Bird watch: A Rose-Breasted Grosbeak sang his lovely song yesterday while we sat digesting our picnic lunch. I am presently watching an oriole sipping from an orange half that I put on the trellis that leads into the garden. I think he is getting orange juice from all of the rain pooled in the orange. He is very orange and has now flown to the lilac tree just outside of my window. He is singing his good morning song. Now he is pecking at the gas can on the patio. The Brown Thrasher couple are dining on seed that has blown out of the feeder and bugs in the lawn. They have an impressive curved beak. I am really getting a bird show this morning. Very entertaining.

Garden and weather log: Thunder boomers all last night and into the morning. Poor Mudge didn't want to go outside when we got up. I can't blame him. It really poured and then we got hail. Now, if you haven't experienced hail hitting on skylights, well, it is especially loud and disconcerting. At the moment, it is not raining, the sky to the west is clearing, and it is intensely green out. So glad I got the pole barn garden fertilized yesterday. Now my plants will really pop. Everything looks great. The biggest garden worry is frost. We have been known to get a hard freeze as late as the first of June. A few years back, it froze all of the leaves on the trees. It was a disaster for the cherry crop. We watch the weather so we can cover up our plants. Late frost is also one of the reasons why I plant my vegetable garden so late. The iris I planted in the vegetable garden have bud stalks just coming up. I need to pull some rhubarb and find that rhubarb crisp recipe. I need some asparagus plants. Yum, all of that fresh food!

Bird watch: sighted the first Indigo Bunting at the bird feeder on Sat. and a pair of Brown Thrashers. We also have a large flock of white-crowned sparrows. They are really perky. All the juncos have gone until fall. We are waiting for Hummingbirds and Bluebirds. MOTHER KNOWS BEST.

Nice Mother's Day with Mom and the S's. Our usual party fare is grilled burgers and homemade potato salad- my mom's recipe. I know how to make this potato salad from all of the taste tests I did when Mom made it and when my grandmother made it. Mom gave an approving smile today when she took the first bite.

Garden and weather log: The air was a bit cool, mid 60s, but the sun was bright, so it was a beautiful day. Got lots of gardening done this weekend. I have two spots left to clean in the garden next to the road. It's mostly grass that needs pulling, so it is slow going. BF bought five new rose bushes. I got some bright fuchsia geraniums for the window box. And, I'm going to try growing climbing hydrangea in the garden next to the pole barn. Soon I will be sipping mint juleps and watching the the flowers grow. Oh yes, I still have to plant my vegetable garden.