Signs of Spring...

It's my favorite time of year again!  The sights and smells of spring are a reminder of new life, and I never get tired of them.

I took my phone for a walk a couple of days ago to capture a few of my favorite things...

Old fashioned primroses 

I have always called them bluebells, and they grow wild around here

Old fashioned fern leaf peony, one of the first to bloom

Dark purple lilac buds

Jim took the backs off the hutches this week, and the calves are thrilled!

The rhubarb is growing in leaps and bounds

They never get old!

Windblown "regular" peonies

Buds on the maple tree

What signs of spring are you seeing?

Update...the War On Chickweed...One Month Later...

This is a happy story...

One month ago today, I posted about  the downside of a mild winter. Chickweed had overtaken my flower bed along the meadow fence. Granted, it's at a spot where weeds from the meadow can easily creep in, but I'd never had it look this bad in the spring.  Using mushroom mulch didn't help a thing, as it not only builds up the soil and feeds the good plants, but it feeds the weeds as well.

One month later, I'm happy to show you pictures, not only because it took a lot of hard work, but because I'm flower happy this time of year!

Most of the iris came from a former neighbor who grew hundreds of varieties to sell, as did the peonies.  The roses, which are struggling a bit, came from another neighbor.  That's just one of the beauties of perennials...you can enjoy the flowers as well as the memories of friendship!

I know...the edges of this flower bed aren't straight...and that bugs me.  A lot!  Actually, the intended edge is straight...and mulched.  You can see it if you look closely. However, the chickweed also crawled into the grass.  The weed killer that I used worked quite fine...except that now I need to seed some new grass to fill in the gaps.

Here we go...

The peonies will be open any day now.  Their fragrance is wonderful! (and much nicer than what I'm smelling from the fields right now!)

Do you see who photo bombed my picture?!

Iris and peonies don't like mulch, as their roots need to be on the drier side...so I mulched around them, leaving some space around each plant.  It doesn't look as tidy as I prefer, but whatever keeps them happy!  I also used regular bark mulch this year, hoping that it well better hold back the chickweed.

My war on chickweed isn't over.  It never will be, this close to the meadow...but for now I'd say this battle has been won!

Signs of Spring...2017...

I'll ask you to forgive me ahead of time for the picture heavy post, but SPRING is here. Completely here, and the sounds and colors make me quite happy!

I like sleeping with the windows open,  hearing the birds singing in the early morning...

I love so many flowers, I might just have to show them all to you...

Dr Ruppel, my early blooming clematis...

Coleus are some of my favorites, and they do well on my porch where they get both sun and shade...

I call this "Happy Row".  The challenge is keeping the dogs from knocking the pots off the bench...

These old fashioned Rhododendron bushes must be around forty years old, at least!

The house finches have once again built nests in my Begonia hanging baskets.  I love hearing their sweets sounds...

And yes, rain is part of spring.  The only sure way to dry running shoes without the dogs dragging them off and chewing them up...

Can you see him?  The corn planter is here!

Phoebe is loving the weather...and is loving destroying the ball that Eric gave her last week...

We'd better enjoy SPRING today, because summer is coming tomorrow!

Friday's Hunt...

What a week it's been!

We've had some of the most beautiful weather of the summer this week...several days of temps in the 70's with very low humidity and a nice breeze all day long!  So very unusual for this area this time of year, and I wish I could have captured it to save for later.  Today felt much more like typical June weather...hot and muggy, with threatening thunderstorms.

I'm linking up again with Teresa at Eden Hills, for Friday's Hunt.

This week's prompts are...

"Week's favorite"...

Do you remember this bird's nest that was in my hanging baskets? Now the eggs have hatched in both baskets, and we have nine baby House Finches!  I hear the parents outside my kitchen window all day long.  The dads perch on the chains to the hanging baskets, keeping watch for any movement near the porch door.  As soon as they see us, off they fly...

"Starts with X"...

I chose the uneXpected this week.

We have a strip of stones beside our porch, and the weeds have to be kept after.  This spring, however, I saw something growing that looked suspiciously like Petunias. I left them grow, and a few days ago this opened! I haven't planted white petunias in years, so it's a mystery to me where they came from!

Another uneXpected surprise was this, when I walked into the house tonight...

Caught in the middle of a big yawn...Murphy does NOT belong in the house. The kids had some fun with her on this very hot, muggy day, so we took a few pictures and sent her back outside where she's I'm MUCH happier.

The last prompt is "Wet...or Water"...

It's been a dry week, so I don't have any rain pictures to show you...and the storms that are predicted for tonight haven't come yet...so I'll show you what happens when you turn on the hose and wash down the walls of the house with water...which is what I spent an hour or so doing yesterday morning...

Everything feels so fresh and clean again!  This part of the house faces west and south, and when the wind blows, the dust collects on the siding, and after while it gets...just yucky. I took the hose and a scrub brush with soapy water, and cleaned it thoroughly.  What a good feeling it is.  It might only stay this clean for a short time, but...

I hope you have a great rest of your weekend!

Friday's Hunt #18...

