My Spring Project...

I'm grateful for all Catherine has done to make her yard beautiful.  I was inspired to make some of my own upgrades. 

The corner garden has been out-of-control for the past couple of years--overgrown with an ugly color of daylily.  Full of weeds--despite my periodic efforts to regain control.  The flowers not blooming well because of overcrowding and pests.

So I determined to do something major.

Dig out the bronze daylilies.

Put in a pathway.

Set the bench.

Move the birdbath.

Lay down weed-barrier cloth.

Cover it with mulch.

It was nice having the bench for a moment's rest while laboring in the garden.

The first thing I realized was that with the garden space defined, it is much more manageable!

The bench is beneath the lilacs, with shade and that unparalleled scent.

They are in full bloom right now.

Maybe we should have a backyard party soon.

On another gardening note,

I'm leaning towards planting the tomatoes in the trampoline spot.

Either that or put the fire pit out there with some chairs.

Except no one else in the family likes to have campfires.  :(

Sitting out in the garden,

I've noticed more birds in the yard.

Some purple finches are building a nest in an arbivitae.

A pair of cardinals is building somewhere nearby, as are a pair of robins and goldfinches.

It is nice to have trees large enough to attract the birds.

I even saw a real eastern bluebird the other day--with its peach-colored breast and vibrant blue.

I just hope I make time this summer to continue to actually enjoy my gardens!

An Early Mother's Day Gift...

What I really wanted this year was a gazebo.

I've wanted one for years but wasn't sure about the type, or the place to set it.

This year,

it all came into focus.

I wanted a wrought iron one with a cover and mosquito netting.

And I wanted it on the deck--someplace close by and convenient,

with the added benefit of shading the dining area doors from the hot summer sun.

It seems like another room, just outside the back door.

It has plant shelves in the corners.

I can put out my tropical plants and they won't get sunburned leaves (like they usually get during the summer).

Already, it has been so fun to just sit out and read, or even just take a few moments to enjoy the backyard spring happenings.

I'm thrilled with my gazebo!

From winter to summer

Just six weeks ago, there was snow.  Everywhere.  Deep.  Everlasting. 

Or so it seemed. 

It really felt like we would never again see green grass--or flowers.

Masses of flowers spring up from the earth.

With all kinds of bright colors.

And I especially love the vibrant green grass.

Even the magnolia still had plenty of blossoms (despite the hail).

What a miracle spring is!

Who would have thought?

When I was released in the spring of 1996 from the calling of early morning seminary teacher, I thought I'd never see that calling again.

Technically, I still haven't.

Only "assistant early morning seminary teacher."

And it was only supposed to be for one week while the teacher was helping with a new grandbaby.

Except the baby hasn't come yet, and I'm in my 3rd week of teaching.

I'm glad we rearranged the TV room--it seats 8 students quite nicely

and I REALLY appreciate not having to go to the church.

Other than missing an hour and a half of sleep each day

I've been enjoying it.

These students are awake and other than liking to talk a lot

(they are all great friends),

we have a great time together at 6 a.m.

Maybe I'll get in the habit of arising early, again.

A Bunch of Stuff

I found a bunch of things I'd wanted to post, so to get caught up, here we go!

First, a couple of weeks ago we rented the movie "Bandslam", on the recommendation of Justin.  I'm always on the hunt for clean, enjoyable movies, and we were pleasantly surprised!  It was hilarious--the story isn't a new one (nerdy high school boy doesn't fit in and finds fame), but the way it was handled was clever.  If you don't like indie music (or at least don't mind it), don't bother because there is a lot of music.  But no "innuendo".  No bad language.  Just PG clean!

Second:  For Easter we made a lemon tiramisu cake.  The missionaries got to eat with us--A & E treat them like idolized big sisters.

 

We got out the candy molds because Alice shared with me that she has NEVER had a chocolate rabbit, and the other kids at school said she was deprived.  I realized she was right.  Those molds hadn't been used in a LONG time (probably since we moved TO France).

So we made milk chocolate rabbits (out of milk chocolate chips)

and the girls seemed to like them a lot.

Within a few days they had all disappeared (and the dark chocolate lovers-- i.e, Kevin and myself, didn't bother them).

Next:  On April 1st, i got the peas planted.  This is earlier than typical (by about 6 weeks).  Some years we don't get the garden planted until Memorial Day.

And they poked out of the ground this weekend.  Just in time for a possible freeze.  But all seems well.

Fifth:  The rabbits over the winter did a lot of damage to the arbivitae bushes.  Some now look like trees while some others still have some of their lower brances.  Sad.

But there is an upside.

With more sunlight around the bases, the daffodils that haven't bloomed for the past few years are blooming profusely this year.

They had been planted back when the bushes were smaller and as the bushes began crowding them I planned to dig up the flower bulbs.

But never got around to it.

Now I'm glad that I didn't.

Going, Going... Gone

The last hail storm reminded us of just how hurting the trampoline was.

Nearly a fourth of the springs are missing.

The tarp is tearing.

One of the support bars is broken (but still holding together).

There are bits of blue plastic and foam from the enclosure all over the yard.

We kept it because there are so many neighbor children

who loved to jump on it.

