Building a Bird Feeder

J and I made some bird feeders.  I found the idea on Pinterest and thought it looked simple and was a good way to use up orange or grapefruit rinds.  

I mistakenly thought I had some wild bird seed, but only had thistle, so that's what we used to fill these up the first time.  

While I hung the feeders, J enjoyed adding a few things to his "treasure chest."  He's allowed to put anything in there he wants....as long as it's not a living creature. 

Spring Planting

We had some glorious weather a couple of weeks ago, and I knew it was time to put out the plants we had bought.  But first off, some time spent in the backyard:

J was collecting things and explaining that it was for the birds to make their nests. 

Macy and Milo were having the best time chasing each other.  Milo likes to 'hide' behind this tree from Macy.  

J and I looked at the basket of edibles he made at his garden club the week before, and he tried most of them (lettuce, spinach, and dill.)  The strawberries have bloomed but of course aren't ready yet.  

Then he decided he would plant the items he had previously planned to leave for the birds.....

Eventually it was on to the front yard, and time to put the plants out!  J got right into the middle and started digging. 

We dug up a friend or two....

earthworms!  We talked about how we need to be kind to them and how they are a great thing to have in our garden beds, and after some inspection, we put them back in the soil.

The two of us, planing spinach.

J showing off his work!

He had never paid any attention to the water barrels in the front flower beds, and was excited to learn about them and to discover he could manage the faucet himself.

Tasting some kale, which he claims he liked.  

The bumblebees were enjoying the kale flowers, along with a solitary honeybee. 

Half-Marathon, Take Two

Mr. GV completed his second half-marathon last month!  This time I didn't stick around for the start, but did get some pictures during the race and at the finish.

I had trouble getting good pictures this year, due to my placement, but that's Mr. GV there in the gray shirt in the front of the group.  

The participation medals, waiting to be claimed.  

Along with a bottle of water, bananas were something else you could grab as you went across the finish line.  

Whew, finally finished!

Yay!

And on an environmental level, I was glad to see recycling containers for cardboard and plastic near the fuel/hydration/rest tent at the finish.

Bulk buying

I am so thrilled that the Kroger in a nearby town has remodeled.  Yes, the sushi bar where I can get vegan sushi is great, and yes the expansion of the natural foods section is phenomenal.  But the main reason is this:  BULK!  

Whenever we travel to the big city, I am sure to take along my bulk bags and load up from the bins at Whole Foods.  But to be able to get my loose bulk items from the town just down the road?  Lovely.  

I do use their stickers for right now.  If the bag needs washing, I just peel the sticker off and save it for the next time.  I was thinking of using a temporary fabric marker for the bags that are solid.  And maybe attaching something with some rigidity (like card stock) via safety pin to the mesh bags.  

I do wish I could just take my glass jars with me as I do at Whole Foods.  But they don't tare the weight at my Kroger as they do at WF, so that's not an option.  

And yes, you do see *one* plastic bag in this picture.  We ran out, and really wanted those dried blueberries.  I chose the resealable plastic bag instead of the produce-like bags people generally use for bulk.  We will use that bag until it is completely worn out, and I might see about purchasing a few more solid cloth bags so that doesn't happen again.  

Around My Yard

The beautiful irises are blooming.  Too bad they don't last longer.  

I love this mound of phlox.  I can spot it from the bottom of my driveway whenever I'm coming home. 

The peonies are very close to blooming.  Can't wait to being a bouquet into my home!

And the compost is growing, which is just hilarious to me.  All it takes is a bit of potato to start a plant growing. We have 4 raised beds and rotate which one is a designated compost bed each year.  And every year we get potatoes from our compost bed.  

Mr. GV has the rain barrels set up, and they've already been used this year.  Right now as I type this, the one we have (barely) emptied is filling back up quickly with the pouring rain we are getting. 

Macy supervises me. 

As does Milo. 

These are kale plants that have been growing for about 3 years now.  I keep expecting them to die off, either in the very cold or very hot weather, but they just keep getting taller and putting on new leaves!  Right now they are flowering, and I am going to gather seed when it is ready, then probably pull up some of the larger stalks.  I have watched several bumble bees, and what I think was a honey bee, hanging around and enjoying the flowers.  I'm overjoyed by all the beneficial insects that hang around (after all, that's a sign of a healthy garden) but I'm especially thrilled about the honey bee because of all the talk you hear about their declining numbers.  

The lilac bush has greened up. 

Mrs. GV has been working hard to make the flower beds look good by trimming, mulching, and the other back-breaking work that is needed if you have landscaping.  

The pear trees are blooming.

And my Japanese maple looks so beautiful right now.  I just love it.  It was here when we bought the house, and I'm glad, because I don't know that we would have spent the money on one otherwise.  

I do love these days of spring, before the terrible humidity arrives!

Superhero Capes, Magic Carpets, and Skillz

You know what else comes in big, child-size boxes?  Superhero capes, also known as brown wrapping paper.  

Perfect for playing bad guys vs good guys....

This is the rug in J's room.  Milo seems to think it's his, though.  So far he has dragged it all around, chewed off a few loops, and just generally roughed the thing up.  

And....someone has really shown a lot of improvement with his reading!  It's like it all "clicked" one day, and since then you can catch him reading, or for more advanced books, sounding out the words in books quite often.  Love it!  

Today

Today was like this:  rainy, dreary, and just blah outside.  

Mr. GV had to go to work, but the rest of the creatures in this house didn't feel like doing much.  It was much nicer to just curl up with a toy and do nothing. 

Ahem.

I did do some sitting around, but I also got a few things accomplished.  

Fitting for a dreary day with a couple days after that which will be much colder than earlier this week, I made a big pot of vegetable soup.  

I also made up enough oats to last for the next few days.  This time along with the dates and raisins I added dried cranberries, blueberries, and an apple.  We have a couple apples that have seen better days, so I just cut out a couple bad spots, then added the rest in chunks.  We gave it a try, and it was great.  I'll be adding apples to our oatmeal a lot more I think!  

A couple days ago Mr. GV, he of the tallness, got a few forgotten things out of the top cabinet in the pantry and set them out for me.  This morning I finished off a sample size box of cereal that had been up there a while.  The rest of the items are sitting out on the cabinet, reminding me that they need to be used.   

Today I also noticed that J's basket of plants he put together at the garden club has a strawberry bloom on it!  Hopefully he will get some fruit.  

Hopefully the next few days will be a little bit nicer.  Mr. GV is running in a half-marathon this weekend.  The forecast looks like it will be cool but dry, and hopefully perfect running weather for him.