My favourite month is May (June is a close second). There's just so much happening in May & this year was no exception. Added bonus, the Edmonton Oilers were in the playoffs! Did you watch? Do you remember this moment (skip to the 1 minute mark). 

Another great thing about May is the Kentucky Derby. Every year we place bets & watch the race. This year, I bet on Always Dreaming to win & Looking For Lee to show & they both came in! No skill or analytics applied, I just liked their names the best. :)

Of course, we celebrate Mother's Day in May each year with a champagne brunch. I made blueberry cream cheese french toast, eggs in nests, ham & cheese pinwheels, Chris barbecued sausages and my Bro brought over a beautiful fruit tray. I thought all the recipes were delicious, easy to put together & looked rather impressive too, so I would definitely recommend them. After we stuffed ourselves, it was time for photos. Here's a sweet one of Mom with my Nieces, Alex & Chelsey, love these ladies - 

 May is also exciting because we can finally get out in the yard to get our hands dirty while watching everything turn green and smell the tree blossoms. Chris deconstructed the entire pond this year & scrubbed all the rocks. It was a massive undertaking - 

And here's the same spot a couple weeks later - 

In the front, the Spurge and Arctic Phlox were showing off their fresh colours.

I have a lot of favourite moments in the yard this May, but the best has to be the scents of the Schubert, lilac blooms & cherry blossoms, it was so intoxicating! And then the Ornamental Onions opened up like beautiful purple fireworks - 

I also received the Spring edition of Alberta Gardener with a 5 page spread on our yard along with our waterfall on the front & a plug for The Bead Tree! :) They were by last year during the Edmonton Horticultural tour & took all these photos then. It is such an honour to be in the magazine, thanks Alberta Gardener!

In May, we had our first fire of the season, on a beautiful night with music, wine & friends. 

My sweet friend, Skye who lives in Vancouver, came for a visit in May too. We had such a perfect weekend together with lots of relaxing in the yard (the weather was optimal), pedis, delicious take out, dinner at DADEO, a night of pinball at Beercade, and a fun jam session with Chris' band. I miss her already & can't wait until her next visit.

So it was jam packed with fun times, but not a lot of bead making. The yard took up so much of my time, but I'm caught up and I've cleaned my studio to get ready to make some new things because we're going to have a Solstice Open House - June 21st, Tuesday & 22nd, Wednesday in Judy's yard if the weather permits or in her house if need be. If you need more information, please send me a note at carrie@beadtree.net.

And on the subject of jewelry, my friend Nancy gave me these 3 bracelets as a gift.  She was in Paris last year and went to one of the old fashion houses where they used to make haute couture pieces. They were selling some of the antique hand stitched ribbons so she bought some, came home and made bracelets out of them.  Aren't they wonderful?! A much more affordable way to wear couture. If you're interested in something like this, I can connect you with Nancy. 

Well I can't really cap off the month of May without a couple of photos of my sweet Mickey -

 Have a lovely June!