Cuties! Sunshine and shirt sleeves - just those two things alone make me jealous

Karen, I have been wondering about your health these days. I don't like hearing that you are so uncomfortable. What do the doctors say? I'd don't seem to have a direct line to God, but you're in my prayers. If He's tuned in most nights, he hears my list and you're on it. Do keep us informed. You and I are on the same page when it comes to pink. The china (KPM "Normandie") that I used on the May Table was inherited from my mother. She had what she called a dessert set (square plates, larger than salad plates but smaller than dinner plates) and a large square bowl in the pattern for years. She LOVED them. Then, one day when she was in her mid sixties, she walked into a consignment shop and there was the whole set, place settings for 12 and a number of serving pieces. She thought she'd died and gone to heaven. For some reason, the store hadn't had any nibbles on the dishes and when she asked them to call the owner to see if she'd come down in price, she got them for a song. I use them from time-to-time now and think of her delight when she called to tell me about finding them. I think I have a little granddaughter that is going to be a "pink person" even when she's grown, so they will be appreciated again some day, in the same way my mama did. I think I've seen some of your horse collection. It's super. And aren't you the one with that wonderful merry-go-round horsie??? You could do a great Derby table without half trying. When you start to feel better, I'm going to start bugging you. Just start by slappin' down the dishes and settin' a few hoses on the table. Add a few roses (Run for the Roses?) and you're done! OA

Thank you so much for asking! The party was great - had a few last minute cancellations since there was a softball tournament the same day and their kids were on teams that kept winning, but I am thrilled that the girls did well so it was all good. The menu was everything listed above, except I skipped the ice cream sandwich thing - it was overkill, and I am glad I did. Several friends (who know me well) know that dessert is usually not my thing, so they all brought desserts! The contributed a pecan pie, a walnut caramel cheesecake (OMG it was delish!), a strawberry cheesecake, and a huge plate of chocolate chip cookies and chocolate covered pretzels. Everyone had a blast and the hat parade was a riot. My GF had been in San Diego on business a few weeks earlier and bought a fascinator there. It was incredible - purple, black illusion lace, black feathers... just amazing and she looked so beautiful in it. I was happy she won, since she has had a tough year battling breast cancer. I am already looking forward to next year! Alexa

Thanks guys, I love working in my flower beds. I change them around every few years, because it seems like, even if if I have some things I really like, after a while I don't really appreciate them so much, so I change things up. To the outside world it may look like a huge hodge podge, but it is my stress release. The hostas on the left side of the picture have all been changed over to monkey grass this year, because that area is in the full sun, the hostas look great in the spring but as summer drones on they start looking pretty bad and the monkey grass just looks beautiful all season. After a couple of years it will be huge and gorgeous.