May 31 Block

The merry month of May is over once more, so it's on to June, National Dairy Month.  Here in Madison we will celebrate with Cows on the Concourse on Saturday, June 4th: Cows to pet and cream puffs, grilled cheese sandwiches, ice cream, chocolate milk, not to mention our many fabulous Wisconsin cheeses.

This wraps up five months and, if I counted correctly, 157 blocks.  I'm 5/12ths of the way there.  Not exactly a nice round fraction, but tomorrow begins the run up to the halfway mark of my year long experiment....  Mary

May 30 Block

It's Memorial Day in the United States and at military cemeteries around the world.  Blessings to all those who have given themselves and their lives for their country and to those they loved and left behind.... Mary

May 29 Block

Some bright colors for a gray, cloudy day.... Mary

May 28 Block

The last of the impatiens is planted in pots for the balcony outside our living room.  Now it's just lots of watering and deadheading for the season.  Assuming it gets warm enough for things to actually grow.  A neighbor talked to one of the plant people at the farmers' market this morning who said he's ready to just hang out an "I give up" sign because we've lost nearly 60 days of normal temperatures for the growing season.  I sure hope the weather gets warm soon for the farmers' sake.  Doubt the corn will be knee high by the 4th of July this year.... Mary

May 27 Block

After our, hopefully, last frost warning of the season overnight, I went out and bought our one tomato plant for the summer.  Since we live in a townhouse, our planting area is pretty limited and really only suited to annuals and hosta.  Last year we planted one shade tolerant tomato plant (Sungold) in a very large pot with impatiens around it's base.  It looked quite nice and produced small cherry tomatoes like crazy all summer.  Hoping for another bumper crop this year.... Mary

May 26 Block

Hard to believe that it's May 26, and we have a frost warning for low lying areas tonight.  I will be covering my poor impatiens.  Not to whine over a little frost though when the poor citizens of Joplin are still reeling from the tornado on Sunday.  Rick and I will be looking at our emergency preparedness this weekend.... Mary

May 25 Block

Got some great stripes at Stitchers' Crossing this past weekend.  Love the muted, denim-y colors and the stripe-iness of it all.... Mary

May 24 Block

Today is Bob Dylan's 70th birthday.  But more importantly it's my cousin Diana's 70th birthday as well.  Diana is 13 years older than I am, so when I was in kindergarten, she was a senior in high school.  I thought she was just the coolest person in the whole world.  In fact she's still one of the coolest people I know.  She and her husband, Don, are two of the kindest, most generous, and hospitable people you'll ever find.  Happy birthday, Diana!  Mary

May 23 Block

Can't decide if the shapes on the ribbon are flowers or microbes.  Microbes seem a lot more interesting.... Mary

May 22 Block

All of the flowers I planted yesterday survived the night.  Usually a couple just flop over limply from the shock of transplant, but they were all happy and perky this morning.  We'll see how they do if we get a big storm tonight, but they are under a tree so they have a little protection.... Mary

May 21 Block

We didn't get rain all afternoon as originally forecast, so I took the opportunity to plant impatiens in the front yard under the flowering crab tree.  Only problem is it required a lot of stretching and bending in ways I don't usually bend, and I'm a bit sore.... Mary

May 20 Block

This weekend is the Shred-a-Thon at our credit union, so I need to gather up all our shredding to take in tomorrow morning.  We love the University of Wisconsin Credit Union.  It's the best on line banking I've ever seen, and we've dealt with many different banks over the years.  None of them hold a candle to our credit union.  Long live local credit unions!  Mary

May 19 Block

Off to bed early and tomorrow is Friday....  Mary

May 18 Block

After all the helicopter parents and rude, entitled students, it's been an interesting week.  I received a hand written thank you note from a student for allowing him to enroll in one of the courses I handle.  Hats off to his parents for raising such a thoughtful young man.  Then one of our faculty members brought in really, really delicious donuts for the office staff, just because.  And the head of admissions for the Nursing program stopped by my office with chocolates to say thanks for taking care of his students.  Just when you start thinking people aren't very nice, they go and so pleasantly surprise you.... Mary

May 17 Block

The weather turned a bit more springlike after our unseasonably cold (frost warning last night!) weather.  Everything is so green all of a sudden, and the flowering trees are exploding with blossoms.... Mary

May 16 Block

Kaffe Fassett has the most amazing sense of color.  His fabrics are just gorgeous.... Mary

May 15 Block

Grandma did finally tell us yesterday that her favorite color is green.... Mary

May 14 Block

Rick, Anne and I went down to Illinois to visit Grandma.  She is doing as well as can be expected.  Spring is a week or so ahead down there, and there were lilac bushes in full, full flower.  They were, alas, along the Interstate so no wonderful scent.  The spice bush (viburnum) are in flower here in Madison with its intoxicating smell, so the lilacs can't be far behind.... Mary

May 13 Block

Today is our 33rd wedding anniversary.  When we were picking a date all those many years ago, the choice was between May 13 and May 20.  I chose the 13th so that occasionally our anniversary would fall on Friday the 13th, which it did this year.  (I don't believe that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day.  Quite the contrary, everyone assumes it's bad luck so I assume there's all kinds of good luck just waiting to be snapped up!)

