After the Storm

We are creeping into thunderstorm season here in Maine. Our area always seems to get pretty intense storms that come in from out of no where. One minute it will be sunny and the next the skies turn dark. The light after the storms pass is one of my favorites. Everything glows and eerie pink/orange color.

It was a bit of a stormy weekend here, both in reality and metaphorically. My body seems to be trying to tell me that I am doing a bit too much, and after a scare this weekend it is time to cut back on my cleaning jobs. Money will be tighter than it already is...but we'll get by.

Welcome to the Jungle.

Our lawn mower broke last month. Weeks passed and the lawn turned into pasture land. As if everything else wasn't already overgrown, this just topped it off. Grass and gardens blended into one. There was a lot of pretty wildflowers, and the clover was nice, but enough is enough. Last week Tony finally managed to jerry rig the mower to get it to work.

Gardens are in desperate need of weeding and the edges of our woods are in need of thinning. The day lilies are blooming around the pond ( we have probably close to 50 of them out there) but you can only see about half of them. The rest are hidden in the banks, covered up by overgrown underbrush. I'd love to be out there pruning right now, but it is so hot out (over 90).

I took my first swim of the summer in the pond today. It was nice, and felt good getting this extra weight off of my feet and back for a bit. Tomorrow.....summer school starts :(

Finally!

Well it is finally spring around here. In fact the temperatures have been more like summer over the past week. We have had several days in the 70s and even a couple of day in the 80s. The gardens are still getting cleaned up and planted. Thanks to some help from my mom when she was up during April vacation the front flower garden is all weeded and has a few new additions in it.

Bloom

The crocus are up a full month earlier than last year.

First Snow

Well we made it pretty far without snow but now have about 5 inches on the ground. Luckily it was a beautiful day today, so some of that has already melted.

I have been amazed and in love with these little violets that are still in bloom in our cold December. I dug them out of the snow this morning and will be sad to see them go.

A Walk in the Woods

Yard work

Busy weekend between working in the yard and working on final papers for my class that ends tomorrow. I finally started tearing apart the front flower garden, which I have never been too fond of. It was too big and too flat. I decided to build a little stone wall so that I could make one section higher than the other. I also shrunk it to half of its size. Still need to plant grass seed around it, and work on smoothing out the lower part of the garden. Then it is time to fill it in with more plants.

Before:

Halfway:
After:

I am happy with it, it is certainly better than what was there before. I am sure it will look much better once it is filled with flowers too.

Yard Cleanup

It finally feels like spring around here. With that, THANK GOD, is April vacation. I didn't think I would make it this year. The kids have been off the wall.
Tony and I started some major cleanup in the yard yesterday. Tons of leaves still need to be raked and hauled over to the compost bins. There are several birch trees that were bent down by thee snow and ice this winter that aren't able to recover. So firewood is their destiny. Tony was gifted a chainsaw from his father for xmas, so he put it to work. A couple of the trees were looming over our back veggie garden.
Speaking of the gardens, we have just about gotten the raised beds on the side of the garage all cleaned up. The chickens have been happily helping us with this task. Today I am going to plant some peas and hopefully some spinach. I did start some seedlings inside this year....not as many as last year though.
Already sprouted seedlings include:
brocolli
kale
beets
swiss chard
eggplant
bachelor buttons
zinnea
black krim tomatoes
yellow jubliee tomatos
romas
rainbow cherry tomatos

Still to plant:
spinach
peas
beans
salad greens
pmpkins
sunflowers
peppers
ccumbers
morning glories

I got a sunburn today

Today ended up being much nicer than the weathermen predicted. It was sunny all day with temps right around 70. Tony and I managed to get the raised beds built and installed in the front vegetable garden. It required lots and lots of digging, but I am glad we did it.







We came across some big rocks, and this one in particular nearly killed us in our attempts to remove it.

Our other near death experience came when I decided that it was absolutely necessary for us to dig up the lilac and move it over about 3 feet because it was too off center.

All that is left is laying down some gravel or hay to fill in the paths, and adding the veggies. The rhubarb is already coming up, as well as the chives and shallots. Next to be planted in this garden are spinach, bok choy, cucumbers, onions, and some herbs. Then it is time to expand the back vegetable garden.

Snowday!

It's snowing, AGAIN. Just when the snow was really starting to melt.... Yesterday I was able to go for a walk out back to the pond. There was still a bunch of snow on the ground but ice had formed a crust so that I was able to walk on the surface of it. The chicks (i guess they're chickens now) even came out of the coop. I'm leaning towards Roy and Henrietta for these two cause i am a dork and can give my chickens cool names like that if i want to.

It is only noon and I would say we have 8-10 inches on the ground already. I have been trying to keep up with it in the driveway and my arms will fall off if i have to pick up the shovel one more time. Next xmas, I am asking for a snowblower (i'll take a plow truck instead if anyone is feeling generous!). Here are some pictures from today. I love this first picture but it is ruined by the despised satellite dish that I will be tying to my bumper and dragging away this summer.

I finally got a pair of carhartt coveralls. Kids, size large. They came in handy today though.