Our friend Walter brought over a dozen roses last Thursday as an early Mother's Day gift, and to also celebrate May birthdays ~ his is just a few days before mine.

I've been busy laying out the growing berms for my vegetable garden at Franklin Park. They've given me two plots this year, so that means double the work.

George has helped do some of the digging and also re-worked a huge compost pile along the fence so I can use that space for winter squash. So far I've got kale, mustard, leeks, red and white onions, walla walla onions; collards, beets, sweet fennel, parsley, celery, carrots, shallots, snow peas and borage. I still have to plant green beans, corn, zuchinni, winter squash, tomatoes and hot peppers. I'll do that when the weather is a little warmer. Most of the heavy work is done now, and it is mostly a matter of water and hauling leaves/grass/straw for the trenches when I have time to lay them out. They are a valuable mulch as they deteriorate throughout the summer, keeping the soil moist and the weeds down.

We are also in the process of going through all our Pilgrimage photos, or I should say George is, posting them in the Flickr account as time permits. I have culled through and collected a few specifically of me, for putting into a little photo album. It will serve as a reminder that I was actually there!

One of my favorites was taken in the gardens at Bahji, in an underdeveloped area. I just happened to be wearing a sweater that matched the ground cover!

George has started filming our canoe paddles ~ we've had two recently, Isabella Lake and Montesano Slough off the Chehalis River. He posted videos from our paddle yesterday. The weather has been wonderful throughout the weekend, with sunshine and warm temperatures.