moss boss

May and June are the prettiest time in the garden.  It's still early, but I love seeing things come up that I planted years ago.  

Front garden, which had a few desultory daffodils when we moved in

I'm especially glad that I planted "cemetery moss" - the color is so vibrant and it spreads like crazy!

Side "rose garden" is starting to fill in, all perennials

I'm waiting for the peonies to start...they're so beautiful with the purple of the false baptisia and the yellow of the irises.  Total accident!

I've had a little trouble up here, though.  The deer, which have never bothered this garden in the past, have been mowing down my bee balm.

En route, they're stepping on and crushing the little seedlings I've planted around it.  I'm going to have to replace about a fourth of what I've planted.  

Our front red maple has filled in quickly.  I'd never noticed one before we moved here, but I love it so much.  A few more weeks until it's totally lush!  

I've been doing some work in the garden, but I have to pace myself.  I have so many other projects, and my regular job as well.  One really pleasurable project is this pair of bedroom side tables that I found at a thrift store for $14 each...on half-off day.  That's right, I got the pair for $14!  I knew they were good quality...solid wood...and checking inside, I saw that they were Ethan Allen.  When I did a price check, I discovered that they're selling for hundreds of dollars online.  Score!

They were a little beat up, though, and I didn't like the orangey stain.  I'm in the process of sanding them...

...to give them a really natural finish.  I'm about halfway done!

I'm continuing to spot spring ephemerals on our walks...

celadine poppy

trillium flexipes

dwarf larkspur

jack-in-the-pulpit

white baneberry

...and lazy kittens while working at home.

We're loving this time before the dread humidity and heat of summer sets in.  As long as it's not too bad, I'm going to try to continue to take short reading breaks on the porch swing.  It's so peaceful, especially with the garden filling in around it!

Have a great week!

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! 

cake and ice...temps

 Birthday week!!

Six-inch four-layer German chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

Todd has been getting over a really terrible cold and had zero energy, but we managed a short walk and a museum trip.  The cake I made had the most delicious pecan/coconut filling that I've ever tasted, and I'm not a fan of pecans.  

As an afterthought, I also made a lemon cream pie with graham-almond crust.  I like lemon and have had a lot of lemon desserts, but this, too, was the best in its class, in my opinion.  We groaned in delight for DAYS!  

A lot of delight outside, too.  Green, green, green!

barn in front of our house

dogwoods are blooming!

shade garden by front driveway

Woodland flowers!

trout lily

jack-in-the-pulpit

The apple blossoms withstood the rain...

...but not the wind.

Lilacs have come and gone, too.

So much growing, though.

both columbines

shasta daisies

part of the side rose garden

Claudia is loving life in warmer temperatures.

She's yet to bring us any pests this year, although I saw her this week with a suspicious feather hanging out of her mouth...

The deer are starting to appear in the daytime, and I hear turkeys gobbling in the early mornings now.

our back field

I'm slowly, slowing working on getting my winter sow garden seedlings planted.  I have a low tolerance for cold, and although Todd loves these 55-degree days, I'm shivering in three layers.  It's windy!!  Somehow it feels even colder than wintertime...for once I'm ready for summer.

Warmer temps coming soon.  Have a great week!

Two weeks ago, Claudia waiting for me in the rose garden.