Spring is Sprunging In Montana

Monday I saw 4 or 5 of these digging through the snow on my neighbor's lawn. I didn't have the heart to tell them the worms are still in serious deep freeze.

There were 15 or so of these in the field near our house today.  They winter somewhere else.  Their return is a sure sign of spring.

The crocus and daffodil are making their presence known in my garden.

 Hailey has been busy fixing her roof for the coming spring rains.

Hailey said  "It got ruined by an earthquake. What's an earthquake?" 

I hope Stan doesn't need painter's tape anytime soon.

Hailey and Makayla revived my garbage can with original spring artwork. I was sternly instructed "do not remove the decorations, ever!".  I wonder why I can never find tape when I need it...

Makayla is sporting a new spring 'do.  It looks a lot like her winter 'do, just a bit longer and wilder. 

Hailey got a new pair of spring glasses.  They look pretty much like the old ones, except that Makayla hasn't broken the hinge on them (yet).

Makayla is really into pretend lately.

She got furious at me today when I told her Barbie does not own panties.  I should know.  My daughters and granddaughters have owned 52,308 Barbies between the 10 of them in the last 30 years.  None of them had underwear. That made Makayla pretty angry.

No one can convey outrage quite like Makayla.

I spent this lovely spring day, surrounded by flannel, slaving on a project for baby Pearson. I'm not sure flannel was the right choice for summertime baby Pearson. 

Perhaps you could wait for September to give birth, Ashley.

Stan spent this lovely spring day slaving at the office. Again. It's been a long week for Stan. I don't think he's even going to notice spring this year. See you next winter, Stan!

I've Got It Covered

Twenty years ago someone gave us this set of used patio furniture. It's made of fiberglass and has to be painted frequently to prevent users from getting fiberglass slivers. Although it's not something I would have chosen myself, something about it being free makes it acceptable.  It's had this same stripped fabric on the cushions all these years, and it's held up really well, but I wanted a bit of a change.

I found some fabric on sale for $3 a yard, and set about using my amazing sewing skills to cover the cushions. Total cost for 6 chairs, 1 love seat and 4 pillows: $18.

That plant in the corner is happy--look how it's grown today!

Here's the underside of my intricate and skillful sewing job. 

Bet you didn't know I am such a gifted seamstress!

I couldn't figure out how to use the above technique on the pillows,

so I used my trusty Bernina.

She's Sleeping

No, I didn't mean Hailey. I mean Spring! After several warm weeks and an explosion of robins, flowers, and green growing things, Spring has gone back to sleep. We've had cold temps, nasty wind, freezing nights, and morning snow. I'm beginning to worry that our last frost date--

May 15--may be delayed this year.

And I'm feeling as uncomfortable about the situation as Hailey looks.

I've been sewing a few spiffy pillows for our front bench in an attempt to shake Spring back out of her slumber. Don't they say "Snap out of it!"?

Of course, if Spring really does wake up, I will have no more excuses for putting off the painting of this formerly neglected bench....