What's Blooming

What, it isn't Monday?

Perhaps the week has gotten away from me. This is typical for the end-of-the-school-year madness. The last few weeks of school are always insane: graduations, field days, water days, last minute teacher gifts, you name it. Yikes. But school will be out next Friday, and I am glad.

Of course, I won't be so glad later in the summer, but at this moment in time, I'm excited to not drive kids to and from school every day for a few weeks.

Here's one of the most exciting things that happened recently: Roy (Collin) got his yellow belt in karate on Saturday. Go, Collin! I mean, Roy!

I really should have brought the camera instead of my phone. Whatever.

And finally, here's what's blooming this week! My roses bloomed spectacularly, both in red and pink:

Better than the blooms, though, is the fragrance. I can open the front windows and smell roses. Ahhh.

The Sweet Williams (Dianthus) also bloomed. These are bi-annuals that bloom their second year and then die off. They have been reseeding themselves fabulously, so I have them in whites, light pinks, dark pinks, and even some multi-colored, like these pink and white ones:

The poppies also opened. These are the size of my entire hand - they're just huge. They might replace the daisy as my favorite flower. They are exuberant and just beautiful.

The Scabiosa also bloomed. Not as exciting as the poppy, but a nice little bit of color.

The Bachelor Buttons surprised me with a true blue flower:

Sitting right in front of the chamomile

This Arizona Blanket Flower also spread its red and yellow petals. This one attracts lots of bees and butterflies. One of the reasons I plant flowers is to attract bees, so that they will pollinate the garden just behind the flowers!

And...I also got some white allium and purple sage.

So there you are - late but not forgotten!

What's Bloomin'

Another week, and still more flowers! I can't believe it, either. I did warn you last week that lots of my plants were about to flower, though. Buckle up for the tour!

The Iris that I aggressively borrowed from my mother-in-law's garden up north:

She didn't miss them - they have tons and tons. The bachelor's buttons bloomed in both purple...

And pink!

The globe allium are open...although they will get bigger and be a complete globe once they're done...

The salvia (a relative of sage) started to bloom:

The chives also bloomed. These are edible, so we might be having some purple flowers in a salad this week!

The verbascum sent up pink flowers this week, in addition to the purple ones last week"

And, finally, the tradescantia (widow's tears, spiderwort, whatever you want to call it) started blooming also. These three-petaled little flowers only like to bloom when its morning or shady - they close completely when it's sunny. It's fun to have flowers with features.

I'm working a little on composition...so that there aren't just random plants, but actually a progression of sorts. So here you can see the chamomile in front, followed by catnip and the iris in the back. It's getting so much better!!! Although, I should probably sweep the concrete border a little before taking a picture next time, hm?

My plan is to have the entire yard "composed"...eventually. Have a great week!

Thief!

Here is a picture of the perp. Don't be fooled by the smile and the big blue eyes.

Yes, she has been cutting her hair again.

She is a thief. A tool thief, to be exact.

I have been working almost non-stop in the garden these past few days, fueled by the realization that spring is almost over. Transplanting has to happen now! Sophia has also been in the garden with me. She has her own tools and gloves, but they are never what she wants.

"Can me borrow that?" she asks constantly, pointing to whatever tool I have. "Me helping!"

I have tried to explain that she should be using "I" and not "me". Perhaps the pronoun lesson is what brought the thievery out in her - heaven knows, grammar lessons have never been my favorite, either.

At any rate, she takes the tool whenever I lay it down, which is often, since I usually need two hands to pull those pesky weeds. Then she uses said tool to "help", which means "accidentally" getting dirt all over me. To be fair, usually all over her, too. "Sorry, it was not an accident!" She always throws in the "not", unintentionally telling the truth. It never is an accident with her, especially when it comes to airborne dirt. She loves that stuff.

She is not limited to garden tools, either. Whenever Doug is in his shop, she constantly brings him tools. To help out. Then she replaces them, or not. Drives Doug insane.

So this morning, I go to find my garden tools and can only find her's. So what do I do?

