MAY

  

May was all about blooming flowers, THE GARDEN, Keelyn's 14th birthday and getting ready for summer at the beach.

Our photo jaunt one early May morning took us to where the lady slippers bloom, but briefly.  Worth waiting for and carturing before they are gone for another year.  They grow along the edge of wooded areas.

Swans taken at the same shoot.

...and tall grasses

"knees" in a cyprus swamp

Our garden, in its 4th year of being organically composted with NO chemicals produced bodacious broccoli!  Also gathered this month was 3 kinds of lettuce, basil, rosemary which had to be replanted this spring, and peas.

Our tomato plants, planted in a new way.

Celebrating the beginning of summer......

....and Keelyn turns 14!

Our pool is ready!

April

April brought the end of snow and the beginning of spring, birthdays and trips away from the beach.

We began the month with the celebration of Jenni and Will's birthdays.

Will received an amazing airplane which, when launched flew and flew, usually resting in a very tall tree.

Jenni hosted birthdays at a delicious brunch……cheese cake and a sun flower cake made from Peeps.

April's full moon is called the pink moon, but not very pink in this photo.

We traveled to Hilton Head over Easter and spent time and a rainy Easter with Dave, Ann Marie, Layne, Eva and Jack.  There was some chilly beach time, a yummy ham dinner,  and good times together movie-watching.

The weather cleared and this beautiful sunrise greeted us on Easter Monday.

Side trips took us to Beaufort, S.C. to look at churches decorated for Easter as well as a horse-led trolley ride through the historic town.

We also took a boat ride to find local S.C. alligators.

And then a trip to Rochester to celebrate Gramps' 92nd birthday.

The High Line

We have never visited the High Line, so since we were here in NYC on a lovely day in May with our cameras, we spent a delightful morning.  The High Line is a public park built on an historic freight railroad line elevated above the streets of Manhattan's West Side.  It is owned by the city and maintained by volunteers.  It was founded in 1999 by community residents, Friends of the High Line, who fought against its demolition.  It is approximately 1 1/2 miles long.

Embarking on our stroll along the High Line.  We entered  from Gansevoort Street, the first section which was restored.

I love the architectural design from existing buildings and walkways.

Always, the traffic below.

Many benches provide relaxing places to view native plants and flowers planted within the tracks.

A spectacular dogwood tree!

Many shady spots

Always remember to look up!

Named Urban Rattle by its sculptor

A poster for  a museum exhibit

Common Crossings, a design made from the original railroad tracks.

Mural on a building down below

Famous landmark

And along came March and VACATION!

This has been one snowy and cold winter, and as I write this at the END of March, there is snow on the ground and chilly temps in the 30s.  It seems as though Winter does not want to let go!  But, it must!  There are peas to plant, grass to fertilize and spring sports to watch in the sun and WARMTH!
Here in a capsule is March and our amazing time in Florida…...

Our first stop in Florida was an air boat ride to go find alligators….hang on to your hats!

We had planned that our only Disney stop while in Orlando would be to EPCOT where there was an HGTV Home and Garden Show going on.  Flowers blooming everywhere.  I learned that my new favorite color combo is purple and red.  Will try it with red and fuchia geraniums.  Here I am with my mentor, Goofy and my EPCOT ticket.

Always good to look up when trying out a new camera.

Jim took the picture, but I edited it to look this sharp.  Such a crowd around us at the time for fireworks to begin!  Wish we had known that we could have gotten a Fast Pass to watch in a separate viewing area where we could have been seated for the show.  Next time.

We so enjoyed our time with Mary and Doug who showed us a wonderful Florida long weekend.  Highlight was the pontoon boat ride they gave Jim for his birthday.  We saw all kinds of wildlife……and manatees!

Lazy way to spend a warm Saturday afternoon.

Manatees everywhere, swimming to one of Florida's many warm springs.

Just before we left Mary and Doug's we visited their beach in West Palm Beach, spending a lovely Monday morning watching flipper sharks out in the ocean.

Did you notice that we are the only ones there?  (Except for a runner who stopped to do some tai chi on the beach near us.)

One of the side trips we took was to the gulf coast of Florida to see Clearwater and the small town of Tarpon Springs, settled by some Greek fishermen long ago who made a living selling the sponges they dove for off the side of their boats.  The town is still known for these divers, their sponges and for the delicious Greek restaurants that line both sides of the street.

One of our last side trips was at the end of our Florida adventure when we spent the day in St. Augustine.  We took a bus tour and spent most of our day at the fort, staying for the afternoon shooting of one of the cannons and meeting a fellow RIT alumnus in the crowd.  He lives in Melbourne, Florida now. 

My picture of some of the architecture there.  I like how I caught the shadow of a palm tree against the building. 

Outside our condo one entire afternoon, this cormorant let me take lots of pictures of him.  Guess he knew I needed the practice with my new camera.

Grande Vista resort in Orlando

Well, that was our March, at least the warm part of it……

Back home we had two more snow storms to contend with!

February in review…...

For a short month,  February was busy with birthdays, sports,  holidays and snow cancellations.

February birthday people were honored at Lisbeth's house on her actual birthday.  Ella turned the big 

1-1 and Jim the big 7-0.  The theme was a mixed Olympics, hoedown theme.  With Jenni's games and Bethany Blues BBQ, we carried it off.  Jim was thrilled with his roast by David, his photo book and a fun questionnaire that the grands did a great job answering.  How well they know their Pop!

Jim on his birthday, sporting his Olympic hat, a gift from the Ashleys.  To celebrate, we went to a movie and ate at 1776 steak house….a special date for a special guy.

Valentine's Day is a special part of February.  These cookies went to a church coffee hour, to a nursing home's residents and to our local work men, repairing chimneys in Westwood.

We love attending sporting events whenever we can.  Just missing a big snow storm, we were in PA to watch Keelyn play indoor field hockey. She and the goalie hug at the end of every game.  At this tournament, the team came in second!

Keeping the feeders full and the suet supplied, keeps us busy when there is snow on the ground.  We love our cardinals!

The February full moon which appeared on Valentine's Day is called the snow moon.  Well-named as this February brought a few big snows and colder than normal temps.