Springtime Last Day of April

 This is where the Bluebirds nest every year.  We usually see them raise two times a year.  They are just so beautiful to watch and listen to them sing.  Momma Bluebird is setting right now.

We put this box close to the house two years ago, in hopes that the Carolina Wren would opt for it instead of the garage!  And finally it did this year!   Momma Wren is setting right now also.

Salmon colored Azalea

Lily of the Valley

Red Azalea

All of the sudden....

  

It's Spring!  Seems like just a very short time ago the leaves were bare and we were begging for Spring to arrive.  A month ago it officially turn Spring, but the leaves and Dogwoods just started blooming about ten days ago.  Now the Compound is lush with green.  I am looking forward to getting the garden started.

Dogwood blooms

I just loved the look of this bark from a dead Pine tree that remained after the tree fell.

Wild ferns are coming out everywhere.

I could not believe that the Geraniums I left in the planter all winter are coming back!  

Looking up!

Puttin' up fence

We have been fencing our 15 acres over the past few years and got to work on it again when the weather was just beautiful for being outside.  One of these years we will put some critters in the fence.  It is a lot harder to work at this age, and we go at a much slower pace, but we will eventually get there; one post at a time!  Here's a few photos of our progress.

Buddy and Petey love when we get out and work!

Straightening up the fence

Looking East

Looking West

We use 2x4's screwed together with chain attached  to truck to pull the fence tight.

Petey got tangled in this honeysuckle, I had to help him out.

Stuff....

This Winter has been the hanging-on-ist one I can remember in quite some time.  Every morning it is freezing cold and the winds during the day keep me indoors.  The only good thing about that is, I have been cleaning out 25 years of junk in our storage areas.  Old report cards, photos, trophies, quilt scraps, books, and more books.  It gets over-whelming at times, but it needs to be done.  I suppose as we age, we get to thinking about all this "stuff" we have that we no longer need.  What in the world do we do with it all?  I have thrown out quite a bit, rushing it out to the trash before I change my mind.  Books that are still usable will be donated.  And the "stuff" that is still too close to my heart will all be packed up into ONE trunk.  A whole storage area down to one trunk.
I wouldn't call myself a hoarder, nothing like those dreaded TV shows.  But I am a saver.  And at some point you  have to quit saving and start cleaning up and throwing out.  We had to do it with my husband's parents house, and brought way too much of their "stuff" down to our place.  I don't want my children cursing me for have all this stuff to go through when I am dead and gone.  So, I am doing them (and me) a favor and starting now.
This photo has nothing to do with the above post, but it is Garden Tuesday and the Bradford Pear trees are in full bloom; in spite of the cold!  I try not to complain too much about the long cold winter, because I know the long hot summer is coming soon enough.

Neighbors Bradford Pears

Easier is Best for Me

I don't consider myself a lazy person, but I am always looking for the easiest ways to do things.  So, when researching "how to's" on dividing my daffodils, the link "Tips from the Lazy Gardener" caught my eye.  I clicked on the link, and watched the video through to the end.  The next day I gave it a try. Sunday was a perfect day outdoors, so I set out to split the Daffs.  I only got through one bunch of unproductive daffodils.
I had injured my hip/leg trying to move a very heavy dresser a week before, and was not quite ready for the bending and movements involved in this project.   But, when I am healed, this will be the way to go for me.
My daffodils have been needing splitting for years now, and I always have these good intentions to do it when they are dead and gone in the fall, but it never happens.  I would rather move them while I can see where they are and where they need to be spread to to achieve my look of "A Host of Golden Daffodils."
There are hundreds of bulbs out there, and from the photo you can tell that they are in dire need of splitting because the ratio of flowers to bulbs is slim.

Daffodils are so hardy.  We have had them snowed on heavy with frost, and pounded down with rain, and they spring right back up just as pretty as you please.  I know that Spring is not far behind these beautiful blooms, and I am so ready for it this year!!!

The look of January

Love the color of the sage

I took a walk about the property this morning.  It has been a challenge this month to be able to do that with all the precipitation we have had.  Lots and lots of rain and 4-1/2" of the white stuff.  The January weather has settled down a bit the past couple of days and warmed up to the mid 50's.  So, we have to take advantage of that while we can.  Here are a few photos of my walk.

