Memorial Day

At Memorial Day Parade

Memorial Day weekend has come and gone, so I guess it is officially summer season on the island here.  This year we are celebrating St. Matthew's 175th anniversary so we walked as a church group in the parade.  It was fun and, I think, my first time in a parade.  Harry walked with the cub scouts.  It is strange to have a child with his own interests that supersede those of the rest of the family.  We gave him the choice and he chose cub scouts and he did a great job and looked cute in his uniform too (although he would be annoyed with the description.

Even though summer season is upon us, it isn't overly warm yet.  We've had a few nice days and school isn't out until June 22nd or so.  Robert will continue with his toddler program 2 days a week into the summer and in the fall he will begin preschool at the same school as Harry.  Harry has various camps to attend this summer and will do his first scout camp for a week.  Even though it often seems long in coming, I enjoy the spring time here.  It is wet and cold and we northerners joke that we go from winter to summer in about a week, but the truth is it comes slowly.  Right now the iris are blooming.  We have gone through daffodils (which lasted much longer than usual this year because of the cold, damp spring) to tulips, to hyacinths, the early laurel bushes and then the lilacs, now the rhododendron are slowly giving out and soon the peonies will be blooming.  The flowers we'll see now will be the summer ones - hydrangea which I love, roses and lilies will all make their appearance here as we move into the summer.

For the first time ever we are planting a garden.  We hope to grow tomatoes, squash, some herbs and some bell peppers.  I don't know how successful we will be, but hopefully we'll learn something to bring into next year's garden.  We have set up a raised bed and mixed some fresh soil in with the island soil and we can only hope for the best.  Our next step is to set up a little fencing around the garden to keep out the pests (this unfortunately includes some of the smaller household members who think it is fun to climb in and walk around the plants).  I am looking forward to the challenge of the garden.  In the past I've planted vegetables, but never a bunch together and always just sort of in the ground without much care.  This year I am trying to be careful.

I have also put in some johnny jump ups and some begonias - these in my usual style.  I happened to pick them up at Easter and had extras from a teacher gift I was putting together.  Some the begonias went in around the tree in the back (after the deer ate a bunch) and the johnny jump ups went where I have tried various vegetables over the years (to middling success).  Hopefully they will do okay.  It is nice to have flowers around.  Since my main occupation these days is planting ideas and manners and trying to help little minds and souls to grow, it is nice to have something that I can measure.  I love being a Mom (which is now what both boys call me) and I enjoy the challenges, but I don't often see any results.  The garden of a child's body and soul takes much longer time to see change and grow and that is both the joy and frustration many days.  It is nice to plant a garden that I will be able to watch and measure over a few short weeks.