News from the garden -

Yesterday, with the surprise of what must have been quite a soaking

 rain during the night - the best kind for the garden - I opened

 the front door to a beautiful shock of green. Layers of color all the

 same hue but each a different shade. Washed clean, undamaged, 

refreshed, with no fallen leaves or twigs.

Many birds were at the feeders - including the invincible four-legged

 versions with the bushy tails! A large rabbit hopped across the lawn, and 

two chipmunks scampered around the front porch, one stopping for a

 drink at the fountain which I'd not seen happen before.

I baked a French pear Gateau de Mamy (Grandma's Cake) for Mother's Day

and decorated simply with garden pansies. I couldn't eat any though whilst

 on the Low Histamine diet!  I'm feeling great though cutting out so many 

food items which may have been causing problems. I did cheat a bit for

 Mother's Day by drinking a glass of sparkling Prosecco during a visit 

with a dear friend. She bought it especially for me to sip, along with

 thoughtful carrots and broccoli rather than cheese and crackers which

I've had to give up for a while!

She also gifted me with this..........

.........a very pretty bird snack wreath now hanging on the porch.

Note my special 'garden boy' Bob working in the background!

This was another beautiful gift from Anthropologie for Mother's Day, 

one I'll be using a lot - even later today as I'm heading into the garden

 now to prune the massive azalea bushes. If you have azaleas always

 prune at this time when the blooms have died - that way they can set

 buds during the summer for next spring's glorious display.

Who doesn't love peonies! I cut the first open bloom from the garden

yesterday as it was so heavy and hanging down - the perfume is

 awesome, I wish you could sniff, and the petals so pretty.