Various and Assorted

Mimi snapped this amazing scene during our road trip last week.

We arrived home to find our peonies in full bloom. I just love the color variations: from bright fuschia to creamy pink. We only have them for about two weeks every June, but when they're blooming they are spectacular!

Our California poppies started as volunteers from a neighbor's yard. We liked them so much we sprinkled some seed in our flower bed. They come back every year.

We saw a cute little gosling with his mom and dad at a pond near our house. He's hard to see: look for the little grayish-yellow blob right between the parents.

Gomez came home from the kennel with a terrible case of bordatella. He sounds awful--he basically has the doggie version of croup.
(And yes, he sleeps with his tongue out! Lulu sleeps with his eyes open, which is less cute, more creepy.)

It is so hard to take pictures of bees! They refuse to pose. I was thrilled with this photo because you can see the pollen baskets on the legs!

Dude used a couple of pulleys and some clothesline to make a dumbwaiter for the kids' fort.

He needed a little help with the knots, but the design was totally his own!

Cool, huh?

Hope you're enjoying the many pleasures of summer!

Did someone hit the fast forward button?

Whew! I haven't had time to post or even see what my blog buds are up to lately! Here's a quick summary of what we've been doing...

Enjoying the sunshine...



Planting stuff...





Watching the local wildlife...



And some not-so-local wildlife...





Meeting a REAL wolf...



Baking (and eating!) cakes...



Working on bird art projects...







Watching our seedlings grow...



Taking a bow in drama class...



Applauding for Super in her play, cheering for Dude at his Cub Scout crossover, reading lots of great books, playing with puppy dogs, shoveling snow (hopefully for the last time this season!) Going to riding lessons, book club, a sleepover playdate, and How to Train Your Dragon...



And LOVING spring!

Spring Flowers

A sunny day! And we didn't need our jackets! So we headed outside to enjoy the first bit of color in our flower bed. I spread a towel on our front sidewalk and we sketched, snacked, and soaked up the sun.



We didn't plant the crocuses in this bed--they were a pleasant surprise the first spring after we moved in. It's always so nice to see them appear in March, even when they are pushing through a layer of snow. They are a cheerful purple reminder that winter is waning and spring is on the way...



Look! A bee!



Super really liked the pale crocus with dark purple stripes. For some reason, we only had one this year.



She drew a single blossom and used watercolor pencils to make a soft yellow background.



Dude drew a crocus and last year's dried coneflower pods. He mixed watercolor pencils to match the pink rock perfectly.



I sketched this group of crocuses.



Spring arrives later here than in many parts of the country. These are daffodil leaves--no blossoms yet!



Our grape hyacinth is just beginning to bud; it's still green with a slight purple blush. (And a dandelion! Already?)



We rarely get to see our tulips bloom because the deer enjoy them so much. Apparently something already munched on this one.



These are columbine leaves. And a bit of vinca vine. It tries to take over this bed every year--looks like it's getting a head start already.



We looked up crocuses on Wikipedia and were impressed by the many beautiful varieties. I've decided to add some yellow ones to our flower bed in the fall.



Happy Spring!

Guess I'm Not Planting Tomatoes Today

Look how pretty it is!  

Yesterday, it was in the 60's, we had the back door open and a hummingbird flew into the house!  Dad Sparklee had to catch it before it knocked itself silly on our kitchen window.

  

And today--snow!

The best part is...I did my grocery shopping yesterday, so I don't have to drive anywhere in this mess!  

The kids and I will clean out the feeders and make up a batch of sugar water for Hummie.  They need their calories in weather like this...

A Unit Study We Will ALL Enjoy

I know it's only been a few days, but what do you think about homeschooling so far?

"Well, it's not as boring as school.  But it's a little boring."

It's boring?  Really?  What do you mean?

"I'm tired of studying Utah."

So, we've done enough Utah history and geography?

"Yup."

If you could study anything you wanted, what would it be?  (Please don't say Clone Wars.)

"Plants."

Plants?

"Yeah, like how they grow, the different climates they grow in, weird and interesting plants..."

OK, no problem.  Let's study plants!  So you're interested in pollination, photosynthesis, rainforest and desert plants, stuff like that?

"Yeah.  And I want to grow some stuff."

YOU DO?  GREAT!  WILL YOU HELP ME PLANT MY TOMATOES THIS YEAR?!?

"Sure, if you'll stop jumping up and down."

Dreaming of spring...

We are still weeks away from even starting seedlings indoors, but when I look out back, I can almost see the tomato plants already...  

Reading about gardening helps me endure February, and one of my favorite books for this time of year is The Bountiful Container by Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey.  I'm a fairly new gardener, and their basic, practical, and reassuring advice seems like it was written just for me. I have always admired those mystical souls who seem to have the magic touch with plants. Then I read The Bountiful Container and guess what? It turns out, light, water, and fertilizer are important, too. 

I have never had a garden on the ground.  Where we live, the deer, rabbits, and other critters would destroy anything I attempted to grow.  Besides, my favorite things to grow, tomatoes, strawberries, and herbs, are so easy to grow in containers--why bother with tilling, weeding and irrigating?  Container gardening presents its own challenges, however.  A beloved member of this family--one with floppy ears and four giant paws--loves to dump out my flower pots and scatter soil across the patio.  He sees me playing in the dirt, so why can't he?  Winter birdfeeding has trained the birds to come to the patio, and they are only too happy to help themselves to my strawberries in summer.  (Strategic placement of a few plastic snakes helped last year.  Thanks for the tip, Mom!)  

In spite of the challenges, I'm determined to have a successful container garden this year.  Like I said, I'm still pretty new at this, so my goals are modest.  Enough tomatoes to serve a platter of sliced tomatoes with mozarella and balsamic vinegar (can you tell I'm so ready for summer?)  Enough strawberries to top a family-sized strawberry shortcake.  And this year, I'm trying cucumbers and lettuce for the first time.  Just so I can say for once in my life, "This salad is made of our home grown vegetables."   

 I plan to be really obnoxious about it, and sprinkle it into conversation at inappropriate times. "Yeah, well, speaking of politics, the other day we were eating our home grown tomatoes, and..."