pair is looking over the old house just to see. Or maybe it is another pair looking to move in.

Rich is busy cutting firewood for next winter even though we really don't want to think about it right now. He cut down a dead scotch pine tree. We had to burn the smaller branches and old pine needles make for a grand fire - scary when you think about a whole forrest of pine burning wild!

I found 3 Blueberry bushes on clearance at Home Depot. They came complete with blueberries that quickly ripened. I need to get them planted asap. I have a perfect spot complete with pine needles to keep the soil acidic as directed. We'll see how they do next year!

I finally decided that the foxes were gone and gave Rich permission to mow out back. This photo looks out of focus but it was so cloudy with pollen from the grasses blooming. My eyes and nose were itching by the time I got back into the house.

Sierra had to leave today by 11:30 to make it in time for the Melon City Criterium. But she saw some of my printed 365 books of 2009 that she hadn't seen before and sat down to take a look. It's always nice to see her smile at my photos and stories. It gives me motivation and determination to keep it up!

Sierra and Adam decided to drive all the way home today before going back to the Quad City bike races tomorrow. We fixed a great dinner of salad, beef and chicken kabobs, corn, strawberry pie and more. Becky and Denny came out since they hadn't seen Sierra in quite awhile. Everyone had a great time. It's always wonderful when the girls come home for a visit!

We had been looking at patio umbrellas last summer but did not get one. Good thing because I found this one today and I really like it. It tilts and moves up and down very easily. I think we will be able to really enjoy it this summer!

Today, I was cleaning out a part of the garden. Chase was wanting to play ball and Camie happened along. She discovered some cat mint and was munching on it. Then she went wild - took Chase's ball and had a crazy look in her eyes. It was very comical to watch.

I can't remember who gave this wren house to us but it was a long time ago when we had the bike shop. We kept it inside until I decided to put it out and see if anyone was interested in moving in. It wasn't very long before a wren family thought it suitable and moved in. Rich asked me if I was charging wrent. Really? He thought he was very funny!

So here's the result of our first spinach salad lunch - Tena suggested trying to repeat the taste of a new salad she had at Granite City. It was mandarin oranges, grapes, strawberries, bananas, raspberry vinaigrette dressing along with the spinach and a bit of french onion crunchies on top. I never imagined that I would like it but it was wonderful. I will be trying this at home soon.

Here's my first spinach harvest of the year all washed and ready for lunch at work tomorrow. Tena, Julie and I share by each bringing a component of the salad. We will see what tomorrow brings!

This iris is in the front lily garden. I'm not really sure where I got it. This is the first year it has bloomed. I think the colors are very striking.

I noticed the Tulip tree was blooming today, it is a little early this year. Since I planted this tree when Daddy died in 1994, each year when I look up and see it blooming, I say, "Hello Daddy!"

I used the freebie "seed packets" from Weeds and Wildflowers Designs for our Girls' weekend. Kristin had been wanting a Pandora type bracelet. Shelby already had one and G'ma did not. So Kristin and G'ma got a bracelet with some charms and Shelby got charms. Sierra was unable to attend our weekend so she'll get hers later.

Reminiscing our girlie weekend - Here's Shelby and Kristin posing on a rock near "Rattlesnake Hill" We walked over to the waterfall and back with Charlie and Chase while Tristan rode his new BMX bike.

We found this sculpture on Rose's Pond at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park in Lenexa, KS.

Now that's a grilled pepper jack colby cheese sandwich! I found this photo from the weekend on my little camera's internal memory.

Today, we all headed for home. Kristin and I shopped a little in Kansas City before I took her to the airport. We had some extra time after shopping, so we found a park to walk the dogs. I saw this bee balm growing near a pond and took several photos. I was really surprised when I downloaded them to the computer when I got home. Even though the flowers were partially done blooming, the intricacy of the flower and it's pod came out quite amazing in this photo!

Here's Chase hiding in G'ma's pantry. He heard her upstairs opening her sliding closet doors and thought it was thundering outside. Instead of hiding under the table or behind furniture, he chose the pantry.

Today was misty and rainy all day but we still got a lot accomplished. We went flower shopping and I planted G'ma's planter box as a belated Mother's Day present with the perennials that she picked out. Warren, Dacia, Tristan, and Piper came out and we barbecued shish kabobs and butterfly pork chops.

Today, we went to Lucas, KS to visit the Garden of Eden. After that, we wanted to see the Grassroots Art Center. They were closed for lunch until 1PM. Two doors down from the center was Linda's Cafe where G'ma had some fried livers along with a frosty mug of beer for lunch.

Yesterday, Rich, Kristin, and I traveled to Kansas to visit G'ma. Rich picked Kristin up at the KC airport and I drove ahead of them. Rich can only stay for 2 days. Kristin and I will stay until Monday. It stormed last night so we went over to the "falls" to check out the water.

I had to move most of my pots of flowers inside into the sun room. It frosted Saturday night and the weather doesn't look so great for the next week so I am going to leave them there for a few more days.

Here's one of the 2 ceramic tiles that Rich gave me for Mother's Day. His card to me read, "To the best Mother that my 2 lovely daughters could have hoped for!"

I cut down a scrubby mulberry tree so that I could see the foxes better. Now I can see them playing in and around our old shed. They were born underneath its concrete slab and must have a hole in the rear door that they can go through to their den in back.

I did a lot of weeding in my big perennial garden today. I kinda neglected it last year and am now paying for it. I found this snake skin threaded through some of the grass that I was pulling out.

I went out to see if the foxes were around tonight. I hadn't seen them for a few days but we hear them almost every night. They make an eery squawking sound. We assume they are out playing in the dark, they come very close to the house late in the evening. All four kits were out tonight chasing each other and playing, I didn't see the parents.

I found this very interesting plant at Lowe's today. It looked as if it was made of plastic and I had to touch it to see if it was real. It is similar to a caladium. Of course, I had to have a few and will put them in the ceramic pots on the deck for the summer.

When I got home today, I noticed that Spitty looked like she had stepped into a mud hole. One front paw and one back paw were coated in what looked like mud. Knowing that she NEVER gets that dirty, I started to investigate and discovered that she had found an old can of black paint and broken through the lid. She could not figure out how to get the now dried paint off her paws!

We received this graduation celebration invitation in the mail. It is from Sam, a long time BMX friend. We've know him and his family since 2002 when the BMX track opened here in town. We've had some great times together traveling and racing. This is one graduation party that I definitely will try to attend!

I was walking by the lilac bushes when I saw this Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. I ran to get my camera and managed to get a few photos before it flew away. This one was the best of about 5 I took.

My miniature yellow re-blooming iris is one of the first flowers to appear after the daffodils and hyacinths. It lasts a lot longer and then will appear again in the fall. I need to divide them up and spread the springtime color around the rest of the garden. I'll try to remember to do that when they are done blooming.

Our fountain developed a crack in the bowl so we emptied it so we could repair it. The cats have used it as their water bowl ever since we brought it home. Miss Kittie seems as though she is waiting until we fill it up again for her.

Oh, how I love a good garden center! It is a happy time of year. Becky and Denny came down tonight for dinner, so while the boys were cooking, we went flower shopping!