The Garden in Late May

This is the cutting garden, but I don't really cut too many. You can see Michael's Garden on the lower left. The yellow Siberian iris are just starting & Ingrid's Iris Island is in bloom at the end of the left row.

I think I was too far to really get the flowers. The peonies are all in flower now & smell great. The herb has no blooming items but is doing well.

This is a better shot of the peonies. The orange flowers are poppies.

This is the patio area & the hydrangeas have so many buds, they will look wonderful in July. Everyone has buds this year. The hostas haven't bloomed yet either. The blue bottle bush is growing too.

The rest of the patio. Its hard to see but in the area where the fountain is, the astillbe are almost ready & I will take closer pictures when they flower. Richard's Rock garden gets 'worked' on by the girls often. They re-arrange the stones & add stuff, it looks cute. The Ying-Yang area before Richard's Rock Rectangle can almost be seen. The curve in the middle is easy, but the whole circle is harder. I usually spend a few hrs in the yard every morning when its cool & I so enjoy it. There is always something to do & its so rewarding.

Birthday trip to Fredericksburg

The May family cousins organized a get-together in Fredericksburg, VA to celebrate the 70th(!) birthdays of myself, my cousin Cathy, and Cathy's cousin Roger.

During the day Saturday, Jane, Harry, and I saw Kenmore House, which was the home of George Washington's sister.

During the second world war, the house was open to servicemen and on the day we were there, they had little vignettes showing how the servicemen were treated on their R&R here.

 The house is renown for its intricate plaster work.

Here we are posing in front of the house, at the garden entrance.

Saturday evening, we had a big birthday party at a restaurant, with 18 in attendance.

The three celebrants blowing out the 3 candles.

The Garden in May

A new garden at the top of the driveway, across from the house.

Extended parking area.

Top of the driveway on the right hand side.

Trimmed the lower branches of the bradford pear so you can see the front garden better.

This is my 'running hare' covered with ivy.

Trip to AZ and NM

Phoenix

When we arrived at the Phoenix airport, Maggie picked us up in Dennis' car and explained that she had left Dennis' place in her car.  As she left his place, he noticed that one of her tires was very low.  So, he chased her in his car and caught up with her here at the airport entrance.  They had called road service while Maggie went to pick us up in his car.  The mechanic put the little doughnut tire on as a replacement, and the three of us drove at 50 mph to Cottonwood.  What an exciting start to our trip!

Cottonwood
This area is so dry, that locals have a big interest in waterways.  We took a walk with Maggie's renter along a creek near their house.

Some signs of a recent flood.

Rainbow Acres
Dennis gave us a tour of Rainbow Acres.  Here is the horse barn.

Some living quarters.

The music room.

This huge building is the dining hall.

Dennis' house.

Fossil Creek
Fossil Creek is one of the few rivers in the US which has been un-dammed.  Unfortunately, you have to drive for 50 minutes on a very rough unpaved road to get to it.

 Here are three butterflies drying their wings in the sun.  Presumably they are 'new-born'.

 Then we went on to Payson, where we saw Zane Grey's hunting lodge.

La Posada
La Posada is an old railroad hotel, built by the Santa Fe railroad in Winslow Arizona.  On our way to Albuquerque, to visit friends, we stopped here for brunch.  The restaurant is one of the best in the country, according to Conde Nast.

At one point, it got converted into Santa Fe railroad office space.  More recently, some people bought it and are slowly rejuvenating it to its old glory.

Here we are looking toward the tracks, which come very close to the hotel.  On the other side, it fronts onto historic route 66.

Botanical Gardens in Albuquerque
This garden, called a Biopark, was very interesting and varied. We went there with Warren and Carol.

They have an extensive outdoor model train setup.

Santa Fe
We took a day trip from Albuquerque to Santa Fe to visit with Sister Paula, a long-time friend of the family.

 We had lunch at La Fonda (the hotel at the end of the Santa Fe trail).

Nearby was a chapel with this seemingly unsupported spiral staircase to the choir loft.

 Santa Fe is a big artists colony.  Here is a forest of sculptures that move with the breeze.

The AZ legislature.

Phoenix
After returning to Cottonwood, we took a day trip to Phoenix, where we spent the day at Sarah's house, with Dennis J, the three girls, and 7 of the 9 grandkids.  In the background here is the chicken coop.

Vegetable garden.

We stopped on our way to the airport a few days later at the women's fashion store that Norah runs.

Cottonwood
On our last full day in Cottonwood, we completed Maggie's new garden.  Her renter had already installed a spigot and purchased a watering system.  Maggie had gotten a fountain.

We made and erected a bamboo trellis for climbing plants.

Plants are in.

Mulched.  You can see the drip irrigation system hose.

Charlotte
Our 2:45 pm United Airlines departure flight from PHX was cancelled since one engine was missing much of its 'fire seal'.  The pilot said that is really important.  So, they transferred us to US Airways for a red eye flight which arrived in Charlotte at 5:30am.  Emily picked us up.  Here she is opening a congratulatory card from us (for her getting tenure) which contained confetti.