Marvelous May

How can it by May 1st already? I think the strange weather has me a bit out of sync with the seasons this year, with everything blooming earlier than usual.

Normally our lilacs bloom around Mother's Day but mine are done already.

  

The season has been filled with gorgeous flowers like these daffodils

and sweet violets. 

The redbud trees put on a stunning display.

 

If you follow my Twitter feed you might already know that I'm excited to support the kids from Rio Rancho High School (Southwest Region) in the Van's Custom Culture shoe design contest. There are so many wonderful teen artists from regions all over the country entered in the contest, but only five school groups get to travel to LA to participate in the finals. 

I know some of the people involved in the Rio Rancho art program and the kids are wonderful, hard-working young artists with loads of talent, many from under-privileged homes. photo rrhs

 

The students are from mixed cultural backgrounds with some not having ever been on a plane, seen an ocean, or having much chance of going to college, so winning this trip is a very big deal for them. Rio Rancho is the only high school from New Mexico to make it into the semi-finals.

Voting for the contest ends May 3rd (two days from now!!), so please check out the contest and help support Rio Rancho.

Wishing everyone a lovely beginning to a marvelous month of May!

Sweet Summer

Ahhhh, finally - sweet summer!

It's 80 degrees, the flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, a lovely breeze is blowing...

...and my smile is as big as my dog's.

Enjoy every day, and may you have much peace, blessing and happy knitting!

Lilacs and Love

Although not everyone has a biological child, everyone on earth had a mother, and today is the day we celebrate motherhood and mothering-love in the US in the form of "Mother's Day."  

To my mom, sisters, mother-in-law, friends with kids, beloved moms-of-my-heart, and to all the women with biological offspring, adopted little ones, fur-babies, beloved nieces, nephews and family members that are as loved as children, children of the heart, and even students, I wish you a very happy Mother's Day!  

This day of celebration usually falls right around when my lilac hedges are in full bloom, so I thought it would be nice to share some of these gorgeous flowers today as my Mother's Day card to everyone, along with a little update on my knitting at the end of the post.

The true 'lilac' varieties with a bluish cast are my favorites, and almost done blooming in my yard.

The mauve-pink lilacs are plentiful and pretty also.  

White lilacs are exquisite in both form and scent. 

Elsewhere in my garden, the little snap pea vines got a late start, but are making great gains against a backdrop of garlic. 

And it looks like we will eventually have some strawberries of our own.  

I haven't been writing here as much as I'd like lately, in part because I haven't been knitting as much as I'd like due to various life issues; however, I did finish FOUR (Yay!!!) knitting projects and a few crochet items and I'm hoping to start posting about those in upcoming days.  Thanks for reading, and I'll be back soon with photos and details of my knitting projects and soon-to-be-released pattern updates.