(...First, just a note to thank those nice, anonymous folks who voted with their kindly ratings of my savings journal here. It gave me pretty stars by my name -- thanks so much!...)

What a gorgeous day yesterday. It was a real taste of summer, drawing us all outdoors for much of it. The wind was warm and strong. I hung laundry -- heavy stuff like towels, pants and sweaters. All of it dried like *that*! (snaps fingers)...

The warm temps and sunshine inspired me to do a little of what I call, 'plant liberation'. The property behind us is an old house like ours, but subdivided into apartments for student housing. The back yard is graveled over and has essentially become a barren parking lot -- a pretty unsightly view for us (we are planning to finally put up a privacy fence this summer). Except that just on the other side of the line between their property and ours, bluebell and lilly seedlings still try to push up through the gravel, as they are right now. So, for the past few springs I have very discreetly reached over and dug them up, to transplant elsewhere on our property. Is this stealing? Well, probably. Trespassing? Yes, technically -- however, I prefer to call it 'rescuing'. Poor unappreciated things -- all driven over and abused. Bluebells are native, and are always lovely. The lillies are just the boring orange asiatic ones, but still -- they make quite a impressive display when they explode together in bloom like they do. And they do well in poor soil -- exactly what we have on the one side of our house where I've transplanted them. That spot is bare, and the plantings ought to help brighten it up considerably (AND they wont be trod upon by cars either).....

While the kids were at their lessons yesterday, I did find myself doing a little 'window shopping'. I ventured into 'Tuesday Morning' and perused the shelves, spending nothing despite the special additional 20 % limited-time discount they were offering on already discounted items. But, the consignment shop next door got me, and I left with three pairs of second-hand shoes/sandals in good condition for $25. Not too bad really, considering -- and hey, I dont' run across my size everyday (somewhere between a 10 and 11 -- I know, big feet!).....