May Flowers (and gardens)

Melanie organized a game of soccer. The hilly terrain adds a new dimension to the game.

There is a capture frog in there. Quite a fat one.T

 Melanie worked hard at getting the strawberries put in the herb garden by the house. She was sick of having the groundhog (at least, we think it is him!) eating the berries as they got ripe. Instead the red squirrels (that had moved into her bedroom ceiling) took them. At this point there is hope and effort. :)

Much of the second half of May was spent getting the garden(s) ready for the summer.

The frog trapped in his cage--I did require that he get released. The full sun on the hot stones was probably not an ideal prison for a frog.

Yay! The tomatoes are in! I thought to try using chicken wire to support the tomato plants. We have done a few other methods and were given wire for free. Seems like it might do the job!

I moved my blueberry bushes off the sandy dry hillside to keep my plum trees company. I hope they recover from the shock. My blueberry groundcover plants died, so this will maybe?? help the bushes survive and thrive? Can't be worse than the hill!

Frost risk is over, so the kids got enlisted to help plant the seeds. Lotsa hands helps lots...if they are helping. (haha! BOYS, please do just ONE more row....)

Who needs a campfire when you have a heat lamp and cute little chicks peeping around? It's both cozy and warm!

The whole veggie garden, is pretty much all planted and ready to grow. Hoping for some rain!!

The fort is finished. Nice and strong. And it's a neat spot. When the leaves fill in it's very protected and shut in. Now, if it had a natural bug deterrent it would be perfect!

Walking the loop. Looks so different when the grass and weeds are just starting to come up.

And because my veggie garden wasn't big enough, I put potatoes in down the hill. Was fun getting the water to go down there, but it seems to have enough pressure. It's pretty sandy soil, so even with a light addition of what was left of our chicken fertilizer, my hopes are not very high for a massive yield. Fortunately potatoes are a good choice for a first garden/bad soil.

Matthew is explaining to me how to get my new toy (irrigation pieces to keep my veggie garden from drying out--turns out to be a very dry summer and very timely!) all set up. I mostly follow his instructions...saves me time figuring it out myself! :)

I like the spring colours.

Melanie is in charge of this as she contributed to the cost of the elastics. I'm ok with that, since if she is in charge, the elastics will last longer and be used when the kids are genuinely bored, and stored well. :)

Weeds are coming up, but so are the plants. Yay!!

Yup, the weather is not lookin' good. Better head in for shelter. And yup, the pool water is really rather greenish. (we are figuring things out...how many years can we use that excuse??)

Thar she blows! Jennifer likes getting wet, so long as she feels safe from the thunder (really, it's the lightning that is dangerous, though!).

Who says boys can't make jewellery?

All ready for December.

Bad little chickie making a mess of the waterer. But so cute! They have lost almost all of their fluff.

Once one starts a bad habit, they all try. Why not climb the feeders?

Better tape up your flip flops. With lineups for shopping, you never know when Mom may tackle an outing that is more than groceries. Probably months!

Helpful hands on another stay-at-home-Sunday.

Going for the Sunday bike ride. So pretty out, but certainly chilly!

Extra time to read since we aren't driving anywhere.

Yup, those two are Benedict's boys. I finished the first book and said they had to read the rest themselves. Except "The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict" which I offered to read out loud as well (since I like it!) and it wasn't in order. But in the meantime the boys flew through the others. So thankful we have a good sized personal library!!

Those May flowers: looking small. They really waited until July to be blooming fully. But I love the colours.