Paper Beads

We spent the afternoon making paper beads and had a great time! It means I have a ton of work to do tonight but it was well worth it. It has been forever since we just kicked back for a day and enjoyed our time relaxing. Sean was off work so no kids here today. They will both be back on Sunday. Next week is shaping up to be super busy as well so I think we deserved a day of goofing off and just look what we ended up with!

Everything is Green !

The tarda are about tall enough for us to see buds soon. All of the groundcovers - creeping jenny, lamium, pinks, cerastium, sedum - are all coming up. A few early start perennials like monkshood, phlox and delphinium are also showing up. The iris are starting, making it time to clean off the winterkill. Tomorrow's schedule is all outside. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a warm day.

Visitors

Spring has definitely arrived. The burrow from next door got out of his fencing and came to visit us but I couldn't grab the camera fast enough. The dogs were barking and his family was not far behind him trying to catch up. Our single squirrel has turned into a little family but I couldn't get a shot of them all together because whenever I step out the door, they all scatter. This guy is the only one who stays close. The beautiful weather even brought a knock at the door last night which rarely occurs. There are one million dandelions in my garden and everything is turning green!

...and so it begins.

Spring has definitely arrived and I have been doing nothing but cleaning up in the yard after the animals and garden after our long but mild winter. It would seem a mild winter does not make less clean up in an early spring! It is probably a tie between these carnation in the sun garden and the sedum at the top of the stepping stone steps for which is further along. But everything is coming. Including the tarda with several shoots I can not yet identify. I saw evidence of the dwarf iris and moved all the fall rock piles so I will be able to see when the tulips arrive. Things are looking up in zone 3.