New Beginnings

Spring is in the air! You can almost smell the flowers blooming and the fresh cut grass. The warmer days remind me that I'm way behind in getting ready for Spring. All that prep work in the yard, cleaning out beds, getting fresh mulch, pruning and planning. I still haven't decided what to do in the front yard since we leveled it last year - so for now, good ol' green turf will do just fine. But I'd love a shade tree of some sort because our house faces west and the front of it just cooks in the summer afternoon sun.

The pond is doing well. However, I await pollen season with mixed emotions. Love that everything is coming back to life but hate the green coating on everything - and it always wreaks havoc with my pond. Last year it turned so dark and black that I couldn't see fish or anything. I have started the maintenance treatment a little early this year in hopes that we don't have the same problem. Fishes are doing fine - growing nicely. The two larger koi have about doubled in size since last July when I introduced them to the water. The comets and shubunkins are doing nicely too. I can't wait for the spring pond plants to come in at Animal Jungle....the pond looks so bare right now.

Zippy is finally adjusting to being the only one in the house (at least of the four-legged variety). He's not quite as clingy as he was the first two weeks and seems to be settling down a bit. We are too for that matter.

POND ering Spring

OK - we got a real big tease today from Mother Nature. After we had howling winds and snow flurries last week, we got a dose of 75+ degrees today. Enough to open the windows, air the house out and get in the yard and pull some weeds. Ok, not my "ideal" day off, but at least I was outside! Tomorrow is supposed to be just as wonderful if not a tad warmer...I think the gang is meeting at the beach in the morning for a couple of rounds of Bocce Ball....I hope I remember how to play!

Schatze continues to amaze us and is hanging in there but we can tell she's not a happy camper anymore. She just looks uncomfortable all of the time. Our days together are numbered I am afraid. Zippy is well, just Zippy...some things never change. The groomer came last Thursday and he was not a happy camper at the time. But he quickly gets over it.

The new fish I put in the pond last summer have about tripled in size. Water temp is just at 50 but they aren't quite ready to eat yet. They're waiting on plants for places to hide. They feel very exposed right now. Songbirds galore today - you name it, we had it. Wrens, Chickadees, Cardinals, Robins, Sparrows, Titmice, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Blue Jays and of course, our resident Grackles.

Ahhh...the joys of spring (well, almost spring).

Almost Friday

Thursday night and I can already taste the weekend! Of course, it's going to be a busy one - stuff at Mom's house, my yard, the pond, etc. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will rain on Sunday! My brother was kind enough to get Mom's yard cut this week - so that's a relief and one more thing off of the checklist.

I don't know how we manage to stay so darned busy all the time. Seems like items never really get crossed off of the "big" household list and all the little petty things you keep putting off just pile up until you're overwhelmed. At least we're not bored, right.

With all of the neglect given to my yard this season, this bloom caught my eye. It's in the backyard where we get the most shade. I hope I don't kill it...

TGIF

We made it once again to those two treasured days called the weekend. And we went straight from spring into middle of August-type of heat - the heat index over the weekend is supposed to be 100+ so all I can say is thank god for air conditioning. And my neighbors' pool! And the ocean.

Mom had a set back this week and she's back with us for a while. She keeps having these short black outs and her doctor doesn't want her to be alone until they figure out why. She has a carotid ultrasound on Monday so maybe that will shed some light on the matter.

Still haven't seen the new critter. And honestly, I hope he has moved on - although I wish him no harm - he's just too cute. Just don't want 'em living under my shed.

After this latest heat spell subsides a tad, I have to spend some serious time in my yard weeding and planning. I still don't know what I want to do to the front since we graded it this year. I'm giving myself until September to develop a plan. Then at least I'll have a plan, right? Don't like to rush things!

New fishes are still with us. They are hiding under the pump box and haven't figured out that I'm the food wagon yet. But they will catch on. Having some issues now with plants - in that they aren't growing and spreading. It's always something, isn't it? Just get the water cleared up and new fishes, and now the plants don't want to grow. Maybe I need new plants.

Have a safe and air conditioned weekend....
Ciao.

Reruns

Well, if we have to watch reruns, I guess it's ok if they are of Gibbs and gang. We'll suffer through the summer somehow. Right D?

I haven't seen my new little yard critter since Friday night's first sighting so I'm not sure what the little guy is up to. Still haven't figured out if he's on his own or not. Maybe this week will provide our answers. We have a new delimenna though - over the weekend I was awakened around midnight to the sound of little scurrying feet in the gutters. This went on into the wee hours of the morning so I was not a happy camper come morning time. Maybe Zippy can scare them off for us!

