the fish have finally come out from the bridge… I think they are happy that the waterfall isn’t running…
and the water plants arrived… yay…
two white water lilies, elephant ears and parrot’s feather…
they turned up on Monday, but I left it until yesterday to put them into the pond…
the temperature was only 15° C but the sun was out so it was quite nice… I think they are all firmly settled in…
and the fish are happy as well… one little guy came out from under the bridge while I was in the pond and then couldn’t get past my legs to get back under the bridge… finally I moved both legs to one side and it returned to safety…
so happy when the plants arrived from Ron Paul Garden Centre just after nine this morning, so I didn’t have to wait around for them…
finally got milkweed and butterfly bush… took them right out into the garden and got everything into pots… one of the milkweeds already has buds;-)… hope the monarchs find them…
the butterfly bushes are quite small, but I am hopeful they will grow quickly…
also added fuchsia to one of the already planted pots and used the last few to fill a basket…
I am hoping that the garden is going to be lovely this summer as I anticipate spending lots of time there…
when I went out for a hot tub first thing I realized the pump had stopped in the pond…
before I went in, I pulled the plug and then spotted a dragonfly sitting on a rock in the pond…
took my breakfast outside and sat and watched it for quite some time… wondering if it had come up from the water and was drying its wings…
it was windy and I watched two butterflies flit past… an orange one, maybe a monarch although it wasn’t close enough to confirm… and a black one… it had some yellow along the outside of the wings…
went into the house for a cup of tea and when I came back, noticed the dragonfly in the pond and thought it might be dead, but then its wings fluttered… I found a stick and pulled it out and set it down in the sun… after about half an hour it flew away;-)…
a short while later I saw my buddy the frog jump in and swim across the pond… and finally the fish came out from under the bridge…
big day for me today… I had the cleaners in to deal with the dirt, lol… it has been three months since they’ve been so it really needed the cleaning… only one person came and I was the first job of the day…
what made it such a big deal was the fact that this was the first time someone had been in the house, other than me, since the middle of March… a few times my kids have come in the back door and gone into the basement, but then I have not gone down there for a few days…
I was up in enough time to be sure everything was tidy and I had everything I would need as my plan was to spend the time they were here outside… when I first woke up it was drizzling a bit and I was thinking about spending the time in the garage, lol… of course it would have been an opportunity to do some tidying/organizing in there…
happily the sun came out, I had my thermos of tea and set out all the cushions… I read, planted a few containers, took out dandelions and watched for birds…
in the end she was here for 3 hours… clearly the place needed work top to bottom… when there are two people it gets done in half the time…
when she left I was happy to get into the house for lunch and a bathroom break… then it was back outside for more reading… came in for a short nap and then more time in the outdoors…
although it was hot it was a beautiful day in the garden and I was able to follow the shade around the space…
sitting by the pond after my visitors have left and enjoying the last bit of sunlight…
my water shoes are on the deck because I went into the pond once again and dredged up another pailful of leaves… the fish are still not coming out, but I did see the frog hop by earlier in the day…
all three of my grandsons came by just after noon… I made them grilled cheese sandwiches with the wonderful La Belle Baguette whole wheat sourdough that was delivered yesterday…
the oldest left, the middle one mowed the grass, front and back, while the youngest watered plants and pulled weeds…
some days it is hard to realize he is eleven and can reach and do more things…
after the work was done, relaxing happened and visiting took place…
this was the first time I’ve had people in the house and the system was they had access to the basement for cooling down and using the washroom and I had the main floor… worked perfectly…
we ordered Chinese food for supper and it arrived just before the daddy, who had been at work all day… afterwards my downspout got fixed, a stair board tightened and then off they went…
it was a treat to see them and I enjoyed every minute… I missed my nap, but plan on making it an early night;-)…
took this photo of one of the poppies that is growing in the garden…
I am hoping that all of these buds will continue to grow and bloom although the temperature has been a bit crazy the last few days…
Thursday night I brought some of the plants into the house and covered those around the deck…
last night I put all of them into the garage, except for a couple of heavy ones just outside the kitchen… happily, the clematis seems to be doing fine…
I left them there all day because the temperature is going down again tonight…
I think the weather is going to be improving so they can all move back outside tomorrow…
herbiggirlpants 