Driveway Garden Perennials

Earlier this spring, Mary was kind enough to teach me how to split perennials to put in the front driveway garden.  We had pulled out the forsythia stumps because they had been so overgrown.  We discovered this petite little wall that extended from the barn.  It is SO charming!  I planted grass seed and was so pleased to see that it took.  Here is the first load of plants for the garden.

The new backhoe toy!

Check out the latest backhoe accessory!!!  It's a scrap grapple --skid skeer-- root grapple thing. Details...details. Anyways, this thing will help clear up this place in a minute!! It can pick up piles, shake it out, haul. I think it will be awesome for digging out the basement because it will help us collect and sort the stone effectively. 

We are happy campers!!!  

Armstrong Visit

This spring, we had the Armstrong over for a day!  We had a blast talking about Grandmom and celebrating life.  We found a turtle in the woods (hence, the picture of Brey and the turtle).  We are so ridiculously blessed to have such an incredible and loving family.  This is the first of many days spent here to come!  (p.s. a few family members have already called "dibs" on certain areas for the wedding!).  Love you all so so so much!  xoxoxo

Look who is on the quad!!!

First Garden Salad

I have a ton of pictures for back logged blog posts. I am hoping that I can have time this weekend to finally catch up. Until then, here is an updated picture of my vegetable garden. I have been picking spinach and salad leaves and radishes all week!!! It is delicious !!!  Next up will be a few varieties of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and squash.  This is my first vegetable garden ever and I  Am So excited. 

My Dad's First Quad Ride

After a nice long Sunday afternoon walk, we pulled out the king quad to show dad and Dianne one of my favorite ways to explore the property. Oh yes, my driving skills are still so very impressive ! Here are some pictures of the evening ride.

Snapper Turtles & Geese

Here are some of the wildlife sightings around Hearthstone these days.  HUGE snapper turtles are seen on the Old Pond.  They are ENORMOUS!!  Also, the geese flock has considerably thinned as the females are laying on their egg nests.  You can just make out one laying on her nest on the peninsula (the picture of me pointing).  The birds are still chirping and I just started hearing some bullfrogs!  Spring is blooming...I will post more pictures soon of other favorite spots and interesting finds!  It's just about that time again...come over for a bbq!!!

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.