Summer is HERE!

Summer is here and moving quickly...

There has been lots of travel to:
-Washington, DC for a conference and some time with two nieces and nephew and to reconnect with some family friends.
-St. Louis for an alpaca birthing clinic at the Dos Doñas Alpaca Farm. Serendipitously my brother and his family was also in St. Louis and we met up for dinner.


-Ithaca, NY, for an old college roommate's wedding. Reconnecting with old friends and making new ones is such a great experience. I also got to go hiking quite a bit. And I got bitten by two deer ticks that I miraculously managed to spot. My doctor prescribed the early Lyme disease antibiotic right away.

Ithaca Falls


Buttermilk Falls Gorge hike


Buttermilk Falls Gorge


Buttermilk Falls Gorge


Waterfall at the top of the gorge in Treman Park


Salamander on the trail


There is a lot of productivity in the gardening department. New raised beds are hopefully going to yield more crops than last year. I filled the beds with the "lasagna" method beginning with newspaper, alpaca poop, peat moss, grass clippings, more peat moss, leaves from last fall, and more peat moss to top it off.


Swiss Chard Harvest


Dumb luck - the two lettuce plants that I let go to seed last summer filled the entire round flower garden with yummy salad this spring. And I did exactly nothing except harvest!


Roses!


My viola d'amore has a new bridge and strings and sounds amazing! It is on loan for a few weeks to a friend of mine.

Finally, GASP, there is some knitting. This is the third try for this project due to sizing issues. I'll just leave you with a picture for now. I really don't want to rip and restart again in case I jinx my luck by writing all about it!


Happy Summer!