fence sense

 Warm days, cool mornings, and beautiful fog in the back field.

Todd took advantage of the nice weather by putting together a fence, made up of old farm gates.

We had 1500 feet of fencing put in, but one fence doesn't go all the way down to the water at one end.  Now it does...hooray!  

I've been working outside, too...slowly getting seedlings in the ground.  It's not my favorite gardening activity.  I don't like getting dirty and as I'm gritting my teeth and flicking off ticks, I'm trying to remind myself to be positive.  The sun is shining, there's a soft breeze, and think of the flowers that will grow here!  Amid these contemplations, I've noticed a song sparrow that comes every time I start to dig.  Singing while perched on the garden bench...

...or grubbing for worms, just a few feet away from where I'm working.

I'm reading on the porch swing in the late afternoon now...

...and sometimes the sparrow will perch on the deck rail and regard me curiously.  He's not the only creature I see every day.  We have so many turkey vultures!

They are remarkably efficient.  A full-size deer was hit by a car about a half mile from our house.  We passed it every day on the way to our walking location.  It didn't take long for the turkey vultures to find it...

...and the deer was nearly gone within four days!  Another cool thing that I've started to see on this short trip...bowl and doily spiderwebs.  The spiders themselves are tiny and rarely seen, but their webs are everywhere in the late spring.  You can see how they got their names...their small webs look like bowls suspended over gossamer doilies.  They are best visible in the early morning sun.  By afternoon, they fade into the shadows.  

Of course, I'm also seeing tons of new growth on our daily hikes!

The cats were momentarily interested when I started opening all the windows, but they are still devoted to their daily naps.

Frances

Barnabas, sleeping against the barrier meant to keep him separated from Calliope

Even Calliope has started coming downstairs to spend the day by an open window...

...although she's still pretty skittish.  

Enjoying the temperatures, enjoying the birds, and enjoying more flowers coming up in the garden...

geraniums

lily of the valley

false baptisia and euphorbia

part of front shade garden

...loving the spring!

Have a great week! 

possum mum?

 We've had a pretty regular visitor for the past few weeks.

Every night, we hear a tap-tap-tap on the porch, and this little guy takes care of the extra cat food.  Don't you think she's unusually rotund?  Dare I say...possibly pregnant?!?

Possums have the shortest gestation period of any mammal...thirteen days...so I am on the lookout for babies every night, just in case!  

It's been really cold here.  I've been trying to get the spring garden chores done, but yesterday it dropped into the 30s, with hail.  More frosts...

...but everything perks up in the chilly sunshine, and our regular flowers seem to be plugging along in spite of less-than-ideal conditions!

japanese anemone

foam flower

columbine

lily of the valley

jacob's ladder

Even though I have an excuse, I don't like seeing the beds overrun with weeds.  This back bed has filled in with the usual perennials...

 ...but it's in a sad state, compared with how nice it's been in years past, early May.

It's completely overgrown, and I'm still in the process of planting new seedlings on the far edge...slowly...whenever the temperature edges into the mid-50s.

I'll just have to keep going as weather allows.  Hopefully it will be warm enough to start my tender annuals soon!  I'm going to try something that I've never tried before...direct-sowing the seeds into the plowed beds.  I usually start everything, even easy things like sunflowers, in mini greenhouses.  But it's A LOT of extra - and unnecessary - work, I think.  We'll see how it goes!  

Inside, the usual work...with a bit of help...

...and a little play, with even puzzle-averse Todd pitching in on this 2000 piece monster!

Here's hoping that it gets a bit warmer soon so that we can get outside and stretch our legs.

Have a great week!