As tall as an onion...

Well, she's almost as tall as the tallest onion...I love how the tops of them are like raindrops and then they open up into a beautiful round flower.  (Olivia is still 8 years old...for a mere 6 more days.)

Big beautiful maple tree at Coney Island, right next to the Ohio River.  We couldn't climb it, but we tried, we just walked around it and admired it.  Looks like it may actually be 3 trees that twisted together as they grew.  I wonder if man had a hand in it or if it's just nature?  ♥

• 13 years ago I spent the whole month of May with my sister, Mary, in Russia.  I cut her hair while there, really short.  She didn't like it.  I still feel bad about it, but she did look pretty!  
• 11 years ago I was expecting my first daughter, and 9 years ago at this time, my husband had just gotten home from Iraq and we were awaiting the arrival of our second daughter 
• 9 years ago was also when my father was diagnosed as having Parkinson's disease.  Since then, we moved from Georgia back to Ohio and my father's health has gotten worse, but we are so glad to be involved in his life, and my mom...  This year, we are doing a 5k for Parkinson's disease in a couple of weeks!  

New tea...to go with a book!

I decided to order this tea, inspired by the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith.  And it came...quickly!  Hannah and I enjoyed a cup of the 97 per cent tea, named after Grace Makutsi who brags about her high score on her exam at the Botswana Secretarial college.  She is hilarious.  ♥

If you haven't read any of these books, I highly recommend them.  We actually just got Smith's first children's book, The Great Cake Mystery, from the library (it also comes on CD, we got both at the same time, what a nice coincidence)!  It's about Precious, as a young girl:

"When a piece of cake goes missing from her classroom, a traditionally built young boy is tagged as the culprit. Precious, however, is not convinced. She sets out to find the real thief. Along the way she learns that your first guess isn’t always right. She also learns how to be a detective."

Geared for children 7 years old and up.  There are beautiful simple woodcuts on just about every page.  It starts off with Obed telling his daughter, Precious, about how he came face to face with a lion as a child and how he is still alive...  Even an adult would be captivated by this interesting and sweet story of a little girl in Africa. 

Clementine

Saturday, Olivia fed the chickens a banana.  Sunday, they had watermelon with us.  Monday, however, we noticed that Clementine, who hasn't lain an egg for a few weeks, was not her energetic and friendly self.  Monday evening, she was droopy, closed her eyes and didn't go up on her roost at 8pm when Nutmeg did.  Tuesday morning, I found her dead.

So sad.  Rob buried her in the backyard by the fence.

While Hannah washed off the carrots from our garden, I remember how Clementine came over to munch on the greens!  Oh, she loved them.  And yogurt.  We'll miss her.  ♥

Piper sandals (made in the USA)

For Mother's Day ♥ I got a pair of Piper sandals...they are made in the USA.  San Antonio, Texas, to be exact, by Dave Piper and his son, a small family business.  They are $119/pair.  On the home page, it says they've made 48,000 pairs since 1971.  Each sandal is marked and mine is the 52,830th pair they've made!  We are considering getting Hannah and Olivia a pair, as they are $49/pair for children!

I refused to by "made in China" only to have them last a year.  The last pair that I had that were decent were made in France.  I still wore them, although the cork sole is cracked and the leather strap between one toe is disattached from the sole.  They were a gift on Mother's day about 3 years ago.  I thought they should've held up for longer.

So, if you're looking for a leather, quality, made in the USA, supportive sandal...look no further!

Eating fresh...

Yes, I ♥ salad, but not every salad, there are lots of salads that are made with poor quality vegetables.  My favorite is fresh dark greens, maybe speckled, or red lettuce with avocado, lemon juice, cucumbers, feta, sunflower seeds, carrots, cucumber, maybe some cilantro, dill and tomato...with olive oil.

Our cilantro is flowering.  I cut some yesterday and put it in a bouquet to give to my little niece, Natalia, who turned 2.

I got a scroll saw when we lived in Georgia, and I love using it to cut things out of wood, to paint...

Hannah knit a little owl and sewed on buttons for eyes to give to Natalia.

My sister made a cookie, covered it with cream cheese frosting and fresh raspberries, kiwi and strawberries, instead of a cake...  Isn't it beautiful?

Green

Lush and growing well...

I highly recommend the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith.  This is his 13th in this series.  There is also a BBC production of the first couple of books...that are very well done.  We got it on DVD at our library.

I got more herbs to add to my little area where the sage and mint abound...purple basil, dill and lavender!

  I crocheted this green trim for this apron for a little girl.  Join in the "Yarn Along" here. ♥

St. George in Cincinnati

Yesterday morning, we went to St. George's (you can see the sign on the right hand side in the photo above that my sister, Susanna painted) and the feast of St. George is always on May 6 (which is really April 23 old calendar), so it's not often on a Sunday.  My girls are wearing the pink and blue sweaters and standing on the steps...waiting for Bishop Peter, who came from Chicago for our feast day.

 

You will want to turn off the music on the sidebar on the right before you watch these video clips:

I put more photos on Facebook!  For privacy, though, I use a pseudonym there...and honestly, I love that I can look at photos and keep in touch with friends and family who don't live nearby, but am considering leaving it, because I'm so frustrated with the Facebook Timeline that I was automatically switched to....I do not like changes!

 

And Zizi who is from Georgia (the country) made her most scrumptious light and creamy caramel cake for afterwards!  I must get her recipe.  ♥  The photo doesn't do it justice...