Rick and I both took the day off.  We went to see an exhibit of Russian icons at the Chazen Museum of Art at the UW.  It was pretty amazing.  Then we went out to lunch at The Old Fashioned, a much hipper-than-we-are restaurant and bar across from the Capitol.  The food was amazingly good.  It was a very lovely day.... Mary

May 12 Block

Happy Birthday, Mom!  Today is my mother, Rosemary's, 83rd birthday.  She turned 50 the day before we were married, and we had a birthday cake for her at our rehearsal dinner.  She flew out to Virginia today to see my brother and his family.  Hope she's having a wonderful day.... Mary

May 11 Block

This is a replacement post for the May 11 piece that was lost in the Blogger meltdown of last night / this morning.  Nearly everything is transferred from the old computer to my new laptop, but the laptop is set up enough to be lots of fun already.... Mary

May 10 Block

I had the best surprise tonight!  The back story is that when my hand-me-down iMac died, Anne gave me her 10 year old Mac Tower to use.  It's slow, very slow, doesn't allow quilting videos to play well, or the eaglets for that matter....  Of all the family members, I probably use my Mac the least - evenings, weekends, holidays - so it's not a big deal.  But I have been complaining about the old computer, especially since Anne set up wi-fi in our house as a joint Mother's Day/Father's Day present a couple of months ago.  I've been saving spare change in the peanut butter jar, cashing it in, and stashing it away for a shiny new MacBook.  It would probably have been the end of the summer at least before I could spring for one.

Well, Eileen walked in tonight and handed me a beautiful white box (Apple boxes are really sexy) with a brand spanking new MacBook Pro inside!  Wow!  It's a much nicer version than I would ever have bought myself, and for the very first time, I have the coolest computer in the family!  With 300GB of memory!  I think our first Mac from 25 years ago had something like 256K memory with a 10MB external drive.  It wasn't the first Mac, but I believe it was the second iteration.

And Anne came over and began the process of switching over all my files and getting the applications installed.  Now I can use my new laptop in the studio (quilting videos!), on the screen porch, or even just sitting at the table if I decide to be all boring about it!

Did I mention I have the coolest, shiniest new Mac in the whole family, maybe the whole neighborhood?  And the two coolest, sweetest daughters in the whole world.... Mary

May 9 Block

Today a co-worker told us she is pregnant with her second child.  It's sure nice to have some good news!  Of course, we're all just hoping for a happy, healthy baby for them, but secretly we're all hoping it's a girl.... Mary

May 8 Block

Happy Mother's Day to everyone's mom, everywhere.... Mary

May 7 Block

My mother-in-law is home again after a blood clot had put her back into the hospital.  All treatment is done, and it's a matter of comfort from here on out.  Rick was down there for three days; Eileen is down there tonight.  Kate's sister is arriving tomorrow to stay with them indefinitely, along with outside help and hospice.  God bless all these kind and wonderful people.... M

May 6 Block

So tired, going to bed, not setting an alarm.... Mary

May 5 Block

The helicopter parent has gotten as far as the UW Provost.  From there, it's just the Chancellor and the Governor.  Guessing both of them have more important things to worry about than Junior's fall enrollment.  Thank heavens tomorrow is Friday, and I get to leave work early after my twelve hour day today.... M

May 4 Block

Wow, did I jinx it!  Flaming emails from a helicopter parent today about enrollment.... Mary

May 3 Block

Think I jinxed it.  I should have known better than to blog about enrollment.  I had a student crying over the phone today when I told her she probably would not get a seat in the course.  With some major tracks, not taking the courses I work with early enough in your college career can mean a fifth year of school just to get in all required classes.  While I really do sympathize with students in her position, just about every student on the waiting list has a similar story.  Unfortunately, funding is finite, and there are a limited number of seats each semester.  Demand simply outstrips supply.... Mary

May 2 Block

I will be very happy when all 1200 seats in our ginormous science courses are filled.  Hopefully, by the end of the week I will have given out all the permissions that are left - a couple of hundred yet.  Some students will be very happy and with any luck not too many will be wailing and gnashing their teeth.  I've been yelled at by parents over the phone, had students cry in my office, and actually gotten one 'thank you' chocolate chip cookie.  And it was a really good cookie from La Brioche.  I heated it up in the microwave until it was all warm and gooey.  It's the little things.... Mary

May 1 Block

Rick and I went to Olbrich Botanical Gardens this afternoon.  Olbrich is one of the perfect places in this world.  It's free (although we buy a membership each year) and open 361 days a year.  After visiting the garden today, it finally, truly feels like Spring. 

In the Meadow Garden were magenta wild tulips, tiny yellow daffodils, purple grape hyacinth, deep red fritillaria (hen flower), soft purple hellebore, bright blue squill, and long, soft bright green grass.  After the Meadow, we lay in the thick grass in the center of the Great Lawn (a 100+ foot circle) and watched the wispy clouds float by in the blue, blue sky.  Then we walked among the white and pink magnolia scenting the breeze. 

We have from now until November to enjoy all the amazing changes in the Garden and then all Winter to enjoy the tropical lushness of the Conservatory with orchids, canaries, waterfalls, and exotic flora.  Like I said, a perfect place.... Mary