It was a nice long weekend.  There was an afternoon playing with Avery's bestie.  We also made some time to go to one of the local parks w/ Avery's bike in tow and had a nice time playing outside.  I really should have gotten more done than I did, but here we are.  I did do a little in the garden this evening.  A bag of weeds has been removed from the decorative garden.  Two beef steak and one atomic grape tomato plant were moved into pots.  I also put some more potatoes into soil.  I have 3 more tomato plants that aren't quite ready for planting yet (gifted from a neighbor), hopefully they will be ready relatively soon.

This first successes have begun.  We pulled two strawberries from the plants the would-be inlaws brought.  I have pulled some lettuce and beet leaves to make a salad.  Some of the sweet 100 plants also have blooms, which is always exciting.  I think the beets are doing quite well, I can see some growth at the base of the leaves.

I often take to my blog to complain and "get it all out", but there is lots of good stuff too.  Today I have some of those things to chat about.  Let's start with another "I love my town" note - 2023 is the 100th year celebration of our town park.  Town park is where our swimming pool is among other resources.  How are they celebrating?  Not just one weekend of activities, but four of them! That is on top of the summer concert/movie nights they have there on the regular.  Of course we will also have the huge 4th of July celebration here in town.  So many good activities to look forward to this summer.

I had a moment earlier this week, realizing that the pool opens this weekend and I still hadn't purchased our pool passes, so I got that off of the to do list.  Avery and I are ready to enjoy another summer of swimming.

Related to love of "my town" but more specifically where I am, my neighbors!  We continue to play outside in the evenings and weekends.  The driveway is full of bikes and scooters, chalk drawings, giggles and sometimes tears.  My heart is full.  I'm so happy I am somewhere that Avery can have so many friends right at and within a few years of her age.

Better still - I am sure years ago I posted about the gas powered pressure washer and snow blower that I had back in Jingletown.  They haven't worked since I lived there.  Well the one neighbor said "I can take a look".  A $20 parts kit later and the pressure washer is functioning.  How awesome is that?  He also said he'd look at the snow blower later this year.  What an incredible blessing.

Today, after a few minor delays, Viktor (our foster kittie) gets the last shot he needs before he is ready to post as available.  I have been trying to get him to interact with Church -- he is pretty adamant that he's not interested in the dogs.  He is fine in the same room with Church, but Church being who he is, wants to play -- and Viktor is not interested in him getting that close.  Hence we had a bit of swatting.  I'll keep working it - it would be very helpful to Viktor when we can mark that he is down for cat siblings.

Happy Mother's day to all.  This kid is finally in the sweet spot (age wise).  She was so excited to give me the surprise home made items she had for me this morning.  She further warmed my heart by wishing me a happy Mother's day two more times as she was going to bed.  The rest of the wrongs the world spills upon me can melt away.  My baby loves me -- and I love her -- that's all we need.

I got the lawn tended to before the weekend, which was good as I needed time to do some extra cleaning before we had company today.  I wanted to take Avery to the Touch a Truck event yesterday, but rain got in the way.  Fortunately there will be more of those later this summer.

It took me sessions over three days to get the lawn mowed and in order thanks to all of the rain we have had. 3+ hours the first night with the weed eater and mowing the front and sides. Another hour and a half off and on the second night in the back due to the much thicker grass and mower batteries dying. Another 20 minutes for the last few swipes today. Honestly, the front already looks like it could do with another trim, but I am out of "go" for right now.

At least this weekend the weather is giving some summer vibes. Admittedly I took a little break the first night to get a couple of tomato plants transitioned into the big buckets. All were of one variety, the others are trailing behind in size. I should probably re-pot the (bell) peppers too. Still not even a glimmer of hope from the seeding or re-seeding of cubanelles.

I also need to update that our foster cat landed with the name Viktor. He is quite a gentle and sweet boy.

The Dr visit went well. No questions abt bs topics, he was attentive, and most unexpectantly - prompt! I stopped and had the blood drawn for various bloodwork fri morning after embracing the need to take the morning off to get a bunch of stuff done.

I picked up auction items from a place down in wash, hit the big consignment sale, got my new driver's licence, and ran through to get things at Target/Iggle and the like. This gave me enough space that I feel like I can relax a bit this weekend - but I do need to get some cleaning done and pack up the stuff to donate that has been sitting in my way since pre-vaca.