April, 2021

 April 5,  Our team, "Manada de Lobos" (Wolfpack) completed the virtual Camino de Santiago!      480.9 miles in 66 days! Way to go luvvies! Dan, Maggie, Jennifer and I. 


                        Our next conquest is to get through the Kruger National Park in South Africa!

                      Our virtual Kruger National Park of walking 256 miles is coming along with team                                     "Iphakethe Impisi". I think it's an interesting language for "Wolfpack" Check with Dan!
                   We have received postcards and planted trees to 60% of the walk so far. We're getting there!
                                             
                     Tiger is getting his safari adventure in the Coventry Kruger National Park. 
                     He is so happy to get out into the woods and has adapted to a collar with bells. 

April 6,  Spring has sprung and butterflies are finding nectar in my Persian lilac tree                                                outside my kitchen window. 


April 12. With the warmer spring weather, I have changed my walking schedule to mornings (not terribly early) or later in the evenings now the days are longer. Recently, a neighbor asked me if I would go with her on Monday to the NC Botanical Gardens as I had not been able to go with other neighbors on the Sunday outing. Unfortunately, the gardens are closed on Mondays, so instead, we walked the outer trails on other sides of the gardens. There are several good trails crossing fields, creeks and lovely vistas.  In chatting, I found out Susanna is in the group of walkers I used to get together on Saturdays until I dropped out when going to England.  I hadn't resumed it again until she told me the group was still going strong and was planning for a river walk the following Saturday. Susanna was not able to come, but I was glad to meet up with a friend whom I hadn't seen since she came to my 75th!
                                                      The walking group chose for the Saturday outing, this walk, a trail                                                              along the Haw river south of Chapel Hill. 

       Sweet treat at a fancy hotel, the Carolina Inn, for Kate and Grammy as an extra birthday gathering!


  

There are all sorts of photos that can be taken. Here is one I love seeing the water mirroring the clouds and trees. 

                                             A beautiful walk from my front door to my car!

                    On the other side of the front door below the pink dogwood are the early azaleas

      Couldn't stand it any longer. Time to get the dust from under the fridge. Nice to have company!
                                                     How boring these cleaning jobs are! 
                              PS the little black spots are part of his skin. His teeth are in good shape. 

                    
                                               More azaleas in the woods behind my house
                                                       and in gardens on my walks. 






                                      
Once a week I give a cello lesson to an adult student in Hillsborough. We sit in her screened porch, her lovely house with a garden of an acre or so, is in a very quiet area. I think she's not going to be happy to go back to the office in the summer! After the lesson, I look forward to one of my favorite walks in Hillsborough beside the Eno River, now with beautiful shades of green leaves, the canopies
are perfect for walking along in the heat. 
  
April 30. The last girls' soccer match for the season was hosted at Trinity School where  Kate and James attend, and parents were invited to come and support the team. The first time since the pandemic.  In the 70+ degrees, it was quite a match, but Trinity won. Kate's years of gymnastics have definitely come to fruition and her goal counts push the school to a  high level of soccer performance. 
The field is enormous and catching moments on the camera is tricky. This is a goal for Trinity, in blue,
I think that's Kate on the right of the photo. 


I can't end without some cello chat. You can't beat a bunch of cellists playing soothing music for delicious milk. 
From The New York Times:  When the Cellos Play, the Cows Come Home
A collaboration between a cattle farmer and a Danish music training program brings regular recitals to pampered livestock.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/arts/music/cow-concert-scandinavian-cello-school.html?smid=em-share

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