Yay for me!!

We're starting to settle into a routine with Delaney.  Julia still plans to just work two days a week.  Newborn care runs about $300 a day and she doesn't make that much a day.  She's happy to not be working full time right now and I'm thrilled to have Delaney two days a week.  I was reading to her and tried to catch the moment with this selfie.

As of last Monday I'm back at the High Desert Museum as a living history interpreter, wearing my Birkenstock sandals.  Since they're not period appropriate I'm seated in a rocking chair with my skirt covering my feet, and I'm either knitting on a pair of socks or drop spindling.  On occasions I have to get up to help direct visitors and so far no one seems to have noticed my toes.

Staci is a new seasonal worker so Emily showed her how to bake a rhubarb pie in the wood cookstore using fresh rhubarb from the garden.  It was a great success and Staci was very proud.

This doe has been hanging around our yard, obviously pregnant and only getting bigger.  I took this picture as I was backing out of the garage, on my way to HDM.  She is alone these days and the neighbors are keeping an eye on her.  We seriously have each others phone numbers and text for updates.

Clover who lives two houses away texted Ian and me on Sunday morning to let us know that the twins had been born at Sandy's house, right in between us.

Once born they go to ground and just don't move.  Mom was eating grass and really quite trusting of us, given that the babies were between her and our little cluster of neighbors.  Ian is a morning person and saw her bring them into our yard about 5:00 Monday morning.  The three of them are still here and we are leary of provoking any kind of protective response from her.  We went through that last year and once is enough.

I'm not able to do much yard work other than bend over and pull weeds so it's wonderful to see my hard work from past years.  This is my first attempt at irises.  I was given about a dozen rhizomes which I planted last year.  Six of them are award winning, a gift from Petey, Ian's friend from college and now my friend. His cousin's husband raised them for show and had written the name of the iris on the dried flag.   This one is Wicked Cool, which it is indeed.

 I've been having my morning coffee on the patio, enjoying the plants as they grow and come together.  It's starting to look like I meant it to look like this.  Granddaughter Alexia and I created a little fairy garden and she'll be here next month to see how fabulous it looks now.

It's been two months exactly since my surgery and today was also my first appointment with my surgeon.  I have a lot of healing to go but he's given me exercises and told me to get back to doing the things I like to do.  I've done a lot of knitting and reading but it's summer and I want to enjoy all three months of it.  I celebrated my good report at my favorite nursery with two plants for my shade garden and two for my sedum garden.  I've always wanted to be able to grow an astilbe and am concerned that it might be too big for the area where it will go.  I had planned on another hosta but my good visit made me adventurous and I went for it. I'm excited to get back to yard work, and while it's still cool will take my first walk in the morning in my Teva sandals - I'm still too swollen for a shoe.  Yay for me!!