Highest point of property

Hardly used cultivator

Can you see Buddy in the sage?

Fresh deer track

Bigger deer track

Daffodils coming up

Last of the snow photos.

Our House

 I couldn't resist getting out in the snow and playing!  We got way more snow than we thought we would get. I sent my thunder snow video to The Weather Channel and they played it on TV at least 3 times that I know of!
It is so rare to get a beautiful snow such as this here.  We are heading up to 50 degrees F. today, so it will all be history then.

...it's snowing in the pines.

Eight Days Straight and counting

Five Inches In Thirty-Six Hours!

 Eight days straight of rain.  Guess I should be grateful with part of the country in a drought.  Also, if your not getting the rain, you are getting snow, ice, sleet or all of the above.  The sleet/ice has been so close to hitting us here, but we have managed to avoid it so far.  I think back to the worst ice storm I have ever encountered back in 1993.  We lost a forest of pine trees from that ice storm, and it was not a pretty sight.  You could hear the pine trees snapping and breaking in the night; I never want to go through that again.

Looking out our kitchen window, you can see just how wet it is.  We live in a low area of a high, if that makes sense and a lot of water naturally travels over our 15 acres.  If you look way back in the photo you can see sage colors and then another tree line; that is the divide for watershed.  What is on this side of that hill goes to the Tennessee River and on the other side it goes to the Alabama River (eventually.)
Right now it looks like a river running right smack in the middle of our backyard!!

Petey wants to know when the rain is going to stop!

Never mind.......

It's all in the past now, my trip north, the horrific snow storm my daughter and I drove through, Christmas, New Years and an SEC Championship for our beloved Crimson Tide.  Life moves so fast these days, I hardly have time to write about it, and when I do find the time, well, it doesn't seem quite as important as it was while it was happening.
For the first time in our forty years of Christmases together, I chose to spend this past one up north in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  This is where two of our grandchildren live, and of course our second son, Josh, and his wife, Kathy.  When I flew in, I could see a slight dusting of snow on the ground, which melted the day after my arrival.  Our daughter, Jessica, drove over from Cleveland, Ohio, where she is attending graduate school.  We had a wonderful Christmas morning with the kids.  It is so much better celebrating this holiday with young ones.  Casey is 5 and Jacob is 8; perfect ages for Santa bringing all his magic and toys.  I was not disappointed!
Two days later, Jessica and I drove over to Cleveland.  I was wanting a chance at seeing some of my relatives.  I was born and lived the first 18 years of my life in that area and still have plenty of relatives and friends there.  The weather did not cooperate!  We couldn't have left for Cleveland at worse time for getting in an epic snow storm.  But, we were unaware of what we were about to face, or we would have never made that choice to leave at that moment.  Our ride started out with ice spitting out of the sky, quickly changing to snow.  What should have been a two hour drive ended up a 4 hour grueling, tense, nerve shattering ride through white-outs, and un-plowed, un-salted highways.  Our windshield wipers kept building up ice on them, making it near impossible to see out of except for a tiny sliver of clear.  We would stop every hour where it was safe and clean the ice off of them.  There were many wrecks along the way.  I was very grateful that Jessica knew how to drive safe as she could in the horrific snow storm.  We made it safe, thank goodness!  I did not even think of pulling out the camera until our 4 hour trip was about over, so this video is of the best part of the storm we went through.
Because of the bad roads, we did not venture out much to visit family and friends, and frankly, I was so traumatized by the ride over that I became ill.  We did get to see some very special Uncles and an Aunt, who I dearly love.
We headed back to Pittsburgh, on much better roads, New Year's Eve. We did an early toast to the new year, and every one was in bed by midnight.  I flew home on New Years Day.  Quite different holiday for me this time.

Then Josh and kids drove down to watch the Championship game with us a week after I returned.  They have been here all week, and we have managed to do all sorts of things in spite of the rainy season here.  We had one good day to build a fire outdoors.  We all love those times!   We ordered some gravel for the muddy driveway and the kids were in awe of that dump truck doing it's work.  They were eager to spread gravel!  

Casey and Jacob digging in!

Casey hard at work

A little play time after hard work.