Home At Last

My line up of herbs on the railing.

Window boxes brighten up the deck

Vases of peonies - they don't last long!

Spring has meant a lot of rain and quite cool weather for us since our return. But yesterday and today summer finally arrived with bright sunshine and warm temperatures. The garden is really beautiful this time of year with the peonies, rhododendrons, phlox and poppies adding lots of color to the various bright greens. I planted 5 window boxes with annuals and a large herb collection on the railing in front: parsley, basil, thyme, mint, oregano, and rosemary. 

Heather, Sean and Rowan - out for a brew

Gary, Will's Dad, also came for a visit on his way
to Spain.

Rowan loves to laugh and Scott really gets him
going!

Will and Sean

We've been kept really busy with community events and social occasions. But our first weekend we spent down in Boston with son Sean, son-in-law Will and our youngest grandson Rowan. He has grown up so much in these last six months. He'll be 2 in July and chattering away already. We even understand most of the words! He's a darling. 

I'm back at work doing 4 hour shifts at Pierce's Store, volunteer of course. And we had a huge turnout for our spring wine tasting. I made 4 different appetizers for sale - all goes to support Pierces, a non profit co-op. We had a 7 piece band too! Scott is now attending his many board meetings in person and now can return to his Quaker meeting on Sundays. We had their annual meetings and dinner at our house one Sunday. There are a variety of concerts too - here in Shrewsbury and around our area. The bluegrass group, Green Mountain Boys, performed at our Town Hall to a packed crowd. My book club met to discuss Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean. The meetings are once a month at a member's home and this time we all stayed for a pot luck dinner. 

The food and wine line. We had 8 different kinds
of appetizers. I made 4 of them.

A view around the room. The events are held in 
the renovated garage behind Pierce's Store. That
me on the left.

There were seven musicians overall but they
weren't all on stage at on every piece.

The Green Mountain Boys (and woman) at the
Town Hall. 

We both joined our local MINT, a Makerspace facility. "Makerspace programs provide space and resources for individuals to design, experiment and invent, fostering creativity, problem-solving and collaboration." Here in Rutland it's in a huge former warehouse with a warren of activity. I've rented a 8ft by 8ft space as a studio and Scott uses the variety of machines, like 3D printers and woodshop machines. Their funds ran out and they had to let go of their paid staff so now it's all being run by volunteers!

My last living first cousin on my father's side, Judy Halburg, celebrated her 90th birthday in June. That's her in the center with Heather on the left. Over 100 guests attended a beautiful luncheon in her honor. Most of them were descended from my father's sister, Judy's mother, Edna. 

Scott has returned to baking sourdough bread!

 

We both volunteer at our local library and I'm a member of the Rutland Garden Club. We maintain over 16 gardens around the city and mine is the local Senior Center. Scott helps me with is along with 2 other members. I must admit this is getting to be difficult for me, along with my own huge garden, but it's OK for now. I'm not walking as much as I should but we do Bone Builders twice a week. It's an hour of weights, stretches, meditation designed for Seniors. But we are sure keeping busy as you can see from this write up! 

And on the 1st of July our family and friends start arriving for our annual Fourth of July weekend. More about that in my next post.