Perennials

I have some gorgeous iris that came up this Spring.  It is interesting to see what is already planted around our new house.  I'm steadily trying to plant my own perennials as well.  I've got a lot to blog about but have been short on time lately.  Hopefully I can catch up this weekend.

Cutie pie

What's new?

I am feeling the need to leave a blog post just because I haven't done one for a while.  It's not that I don't have anything to blog about, I just don't feel like I have much time.  We have a bunch of projects going on that are half completed that I wanted to blog about when they are done.
Spring is progressing nicely here although the weather has been a little peculiar this year.  The weather has been all wrong for morel mushrooms.  Apparently it has been right for tent caterpillars though.  We have a multitude of them and they are driving me over the edge.  I am plotting ways to kill them (usually I leave other creatures alone).  I wish I just had a bunch of free ranging chickens or even a pair of guinea fowl to munch on them.
Charlie and I are working on building some raised bed gardens this year.  We have the lumber and have it cut -- we just have to get it all assembled.  We also are making a "salad garden" for the back patio that is also in the works.  We bought a Cub Cadet tractor last weekend and finally mowed the lawn (looking for a small mower or a weed whacker to take care of the small areas the riding mower can't reach).
I saw a new bird at our feeder this morning.  It is a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  Recently we have also been getting Blue Jays, Nuthatches, and Gold Finches.
This weekend my good friends, Rich and Jen came over from Grand Rapids.  We went out to eat at the Frankenmuth Brewery and went to a few stores as well.  Mostly, we have just been sitting around enjoying each other's company.
Once I get a project complete, I will blog more.  Until then, I hope you are enjoying your Spring.

Exploring the "back woods"

I spent a little time exploring our acre of woods behind our house this week.  I was checking to see if I could find any morel mushrooms but I think it is to early.  Perhaps this week I will have more luck.  Anyway, I found many interesting things while exploring so I thought I would do a little show-and-tell.  This creepy doll head was found face down in the dirt.  I put it on the stick to get a better photo -- but I think it looks like it is from a horror movie.  I am curious about how old it is and what happened to the little girl who owned it.

Next, I spotted some interesting plants.  This is a Jack-In-The-Pulpit...

some very fuzzy fern fiddleheads...

a marsh marigold...

and a mystery item.  I have no clue what this is.  Charlie thinks it is a young mushroom.  I'm not even going to guess, I'm just going to keep watching it to see what it does.

I also found this cobalt blue glass jar in the back.  The lid is corroded and falling apart.  These old items scattered about make me want to get a metal detector and see what I can find back there.  We live atop a ridge of sand about 50 miles long.  I've been told that the Native Americans would have had a road along this ridge ages ago.  Often loggers would have used these same roads in their pursuits as well.  I can really feel the history of that woods.  Particularly when I come upon this tree...

This is an old oak tree.  It's limbs are larger that most trees.  I know it is in rough shape, but it is still alive -- still growing.  Can you even imagine the number of lightning storms it has survived?
Anyway, as you can see, Sassy came with me to explore.  She followed me around fairly closely.  She is not an outdoors cat and a strong breeze can freak her out.  Other cats scare her.  Pretty much everything scares her.  So to have her come back this far with me is impressive.

The first of many?

Taken with my "new" camera.  TTV photography is fun!  I need to clean up some of the dust, and practice a bit -- but I think I'm going to like TTV photos.

Piknik in the backyard

I didn't really have a picnic in the backyard today -- it was too windy and cold.  In fact, today was downright nasty.  I guess I have been spoiled by all the nice weather we've had up until now.  I shot a few photos today on our property and then I fooled around with the photos on piknik.com.  I'm very happy to have found piknik.  It is a very simple way to get some interesting effects.  Some make the photos look old or from vintage cameras -- or you can come up with your own effects by combining a couple of effects together.  I am open to critique... please comment.

New sofa

My parents and my brother came over this past weekend to bring us a new sofa.  Well, a "new" used sofa.  My Dad's second cousin passed away (he was elderly) and the family gave away his belongings.  It is quite comfortable and looks nice in our living room.  Dad decided it was a good place to take a little nap.

They also brought a vintage kitchen cabinet that I am going to re-finish and use in the basement to store some of my canning supplies.

We had a nice day visiting.  The yard is starting to get greener and things are coming to life.  We have tons of pine trees on our property and there are lots of baby trees coming up as well.  We went around the yard and dug up several white pine and spruce trees for them to take home and plant in their yard.

My brother assembled my fire pot that I won at work last year.  It promises many good evenings socializing with friends and family.  I can't wait.