beautiful may

I think May has officially become my favorite month. The weather in northeast IL is just about perfect this time of year. We've had abundant sunshine with low humidity interspersed with rain and cool days. May in this part of the country brings the start of farmer's markets, art and craft fairs, the opening of garden centers, setting up outdoor spaces and dining al fresco, working in the yard, planting flowers and vegetables, and the official start of grilling season.  

Before I show you what's going on outdoors at Comfy House, I want to introduce my latest house plant. This is a philodendron micans. I'd never seen this variety of phildendron before and fell in love with the color of the leaves, especially when the sunlight is shining through them. I found this plant at an art and craft show. Two young women run a plant business out of their home, which I thought was really cool. 

We got a "new" patio set on FB Marketplace at the end of April. I have it set up in a different way right now; this is when we first brought it home. Our old settee was literally falling apart and we didn't want our glass and metal dining table anymore. It's usually just the two of us dining al fresco and the table took up too much room. We did keep the two white wicker rockers (not shown) from the old set ~ those were still usable and gives us more seating options.

Early May is when perennials and trees truly burst into bloom around here. It's like Mother Nature's gift to us after putting up with five - six loong, dreary, cold months. 

{Celandine poppy}

{bleeding heart}

{bishop's cap}

{not my redbud tree ~ a neighbor-friend's ~ but wish I had one)

Right now, our wiegala bushes are in beautiful bloom...

Pink peonies are about to burst open...

Clematis should be budding anyday now, too. This and the peony bush are right next to each other and when they are in full bloom at the same time, it's breathtaking!

I really need to harvest this rhubarb (it is massive right now) and bake something. The past two years I relied on making a rhubarb-strawberry crisp, but this year I'd like to change it up. A friend happened to recently post these rhubarb recipes on social media and I thought they both looked yummy and different from the same ol' traditional rhubarb desserts. Give them a try with me!

Rhubarb Scones

Brown Sugar Rhubarb Cookies

Made our spring trip to one of our favorite garden centers last week.

I never plan out my gardening. I simply buy what appeals to me when I see it and hope for the best. Somehow, it always works. This time I got gerbera daisies, coleus, impatiens, nasturtium, trailing ivy, basil, rosemary, parsley, cilantro, dill, tomato plants, a purple beauty pepper plant, a red onion plant, a hanging basket of calibrochea and a hanging basket of passion flower vine.

Got a few of the bigger planters done ~ here's one that I did with nasturium and gerbera daisy. It'll look much better when it fills out and that nasturium starts blooming. By the way, see those little seedlings on the red bench? They are elm seeds and they fall by the ton. They coat our driveway, sidewalk, porch, patio, patio furniture, and plants and clog our gutters. I could leaf blow 10x/day and it wouldn't make a difference. It's like shoveling while it's still snowing.

The coleus and impatiens got planted (by Brian ~ he does most of the planting-in-the-ground stuff) on the shady north side of our house, just past the mass of ferns, in-between the hostas. Again, when these flowers fill out, this area will look much better.

Our little veggie garden all in pots. It's the only space in our small yard where we get full sun, as we're surrounded by trees.

May, for me, also brought me good news with the stray kitty, Smokey. I was able to easily get him into a carrier (he's such a sweetheart!) and brought him into Save-a-Pet. They will fully vet him, including neutering, and then he will be adoptable. When I inquired about him the other day, the intake woman said he was still very nervous and that they were cleaning his wounded ears three times a day. She said she'd keep me posted about his progress. I miss seeing him every day and feeding him, but I know this is for the best ~ not only for him, but for our community; especially since he wasn't neutered.

Now to have the same kind of luck with Blanco, the feral. After almost a year of taking care of him, I still can only get about three feet away from him before he bolts. I will be using a live trap to try and catch him. I have a feeling it's not going to be easy. He's also not neutered, so it makes me wonder how many kittens there's going to be roaming around soon. And so the cycle continues. 😢

Lastly, another good thing May brings is graduation ceremonies. My youngest niece graduated university last week with a major in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. She's now going on for her Master's degree is Social Work. I'm so proud of her!

