boys

Not only is my weekly post late, but I haven't been around to visit either. I can't say that I am taking a blog break. Just busy. The house, though, most often is quiet, with only the Boone Doggle to liven things up. Now two years old, he still requires a lot of supervision, for he tends to run the Garden Spot nose to the ground sniffing for interesting scents-- Rabbit most likely--not paying attention to much else.  And then the grandsons arrived Sunday afternoon. We will have them for the week, taking them back to Denver on Monday. Until then we will be busy.

Yesterday was a work day, with everyone getting into the act, even the neighbor.

The Head Gardener came to the house to share a photo. When he arrived, the 13 year old announced that he wanted to work to earn money. So here Jacob and Nathan are: working. The HG decided to remove the 3 dead crabapple trees that died two years ago during the cold snap that we had. We decided not to replace them with trees, choosing instead Summer Wine, a lovely Nine Bark bush.

They are pretty bushes, fragrant, colorful, and the butterflies and bees will love them.

But removing the old trees wasn't so simple. This first tree, a replacement tree, came out easily because the root system apparently wasn't totally established.  The next tree held on a bit more, and the 3rd tree was quite stubborn about coming out. 

Even the neighbor lady got busy doing clean-up around her yard and recruited Jacob to clean out her window wells. She generously paid Jacob for his efforts, and he was most happy to accommodate her.

Nathan, now 7, meanwhile spend most of his day shooting baskets. We had this old basketball hoop that I had ordered to the dump. But someone forgot to take it. Then I ordered that it be put out by the road FREE. But someone forgot. Then I commanded that it be set up for the boys to shoot baskets. The little guy spends most of his time shooting baskets. He is getting pretty good. 

And now how the garden grows:

Lucy's ballet recital was Sunday; we had work to do before we could go. The HG helped me plant the last of the perennials in the center circle. I still have some bare spots, but it is gradually filling in. 

This is how the Garden Spot grows, looking across the neighbors' hay  from the north where the irrigation pumps are.

This is how the hay field looks after the hay has been cut. We went to town Monday; the hay had been cut while were gone. And of course it rained, one of those thunder noisy storms that rages in over the mountains, dumping a lot rain as it heads east. Never fails. It seems that freshly cut hay is a signal for rain. Hopefully it will be hot enough to dry out and cure the hay and we won't get anymore rain on it.

This is probably the best hay we have grown so far, shoulder high to an average sized HG, but it won't be much good if gets too wet and molds. Last year we lost both of our cuttings and had to buy hay for the horses.

Roses on the other hand love the rain and thrive. This is Veteran' Honor in the front court yard.

Along with First Prize

And with Gertrude Jeckyl.

The wild giant alum. Such interesting plants.

The north side of the court yard makes me very happy with all of the pink. Duchess Albany clematis is just beginning to bloom. Once her blooms fade, I will cut her back. I didn't get any pruning done this spring because it was so cold. The Duchess tends to over take this corner.

New to bloom in the center circle: the globe alum, not as large as the giant alum, but full of blooms this year.

The yellow breaded iris has bloomed. I moved it two years ago to the center circle and it has taken this long for it to bloom. I just love her soft, creamy, lemony yellow.

And while you all are sharing gorgeous photos of you blooming peonies, I am still waiting on mine. And waiting. And waiting.

So there you have it. Time to fix breakfast for the guys. We have a busy day. Grandpa is taking the boys to get fishing licenses so that they go fishing tomorrow. Then we will meet Jen and girls at the pool for an afternoon of swimming. Tomorrow the HG will take the boys with a friend fishing on his boat. They have never been fishing from a boat. Friday the HG will take them camping for the weekend to a Colorado Bow Hunters archery shoot in the mountains. They both have compound bows, so they will get in lots of shooting.

Me? I'll be recuperating and working on a new dollhouse. If you want to keep up with my progress, check out annsdollhousedreams.blogspot.com, which I hope to update more regularly to document my progress.

I hope you are having a great week. I'll get around to visit soon.