Healing, re-gaining strength, and getting back to it!

Each day I am feeling a little bit stronger. It has helped that the flowers are putting on such a spectacular show this time of year. I am able to dead-head and prune but still have some trouble with chores that require lots of bending (as in weeding!). My abdomen doesn't appreciate bending yet. But I am getting there. I so appreciate good friends who have come over to help me weed, cut off spent blooms, and otherwise keep LBF in flower! And thanks to everyone who so kindly asks, "How are you feeling?" I am feeling really good - almost all of the time. Won't be long before our new Teeny Tiny Bird will be born in Ft Worth! I am sure I will be able to lift about 7-8 pounds by that time! All reports are that Sara is feeling great! And Abby is excited to be a big sister! (And Nate really hopes he is not out of town when the blessed event starts to happen!)

Surprises - good ones and not so good ones

Even Fred was eager to see those eagles pinned on Captain!

Four honorable men who have done military service.

For the first time in nearly a month, I am sitting down to write a new blog post. It is hard for me to sit for very long these days, given recent events; more on this shortly. I look around and see a thousand and one things I would like to do. But I don't have the energy or the ability. The past 3 weeks have indeed held some big old surprises for us here at Little Bird Farm! First - a very, very, very great surprise! Commander is now CAPTAIN! He received news of his promotion on June 21st! And on July 1st, we had the funnest Pinning Ceremony ever to celebrate! I am so proud of him! His career of 22 1/2 years brings him to this fabulous new place, which he richly deserves. Next - a less great surprise. When Commander learned about his promotion on June 21st, I was pretty much morphined out, lying in a hospital bed sporting a brand new train track of staples on my abdomen. SURPRISE! I do have a vague recollection of being really, really happy when he showed me his new silver eagles and told me the news! I think I smiled, rolled over, and hit my little yellow morphine button, drifting away again to that happy pain-free place. In a nutshell, here's what happened. I went in for a colonoscopy on June 19th. By midnight, I was on my way to emergency surgery to repair a tear in the wall of my colon. I remember looking for a place to lie down in the emergency room lobby while "then - still - Commander", signed me in. No place to lie down, I just slipped onto the floor and fell asleep. I had lost so much blood that I couldn't possibly stay vertical and the floor really felt good. So - seven days in the hospital. I've only snippets of recollections of the first 4 days. The strongest memory I have of those 4 days is how wonderful my hospital room smelled - like a florist shop! There were so many beautiful bouquets from the sweetest people in the world! Thank you! I remember Commander staying with me the first three nights, when I was weakest and most confused, sleeping in a chair at my bedside. Thank you! And there were such kind visits from such loving family and friends! Thank you! Friends and family have brought us countless delicious meals. The flowers and cards and calls and provisions of love & support have blown me away! Fred has been so well cared for by our amazing neighbors! (How confused he must have been!!) An enormous "thank you" to everyone who has been so incredibly present for us throughout this wild, freaky, fabulous, (also read: terrible) time!!!

Just trying to keep up!

Holy smoke! (Literal smoke, actually, due to some intense forest fires in the state, but that's not really what I meant when I "said" that.) We find ourselves deep into June and the gardens. Just trying to keep the weeds at bay, keep all the baby plantings watered, and striving to get the new herb garden on some firm footing. Commander did some nice re-working of old fence panels, cutting them down to size and getting the front portion in place. Now, we need the other three sides. That will require more time than he has for the next week or two - other stuff going on and such. All good stuff. I haven't taken many pictures lately - but I've taken a few. So I will post them here, and try to take some pictures over the next few days. We celebrated the 4th Anniversary of the day we closed on Little Bird Farm! We laughed about how we had our closing in the office of our Oakland realtor, a world away from NM! And we nicely polished off a bottle of Gruet Demi Sec as we reminisced. We have had three crazy roadrunners hanging around lately. This fellow was very interested in the garden. Probably looking for a lizard for lunch! We also have oodles of toads, but I don't think the roadrunners prefer toads. I know they will eat them in a pinch, but surely the lizards are more delicious. (Debbi - this picture is for you.) Fred has really learned how to make himself comfortable. One day he decided this would be his spot....and so it is. He is a character!

We have just returned home from a fun trip to Texas - Fred's very 1st Road Trip! (He is a terrific little traveler.) The highlight of the trip was Abby's 1st dance recital! (Lots of "firsts"!) And it was fantaaaaastico! She did a tap dance number, "Oh, you Beautiful Doll", and she IS one! Too many exclamation points? I will try to stop, but it won't be easy. Anyway, the whole thing was simply adorable, from the moment she stepped into her costume, pulled on her tap shoes (how cute are tiny tap shoes?? Super cute!), strolled into the auditorium - filled with confidence and enthusiasm, disappeared with her mommy into the back stage area....and then reappeared in all her blushy cheeked, pink lipped glory - ON STAGE, an hour later! WoW! The world of little kid dance is wild and colorful and verrry exciting! Having raised boys, my only experience with "the dance recital world" was when I was 4 - ancient history. This was all pretty darned cute! While in Texas, we did a few other cool things: Prairie Day at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT), attended Abby's very first (****) last day of school party at her school, and ate at a new Ft Worth restaurant, "The WoodShed" on the Pioneer River - a totally Texan experience! The heat of summertime is just beginning to creep into north Texas, and the humidity was not yet cloying. Our new teensy weensy baby bird will be arriving there, however, come August, so we WILL get to experience those things then. But we will be under a spell of new grand baby euphoria, so it won't be so bad. ;) Here are some pix of our time in Texas, and of the beauty and bounty of Little Bird Farm upon our return last evening! I wasn't in a spot where I could get any pix of the actual dance, but Nate did, so I will try to get one and put it here soon.

"That's ok - I can do it by myself".

So ready and soooo excited (I mean ME! HA!! But she was too.).

Proud Mama & Daddy and sweet Baby Bird!

Abby with Grubepop at her school.

Swingin' with Gram Gigi at school.

A FUN last day of school PARTY!

Home to a tree full of delicious sweet cherries and lots of strawberries too.

And we got to the cherries before the birds did!! Yay!

FRED really wanted to help us pick cherries. He is a fine dog.

HAPPY MAY DAY!

When the boys were small, we took flowers to sweet old ladies on May Day. I feel like one of those "old ladies" today, with all the gardening and brick laying we have been doing lately! May Day starts off in a very happy way this morning with a surprise Skype visit from Piper and her Mama & Daddy-o (that's what Piper calls him!). They were in their pretty back yard in NC - sitting at P-pie's little yellow table & chairs and watering the garden. She told me about their visit to see baby goats on Saturday at a farm near their house! Sounds like she doesn't stop at hugging chick-chicks. She also LOVES to hug baby goats! We had a delightful visit...until she disappeared off screen for a second - took a spill, and got a booboo on her knee. As we threw bye bye kisses, she was hugging her Mama pretty tightly. Sometimes there is a physical cost to being an adventurous spirit! Poor little thing. (I can sort of relate. Oh! My aching back.) If you would like to see these adorable pix of little Piper Gaye and her new goat-buddies, visit www.burkbum.com. Have a wonderful May Day!