Sunday 20 May 2018

May 20, 2018

I did not watch the Royal wedding, so let's get that out of the way. It is currently 10 degrees Celsius and I'm waiting for the temperature to warm up, but traditionally, the long weekend in May is wet and cold and totally unacceptable for the camping and outdoor get-togethers that many Canadians engage in. We do not camp. However, there are so many outdoor jobs that need my attention, that I may just have to put another layer on and get on with business.

I walked around a bit this morning and took a few pictures to share the Spring progress with you. It rained throughout the night and was extremely foggy at 1:00 a.m. when I was out picking up son from a party (arranged ahead of time, yes I'm a good mother). He still managed to get up in time to go to work at 8:00 this morning.


There isn't much in bloom yet. I do love these pink tulips, complete with raindrops.


Wet grass means wet paws, and underbelly, and everything else for Scooter the-cat-with-no-tail.


The rhubarb loves the rain and it is exploding. Time for rhubarb crisp soon. Note how the dandelions are also enjoying the rain.


When we first bought our house, we were at the end of a dead-end road surrounded by farm land on three sides and a little yellow brick house on the fourth side owned by an older couple who only came up from the city a few times a year. Now we have a very big house right across from us and another house is going to be built beside that one. It is currently a big mess, but no doubt with the good weather upon us, there will be a flurry of activity. We're practically in the suburbs now! (You would find this amusing if you saw our little village which doesn't even have a store or gas station anymore).


The forsythia is fading and the ground phlox was very soggy this morning. Oh, the grass, the grass, the grass that I must try to dig out of my flower beds.


More wet tulips surrounded by taller phlox which will show their blooms later in the summer.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed at this time of year when the earth wakes up rapidly after the final dregs of snow disappears and Spring seems to last about a day and a half before Summer hits us. Yesterday I juggled grocery shopping, baking muffins, and doing a bit of trim mowing and "whipper snipping". Supper was chicken and pork souvlaki that was on sale, with rice and Greek salad. It was the first time I used the barbecue this season and it felt nice to be on the back porch with the smell of meat barbecuing and a half a glass of red wine.

I am happy that it is a long weekend (Victoria Day weekend) so I can have an extra day to tackle chores. I still have some perennials and shrubs that need cutting back, so much trim work to do along fence lines and around trees, weeding, and it's best not to even talk about the strawberry bed and vegetable garden. I did manage to push the vacuum around yesterday morning, however. Although it seems like I'm bemoaning the fact that I have all of these seasonal jobs to do, I get a great sense of accomplishment when I can look at a cleaned up flower bed, or see how nice and neat the property looks when the trim work is done. It's always this first push of the season that is so daunting, but once that is done, the rest is manageable if we keep on top of it. How are you spending your weekend?

34 comments:

  1. I long for spring, especially after a winter which dragged on and on as this one did, and then.....Spring arrives and it is overwhelming. Beautiful, but overwhelming with what needs to be done.

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    1. I manage to create my own hell, however. I could just have a lawn.

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  2. I smiled at your little town without a store or gas station. Me, too. I think I don't know what to expect of spring. I woke up to about 10C, too, and sunshine after a heavy rain overnight. I may go look at the weeds.

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    1. Since we've lived here, our village is down by two general stores, a honey business, and a gas station. There is still a car repair (which we use), a post office, a very small credit union bank, a restaurant (which we don't use because the owner is a vile human being), a greenhouse, and a plumbing / heating business.
      I spend a lot of time just looking at weeds, too.

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  3. Those tulips are so pretty!! I just love spring flowers, well any flower actually. I had to laugh at your comment about not being campers. I'm the same if it involves tents and sleeping on the ground but trailer camping is a whole different ball game. A comfy bed, fireplace, couch Ok so one might call it glamping but it works for me, haha!
    Have a great week
    Saimi

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    1. Yes, trailers are more like hotels on wheels, aren't they? No sleeping on the ground for this 51 year old!

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  4. Your flowers are always so lovely! I am envious, but too lazy to do anything about it. lol
    Your village may be shrinking, but it is still far bigger than ours. We have a post office and general store and a tiny library. A long time ago it was far larger, but when the railroad went through another little town, so did the population.

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    1. Oh hey now, Barbara, I read your blog and you are probably the LEAST lazy person out there. Between your market garden, your sheep, your chickens, your dogs, your husband and your assorted children and grandchildren, I have no idea how you do it!

