The forsythia and the purple leaf plum are both in full bloom this week. 
Usually the plum would bloom a little later, after the forsythia blossoms start to fade, but with this April heat wave we had this week everything is blooming!
Tag: Outside
More Sidewalk Talk
Ta da! There it is, all shiny and white, making all the sidewalk around it look bad. John and Bart really did a good job. The town inspector said it was one of the best in town, and you know he has seen a lot this season! Many of the sidwalk repairs were done by professionals, too.
The guys put a shiny 2009 quarter into the cement before it set. See that little smear on the right there? That was supposed to be an imprint of Oliver’s paw, but they waited a little too long and Oli was slightly less than co-operative.
House Numbers, Finally
At long last, we finally got around to mounting the new house numbers on the front porch! 
We’ve only had these pretty metal numbers for the last four years, and since we installed the new old door last August we’ve been completely without house numbers. This became a big problem a few weeks back when I was expecting guests who had never been to my neck of the woods.
So, my friend Marc got roped into helping me put these up one day a few weeks ago. He’s such a good sport. Please forgive the bug dirt, dust and pencil markings. Actually, does anybody know what will remove those pencil markings from the metal siding?
Something Else Happened the Day of the Oliver Crop Circles
Remember all those heavy stones I said I was carrying? Well they formed this:
A nice mowing edge / path to divide the very back of the yard from the rest of the lawn.
Two reasons for this:
One, the 100′ extension cord on the electric mower doesn’t reach much farther than this, and, two, it is a pain to get under the apple trees to mow the weeds, ’cause nothing else wants to grow under there.
So the plan is to lay a mowing strip for a clear division (done), kill the weeds, and plant ground cover that will thrive in those conditions and not require much maintenance.
My little path starts near the fence at the spirea and crosses the main backyard path, past the apple trees, and ends at the retaining wall on the other side of the yard.
Girl vs. Groundhog, Rounds 1 & 2
I may be from Pennsylvania, the home of that most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, also home to the second-most famous groundhog, Gus, the spokes-critter for the Pennsylvania Lottery, but that doesn’t mean I want giant holes in my yard!
This fat-cat has been digging giant craters in the yard for years, and we used to see him all the time, brazenly sunning himself out in the open yard. Not so much now that Oliver is on the scene, but it is evident that he’s still around.
Since we’ve been digging up the sidewalk, and we had to dispose of some of the debris from that project, mom loaded a wheel barrow with soil-y rock, and I filled in the three largest of the groundhog holes. Then another load of rock-y soil on top. I had plans to sprinkle grass seed over the bare patches.
That was Saturday. I was pretty pleased with myself when I was done. By Wednesday he had managed to dig his way through the loose stones and tunnel back out.
I was hopping mad to see that new hole, and I set about fixing that groundhog. He is not going to outsmart me.
I found a large field rock from the giant pile filling my front yard flower bed, and I dropped it in his newly dug hole. Then I filled in around it with more rocky soil. Take that!
I was hopping mad to see that new hole, and I set about fixing that groundhog. He is not going to outsmart me.I found a large field rock from the giant pile filling my front yard flower bed, and I dropped it in his newly dug hole. Then I filled in around it with more rocky soil. Take that!
Green Bungalow Craftworks 