The garden makeover

This is mostly for Sorley's benefit as he actually did most of the work preparing my garden bed in the spring when he and Ben were visiting. Now as you can see (hopefully through the chickenwire) things are growing...some more than others...for instance the squash and cucumbers which were planted last of all are taking over! Unfortunately the spot I chose looked a lot sunnier back in April when there were no leaves on the trees...now...it's a little shady! So, keeping my fingers crossed that the tomatoes that are setting fruit will actually ripen......
The kids have been munching on the peas...Sage is now a convert...I'm hoping the tomatoes will have an effect on him too!

Camera Practice

Here are some shots Maya took whilst taking a mini digital photography class...some pretty funny expressions that I thought were worth sharing with you all! I also realised that there are no photos of me on the blog...so incase you've all forgotten this is what I look like!






So we did just take a trip to Maine but I didn't take a single picture!!!! It was lovely.......beachcombing at lowtide (which resulted in partially eaten crabs being left in our car during 90 degree temps...you can imagine the smell)...bodysurfing by the kids, some lobster eating and lots of divebombing into the motel pool...Maya has finally conquered putting her head underwater as a result of all the jumping in.
David was busy, busy, busy with the residency he was there to teach but we got to hang out with him and the students for some of the time.
Back home now and starting to gear up for our move....getting the shower fixed, the chimney swept, the piano tuned etc.....still feels a little unreal that we are actually leaving in a month. Mostly the kids and I are hanging out doing summer things....swimming often twice a day, bike riding, horse riding ( I may even be riding myself tomorrow) spending time with friends...It's hard to get up the motivation to pack up the house!

Birthday Girl

So here are some pictures from our wee lassie's day of turning 7. As I set the table with her cards and presents the night before I was following in the footsteps of my Mum who would always create a special and carefully wrapped display that I'd look forward to waking up to (Thanks Mum).....I wanted to recreate that for Maya so stayed up making some Happy Birthday letters out of this clay that can be baked...however my letters came out rather brown looking!..Maya didn't notice!


Maya's main present was a doll called Kaya which is the character from some books we have been reading. It was the first time Maya had gotten a Doll as a present....I think she was very chuffed!


She also got this beautiful cat print (drawn by Maggie) from Granny and Grandpa and has now added it to her art wall in her bedroom.

David made Maya the costume she is modelling...a sort of Godess/priestess/mists of avalon type of thing!



We spent the rest of the day with our wonderful, cool, fabbby friends Jenn, Gerry, Winter and Sedona over on their side of the Valley. We took a little hike and then cooled off in the river where there were these rock slides and pools. The sliding part looked a little painful so we watched as Winter experienced it for us. We headed back to their house after for handmade Sushi from David (with a little sushi making lesson thrown in for Jenn), pizza and some fine Wine and Beer! Jenn Got out her guitar and we indulged in some Joni Mitchell and Carole King...made me think of you again Mum!
A wonderful time was had by all!

Dina and Noir

Maya and Sage finally got their wish for horse riding lessons! Aided by some lethargic teenagers, who were doing their best to muster up enthusiasm as Sage called out for "more trotting" (which unhappily for them involved the strenuous activity of jogging), the kids spent an hour learning all sorts of horsey things.

Maya seemed to have natural riding tendencies...this according to the owner....nice straight back etc. Sage and his horse shared a similar attitude....slightly lazy, moving only if really necessary....Dina is 26 years old...not sure what Sage's excuse is! However saying that I think Sage just wanted the action as he was keen to trot and even asked to do some jumping.....which they got to do as David and I looked nervously at each other wondering if this would be the first and last riding lesson!







But no, the kids spent the entire hour with enormous grins on their faces and excited to think of their next lesson...which given the cost can only occur once a week! Noir by the way was born all black..she's the whiteish horse that Maya was riding.