Hope the month of May has been beautiful for you, too.

slow spring, books, and framed art

Spring is behind here in Illinois. Most of the month of April was unusually cold and rainy. It felt like an extended March. No drinking our tea on the porch in the mornings, no yard clean up yet, nothing planted except some pansies. This was my view across the street yesterday. Overcast (as usual) and the maple tree just starting to bud. Today is cold with wind-driven rain. One of those days where you just want to stay in bed and read or watch movies all day. I've actually never done that unless I was sick or recovering from surgery.

 Have you?

Taking a walk around my yard yesterday, I did find some beautiful things to photograph. Isn't this blooming leaf exquisite? This is my next door neighbor's maple tree, which borders our property. The leaves are a dark red, almost maroon when they're in full bloom. 

My peony bush coming to life.

Bleeding Heart finally in bloom.

Hostas growing more by the day.

Cheerful daffodils in my butterfly garden. They're late bloomers as they don't get much sun.

Does anyone know what these flowers are ~ are they a variety of tulips? I saw them by a library a couple of weeks ago and was smitten.

Libraries and books

We don't need anymore books, but there are a couple of Chicago suburb libraries that have fantastic sales and sometimes we can't resist. This was the stack I came home with a couple of weekends ago. I recently finished Anne Tyler's, "French Braid" and was disappointed. I'm hoping "Redhead by the Side of the Road" will be better.

Brian's picks.

Framed art

Our hallway bathroom is small and the main wall by the sink holds the towel bar. Otherwise, this wall is blank and boring. I'd been thinking about getting some kind of art work for this area for a long time, but never came across anything that I felt was just right. I bought this double matted frame at Michaels, hung it up and liked it. Funny thing is, the prints in the frame are the ones that came with the frame. I went through my stash of paper art I keep for art journaling plus some photos and nothing worked. So the store prints are staying for now.

I've had these white framed mats for six years. They used to hold Tim's college graduation photos. He's been replaced by cats. 😉

Zippo (who passed away in Nov 2018) and Monkey (who passed almost three months ago) now have a place of honor on the wall of my office/guest room. Photos taken by Tim.

Here's to warmer weather, morning porch sitting, and working in the yard. Have a beautiful week!

"The world's favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May."
~ Edwin Way Teale

that lusty month of may

Let the planting begin! Outdoor flowers bring me so much joy.

These were the first flowers I planted about 3-4 weeks ago when it was still

quite cold here. I always get so excited when I see pansies at the garden centers ~

it means spring is on the way!

 I went to Home Depot today and bought annuals and more herbs.

I normally don't care for marigolds because of their scent, but I thought they'd

look sweet in this little wooden box, and I was right.

I think this large pot on my patio will end up being my favorite.

It's holding assorted colors of gerbera daisies, a few extra marigolds, and

sweet potato vines - which will be beautiful once they start growing over

 the sides of the container. See those stalks poking out of the ground in the
background? Those are hostas - which grow so huge every year, that they
come up over the patio.

Dianthus and more basil...

A hanging basket of gorgeous begonias...

The awesome beauty of an unfurling hosta leaf...

My lilac bush is ready to burst into bloom...

OK, technically these are weeds in my lawn. But, aren't they pretty?

We obviously don't use any chemicals on our lawn.

In case you were wondering where the title of my post came from, it's

from a poem by Sir Thomas Malory (an English writer in the 1400's).

The month of May was come, 
when every lusty heart beginneth
to blossom, and to bring forth fruit; 
for like as herbs and trees bring 
forth fruit and flourish in May, 
in likewise every lusty heart 
that is in any manner a lover, 
springeth and flourisheth in lusty deeds.  
For it giveth unto all lovers courage, 
that lusty month of May.

Partying at Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesday
and Green Willow Pond - What We Accomplished Wednesday