May Assortment

The Great British Baking Show finally spurred me into action, and the littles
and I had our first attempt at macarons. I was shocked that they actually turned
out pretty well! I definitely piped them too big, but they were still a (delicious) 
success.

Waiting is hard...

An American classic for Memorial Day. My pie crust game could use some work...

One of many house finches that frequent our feeder. I have to fill it at least twice a day --
it's been a bit more popular than I'd anticipated!

Black chinned humingbird at the feeder -- you can see his gorgeous purple throat. 

A resident of Little Man's "Beetle Sanctuary" -- a plastic box filled with gravel and rocks

Misty morning -- this is the view out our back yard (I only notice the chain link fence when I try to take a photo! Grr)

Laddie has his own Redwall book, which he "reads" regularly. We're working on his "sounds," as he calls his 100 Easy
Lessons reading book, but he has a long way to go before he can handle Lord Brocktree!

Quail are exotic birds to us suburbanites, so we're thrilled whenever they visit the bird feeder!

The Biker Gang -- Rosa and Laddie have been using a balance bike for the past few
weeks, and when we finally replaced the worn-out tires on their "big kid" bikes, they
were off! I'm a true fan of the balance bike now.

May is somehow over, and June has arrived with a burst of warmth and sunshine (though the morning are still chilly -- we had a few in the 40's recently). The high desert temperature swing still throws me for a loop. Forget April showers, May was the wettest month we've had here so far. We had several hailstorms, rain almost every afternoon (and sometimes all day), and chilly temperatures. I've never been so eager for summer before! But we've certainly enjoyed the resulting green all around.

Much of my sewing time last month (not that there was much!) was spent altering clothes -- pants to shorts, long sleeves to short sleeves. A little too soon, as it turned out! A warm spell early in May convinced me that summer was on its way, but no sooner had I adjusted wardrobes than the cold set in again. We made do with the few warm clothes I'd left out, and now I think we're in the clear.

I've decided to give Instagram a go, and so far I'm enjoying it immensely. There are so many little moments that I'd never take the time to blog and it's lovely to have a little space to document them. I don't use any other social media, so I'm also enjoying the opportunity to connect with friends (including some former bloggers that I used to follow, but had lost track of). You can find me here if you're on Instagram!

My creative juices haven't been flowing very steadily lately. The Balta is still underway, and I'm nearing the end of the back yoke. Then I have the front yoke and the edging to finish. I was able to kind of try it on, and I think it will work! But I'll be a little nervous until it's actually done. Anyway, I'm hoping my sewing motivation comes back soon, so I can work on my stash a bit more. I'll have more time once we finish up school in a few weeks -- the move West set us back about a month, so we'll finish up at the end of June. I think we're all looking forward to a bit of a break!