Catching Up!

Blogger has been down for a couple of days.  Looks like it might be back up.  I have had a lot of fun reading the comments on exChristian.net for the last few days.  Some of the comments are soooo funny!

Yes, it is spring and I have been extremely busy.  Last year I determined that the Needle-and-thread grass was a disaster.  Everyone, including the dogs, had pointy seeds with strings on them in their clothes and fur.  This year I have been cutting all of the developing seed stalks off.  Let's hope it helps.

So far we have some really stunning developments in the garden.

Raspberries, blackberries, dewberries are all finally starting to take off.  I replaced so many of them, so many times, I don't know what is what anymore.  I will have to label them as they produce fruit this summer.
Five years of trying and it is finally starting to pay off.

Crab apples - finally hitting their stride.  Hopefully they will put on a little size this year.  This will be most of the crab apples third year.

Irises are starting to bloom this week!  So far we have purple iris, some blue iris and some German iris blooming.  The yellow iris are just coming on.

Hummingbirds - So far we have at least two.  They are a bit hard to tell apart but we seem to have a male and a female black chin hummingbird in the yard this year.  The little gal was sitting low on the wire fence in the back last night.  The male was zipping back and forth in front of her, maybe a foot off the ground.  Zipping back and forth, back and forth. His wings were buzzing as he flew. Very unusual and we don't know what to make of it.  I think he was showing off for the little gal.

Orioles - We have at least 3 orioles coming in to the sugar water feeder.  A male, a juvenile male and a female.  Could be more since they all look a lot alike but their behaviors tend to differ with each bird having their own "style" of approaching the feeder.

Pennestemon - I got ten last year, 2 different colors.  They are all doing very well and the pink ones are starting to develop flower stalks.  Very exciting.  I would like the yard to hold a lot of hummingbird flowers.  The other pennestemons are doing very well.  I split up the coral colored ones that I have had for 3 years and spread them around the front garden.   They seem to be doing well.

The greenhouse is wonderful.  I only completed it last year just in time to put some plants in it for spring.  This year it was already built so I have had an easy time using it.

Very cloudy today.  Hope it rains.

Fencing - Hubby got my backyard fencing up [although we still have to work on the west corner].  I put some temporary fencing up on the west corner so that I could get the low fencing around the garden beds.  The dogs are not going to be playing in my gardens this year!  I spent all day at it yesterday.  I also got some temporary fencing up for the dog free area that is in front of the goat pen and wraps around to the large and improved veggie area.  I also got some 2 foot tall white lattice pieces up for the south patio/succulent garden and along the back driveway in front of the tall wind fence.  Again, to keep the dogs out.

The dogs aren't really destructive but the Aussie shepherd like to drink from the sprayer and it messes them up.  Also, when his brother comes to visit or I babysit the other dog that comes over, they tend to run amok and knock the sprinklers over or pull the tubing and such.  The fencing should help!

The sun is up and it is time to get a move on!  I really must pick up the yard as I am babysitting a dog that tends to rip open bags of potting soil and otherwise cause a bit of trouble.

Got one burn large burn pile created and destroyed by fire!  Then the wind came up.  I have gotten some low fencing done for the new spring garden by the dog kennels.  Short green fencing that I am weaving white strips of felxible horse fencing into.  Looks good and the white should make it easy to see in the dark since it is right next to the walkway to the backyard.

Got a huge burn pile ready for tomorrow when it is supposed to be nice.

Break time.  High noon.  Need a cup of coffee and a little break.  Then I will try to get another hour in before my main break in the afternoon.