Happy May Day fellow CDHM'ers!

I love May. The weather is usually the last mild respite before summer humidity kicks in, the flowers are glorious, the skies are clear at night revealing a thousand stars... There's just a lot to enjoy. And I love May Day. The idea of a special day where you leave someone a bouquet of flowers at dawn is just purely fun enchantment.

This lovely tradition from the Victorian era - like so many other traditions handed down from that period - had specific rules. The flowers were to be anonymous, left hanging on the door knob at dawn and no older lady was to be forgotten.

At my last home I had an elderly neighbor two doors down for whom I always left a tussie mussie hanging on her door. I never 'fessed up, although I think over the years she suspected me.

In addition to sneaky flower power, May comes with all sorts of nifty built-in amusements and pretty interesting official holidays, including my Dad's birthday. Dad's birthday, incidentally, is also Lost Sock Memorial Day.

May also contains Mother Goose Day (coincidentally May 1 - so make a Mother Goose mini with flowers to celebrate!); Lumpy Rug Day (now who thinks this stuff up?!); No Socks Day (for real, those of you who prefer to go sock-commando this is your day!); International Tuba Day (not me, I'm a strings woman); National Dance Like a Chicken Day (May 14 in case you want to celebrate); National My Bucket's Got a Hole in It Day (this can include the one I ran over after washing the car - it had several holes after that); Grey Day (had enough of those in Jan-Feb); Eliza Doolittle Day (LOVE that movie & all things Audrey Hepburn - who's made an Audrey mini?); Buy-A-Musical-Instrument Day (or make one in dollhouse scale!); National Escargot Day (sorry; NO); National Tap Dance Day (in honor of my mother, who loves tapping); Clean Up Your Room Day (ummmm, when I could be making minis instead?!); and National Chocolate Chip Day (oh I'm so there!). The month is also claimed by the egg promoters for National Egg Month (YUM!); the Better Sleep Council (ahhhhh); National Photo Month (is this where we get a photo tutorial?); and National Salad Month (go, diet!) - just to name a few, there are many more!

In the miniature world, the show schedule is heating up while crafting is taking a back seat for a lot of us - the kids are getting out of school and summer vacations are looming. Not to mention there are vegetable and flower gardens to tend. Oh, let the sun up to sun down work schedule begin.

I love taking my pottery wheel outside and making pots outdoors for a change. Letting the clay dry in the sunshine can be a boon too because it dries faster and I can trim sooner. Of course this sometimes backfires as the clay dries too fast and I have dried out worthless pots instead of leather-hard, trim-ready pieces.

But being able to get outdoors and enjoy the fresh air after such a long, blustery winter is more than worth a few dried out pieces.

I hope you all have a wonderful, merry month of May! And don't forget the dollhouse flowers! Check out our galleries to select your own mini bouquets - or a surprise gift for someone special. And enjoy those whacky 'holidays' in your own special way! I'm going to watch "My Fair Lady" while munching chocolate chips and making a mini guitar.

The Miniature Way Editor