From the garden

Today's pickings include flowers from the spent broccoli plants, cauliflower, snap peas and nasturtium leaves which are edible.

The nasturtium leaves and snap peas joined lettuce and leftover black bean and corn salad in a tossed dinner salad.  Cauliflower was roasted with avocado and zucchini and asparagus and added to quinoa pasta, topped with grated Parmesan, basil and parsley (also from the garden).

Keelyn is 12!

Keelyn celebrated her 12th birthday yesterday with a pool party, yummy food and cake which she ordered....a vanilla cake with raspberry frosting....made with love by her Moppy and Pop who crafted the marshmallow flowers on top.

Good job blowing out those candles!

Isn't she just the prettiest?

Milk shake boy

We have the privilege of being with Will for a few days this week.  He likes Johnny Rockets, a 50s burger joint, so we went there for lunch and to listen to oldies.

The best crab cake ever

Hands down, Stoney's in Broomes Island has the best crab cakes we have ever tasted and we have eaten them all over the eastern and western shores of the Chesapeake.

Eva and Layne

Baby crab cake sandwich with fixins'

New at the beach

"What is this?" you ask.......  Something new has been added to our boardwalk.

While the boardwalk was updated with new decking, expanded foot wash and shower areas with benches were added at each dune cross over.  Very blue, it's not hard to find the new showers!

More.......

I am loving my peonies this year!  My three bushes are really putting out.....

The light yellow outer part of the flower looks like lace.

The pinks are opening today.

This one will be open tomorrow.

Peony

 You have to be here to really enjoy my first peony of the season.  The camera does not capture the beauty of this flower...or the lovely scent.

How about the two colors on one bloom?

Ring around the roses.....

Roses are blooming all over the neighborhood this week, loving the rain we had mid-week and a weekend full of sunshine.

Our climbing roses have filled up the trellis by the air conditioner.

Roses growing on a neighbor's trellis.

Beautiful color

Beautiful form

Very pink

Buds

Rainy NYC

Our spring trip to New York City this week was a rainy one.  Our plans to visit the High Line were cancelled this time b/c of rain on the evening we wanted to go.  Instead, we walked to a nearby Italian eatery and ate extravagantly.

Mine was a baked dish made of spinach pasta, white sauce and prosciutto.  Jim's was an "one hundred layer lasagne"......over the top!

Next morning we headed to Central Park to take pictures.  Loved the pigeons trying to share the horse's breakfast.

Rainy path

Ring of white azaleas

Solitary swings

New York style bouquet of hydrangeas

Fountain with green banner for a touch of color

Great way to spend a rainy afternoon at the Marquis Theatre

Bluebirds moving in

For years at our other house we had a pair of bluebirds we named Mary Ann and Alfred who returned to us every spring to raise their family in our front yard where we delighted in watching them from our big front window.  Here I watch from our back steps....still delighted.

Alfred calling Mary Ann

"Here I am, dear....lovely house."

"Are you leaving me with the housekeeping?"

oh, yes, you are beautiful!

Passing through.....

Red admiral butterflies (yes, they do resemble their cousins the monarchs) are migrating northward through Bethany Beach this week, stopping to see our flowers.