That's right. I steal them.

Let There Be (a Spot)Light!

Or two or three. You can never have enough spotlights, right?

Doug was hanging out in the laundry room with me one day (since that's where I live, he visits to chat every now and again), and saw a long box from IKEA. "Hm, what is this?" he wondered.

He should know better than to wonder. I had bought a lovely track lighting system the last time I went to IKEA...for the basement hallway. We need artistic lighting for the chalkboard, so that the kids really feel inspired when drawing down there.

Okay, maybe need isn't the right word, but whatever.

Boy, was I surprised when he put them up later that same day! Actually, not that surprised...he is looking for anything to do other than mud and sand that large basement room he finished wall boarding a while ago. So here's our new lighting:

Whoa. I love it - it is not a dangling light bulb anymore! And it extends the line of light throughout the hallway. It is actually less light - which was a bummer - but because it is such a long fixture, it does seem more artistic than dark-basement-hallway.

Once again - go, Doug! Now we just need flooring...and trim...okay, I'll just stop. Have a great Wednesday...half way to Friday!!!

What's Blooming

All of a sudden, it seems like half of my yard is about to burst into bloom. Summer must be around the corner. The Coral Bells on the front porch came into bloom...

And that is why Coral Bells aren't known for their flowers. "Insignificant" is about right, don't you think? The leaves are still beautiful, though. In the back yard the Verbascum has started to bloom...

And the Chamomile is coming up to the south. The new flowers have petals growing up, but when the flower is mature, the petals droop.

The Weigela is adding some pink to the front...

And so is the Hawthorne tree. I love how these look like little rosebuds.

Have a great week!

What's Bloomin'

Summer seems to be peeking around the corner, reminding us that the transitory days of spring won't last. This year we have had a long-lasting spring. I don't know if I ever remember having such a long spring - it's been just lovely to have chilly temperatures and sunny days.

But it can't keep going on forever, so here comes summer temps. The flowers love it, though. This week one of my lilacs finally came into bloom:

This was a surprise, since I only planted them last year. Usually lilacs take at least three years to start blooming. Even when you move them around they get all fussy about blooming. So even though only one is in bloom this year, I count it as a blessing. Also, check out the flowers:

Most lilac flowers have four distinct petals, arranged in a cross. These are more rose-like, though, and they still smell like lilacs. Score!

The catnip also bloomed, and the neighborhood cats have been in heaven:

And finally, one of the flowers returned from my adventures with seeds last year. I have no idea what it is, still...but it's back!

Have a great week and enjoy Cinco de Mayo today!

Easter Projects: Wrap-Up (Finally!)

It's been a good two weeks since Easter, and I'm still working on projects we started with my sister here (hooray for sisters - she got the fire lighted under me, which was getting down to cold coals). So I thought I would finally go through my original list with you and show you what we actually got done...and didn't.

• The bookcase. Check! Here's the finished project, displayed fetchingly in Jack's room:

• The sine and cosine wall: Uh, nope. I have been working on it in the past few months, though, so here's an updated shot of it:

• The library/Collin's room: Uh-huh. I have taken off two fairies this week. But no painting yet. Doug is starting to make noises about this becoming a priority, though - since he wants Collin to start sleeping in his room again!

• Curtains: We started these...and they are sitting, cut out, on my sewing room table. At least they're ready to sew...when I get around to it.

• Paint Touch-Ups in the Sea/Sophia's room: I actually did this - check! It didn't seem like a big deal - we got the paint and I painted over the many patches that had accumulated in her room over the past two-and-a-half years. Kids really take the paint off the walls, don't they? Here's a before and after in one of the worst areas of the room:

Before

And after. So much better.

• Tile backsplash: I'm laughing that this even made the list. I guess I was trying for something other than painting or sewing or gardening. Which is why it didn't even get started! Well, okay, we did look at tile while getting paint...does that count?

Then there's one that got done that wasn't on the list: the flower pots. That got started and completed on Easter weekend, so it was truly the only "weekend" project.

But still, not bad, right?