Today was beautiful. The sun shone brightly, hardly a cloud in the sky. Temps hovered around 68 degrees F. It didn't feel overly warm due to the strong East winds. We spent a good deal of time outside. Grace and Lee took turns mowing the lawn, first time this year and first time ever for Lee. Lou and Ray played on the swing set and sand pile. I weeded and pulled away last year's dead plant material from each of my small flower garden areas. The Cat Mint is almost a foot tall already and smelling lovely. The Coreopsis hasn't even broke ground in either garden. The blueberries have tight blossoms, hopefully we can keep the rabbits away this year. Last year we only had five blueberries left after the rabbits had their fill. All the Hostas are up; the Bleeding Heart recovered from the April freeze, the earlier growth was all frozen, turned soft and then died off. The growth is noticeable daily; it's about 15 inches tall already. The Sedum (live forever) is still living and thriving in the rock garden under the bird feeder. The Brewer's Blackbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds stayed at the feeder all day, even with the commotion of us doing yard work.
My list of shrubs and perennials to buy this year
Forsythia
Euonymus (burning bush) - after all the Moses studies we have to get one of these
Phlox - the tall species, in reds and white
Anything hardy and colorful
Grace and Lee put out a new seed block in the hanging feed outside Grace and Lou's window. We've found that the birds do not like the peanut butter and suet block, they like the Bird Watcher brand of seed blocks. Lou sat in the rock garden watching the window feeder and identifying birds. It's quite amazing what all she said she saw. We measured for yard sprinklers and went to the drive-in for supper.
Today wasn't all fun, er I mean nature study. We did control ourselves enough to get some seat work done. Grace and Lee did a math lesson, finished their Egypt chapter books and practiced their spelling words. Lou wrote the alphabet and made a birthday card for her friend. She set up a tea party for her and Ray and set a puzzle with him. They rolled balls down the hallway and played dress-up. It was one of those days I could have never planned for.
