Yard work...uffdah

Here is an update on the shed! 

Getting there!

I'm going to toss some good dirt down in the spot below as soon as they pick up those last pieces. Then I'll add some wild flower seeds to the soil. It will be interesting to see what pops up.

I can't mow that spot anyway and I hate week whacking.

Here is a shot of the old wash tub I saved from the crushed garage. It was NOT crushed! The scrap dudes got it out for me. That was the only thing I wanted from the garage.

I put this tub on the area I have to dig up every three years for a septic inspection.

I'll put showy begonias in the tub for some early bright colors.
 

One of the shops that sells, liquor, vape stuff, tobacco, fireworks, tools, clothes, and other odds and ends put up a little greenhouse this year.

I like their little store. I can get soil, mulch, and most of my garden needs within 3 miles from home. Their prices beat everyone else.

In our area, there seems to be an Amish greenhouse or a pop up greenhouse all over the countryside.

Forgive the shot of the crushed garage in the background. But it is THERE! My hopes are to have it demolished and graded out before spring is done! It will improve the view out my back door and bedroom 100%. 

With Hannah as the new helper extra-ordinaire, I have ended up needing to fence off the little gardens. 

She thinks they are great places to do her business or to dig for moles and voles.

I have light fencing that I cut up with wire cutters and surrounded the area. It does the job for now. 

I ordered some pretty fence pieces to put around the gardens to remind Miss Hannah to stay out of those areas.

I stopped in to check on the Country Clipper to see what the hold up was and...whoopsie! The guys hadn't done it yet. Mark looked shocked and his co-manager found the mower and came back saying somehow they never made up a work ticket. 

Well, I've done business with these guys for 30 years, so I just shrugged. Mark said I must be cussing them out when I mowed with the little mower.  I'm sure they have many customers that get all "Karen" on them. I'm not one of those. They'll have to me shortly.

After all, I did the mowing now twice with the little mower. I go at it for two to three hours at a time in the afternoon. I get it done and it looks nice. I think it takes about the same amount of gas to do it with either mower. 

However...

Gas prices jumped 20 cents over night here. I wonder if I will end up fencing off the yard in sections for some rotational grazing. Then I'd just mow the weeds they don't eat. Work less, mow less.

I hesitate to see what the gas without ethanol is going for. Last I got any, it was 5 1/2 bucks. 

I am planting mostly seeds this year. I'm trying to keep the costs for gardening down. 

After a long day working, I dragged out the camp cot and invited the 'kids' to chill out with me.

We ended up sleeping on the porch to test out how warm the sleeping bag would do for a chilly night. 

It did great along with two canine heaters.

Next week I'm going to try putting up the tent and maybe we'll try that out!

Spring days and the groove

Finally. Getting back into the groove of things.

I walked the dogs just after dawn and then took a walk without them into the land east of us.

First I looked for flowering trees and searched to see if I could hear the Cat Bird yet. The wrens were singing along with Cardinals, Blue Jays, Brown Thrasher, and Morning Doves. [I heard others but couldn't ID them]

The shot below is of one of the wild apple trees before the sun lit it up.

When the sun touched other trees in the Meadow, I was stunned. The morning light adds so much warmth to the colors. 

Midday washes colors out, but evening also ads color.

Here is the lowly and unloved Box Elder Tree with its seeds ready to spread in the wind.

My all time favorite tree has nasty thorns, but I think is beautiful, is the Hawthorn Tree.

There is a small patch of them just outside of the Meadow.

Thankfully, the loggers didn't find them worthy of their chainsaws.

They will blossom any time now. 

In the fall their leaves turn brilliant and their flowers turn to red berries.

I had some friends in my pocket, so I couldn't resist.

My Pink Titan 13 had to smell the wild apple blossoms. 

Wall-E and Eve came along. Under the tree they found a quiet moment for love.  💖

These turned out much nicer than my efforts the other day. I can say that I am pleased with them.

The white and purple violets are for Sandra from This and That!

My yard is full of them. I am mowing around them!

Yellow Wood Violets!

Enjoy your spring day. Hopefully it is a good one. With the longer days, I feel like I am getting more things done.

Sunrises

Sunsets

May the 4th Be with you...

 Some of my favorite Star Wars
May the 4th shots....

Enjoy

My name is NO, no, no by Hannah

 I think...

NO, no no no no...or Icky icky icy might be good names 'cuz that is what SHE always says. I like to bite things with my amazing sharp teeth. When I do that, she shoves a toy in my face. 

Then I bite that instead of her hands.

I like picking up treats in the yard that the pony leaves. Then she calls me Icky icky icky. Sometimes she calls me Leave it, Leave it, Leave it! 

