Sunday, May 31, 2015

the merry month of may ~ musings and memories...

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.


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!


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!


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!



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!
leaving the community reeling.
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...

 


16 comments:

  1. What exquisite peonies. Mine have not flowered this year, sadly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Its amazing how much earlier your blooms have appeared than ours do over here in the UK. Although this year ours do seem to be blooming brighter and longer than last year. Your photos are beautiful, you have certainly had a busy May and how lovely that three generations have all attended the same school!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Always nice to see an update from you, Judy. Amazing to see your sunflowers in bloom so early.
    The trip to the ice cream shop (sans seat belts) sounds like fun as do the birthday celebrations, soccer games and day trips. It seems a good zoom feature is a real plus when photographing snakes.
    Your peonies are gorgeous! Mine came and went before I thought to cut a bouquet.

    ReplyDelete
  4. May was indeed lovely! My sunflowers (first time to have them) bloomed in April and early May and are now withered - too hot I guess. Was the smoke due to a grass fire? Glad it did not affect your land. Enjoyed your family updates and the beautiful scenery you share with us. Have a great June!

    ReplyDelete
  5. A very different sort of May for you folks. Our May was on a pendulum swinging back and forth between summer and winter. Yesterday may have been the last day of May, but it felt like the middle of March. (The day before was so warm, I slept on the first floor.) Today, June 1, is more of the same cold and wet.

    Wonderful to see the grands grow and grow and grow. It still makes me grin to see Lucy in the picture because it was not too long ago when she was napping elsewhere.

    May would not be the same without seeing the Birthday Gals together!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Followed the link...how heartbreaking! Said a prayer for your community. Such difficult situations rock the foundations.

      Delete
  6. Your dogwood header is so beautiful Judy. The view from your front porch always is! I enjoy seeing the photos of what we chat about all month long.. a visual summary.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I always enjoy your monthly recaps, Judy. It was a lovely month wetherwise and your shots of the peonies and farm landscapes are Postcard worthy. We too saw the smoke and wondered; hearing later of the family tragedy in our neighbourhood. I am so thankful for a compassionate God who in His great mercy, understands and brings hope.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The events of the fire are so tragic. What a broken world we live in, yet, as you've shown so well, it's not without the beauty that God intended. Those peonies are stunning! Lovely grands and family get togethers. God is good.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Another great busy full month in the valley! Those white peonies are really something else.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love your month ending posts!!! Such sweet grands and such a wonderful family you have! You had the DRIEST May and we had the WETTEST!!! I am so sorry about that family. Horror and sorrow can and does strike very close to us.
    I love seeing how much your grandchildren love being with y'all. Hope our quads will continue to be that way as they grow up. NINE is one of my favorite ages, too!!!!
    Happy JUNE, to you my friend!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I always enjoy this visual summary as well! I feel the same as you do about my granddaughter turning 9. I did not realize they were so close in age. I'm also intrigued by those wetlands you've often visited. We'll have to do that sometime. Lucky girls getting a ride in that vintage car!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Judy, your Front Porch has certainly been busy!!! Your gang is growing and growing - how delightful and wonderful. Enjoy the 9 year old all year long - so precious! I had to smile at your comment about having a zoom lens for that snake picture - eek! Happy June to you and yours!

    ReplyDelete
  13. It's always fun to see what your favorites are...from farming, to birthdays, to adventures, and traveling...I'm waiting for you to tell me that you are taking the ferry to Alaska. There's always some of those memories like the car....it's fun how you can share it with your kiddos....

    ReplyDelete
  14. Judy I am late in commenting as I had house guests for a week--a friend and her husband and her daughter and granddaughter--it was a full house! The parents are friends and their daughter was attending a conference in nearby DEnver while thye watched her baby. Now all are home to Florida and Hawaii.

    Then my new granddaughter was born! Photos on facebook ;) She and my daughter-in-law are doing fine.We are all very blessed!

    Your happy family occasions are alwasy so wonderful to see--your grandchildren are all so bright and beautiful!

    It is very sad what that father did to his family. Sadly, mental illness if often the cause in tragic stories like this. It happens everywhere these days.

    Enjoy the month of June--roses and picnics and cookouts and beautiful weather!

    ReplyDelete
  15. This evening I had the real privilege of visiting you here, and spent time reading every word and looking at every picture. I loved seeing the pictures of your family and how they are growing up. I liked the picture of the two little girls and the old, good looking car. Actually, every picture was most interesting, and sadly, with tears I read about the family that was destroyed and the pain that went with it all. Judy, it is always so enjoyable to step inside your farm life, to see your countryside and to someday look forward to visiting with you there. Thanks so much for posting!

    ReplyDelete

'The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.'
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson