May has come and gone...

May was very busy for me. It started with an out of town trip for my boys sports and ended with award ceremonies, birthdays, anniversaries, track season ending and a football camp. Time flies and it always scares me how fast my boys are growing. My youngest graduated 8th grade and will be attending Lathrop HS along with his brother who will be a sophomore this year. Both of them attended a mini camp for the up coming football season and will be spending most of their summer at the conditioning session for the team while we are around town.

We have also been adjusting to the "daylight" all day. Although after a dark winter I totally welcome the sun but realize how short my sleep cycle has become. With all the sunlight and great weather we have had lately it is also easy to neglect things like updating your blog because you would rather be outside or at a river or lake fishing or hiking in the woods than inside. Who wants to be inside when it is gorgeous out? Although at the beginning it came with the price of allergies attacks, now the whole family is a bit better.

May also came with allergies because of how fast we had "green up" here in the interior. Despite how I love to see everything bloom the pollen always attacks my whole family. But seeing leaves and green grass growing is something we look forward to mostly after a dark and cold winter.






The culprit of our allergies.




I was tickled to finally see some wildflowers blooming. This is a Spring Crocus.










Bo and I also celebrated 16 years of marriage in May. It is neat to know Fairbanks is where we got married and here we are back to enjoy Alaska one more time before we head off to another Post.

Celebrating 16 years together.


I thought with May being over and June starting I would have a little bit of a break but I was wrong. Hence why I haven't been on here or at my beading table. First off I also have my domestic duties and also my house to take care of. Once the weather allowed for it to be warm enough for flowers I jumped at the opportunity of getting some to plant in my yard and in pots. We do not own our home so I cannot put perennials down(although I did buy Poppies), but that doesn't stop me from seeing beautiful flowers in pots around my deck and porch.

Poppies..





Daisies


Superbells Cherry Blossoms


Mimulus




Besides the flowers in pots my tree in the front is blooming. This tree was planted by the landscapers of that helped develop my neighborhood so I am not sure what kind of tree it is, I will have to research that. But I love the blooms.









My love of nature doesn't stop at just planting flowers. My family loves to take drives out into nature to hike or even just to fish. Alaska is one of those places where it is easy to find solitude not too many miles out of town. When things get hectic we crave just being in the middle of nowhere. This summer we plan on hitting some places on our to do list before leaving Alaska. Valdez and Homer and just driving certain highways and exploring are a few things. So I hope you don't mind me sharing those with you all.

Well despite such a picture heavy entry you know I cannot end this without some jewelry pictures right?
Here is a set I sent off to a friend of mine who loves copper and silver. I had tidbits of metal left from my metalsmithing class and started experimenting with it before buying more supplies. She fell in love with the earrings and pendant.





Besides the metal she also bought a pendant Bo had made that looked very organic.
Here is the pendant and earring set.

I hope she enjoys wearing her sets.

Then right after that we were commissioned to make a set for a friend's daughter that loves blue and black and silver. This was sent for her birthday. It included a bracelet, a pair of earrings and a heart pendant. I threw in the cell phone charm along with it.








Well, it is late. We drove out to Elliot Hwy today as far as Wickersham Dome. Despite the threatening clouds we did not have a drop of rain fall on us. I can't wait to download those pictures to share. I hope you are all enjoying your start of the summer and for those local adjusting to the midnight sun. Have a great night.