A Longweekend, Hurray!-

Bruno is back from his trip to California and eager to get back into the household routine. We are on the cusp of a long weekend with a long list. Things are finally taking off in the garden and while the vegetable seem very slow to grow, the irises are starting to bloom already. The strawberries are forming and dreams of pound cake dance in our heads.

irises

lettuces

Sunny California....

This week it was Bruno's turn to travel, with a few days in Santa Barbara, CA. He was at a conference focused on "Molecules, Materials & Medicines", and the busy conference schedule meant that it was difficult to find time to enjoy the local sites and sunshine. What a shame! Hopefully it will stay sunny for the extended Memorial day weekend.

Visit from DiAnn

DiAnn arrived midweek for some respite from the deary Pittsburgh weather. The skies haven't exactly been clear at Hangman Hill either, but the temperatures are rising. As far as respite, an eager dog with a new toy (from her grandmother) make relaxing with a book or knitting a challenge.

We celebrated DiAnn's birthday on Friday by taking her to New Haven for a lovely dinner at an Italian Bistro followed by a concert with John Prine at the Schubert Theater (a dedicated blog to follow). The sun came out that afternoon, we had a great dinner and John Prine and his band were AMAZING.

DiAnn is helping us get organized, stocking our freezer with oatmeal cookies and ironing a 2-month backlog of ironing. We rewarded her with dinner on Saturday night with a Mother's Day Eve (avoiding the crowds) at the Olympia Tea Room in Watch Hill. We previewed the progress on the Ocean House, very impressive. The food at Olympia was great, and the Cappuccino Choc late Muffin and Italian Lemon Cake that we shared were scrumptious.

Spring produce

Our seedlings are doing very well this year and nearly ready to graduate to the raised beds outside. It is great to see a little progress every day, and even more exciting to discover some carrots planted late in the summer that overwintered. They were crisp and sweet. The asparagus crop is more plentiful this year, yielding enough for several meals (and even possible to have more than 1 spear per person).