Flower Power

Spring means flowers. The Mary Lynn bed tulips and daffodils are nearing the end of their blooming cycles, but other flowers are beginning to open. A trip to a greenhouse yielded some perennial and annual flowers which were planted over a few days this past week. Some work was done in the upstairs bath. Screen inserts replaced the winter inserts in three doors. Outdoor work took up much of our energy this past week.

I get a kick out of the smaller flowers that made appearances this week. Bleeding hearts, grape hyacinths, and white lilacs all popped open. Here are photos of plants newly blooming around the yard.

Only a few inside-the-house projects received attention this week. Screen inserts replaced the winter storm inserts in three doors leading to porches. The front screen insert needed new mesh before it was installed. Luckily our local lumber yard had a piece of the metal mesh left; most places now stock only the black fabric screening material which the cats would claw through in short order. Allowing the doors to be open allowed much-appreciated fresh air into the house.

Progress is VERY slow in the upstairs bath. The guy doing the sheetrock work, taping the joints and “mudding” them, showed up for just a few hours during the entire [past] week and is not done yet. This work needs to be completed before I can move on with painting, trim work, finishing the electrical, and getting the plumbers back to finish their job. This is getting a little frustrating and I will be doing some work to advance this project this weekend. I was able to cut and install a few tiles at the front of the shower, getting that bit of work completed. Project is taking much longer than I anticipated.

Other activities were part of the summer routine. Lawn mowing a couple times led to a trip to the city’s organic dump. Elma has no street sweeper so I took it on myself to clean our curb and gutter, the first time since we moved in. There was much sand and gravel removed and hauled to the dump along with grass clippings. (The result improved the curb appeal of the house and was worth the effort, but I bet the neighbors thought I was crazy.)

I spread some dandelion killer on parts of the lawn where the dandelions are most profuse and am waiting to see if the stuff has any effect. Other parts of the yard get the ‘manual’ treatment where I dig out the dandelions with a small digger tool. The yard looks good at the moment but keeping up is always a chore this time of year. The neighbors are not as diligent; I’m digging up most of their seeded dandelions, I think.

I enjoy spring; it’s interesting to watch annual and perennial flowers and plants appear. Opening the house to get in fresh air and planning summer activities are enjoyable pursuits. The smell of fresh-cut grass hangs in the air in the evenings. Until bugs arrive, I can sit out on a porch chair and relax after the day’s activities.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

The Mennonite greenhouse was a pleasure, as always. The first spring visit, the bright plants neatly aligned over aisles and aisles, that earthy humidity – ah. (I keep the greenhouse image in my personal memory bank, to retrieve mid-winter as needed.) Digging annuals into the beds surrounding Heart House, seeing how they augment the perennials breaking through — always a pleasure to see the result.

I am totally OVER that second floor bathroom project, however. It drags on and on and on and on. Speaking of dragging, the cats enjoy dragging garbage, plaster dust etc. downstairs from the mess upstairs. The door is off the bathroom and there is no way to keep construction debris in that room. (The workmen in the trades are not the most tidy people to begin with.) Additionally, “parts” from the bathroom are being stored in the quilt room/guest room; work I was planning to do in there has been disrupted. Pretty much a pain in the ass all ’round.

Mainly I am so OVER painting. And there is still so much painting to do…

Happy Trails.