A blustery spring...

When I was little we had an album 'vinyl' of Winnie the Pooh, being read by a man with a wonderful voice.  We would sit and listen to the record over and over.  One of the stories was Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.  For some reason that word 'Blustery' is one of those I just love!  It is a very descriptive word and I try to use it occasionally as there are words that should not be allowed to fade away!  Our spring so far has been a little blustery, winds and mild rains, cool weather and warm in the same day and fluffy clouds scudding across the impossible blue skies we get this time of year.  It is then, a spring from my memories of springs!  The springs of my childhood, I am thoroughly enjoying it!

 Our trip to California was fun and the weather was lovely, not too hot, not too cool.  We were there for Miss Lily's 2nd birthday isn't that a cute birthday dress!?  We were trying for a family photo with all of them looking the same way, this is as close as we got!

Son #3 here is a week and a half after back surgery in this photo, he was moving pretty gingerly!

We got lots of Lily time, this is one of my favorite photos - Miss Lily and Grandad watching funny cat videos!

 We came home to quite a few flowers blooming.  The honeysuckle survived another brutal trimming this year, so I don't feel so bad doing it

The Columbines would have been even lovelier without the weeds...oh well!

The pink honeysuckle in the back yard....

chives and sage both blooming....

Hubby's tomato planter, look at all the little tomatoes that came up on their own.  Not sure he will have the heart to thin them!  It will be a tomato rain-forest in this planter again this year!

Weigelia in bloom, they just don't last long enough!

Peas and lettuce are doing well in the cool-ish weather....

The latest flowers we added, Delphiniums. 










So we had a wonderful trip, visited with the kids, spent mothers day with my mommy. (I know how lucky I am to be able to do that.)  We came home to flowers and pretties all over the yard, and the car gas mileage, when I figured it up averaged 44mpg!  We are feeling very fortunate and blessed!

Catching up ......

It has been amazing to me how this little part time job has come to take up so much of my time.  I was feeling pretty bad, as I was tired and not accomplishing things around the house.  I decided to sit down and figure out if I was really having a problem, thought maybe I was just being disorganized.  The first change had come when I was asked to work 4 days (5hrs) a week instead of 3.  So 20 hours a week shouldn't be taking such a chunk of my time and energy right?  I started adding up the 40 minute round trip each day, plus the hour to get ready in the am, and the hour to iron and make my lunch in the pm.  My 5 hour job is now taking 8 hours of my time.  OK that kind of makes sense, sleeping and eating are a must and I'm feeling better about my organizational skills and my energy level!  I also have hit that spot where I used to be when I worked full time and was just able to organize my time better.  My mother and I have discussed this and we both agreed when you work outside the home you just get more organized because your mind 'knows' you have less time!  Once we retired I had that idea that if I didn't get it done today there was always tomorrow.  There is nothing wrong with that but my organization of tasks was "fluid"!  Things could be moved around more easily!  That it took this long to get back into the habits of the 'before times'  may speak more to the impending 60th birthday (this fall) than anything else!!  ;)  Having gotten that off my mind we have made lists of projects that we are going to do while the money is coming in, and prioritized them.  It is nice to have the little extra and be able to get a couple of the big items done this year we hope now instead of waiting till next.

While the Northeast is having a rough spring we are having a lovely one and the garden is hard to resist!  Tonight's predicted frost is proof we were wise not to give in to the urge to plant too many things. We will put a tarp over the tomatoes and the rest should be fine. I finally got the red mulch I wanted last fall and couldn't find any more. The herb garden looks very nice I think and hopefully this will make a big difference with the weeds.  Do you see all the blooms on the strawberries?!

This is looking up at the apple tree, Hubby and Number 2 son trimmed this big time last fall and it is loaded with blossoms, would be nice to have a bumper crop of our own apples this year for pies and applesauce.

I am loving this brave little lettuce plant that came up from last year before we started planting new this year.  I have been picking a leaf or two here and there and dipping in dressing for a snack.  It is keeping my craving for fresh veg under control!  By the way, that is technically called 'chicken wire' in the store.  We call it 'cat wire' because it is used here to keep the cats from using the freshly worked beds as litter boxes - just one step too 'organic' for my comfort level!  (smile)









From the back porch looking back to the garden.  Hubby has since cut the grass once and we have irrigated once.

Looking from the garden to the back porch.  It has been nice to have a lot of rain this spring and our snowpacks are still looking good.  After low water years it is always nice to have a green spring!  The trees are leafing and the hillsides out and about are green.  It really is a nice time of year.

The cherry tree got topped by about 20 feet last year and has quite a few blooms on it, we are holding our breathe to see if it weathers the frosts and cooler nights this week or if we will go another year with no cherries!

We will be going to see this little one in a couple of weeks - I love this picture - you can almost hear the laugh can't you!?

Think I am caught up again for a little while, maybe get back to a regular rhythm here too!

Goings on in the Back Yard....

When the kids were little they wanted a bird feeder - I never let them have one as we always had cats and it just seemed somewhat cruel - sort of like a bird trap rather than a feeder!  We still have cats, and with all of our trees we have a lot of birds, and the cats chase the birds.  Sometimes we see feathers and we wonder if they caught one.  It seems though that the cats just have a lot of fun chasing the birds whether they catch them or not.  So the other day the goings on in the back yard were especially funny....

The neighbors behind us have had a peacock for the last several years, he just showed up at their house one day and never left.  All of the neighbors, ourselves included, have felt sorry for him as he was all alone, surrounded by chickens!  This year it seems his family decided to do the right thing and get him a harem, and this is how we met them.

 They came over the back fence and right up onto the back porch......

Lower right hand corner you can see the cat - what must he be thinking?
His normal hunting partner made it into the house when hubby went out with the camera. (Buddy is sometimes a bit of a bully to Rabbit, so we thought this was rather cowardly of him)

They headed off toward the gate to the front yard....

"We don't need no stinking gates.." 
(sorry couldn't resist the old movie line!  1948 "Treasure of the Sierra Madre")

 
Pecking the ground on occasion they sauntered across the front yard toward the other side of the house....

Rabbit (the cat is named Rabbit because his fur is so soft) is not exactly in 'hot pursuit'!!  He is however keeping an eye on them, yup keeping the home front safe!

They went all the way around the house, back to the place they started and then went home!  I have to admit I had imagined later, when the neighborhood cats got together....."No really the bird was taller than me"    "Aw c'mon Rabbit, you can't expect us to buy that one!"  I chuckled to myself.



I have an interesting back yard......