And it was safe enough--for little kids.  Not for big kids.

And there lies the worry.

So the time has arrived for the trampoline to say good bye.

We invited the kids over for an ice cream treat and one last jump.

And now, I get to decide what to do with this bare spot of ground.

Rake off the mulch and grow the grass back?

Plant my tomatoes there and hope it is far enough from the old garden so they won't get blight?

Put a metal/canvas-top gazebo there?

Make it a BIG fire-pit and picnic area?

As you can see, there are a lot of possibilities for this "new" area in our yard!

The Vultures have Arrived...

Within two days of our hailstorm, the "vultures" arrived.  Or maybe I should just call them

opportunists--the businesses (mostly out-of-towners) that swoop in after a storm

to take advantage of the situation.

With hundreds of homes with siding or roof (or even window) damage,

there is a lot of work to be done, and a lot of money to be spent. 

Most of the businesses are all right--they just want to steer

some of the work their way. 

The vultures are the hard-sell type.  They say they will work exclusively with the insurance company so that "you get a brand-new roof with NO cost to you!"

They use terminology to make it sound like your insurance company is your enemy.  That miserly insurance company isn't going to want to pay, but "we'll make them!"

I just wonder how many people go for that kind of offer.

There must be enough of them because I remember companies like that

coming through after our last hail storm a couple of years ago.

Our insurance company has been very fair--and we've had enough experience with them to realize that.

Our adjuster is coming this week to determine the damage to the roof and

 we have at least 10 holes in the siding on the north side of the house.

And I just wanted to show our own little "craters of the moon" landscape.  The whole garden, which had just been tilled the weekend before is all pock-marked as well.

Bunny Wars!

One of the missionaries received her ceramic bunny in the mail, but in transit, the nose had been broken.  Suddenly, it looked demonic!

Maybe it's the yellow eyes.  Or the crouching position.

But it has been showing up in the most surprising places...

...like Alice's back pack.

...or the refrigerator.

A & E figure out a good place for it to surprise the missionaries.

Then the sisters put it on the stairs for E to see when she gets up at 5:30 a.m. for seminary.

We hear a startled "Oh!" and then a nervous laugh.

And the sisters win another round.

I'm really glad the sisters are here.

Earthquakes, Lightning, Storms...

We didn't have the earth quake yesterday--that happened in Indonesia--but we did have a severe thunderstorm.  We can now receive an automated phone call for severe weather (CODE RED) and we've had three of those calls in the past 4 days.  "A severe thunderstorm is located in your area with the potential for damaging hail and high winds.  Take shelter immediately."  (You can get the call on your cell phone, otherwise, if you are on the phone, aren't you already inside shelter?)  Well, the hail came.  At first it was pea-sized, with a sound on the roof slightly heavier than the down pouring rain.

Then came intermittent, louder thunks.  First came the dime-sized.  Then the size of a quarter.

And then came the sound like someone hitting the roof with a baseball bat.

Golf-ball sized balls of ice (and larger) were hitting, especially on the north side of the house. (We now have at least 7 holes in the siding.)  I was afraid windows were going to be broken, but they held.

We had to wait until the big ones had stopped falling to run out and gather some up. (I'm not taking the chance of getting hit by one of those!) They were already melting.  And incredibly fascinating. How many times had that piece of ice begun falling and then been caught in the storm's updraft and sent up high (and received another coating of ice)?

I also ran out to rescue what flowers I could.  Of course, they had just begun blooming the day before.

But there's no way to save all the magnolia buds that were pummeled to the ground.

They hadn't even had the chance to open yet.

Seeing how the ice balls had smashed stems, grinding them to mush made me glad I wasn't out in the storm!  Some flowers were left with just their heads--still, they make a nice bouquet.

And then there is the backyard river after the storm was over.

I'm really glad our car was in the garage. 

The missionaries' car wasn't so lucky, and now has dimples!

Good Friday Project

Kevin had Good Friday off from work, but the girls didn't have school off, so it we had a great "couple" day.

So, did we go to a movie?  Nope.  Theaters don't open until 4 pm.  We did go and get the siding ordered (thanks for all your input as to color.)  We ordered shakes that are a slightly darker shade.  Our siding is "sage" and the shakes are "Scottish thistle".  I just love how the names give you hardly a clue as to what the color really is.

The REAL project for the day was entered into with the idea from the weather forecast that it wasn't going to rain until that night.  But sometimes forecasts are wrong.

The rock wall had been sagging forward and with the nice spring weather, it seemed like the perfect time for this project.

It was back-breaking labor.  I tried helping but the blocks were too heavy.  So I became "support".  It's a good thing Kevin is physically fit already or this would have been bad.  He was still pretty sore by the end of the day.

Just a few moments after this picture, fat drops of water started plopping down.  We hoped it was just a brief shower passing quickly by.  Nope.  It was the real thing.  As the rain poured, we ran and got tarps to cover the dirt piles but weren't able to cover all the area that needed to be dug out.  A half-inch of rain later, Kevin set out to dig out the gravel to reset the blocks. 

Now the job was twice as difficult. 

But he did it. He's that kind of man.