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  5. We always worry that someone will build me t to us, but so far we've been lucky. Is your cat a Manx?

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    1. Well, the funny thing is that our neighbour across from us who built the great big new house basically ruined our idyllic little spot for us. Now he is angry that someone is building next to him and he has already arranged for a high fence to be installed. I call it karma.
      No, Scooter is not a Manx. He once had the most amazing luxurious fluffy tail but he met with a horrible accident. The vet thinks he was caught by something in the underside of a car. What was left of his tail had to be amputated. So now all he has is a little tiny stub. It hasn't slowed him down.

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  6. I love the photo of the tulip with the raindrops.

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    1. Thanks, that was me squatting down in the wet grass with my phone! No fancy cameras here.

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  7. You've stolen my mackerel tabby cat. Love the tulip and cat photo. My Tuppy is a feisty old lady. I must have a go at growing rhubarb next year.

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    1. Ha ha, that's Samson. He looks like every other brown tabby out there. Once another tabby was on our property and I honestly thought it was Samson. We called that one Doppelganger. It stayed around for a few days.

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  8. Wow you've been busy. How have I been spending the weekend..well...not doing yard work that's for sure.

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  9. those neon-coral colored tulips are gorgeous! Hope the weather picks up for you soon!

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  10. Looks like spring has sprung there. I have exactly 6 pots of flowers left to plant. Unless, I just can't refuse something else.

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  11. Thanks for giving me the name of the ground phlox. I have some in my garden but never knew what to call it.

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  12. Your images are fantastic! So pretty, so earthy. Love those tulips. It looks like spring is in full force in your area.

    I am loving the colours everywhere but not loving the hard work. We have so much to do outside and it is quite overwhelming. I know...one day at a time. But if I could skip forward on these jobs, I would!

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  13. I love tulips AND rhubarb!

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  14. Great pics, Jenn. So YOU were the one who didn't watch the wedding!! I knew it was somebody!! Have a wonderful week!!

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  15. Your garden looks wonderful..here it is beautiful weather sitting outside and enjoy it..lovely week..!!...Ria x 💜

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  16. Firstly, thank you for providing me with company on the non-watching of the wedding. I love the new title photo of your lovely cat. Our weekends have been almost entirely 70% rain, including this past one. Since our own long weekend (coming up - Memorial Day) has been forecast for thunderstorms and showers Saturday/Sunday/Monday, I have taken Thursday and Friday off to try and beat the odds! I love the ground phlox - such a lovely color.

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  17. I smiled at your opening comment about the royal wedding. I did see some of the events not because of getting up early (heavens not!) but because it was online when I was reading the news. Your comment about your small ton made me smile because we also lived in a small town in Virginia without a gas station or store. There were such facilities so many years before but they were all gone well before we moved in and no replacements would be coming. We did have a post office, carpet store and a thrift store in town and the nearby highway offered a few more shopping choices. The yard looks lovely and brought back memories of my own grass pulling between the flower beds.

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    1. I think if one were to go back a hundred years or so, ours was a much bigger, busier village. The train went through here, but the tracks have since been removed.

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  18. I feel the same way, as if it is all very overwhelming at this time of year....and the weeds are growing like mad, popping up everywhere, driving me nuts! I also have grass in my flowerbeds and it seems impossible to remove it...sigh. The perils of being a country gardener!

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    1. I made a pretty big dent in things since I wrote the post, but now we've had rain... so the weeds will be expanding.

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  19. I feel overwhelmed outside too. Well, and inside, too. Switching winter to spring to close to summer in and out. And the weeds are growing like newborns. Every time I look it's different.

    I love your new banner with the wonderful cat -- Is it new or am I embarrassing myself. But I LOVE the photo so much. And Scooter is adorable!

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    1. Thanks, Jeanie, it is a new header photo. My daughter took the picture, actually. I liked it so much when she showed it to me, I asked her to send it to me.

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  20. Very late joining the party here. Yes, this time of year is extremely over whelming for me, too. Our "spring" is just like yours. It lasts a day and a half and then summer is upon us. I'm enjoying the weather, 60s and occasionally up into the 70s, but we are very, very lacking in rainfall. So much so that the fire danger is high. Not good.

    You take and post the best blog header photos!

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  21. Sending a wave from West Virginia, just a few hours south of you, where the weather is also very wet. Very humid too. I enjoyed your flower photos!

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  22. I didn't watch the royal wedding either! -chuckle-

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