A Sleepover at Grandma Jane's

 Our lovely spring weather with sunshine is just a pleasant memory for the moment as we get a dose of April Showers. Those showers are going to be plaguing us off and on all next week - straight into May! We need the rain, and everything will benefit from it except perhaps our spirits. The sunshine seems to bring out smiles and cheerfulness -- it's been a dreary spring, for the most part, and we're going back to that pattern for a few days, according to the forecast. We need the rain, and every day the weather  warms a little, and buds are getting ready to burst on trees and flowers - even around Joe's Pond. We're making good progress.

I've enjoyed the nice weather and have been very busy doing a few outside chores, but also, Granddaughter Tangeni was on vacation this week, so she was with me Thursday and part of Friday. She is really good company. We had a great time painting together, and she helped me put up a birdhouse by the pond. She's as tall as I am now (she has grown inches this winter!) and was a big help drilling holes in the pvc pipe that has my bat house mounted on it. We put the bluebird house below the bat house - an ideal spot, according to info I got on the internet. I'm not sure about the guano. It will fall on the birdhouse roof unless I figure out a way to catch it and use it in the flower gardens. No worries yet, the bat house has been up for two summers and no bats yet.

We had lunch Thursday at the Village Restaurant in Hardwick. It was great fun getting to spend some one-on-one time with my beautiful granddaughter. We experimented painting with acrylics and also dabbled with pastels. Tangeni had seen something about spreading rice or dried beans on a paper, tracing around them to make a map (or other image) and then coloring it using a teabag, which will give it a sepia color to make it look like a very old document. We gave that a try, and it came out pretty good. We didn't produce anything exceptional, but we got to try out a variety of techniques using brushes, palette knives, our fingers, etc. Next time we may head outdoors to paint  "en plein air."John and Liz Randall visited on Friday and Liz took this picture of Tangeni and me in our painting garb.

Ann Muse sent this shot of the pond taken earlier this week on one of those lovely mornings when the sun was shining brightly and the air was still. She calls it, "A Tranquil Moment at Joe's Pond". It is that, a rare moment when everything seems to stand still. Perfect reflections, not a breath stirring, and not a soul in evidence.Thank you, Ann, for sharing it with us - great shot. No wonder Ponders are anxious to get back here! 

Even though the weather is not going to be very cooperative for the coming week,  plans are made and several families will be returning in the week(s) to come. I think we can promise more beautiful days and a great summer ahead!

 To all who are traveling, be safe. We're looking forward to seeing everyone, hopefully at Spring Meeting!