The end of May

And so one of the busiest months of the year comes to an end.

Even though Sarah's birthday was the end of April, we didn't get to celebrate until May.  She got a chocolate ice cream cake.



Steven got Italian cream cake (he allowed me to make it gluten free.....which makes him still the favored son!

Speaking of gluten free - around mid-May, Aldi offered a bunch of gluten free products under their label "Live G-Free" and my Mother's Day gift was to buy a sample of each item.  And they all taste terrific.  I ate chicken nuggets for the first time in 14 years!  Their wraps are better than any other brand I have tasted.  I'm not sure when Aldi will bring these products out on a permanent basis but I hope soon.  I wrote them a letter of thanks and maybe that will count for something.....

May was full, of course, of music performances.  Below is a photo of some of the RBHS orchestra members after their spring concert.  They also played for baccalaureate again this year.  And I had quartets providing background ambiance for a couple of retirement receptions throughout the month.

Here are the flowers (and the apple) I got from my five graduating seniors. 

 

Spring started the wedding season and we had a gig in the Governor's Garden in Jefferson City.  The weather was threatening  rain so we played under the covered walkway which gave us a lovely view of the capital.
 

Here we are....Tamara Kitchen subbed on violin, Margaret Lawless on violin, viola sub, Morgan Owen.

On Memorial Day Saturday, we went to St. Louis to attend the temple and to take Noah and Lucy to the World  Bird Sanctuary.  It is a delightful place - quite close to the Southerland's home and it is free and it was shady and not too large and just a perfect place to take two small kids for an hour and a half.  We saw a LOT of bald eagles

and owls 

 and other birds of prey.  We saw (and heard) a kookaburra bird.  There was a turkey family. 

 

 Lucy brought from home a little metal bird-shaped lemon squeezer and her favorite thing was to feed this "bird" the pea gravel on the ground.  She also liked going into this "birdhouse" with her little toy and having it perch.

Noah and Lucy are standing inside a replica of an eagle nest shown in its actual size!

Finally, on the last day of May, Steve and I drove over to Fayette to check out the cemetery.  Plots are waaaay cheaper there than in Columbia so, when we die, I think we will be buried here in Fayette.  Isn't it a lovely place?

And now school is out (as of Thursday).  And I am excited about my summer projects:  

re-covering the dining room chairs

making a braided rug

creating jewelry

working on photo books and family history

gardening -of course!

getting Henry, the parakeet, finger trained

preparing to teach 7th and 8th grade orchestra at Oakland Middle School - not at Lange at all next year

getting ready for two orchestra classes at Rock Bridge - but I'm only teaching one of those classes and one of the band teachers is teaching the other one (he needed it to stay full-time)

AND, blogging every week.....