Mom did well at the mall on Saturday. A real trooper. We walked the entire mall before we decided where to eat and she did very well. Then we made two other stops after that so it was a good day and she enjoyed getting out and about.

Well, we're almost to hump day yet Friday sounds so far away. It's my weekend to tend to Mom's yard but I can relax and hang out at the beach on Sunday.

Have a great week.

Let's Go Racin' Boys!

Saturday night racing with Nascar! Tonight the boys are in Darlington, SC to see how many will leave with a dented fender or a completely broken car. Darlington is famous for the "Darlington Stripe" wherein a car gets a stripe of black down the right side from the driving scraping the wall. We just hit halfway and I think it's going to be a long night.

Today was spent doing Mom's yard - I rotate the duty with my two brothers. Mom went over with us to get out of the house for a little while. She seems to be doing better but then again, I'm not always so sure. She seems a little confused on taking her meds and is still unstable on her feet. She wants to go home tomorrow, but I'm not convinced yet. She hasn't quite gotten into the habit of using the oxygen and I have to keep reminding her - that and taking her meds.

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish my Mom and all of my "mom" friends out there a very happy, safe and loving Mother's Day.

Hugs to all.

Another Tiring Saturday

Today was spent in the yard - again. I guess that's really the norm for us "weekend warriors" who only really have Saturday/Sunday to get all of that yard maintenance done. Today I worked on the bed next to the driveway. I transplanted some pachysandra I got from a neighbor. Then I scrubbed the swing with bleach water to get all of the mildew off of it (in prep for the Mother's Day Cookout next weekend). Then we finished (whoo hoo!) the waterfall by packing the dirt around the waterfall, putting the fern back in place and filling in all round it with rock. Hubby did a great job with the waterfall rocks and the flow of the water is just fabulous! I think we're done (I hope we're done!). Tomorrow (weather permitting) I'm going to pump a little bit of the water out and get some of my neighbors "good" water so the ecosystem can get a jump start and maybe I'll get fish in there before the end of the month. I'll get a pic of the waterfall up soon.

After all of that, we visited Mom in the hospital. Long story short, I took her to the ER on Thursday and she was admitted with what turned out to be congestive heart failure. Her ankles looked like big ol' sausages! They immediately put her on a powerful diuretic and an IV. She is doing better but they are still concerned about the fluid in her lungs. She saw a pulmonary specialist today who wants to run a scope into her lungs to see what else might be going on. But I'm waiting to talk to my aunt (who is a nurse) and the doc himself to see if it's really necessary.
All things said, she looks better, sounds better, is eating and hopefully we can get her home on Monday. She will probably come home with us for a few days to get her back on her feet.

We are supposed to get rain late/overnight and into the majority of the morning. If you know me at all, you know how I love rainy Sundays. It would be really nice to chill in the morning, enjoy that cup of joe, really read the newspaper front to end and get caught up on some shows we've put on the DVR....let's see if mother nature cooperates with my ideas!

As I write, I'm watching the Nascar race. My kid brother is in Richmond for the event and I don't envy him at all. My favorite spot for any race is now on my sofa! No crowds, no unruly drunks, no traffic driving home. Gosh, I sound old.

Been a long day. I'm going to crawl up into bed and see how much of the race I can watch. It's 9:36 and they are just half-way through the race. Oh - they just red flagged the race due to a major wreck. Looks like a long night for the racing boys.

Ciao.

Weather Roller Coaster

The seasons can't make up their minds - yesterday the high was 78 - today I think we might have hit 50. It's enough to make you crack - but then again, it is Spring. Silly Season, if you will, why the climate gods try to work it all out.

Got up early and went to my Mom's to do the first cleaning of the year in her yard. Mom is in her early 70s and just can't quite do all that work anymore. Not that she doesn't want too...she will try to do anything herself first, and call in the troops when she can't. But the yard is another thing. The siblings and I have been rotating yard duty for a couple of years now. It was quite cold this morning but once you started moving - it wasn't too bad.

This afternoon I actually got back into the "art" room and picked up my paintbrushes which I haven't seen in quite a while. I used to paint ALL the time, but work, life and whatever just seem to get in the way. But I'm determined. And tonight I may get on the ol' pc and do some genealogy work.