The Epic Saga of the Porch

Peach blossom!

Sorry it's been so long. That's apparently my theme now. But here comes our game of catch-up...!

Dan took a jackhammer to the cement slab of the porch (since the sledgehammer didn't do anything) and divided it into 13 huge pieces that were (just barely) moveable.

There was sand underneath the cement.

Elphaba supervised.

There was a lot of debris.

But don't worry! I rescued most of the plants!

Um, our entryway didn't have any support. Yikes! (Don't worry! Handyman Dan fixed it.)

Gasp! Wonder of wonders, there was an old stone staircase underneath all the cement, cinderblocks, and sand! How cool!

Isn't that spiffy? It was like finding a fossil in the front yard.

Dan and his dad reinforced the living room bay window bump-out. (The metal post that "supported" it before was just stuck into the ground. No concrete, nothing. REEEAL safe.)

Fast forward through many days and weeks of abysmal weather to yesterday: Dan and Garrett put down the flooring of the new deck!

Great picture.

And when they finished, they enjoyed their hard-earned relaxation.

Success!

On the garden front, I had wee small daffodils this year!

I love the burgundy layer when the hostas are coming up.

Dan trimmed the heck out of our newly discovered forsythia and threw the discarded branches on the burn pile, where I took this artsy picture of them.

As always, our magnolia was breathtaking!

Sweet little tulip-looking blooms!

Here are some of my Expatriated Irises.

It turns out there are THREE secret rosebushes in the side yard!

My lone tulip of the year.

My helleborus blew me away this year!

I thought my clematis might have died, but it's exceeding all expectations! Look at the fuzzy white new growth!

And even through all the hardship, I have TWO iris buds! I didn't think I'd get any this year since I was mean enough to move them and thus save their lives.

Actually, I got several tulips this year. But creepily enough, these bloomed without even making it out of the ground. *shudder* Super eerie.

I didn't think the peony tuber that I planted last year was going to do anything, and then this year it knocked my socks off by coming up and thriving! Let's keep going, Sarah Bernhardt!

I think this number is a columbine, but I can't be sure. It's on the other side of the fence, by the Secret Side Yard roses.

Isn't that what it looks like?

Some little violets that haven't made it into the ground yet.

Magnolia blossoms with leaves!

I just love the artsy shots.

My Comte de Chambourd rose, which I bought as a stem with a root last year at Home Depot. Looks good!

It even has a few buds!

Our pretty hedges are blooming. Too bad we'd rather tear them out than deal with them.

My sis with the newest pup in the family, alternately named Uno and Bandit. ;)

Isn't he sweet?!

We wore him OUT.

BLACKTHORN SANG ME HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! And I even got my picture with Fred, the keyboardist/percussionist/flutist. My sis and I have a crush on him.

Clearly, Uncle Dan is the best.

The fam!

Would a post be complete without D?! No, I say!

Daddy's girl.

Also Mama's girl. And sister's girl. haha

My new camera lets me take high-ISO pictures with no flash without taking forever to expose and thus producing huge blurs. I love it because now all my pictures of the girls don't make them look demonic.

Long cat! Look at her cute back paws.

A little bath.

Up North, Take 1

We went up to the hunting camp for our "weekend" and Dan made a new friend. He picked this guy up in the middle of the road and brought him back to camp to meet me.

Unfortunately, he wasn't too happy to meet me.

And we got home in time to take some garden pictures. I had given up this cyclamen, but it's doing better with a little TLN (tender loving neglect).

They look droopy because it rained all day, but look how far up out of the windowbox these petunias are coming!

Dan's little crabapple trees look like they're doing well.

My Bordeaux petunias and tuberous begonias.

My precious little highlighter dahlias!

Mom, you asked for a picture of the flowers on my exotic geranium, so here you have it!

That's Vince, my birthday garden gnome, behind some lilies that look ready to bloom.

I think this is a lily. But it's weird-looking.

Kerry sedum, violas, peony, and lemon zest petunias.

Serrated sedum.

I was so surprised and excited to see that my Lysimachia is blooming!

I really don't know what this is.

This is either my Siloam Reds or my Little Italy sending up buds!

This is what I think are my dahlias. Though I don't remember planting any.

My Secret Rose, with a little new bloom and a bud in the foreground.

My Stellas are going to town!

This one is ready to roll.

Another Stella.

This is Happy Returns, getting ready to bloom.

That's Happy Returns in the front, and all three of my dianthus behind. :) Left to right, we have the Unnamed Picotee, Telstar Picotee, and Apple Spice.

My pink Oriental lilies.

My orange common roadside lilies (hemerocallis fulva).

We're making another bed in the corner, and I got three shade-tolerant plants.

Baptisia, called False Indigo.

Helleborus, called Blue Lady.

And my first Astilbe, called Deutschland.

And poor little Ginger couldn't decide what to be more afraid of, the thunder overhead or the meat slicer Dan was using.