Next Round of Bulbs

Here are a few more special bulbs that are blooming on my walk last night. Also, BeccA, Reilly and I cleared the ivy off of the house. It was climbing up the side of the carriage house and destroying the stone as it was really worked into the wall. If you look closely you can see the definite break line in the stone where the ivy had been growing. Others plants that you will see below include grape hyacinth, quince blooms, daffodils, and blue Scilla.

Vegetable Garden Seeds

BeccA, Reilly, and I started round 2 of our vegetable garden today by planting seeds to sprout inside. On the menu is : 3 varieties of tomato, cucumber, rainbow peppers, green and yellow squash and carrots. Yum!!! We even used some of our pots from our potting shed!! Thanks for all your help girls !!!

My First Vegetable Garden

Look who is planting her very first garden!!!! Hmmm. Lets see how it turns out. And hey! Next time you are over grab some spinach, lettuce and etc and have a healthy snack! How cool is this?!? I'm so so excited !!!

Scilla by the Pond & Pansies

I planted some blue scilla in my favorite area along the back pond edge.  It is settling in and doing great!  I love my newly discovered spring bulb!  They are all down along the driveway as well (pictures to follow).

Check out these beautiful pots of pansies that the best neighbor, Sue dropped off to surprise me with!  They are gorgeous!  I've since bought a few more for along the wall.  I love these hardy plants with such a pretty pop of spring color!  Thanks Sue!!

Bird Watching...Yes, a First For Me!!

Those of you who know me well know that I do not have much interest in birds or nature.  To me, they all have looked the same in the past, they poop on my car, and all the chirps sound the same.  I am happy to announce that my old perspective on birds are changing. On Monday, after that last (hopefully) bit of snow, I heard lots of pretty chirping.  The chirps were all different.  So as I am folding laundry in the bathroom, I happen to look out the window and see some beautiful brightly colored birds perched on the branches.  I have Grandmom's old binoculars, her Birds of North America book, and my own camera.  Here are some of the birds I saw during my first hour long bird watching session...who would have thought?  

Please, anybody who has any other additional information or corrections, please feel free to comment and educate me!

This was the first little percher I found.  I looked it up in the book, and think it is an Eastern Blue Bird.  Obviously, I am no bird expert, but that's what picture, area, etc. matches.  

 He was right outside the window!  This is the one that hung around the most.

Here is my other little friends.  These were in pairs as they dug out the worms.  They didn't seem to mind me snapping their picture, but they moved quickly.  The reference book leads me to believe that these are Cardinals (not red robins...I guess those aren't really red?).  They are big puffer bellies with the black beaks and a pointy red mohawk.  They would sit on the branch then fly down to hop around on the ground.  They cycle kept repeating.

These next few are not yet identified.  They moved very fast, could hear the click of my camera, and came in at least 2-3 to a pack.  They climbed all over, under, and around the branches.  I remember seeing some bright colors on their bellies as they flew away.  They have a mostly white underbelly with white and black on their wings.  Any ideas on which kind these are?  Maybe chickadees? Warblers?  It's hard to get a good picture of them because they dart away so quickly.  

Storage Area in Barn Update 2

Here is the next barn storage area picture update.  As we are getting ready to move some storage boxes in, we need a dry and secure place for these items.  The floor is officially done in 1/3 of the barn.  The next step is to add walls.  As Rocky was replacing the beams, one of the back rotted pieces came off.  We were expecting this and are even surprised that more hasn't fallen off.  Well, when it fell down, it revealed the most BEAUTIFUL scene overlooking the back barnyard and pond.  It's perfect at sunset with the light streaming through.  My mind is already racing forward when the main house is done and this can be converted from our storage room to the perfect arts & crafts room for scrapbooking and Christmas wrapping.  I totally want windows back here now after seeing the open space.  Hmm...maybe a screened in balcony?!?!  (wishful thinking)  Anyways, we are going to put 2 window sashes in to achieve the view and light.  It's coming along so nicely!!!  Below you will find pictures of the room thus far and some of the views from the future window spot.  I love it!

Check out that light and perfect spot for windows!

The views from the window spots in the above pictures.

You can even see the peninsula!