Our "Flutterby" Visitor

This afternoon W came running to me saying "Mama!  Flutterby!  Mama!  Flutterby!" and led me to the door of our balcony where we saw this beautiful butterfly checking out each plant in our little container garden.

It first decided to rest in the parsley, but took flight when we went out on the balcony.  It didn't leave the balcony however while we were out there, but it also, understandably did not land on anything either.  It was so beautiful to watch it fly  around though. We sat and watched it and tried to take pictures of it for a while before I ushered W back into the apartment.  The above picture was the only one I was really able to get of the butterfly in flight.

After we came back inside I noticed that the butterfly settled on one of my geraniums for quite a while and I was able to take several pictures first through the glass door and then I cracked the door just slightly open and was able to get some better shots.

In all our visitor stayed on or near our balcony for about half an hour and we really enjoyed watching it!  We used butterflies during Easter as a symbol of resurrection with a caterpillar wrapped in a silk cocoon and then turning into a beautiful butterfly in our Lenten/Easter garden.  I'm not sure how much W understood that but he does know that he still has butterflies on his nature table tree and was very excited to see a real one out on our own balcony.

This first "flutterby" visitor came before our butterfly bush is blooming and when all of our rose bush blossoms had been picked.  I hope as the summer progresses we will have more of these visitors to our little garden.

Joys of Spring!

W and I are really enjoying this beautiful spring!  Last week we went to the Richmond Waldorf School's May Faire which was wonderful.  I realized that I had never actually seen May Pole dancing in person before and really enjoyed it.  It was also a great time to touch base with some friends and let W play on the playground.  We always really enjoy the events we attend there.  I wish I had take pictures there, but my camera is still MIA. That evening we had a picnic with daddy at Meadow Farm, stretched out in the shade of some great big trees.  We had spinach and sausage stromboli, strawberries, goat cheese and grape salad, pickled herring and rosemary strawberry scones.  To drink Daddy and I had May Punch  (I omitted the violets and added a bottle of sparkling mineral water to this recipe) to drink and Will had a strawberry punch.  W wore his oak leaf May Day crown for a while.  After that we went to visit the animals and particularly enjoyed seeing the little lambs!  W kept pointing to them and was very excited!  It was a beautiful day!

Our local parenting group has been holding a weekly nature club for the kids.  We take them to a different park each week and let them explore.  It typically takes W a while to warm up to the new environments, but this week, once he got acclimated, he loved playing in the creek. Eventually he plopped his little bottom down into the water!  It was a real joy to watch him enjoy a beautiful natural setting so much!

This past week has also been eventful since W and I were able to find a bike trailer  for him on craigslist.  We have started going for rides around the block several times in the mornings after breakfast.  It's really enjoyable and W loves it!  I haven't ridden my bike much since I became pregnant with him and it is a wonderful exercise option for me now!  My hope is that daddy will get his bike in working order too and we can go riding as a family.  I wish I had some pictures, but we've not taken any yet.

Today W and I went to pick strawberries and had a wonderful time.  We made a great team.  I picked the berries and handed them to W who put them in the bucket for me.  We filled the bucket about 3/4 full, when W realized he could squish the berries and then eat them.  The rest of the outing was spent with W double fisting strawberries that he took out of the bucket almost as fast as I could put them in. Oh how he enjoyed himself!  Eventually, I managed to get our full bucket, transfer them to a box to take home and pay for our loot.  I think I will go back early next week and pick several more buckets to make into jam for W's breakfasts.

Spring has been wonderful for our taste buds in general.  The strawberries are delicious and we have been enjoying fresh steamed artichokes at least once a week.  The other highlight of the week was the homegrown lettuce and  radish salad W and I shared the other day after gathering the produce from our garden!

The garden is doing well.  It is small (about 4 ft by ft), but between our little plot and the pots on the back steps we have planted tomatoes, eggplants, sugar snap peas, carrots, radishes, malabar spinach, lettuce, strawberries and herbs.  Around our front steps we have pots of figs, roses, a butterfly bush with sweet woodruff underneath, and a heavenly pink pineapple sage.  I also planted petunias in the ground and put a lovely pot of geraniums by the front door. W helps me to water our plants each morning and plays in his sandbox pot out back while I do other gardening activities.   I must say, having our little bit of a garden has really made our apartment here livable.   There have been days this week where W and I have only been inside for food preparation and nap time.

Oh, how I am loving spring this year!