She only says Hannah once in a while, so that must not be important.

Charlie says that Hannah is my name and the other words are just what she says when she is not happy. 

I get so confused. I just wish she'd settle on one name. 

No no no no is fine. Hannah? Icky? Leave it? 

Other times she just laughs and laughs at me. I think I like that much better than NO, no no no.

She says I am

cute when I am

sleeping.

Yesterday I learned a new trick with no No's!! She just watched!

I gotta go. She asked if we want to go outside. And she picked up her keys so that means an adventure for Charlie and me. No, no, no?

Play time is required

I got a nice reminder the other day in the comment section from DeniseinVA regarding my toy photography which looks like I had abandoned lately. 

I sort of had in a way as my mind has been hyper-focused on taking care of business at our place and hunting for spring plants. I decided that even though the day was cold and overcast that I'd leave things for a little while and take some items out for 'play time'.

The dogs and I ended up in one of the dry runs exploring what the latest heavy rainfalls had done to the area.
The water had rushed down from the ridge so hard that it removed all the fallen leaves and cleaned some moss off the rocks.

The creek and this spot are some of my favorite places on our land.

I really wanted to try some shots in the creek with toys. I enjoy trying to get reflections in the water.

The ducks kept floating away too quickly. There is actually some flowing water in the creek this spring!

Oh hello.

Shark Duck?

To do some of my playful toy photography, I generally load up a backpack and ... well, you guessed it, the dogs come along. They like inspecting my work. 

I had to stand in the creek [rubber boots on!] and stack tiny rocks up in the water to set the Lego kayak on. I must have done it a dozen times or so. The kayak kept tipping over or sinking. [It doesn't float]

Twice, Hannah jumped in the water and knocked them over. 
Patience is the key. Hannah will learn to just observe.

I didn't have the best light and I didn't have the best angles, but I shot these anyway. Just to enjoy the challenge of it.

There is mini-me in the middle and the two dogs. My Life in Legos.

This is the final shot. It is okayish, but at least I have the reflections in the creek.

The fun shot I took of the day was the one below of the Titan 13 'action' figure and his robot dog jumping the creek.

Hannah is starting to figure out I don't want her to knock my toys down.

She will get it eventually. Charlie was the same way when we started doing things like this together.

The difference between these two dogs is that Charlie is focused on everything else going on in the forest.

Hannah is always watching me.

I often wonder what Hannah is thinking. 

We spent the early chilly morning exploring and the afternoon doing yard work.

Dirty Dishes...

Shhhh. Don't tell anyone. I left dirty dishes in the sink, clothes strewn across the unmade bed, and a mess of papers tossed on the table next to a half filled cup of coffee I abandoned.

Why?

Spring Ephemerals. You know the flowers that come up in the spring for a few days and then disappear until next year.

If I miss them, I am sad to have to wait for another chance at it again in the spring.

My friend Pat wanted to come along and see these flowers for herself. She has caught the bug of  finding flowers, native plants, and of course mushrooms. Great minds think alike. 

We decided to meet in town at 7AM and head out.

I haven't had anyone else like my early morning hikes [I do them a lot in the warmer months to avoid the heat]. So I jumped at the chance.

Here is a shot of Pat taking a shot of a trillium. We seem to enjoy shots of each other from behind...

Here is her shot of me and Hannah...

Charlie stayed home. He was informed that he needed a rest day. 
[He was not impressed and held a grudge against both myself and Hannah when we got home! A pouting dog!]

Below are Bishops Caps

I know, I should link to the scientific name

but I like the common names better.

They are easier to remember.

 Another favorite one of mine.

Ginger

The flowers are under the foliage 

like they are hiding!

Mayflowers. Mayapples.

As a kid I called them Umbrella Plants.

I think that describes them well.

They have not flowered yet.

I'm not very good at telling different ferns apart. 

These were ferns unfurling.

Yellow Rocket. 

I've always

seen this as just a weed but found 

out it is edible. Not that I have 

tried it.

We found this flower too, but it was hard

to figure it out.
Swamp Buttercup
I think years ago I just called it a buttercup and

left it at that.

This plant is easy to overlook.

It is tiny and grows in very shaded areas.

I believe it is a False or Wild Lily of
the Valley.

The green in the middle will have tiny white flowers.

Oh... last but not least...

There was this wild Thing we had with us. Her energy was boundless and she showed off by leaping up on logs and diving off from them with wild abandon.

We applauded her achievements and laughed. She handled the hike like it was second nature to her.

I was surprised when I got home that the Dirty Dishes were still there, as was the other messes I'd left. Apparently the Dish Faery and the Housekeeping Faery had also taken the morning off.