Friday, April 30, 2010

Last day of April

What a gorgeous day. Upper 70's, low humidity, sunshine, birds sharing their songs. I am currently sitting outdoors on a shaded deck, and I am thrilled the trees are fully leaved again. This gives me so much privacy. I can no longer see my neighbors, and their night lights are not visible to me either. Of course, this also means that my star visibility range is less. I cannot see as much of the night sky from one position as I can in Fall and Winter.
My clematis is in full bloom now and the purple and orange irises are beginning to unfurl. The purple irises smell like grape Kool-aid.
Tomorrow I will plant my tomatoes, keeping an eye out on the temperatures for a couple more weeks. Despite the impending heat, I love the carefree days that summer brings and the bountiful variety of produce that will soon be on my table. I hope that everyone will drink in the beauty of this time of year!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Spring flowers

I'm sorry I haven't shared very much lately! This school year has been very busy.

The forsythia was again the first to flower at my house, followed closely by the daffodils. The red tulips and redbuds bloomed at about the same time, and then periwinkle and dogwoods. My lilacs are now blooming, and so is the clematis in the back yard! I think that is a little early! I need to keep records so I can compare. My purple irises are putting up buds, though I've seen a neighbor's blooming for a week now.
We are getting some much needed rain tonight. It seemed like it would never dry out earlier, but now we've gone over two weeks without rain.
I've never had allergies before, but I think I know what it's like. The pollen production was so high this year that I have had a slight cough, along with water eyes and itchy nose. I know it's not the same as true allegy sufferers, but it's annoying!
Heard a hummingbird this week. Need to get those feeders out. The males are here!