via www.flickr.com

Happy Graduation Aerin.

Aunt Nancy calls her a Graduette, and Al and I are Gradumom and Gradudad, which makes my mother a Gradugranny? Maybe not! We're all proud of her and pleased to be done.

This is another crow feather, printed using bleach, and stitched to emphasize shapes.

via www.flickr.com

All of May's circles, with some random other things (cake, larger piece, strange photography) that happened in May.

via www.flickr.com

Or maybe June is the month with feathers, to misquote the Belle of Amherst. I was wondering this morning what I would choose, because even though I have a list, I also win when I stay open to serendipity.

And then I was mobbed with birds. In a good way. I saw a lovely bi-colored tree swallow coming out of the bakery, and an enormous woodpecker flew across the road in front of the car, and a host of tiny twinkling things flew along beside me through a field in Hadley. So it seemed like birds would be a good subject for the month.

This is a stitched print of a crow feather Alice found for me Thursday night. Another sign!

via www.flickr.com

I've pulled something small but painful under the edge of my right shoulder blade – probably from something at Family Camp. I was icing it yesterday, and part of this morning. It comes and goes.

After I finished the first circle I realized I knew how I wanted to do it instead (with organza instead of opaque fabric) so I made one more. I think I am kind of behind in the May circle department.

I'll post a June 1 circle later, and a mosaic of all the May circles as well.

via www.flickr.com

On the plus side for today: I dropped Alice off at school and popped down the road to see my dad. He's using less painkillers, is sturdier, more himself, and managed to galvanize the entire place yesterday by letting himself out the front door and stomping around the building for exercise.

Then I rode a horse. Then I found kids at school, and after some scrimmage got them correctly distributed.

On the minus side: My camera is working but won't open the lens cover, so the pictures are only a sideways slit. It is really hot, which is making Alice and me miserable.

But: I can take reasonable pictures with my phone, and a bank of thunderstorms is rolling through making big noises and cooling the place down.

On the whole, more pluses than minuses.

This leave is from a Very Large Sumac, it is nearly a tree, and I am embarrassed to say I am running out of trees I recognize.

via www.flickr.com

Too tired to describe the fun we had!

Becket/Chimney Corners YMCA Memorial Day Family Camp – fun for all concerned.

Another of the trees in Mack's yard.

I think I need more practice writing with the sewing machine.

A hand stitched circle from yesterday. This is a Linden leaf from the tree outside the rehab where my Dad was in Maine. I stayed one more day so I could drive him home today.

He's in a new rehab two minutes past Alice's school, so I can check in on him more easily. the trip was easier than I'd hoped; good drugs and smooth little car. He has fractures in two vertebrae from a fall two days before they moved here, so he's been recuperating there until we could move him. Which happened today.

but this is a rose leaf! I'm afraid I don't search very far for leaves when it is raining. This is rose bush I planted for Alice Rose on one of her birthdays. I love the way the veining branches at at the edges of the leaf, and I am very pleased with myself for getting the stitching under the organza on one side and over on the other. It makes me feel clever.

I am slightly embarrassed about the backwards "s" in the tree name, but that is what happens when I overthink things and go too slow! Stitching letters is a slower process than other work I do.

I rode a dressage test in a schooling show today. Kaboose did well, I did well, I laughed with pleasure as we turned up the center line for the final halt. The scores weren't what I'd hoped, but it was better than 50%. Anything over 50% and you get ice cream to celebrate. Anything under 50% and you get ice cream to console yourself. Riding in shows requires a surprising amount of rewards.

A friend and I agreed we'd try to tie eachother's scores, at 62.5% We both thought it was great that we were within a point of eachother, at 58.9 (her) and 59.3 (me). I told her she didn't have to go off course next time, and I'd take the lower score.

We think we're funny…