thunderstorms moved through...

but not until late afternoon...

the morning was full of sun...

and blooms...

took a down day...

too many garden days in a row...

I have no idea what this is...

I didn't plant it...

had to be the squirrels...

had a lot of aches and pains through the night and had a hard time sleeping...

the morning wasn't much better...

clematis...

after lunch...

I dug out my electric blanket...

and plugged it in...

I slept on top of it for my nap...

and could move when I woke up...

;0)

keeping it on the bed from now on...

its like one large, full body heating pad...

and now the naming of the cluckers...

what do ya think???

George and Gracie?

Bonnie and Clyde?

Adam and Eve?

Burt and Sally?

;0)

Chick and Fillet?

throw something back at me and lets get them named before the end of the week...

;0)

Monday's blessings...

peonies are budding...

we are about 4 weeks ahead of schedule here...

iris, too...

these should be about ready the time Memorial Day comes around...

so what's in it for the summer?

the growing season?

my partner in crime yesterday...

(he was sitting down)

my peonies are not that tall...

or...

he's short, but not that short...

we worked out here yesterday morning...

pulling the dead stalks and leaves out where we could...

there's one iris there already blooming...

I am so stiff and sore this morning...

gotta get this worked out and get back on my feet...

81 yesterday, but there is rain and a little cooler weather coming...

nothing terribly cold or anything like that...

I have heard a long dry summer...

and with an early spring, you get an early fall...

long or short fall?

long or short winter?

I am in a dilemma here...

the earth says- "PLANT!"

but my calendar says-

"WAIT!"

meanwhile, up north...

they are still in winter mode...

and down south...

they're swimming...

so we are just so blessed being right here...

right now...

farmers are popping that corn in the ground as fast as they can go...

;0)

have great days...

another wonderful day here...

this morning, after I got my shoes and socks on...

I headed out here while DH worked on cleaning out the shed...

got a couple of areas cleaned up today...

and I had some help...

I had every intention of getting rid of these "weeds"...

but a closer look and I found columbine...

so I am leaving it all for a couple more weeks to see what is what...

the ferns on this side of the house face the sun and are up and about already...

the other side is just starting...

I love watching them uncurl...

so since I didn't have as much weeding as I thought I was going to have...

I jut took photos instead...

and I put my chicken and rooster out...

because I want real ones...

and DH says no or divorce...

its him or them...

so I have to settle for these guys...

so I can have chickens in my yard...

I bought this a couple of weekends ago...

so got it potted, too...

it was just nice to be outside...

high of 79...

unreal...

and the booby trapped hook for the bird feeder...

might not be the fanciest looking thing...

but it is working...

not one bird seed stealing squirrel around now...

amazing what you can do with a cracker box lid and some zip ties...

;0)

so, our weekend turned out fun...

except for the afternoons when my pinched nerve made me so sick and sent me to bed...

but its all ok now...

just have to get toughened up again...

been down too long...

;0)

so what did you do?

the perfect kind of day...

we played outside quite a bit...

lilacs are starting to open...

soon, there will be this sweet smell floating through the air...

columbine...

clematis...

we cut this back to nothing last fall and replaced a very small trellis with this very sturdy baker's rake that we found at a garage sale for hardly nothing...

its half way up on it this spring...

in a few more years...

it will be spilling over...

things just went pop after our mid week thunderstorms...

the ferns just uncurled over night...

lily of the valley have more flowers on them...

DH and I went to the farm store here in town...

bought my seeds and some grass seed...

I got the green beans all planted in the containers...

they are in front of the house this year...

easier for me to get to on even bad days...

will be easy to pick from my chair...

DH and I mowed the south yard and around the house yesterday morning...

mower guy came in the afternoon...

we are in the midst of the worst dandelion season this area has ever seen!

every yard, almost, looks like this or worse...

my yellow knock out rose is doing wonderfully this spring...

and pretty dern soon we are going to have us some shade!

it just keeps getting greener all the time...

;0)

now this is what I have been waiting for...

have a wonderful day!

PS:

Susie asked for my weed spray recipe...

so this is for those small sprayers that you pump up...

half water, half vinegar...

a half cup of salt...

and throw in some liquid soap of  your choice...

(dish, laundry- doesn't matter)

it just helps it cling on the weeds instead of running right off...

spray after the rain has stopped and you have a few days without it...

spray all the leaves good...

let the sun hit it and they will turn brown in no time...

this is good to use around children, pets and food gardens...

nothing will hurt you...

;0)

meanwhile, back at the ranch...

cloudy morning, rainy afternoon...

but things are getting big around here...

lily of the valley...

like the weeds...

notice the cracks...

we have needed some rain here...

notice all the things that need done?

were we doing them?

nope...

we let the doggie take selfies going down the road for a walk...

now this dude doesn't walk...

he rides on my lap all the way down and all the way back...

notice that he needs a bath after rolling in the dirt...

and he needs a haircut...

did that get done?

nope...

there's always tomorrow, right?

besides...

he likes the wind in his hair...

;0)

Charlie is so determined to find that next adventure...

and living with a bunch of cats...

its never that far away...

going to give things a day to dry up a smidgen...

then my plan is to get out there and start in on the weeds...

and mix up some vinegar, salt, soap and water to spray the walk...

it works better than RoundUp and it won't kill you...

thinking of planting some veggies this weekend...

;0)