Hello Spring!

I thought spring would never get here! Just last week, we had the heat on, and then yesterday and today, the temperatures have been in the 80's. I was afraid we'd lose the peach and dogwood blooms in that last hard freeze, but they survived. We now even have a few tiny little peaches (you have to hunt them!).

The little dogwood tree produced 7 blooms this year - the most we've had yet. Last year we didn't have any, and the year before, it was just 2. The leaves have covered it now. This picture was taken back before the freeze.

We drove over to Pittsburg today and checked out B&S Hardware's 65th anniversary sale. They had some pretty good deals going on. I got a free quart of paint in a soft yellow, so I think I'm going to repaint the hall bathroom. We painted it yellow a couple of years ago, but it's too bright. They were even giving away begonias to the ladies, so I brought mine home and planted in this pretty hanging planter at the end of the deck.

A couple of weeks ago, Lonnie built me this neat raised garden. It's 4' x 8'. He filled it with a mixture of garden soil and organic compost.

So when I got through with the begonia, I planted tomatoes, sweet banana peppers, cilantro, and parsley in this bed, and sprinkled turnip seeds in the middle part.

We're going to put chicken wire around it, just in case any critters want to check it out. We have seen only about 3 rabbits the whole time we've lived here, so there might not be a problem.

I also planted cucumber seeds along the stretch of chicken wire that Lonnie has at the top of the ridge (to keep the armadillos out of the yard). There were all of 28 seeds in that $1.89 packet, but I figure that if they do like they're supposed to, I can make lots of pickles.

 

When I was watering everything, I just had to take a picture of these pretty yellow flowers. Amber gave me this plant for Mother's Day about 3 or 4 years ago. It has survived drought, neglect, and freeze. Isn't it beautiful?

 

Lonnie topped the redtips on the south side of the yard. They had gotten so tall! They're still probably 7 feet tall after he trimmed them.

When I got through with planting and watering, I sat down for a little while to rest, but couldn't stand the sweaty smell. Got my shower and washed my hair - just couldn't wait! Lonnie went on and mowed the yard. So now everything looks fresh and beautiful. 

We have another week, maybe two, of spring, and then the summer takes over.  In East Texas, we have about 3 weeks of fall, 3 months of winter, 3 weeks of spring, and everything else is summer!