Spying on our ballerina

The only way to see her is the (sizeable) gap under my bedroom door!!

Lakeshore date

Showing me surface tension with a pack of cards 

Doing card tricks

Three or four years ago I noted how our “new house” was so much closer to the lake and we really should take advantage of that. And so this summer we find ourselves cycling, walking and jogging it

Tonight it’s where Sebastian and I are picnicking.

COVID chic

Grabbing Pride wherever we can

Rainbow "grilled cheese"

Afternoon deliciousness

Sour cream ribbon cake and coffee on the porch

Drama boy

How does your garden grow?

The garden is growing at full tilt. Sophie waters it every evening (sorry, Mum!) and Seb roped her into tackling the dead (and very ugly brown) lilac blooms. There will be some weeding this weekend - hopefully of both the front and delighfully shady and cool back yards. And then in a fortnight, the tending to the peppers and tomatoes will start in earnest. We have planted:

banana peppers

red peppers

1 Devil's tongue pepper

2 Scotch bonnets

tomatillos

Big Boy tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes

& chives, cilantro, 3 kinds of basil, oregano and peppermint

More flora

Another vibrant bouquet from another lovely friend

First rose on the new rosebush

The blooms on our backyard tree. So vibrant against the bold blue and fresh green. And they fill the view from the 2nd storey window

Salmon pink irises

for (Auntie) Sarah

I wait for the cold days of Spring for our first tulip and then the magnificence of the neighbouring magnolia and then THIS!!

Late Spring hiking

Most of the trails have reopened here and one can book timed entry to parks to allow for spacing of the hikers. Since the weekend was busy with so many people, we decided to go on a weekday and what a beautiful day it was!

We finished the hike off with some reading and baked yummies.

And then on the way home, we stopped first at one friend's driveway and then another's and said hello after months apart!

Launch party

As many of you know, last week we held a virtual launch party. SpaceX and NASA were launching American astronauts from US soil on an American rocket for the first time in 9 years and it was the first public-private partnership in the Americas. Seb & his Gramps had hoped to be in Florida to see it but ah, Corona.

So instead, we organised an on-line event for family and friends on Zoom - complete with snacks and party décor from Auntie Sarah. Seb presented info on the rocket and astronauts capsule. He explained what we would be seeing - and we did a fun quiz (yay Dug for his space knowledge!! who knew?) and watched the trailer for the new tv series Space Force. But then - with about 15 minutes to go - they scrubbed it. Weather wasn't right. :-( Sebastian took it well.

Best bit was Seb peeling off his dozen space t-shirts one by one. He was hot!!!

A few days later, a smaller group gathered to watch Crew Dragon lift off and then the next morning, Seb & I watched the astronauts dock at the ISS and cross into the vessel to meet their peers. So exciting!