For some reason this seems like a long week!  I've been confused about what day it is, all week long...but today I know it's finally Saturday.  The teenager in the other room drinking some tea is a dead giveaway!  I'm glad she has a day with no commitments for once.

On to Friday's Hunt...

I'm glad Teresa gives us extra time to get our posts done, because I'm struggling to get anything written in a timely manner.  "Spring training", as someone put it lately, is keeping us stepping!

Starts with "R"...

We finally got some much needed rain the past few days...

It didn't amount to a whole lot, but it sure helped!

I found raindrops in some fun places...

My "week's favorite" has to do with flowers and plants, of course!

I made a trip to the green house this week, and came home with a couple flats of plants...

It's a little early to plant tomatoes, but I bought them anyway.  I'll let them sit on the porch for a few days until the ground dries out enough to plant them.  I don't plant a lot of annuals, but Coleus are some of my favorite.  I fill pots on the porch with these beauties. These beautiful shades of Gerbera daisies caught my eye, and I couldn't resist bringing  a couple of them home either...

And last night I was enjoying these lilacs on my windowsill.  They have a nice soft, airy texture that I enjoy...

The fragrance isn't so bad, either!

I just love spring!!

Wrapping Up the Week...

It's been a busy week here, and it's time to wrap it up!

1.  I'll begin with my "Starts with O" photo...

Our Orange 1958 Allis Chalmers D-17.  No green tractors here!

2.  My "week's favorite" is my fern leaf peony, pushing buds and almost ready to bloom...

I hope the snow and cold weather that's coming this weekend don't hurt it! It's one of the earliest bloomers I have, and it's pretty hardy.  We'll see.

3.  "Spring"... We've had roller coaster weather the past few weeks, and this is where I've had to keep my pansies at night...all lined up on the porch...

A little frost won't hurt them, but we've had strong winds and really cold night time temps, so a little extra protection is necessary.  I'm hoping they can all go back to their usually spots next week!

4.  I'm feeling really, really old and tired!  Last spring, summer and fall, I didn't do much strenuous yard, garden or barn work, trying to wisely follow doctors' orders and fully recover from back surgery.  This spring, I'm doing more again.  While I'm still being careful, eighteen months of doing less has left me very out of shape, and few pounds heavier.  Ugh.  Hopefully I'll get used to this new activity level quickly!

5.  We've been feeding more dry hay to the cows lately, because we're almost out of balage.  Can you believe that the cows seem to have forgotten how to eat it?!  They toss their heads around trying to tear off small pieces, and the light weight cakes go flying out of their mangers and onto the floor!  Silly cows!  They'll get used to it again I'm sure.

I'm linking up today with Teresa for Friday's Hunt, and with Nancy for Random Five Friday.  Click on the links to check out more blog entries.

Friday's Hunt #13...

It's Friday, but it's felt like Saturday all day long...

Eric is home from college for Easter break, and Jenna doesn't have school either.  Yay!  It's not very often that all four of us are under the same roof.

This week's prompts for Friday's Hunt are...

1.  Starts with "M"...

What who else but Murphy...

Murphy is no stranger to my blog.  She's our eight year old black lab...with a personality like no other.  When she was born to Snickers...our yellow lab, Jenna chose her right away as the puppy we were going to keep. She tried our patience for the first two years of her rambunctious life, chewing on everything from shoes to rocking chairs to picnic tables.  But we can't imagine what it would be like to not have her around!

2.  Week's Favorite...

Of course it has something to do with flowers!  The pussy willows that I had on my porch were going to seed, and I was in need of some brightening up, so I went to my neighbor and traded her a loaf of homemade bread for some forsythia...

3.  Bird or Wings...

I was putzin' around in the garden this morning, and the chickens were ever so curious...

Lots more happened today, but I'll save that for another post on another day.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Friday's Hunt (on Saturday again!)...

Here we are again at the end of another week...

I wish I could say that today was a really productive day ...but it wasn't, not for me as far as getting a lot done.  That was yesterday...tons of laundry sorted, washed, hung out  tacked on the wash line, folded...vacuuming done...cow breeding records updated. Jim did get a lot done today though...he hauled load after load of manure.  That job never seems to end!

Today was good anyway.  Two friends and I spent the afternoon at a couple of local greenhouses, and each came home with a free flower.  Then we enjoyed cookies and coffee.  No regrets!

Now I'm finally sitting down to get my Friday's Hunt post finished!  I hate to miss it.

This week's prompts are...

1.  Starts with "L"

I'm using an old collage that I made for this blog post about Lancaster County.  These are a small sampling of signs we see by the side of the road. Lancaster County is a great place to live!  Both Jim and I grew up here, and have lived here all of our lives, with the exception of a few months here and there...

2. Week's Favorite...

These daffodils grace my kitchen window sill, and are a favorite of mine...

3.  Lace

This might be stretching it a bit, but I think these geraniums have a lacey look about them...

I hope you're having a great weekend!

Mine will be even greater if the snow that has been forecast for tomorrow fizzles...

The first day of spring is supposed to be sunny and warm!