It's been a lovely month in the valley...sunny and dry.
And hot!
It's not often that it's dry enough to bale second-cut hay in May in the Fraser Valley!
And sunflowers bloom in late summer. Typically.
This year they are the blooms of May...
beneath the bird feeder in our back yard.
Ranen and Auntie Broni had birthdays that needed celebrating on May 3rd...
and so we had a picnic and gathered the whole gang together.
Ranen came for a sleepover to mark the occasion as well.
Where did nine years go?
We had such a fun time together...
the two of us.
I'm a little reluctant to let her grow older..
Nine suits her perfectly!
Cousin Ryder joined us in the morning for a little jaunt out to the Cheam Wetlands Park.
Little did we know they were having a celebration there that day...
with park rangers on site...
and free donuts for all.
The grands thought we timed that just perfectly!
The highlight for them, however was seeing snakes.
Several.
I have a good zoom lens...
so I kept my distance.
Not my favorite!
Maggie and Lucy came for a sleepover on another warm 'summer' night this month...
and we also spent some time at Cheam Wetlands.
Maggie and Lucy came for a sleepover on another warm 'summer' night this month...
and we also spent some time at Cheam Wetlands.
It is just a wonderful, quiet place with several kilometers of trails...
as well as boardwalks and elevated viewing platforms into the marsh.
Maggie lost a front tooth just before she came to spend the night...
and wondered if the tooth fairy would find her tooth at Grammy's house.
Whew...it all worked out!
She left here as a 'rockstar'...
on her way to a themed birthday party of a classmate.
The missing tooth worked well with the look!
Maggie lost a front tooth just before she came to spend the night...
and wondered if the tooth fairy would find her tooth at Grammy's house.
Whew...it all worked out!
She left here as a 'rockstar'...
on her way to a themed birthday party of a classmate.
The missing tooth worked well with the look!
Also this month...
we took part in the 125th anniversary festivities of East Chilliwack Elementary School.
It was the school that both my husband and I attended way back when.
Then our daughter was a student there many years later...
and then four of our grandchildren.
Ryder is currently in the third grade...
and we visited him in his classroom the day we were there.
It was rather fun to return to the school together with some of our 'old' classmates.
It's come a long way since it first opened as a one-room school in the country.
But it is still a country school.
A good one!
It's come a long way since it first opened as a one-room school in the country.
But it is still a country school.
A good one!
With this being the driest May on record in the valley...
it was perfect spring soccer weather.
With four grands playing soccer...
we watched each of them in action.
We cheered for Germany...
for Argentina...
for Italy...
and for England.
At half time...
they dug into the oranges and had mom fix the 'owies'.
Some things never change.
It's a good game!
Maggie and Lucy had been asking if and when they could go for a ride in the old car.
An after-soccer-game trip to DQ seemed the perfect time to have passengers in the back seat.
They were quite thrilled that the booster and car seat rules did not apply...
since there were no seat belts.
We He drove very carefully those few blocks to the ice-cream shoppe!
One lovely Friday evening in May...
we took a trek across the border to Fairhaven...
Bellingham's historic south side.
The plan was to check out the charming village and then enjoy some seafood down by the water.
As it happened...
the ferry bound for Ketchikan, Alaska was just loading...
so we joined those gathered on the dock to see it off.
It was good entertainment...
and we met some lovely locals who knew all about the happenings in and about Fairhaven.
They also knew that for $238 we could ride the ferry to Alaska.
And they sent us to the Hearthfire Grill for dinner with a view...
where we watched the sunset on the bay!
One lovely Friday evening in May...
we took a trek across the border to Fairhaven...
Bellingham's historic south side.
The plan was to check out the charming village and then enjoy some seafood down by the water.
As it happened...
the ferry bound for Ketchikan, Alaska was just loading...
so we joined those gathered on the dock to see it off.
It was good entertainment...
and we met some lovely locals who knew all about the happenings in and about Fairhaven.
They also knew that for $238 we could ride the ferry to Alaska.
And they sent us to the Hearthfire Grill for dinner with a view...
where we watched the sunset on the bay!
Though May brought many good and pleasant happenings...
there were others as well.
One night I went for a walk and noticed smoke billowing up some miles to the east of our place.
Strange...since there is no outdoor burning allowed in our area at this time of the year!
Soon after we learned of the horrific events that unfolded beneath that smoke...
leaving the community reeling.
Lives stolen and wasted.
Lives stolen and wasted.
How could this happen?
And...for the record...it did not always smell so pleasant around here in May!
Once the grass was off the field...
the liquid fertilizer went on (all organic, of course!)
The peonies...on the other hand...did their best to sweeten the air over here.
They are the grand matriarch of the May garden.
If only those blooms would hang around a little longer!
And that was May...
a bit of this and a bit of that!
Until next time...
