skipped

It just isn't coming. For a long time I have thought we were going to have a late winter. Now I realize we are having an early spring. And we are not having winter this year.

In general, I'm ok with this. I wish I'd been consulted, but Mother Nature seldom does that, so I have learned (mostly) to relinquish control.  I do worry about the bugs this year since I don't think it got cold enough long enough to kill off all the mosquito population.  I still worry that we'll have a late freeze while everything is in bloom and I won't be able to find enough bed sheets to cover it all. Because really, my whole yard is in bloom. It is full out spring here.

Crocus, grape hyacinth, daffodils...I bought a pack of ten grape hyacinth bulbs to put all together in one little spot. I got home and found out there were 100 in the bag. Oh well! They're looking lovely though; I've put them everywhere including in the lawn.

I think I'm going to introduce a new feature here, The View From My Window. This is March 1, 2012 as seen from my bathroom window.  It has already changed dramatically.

This is The View From My Window on March 7, 2012.  Great changes!

Yesterday I dug up some densely growing chrysanthemums and equally tightly growing daisies and moved them around to new spots. Someday I'm going to succeed at my attempt to hide the ground.  Of course I'm also still busy ripping out English Evil Ivy and exposing more of said ground.  I'm trying to fill the space and vinca is trying to help me (for better or for worse I haven't decided) but a heavy rain could still cause a red mud slide.

The big change in our landscaping today is the moving of the playset. When we got the thing, back when Pook was less than two (2002) we placed it outside the dining room window in the only flat part of the backyard. It isn't the most beautiful view from a dining room. I can think of things worse, (say a neighbor's trashcan perhaps) and having it nearby was perfect when the boys were little.

Before

They don't use it much anymore, and I hope paying to have it moved isn't a waste of money. We're hoping that up in the woods it will become more of a hide-away fort. Maybe we should encourage them by sending them out with the (also never used) telescope to spy (in which case I would have to do something more exciting than doing laundry or cooking). Hmmm, I wonder what my neighbors are up to.....

After

Meanwhile I am planting some shrubs to help hold the hill in place, enjoying the blooms around me and feeling the sun on my back.