Good Day, Sunshine

Good morning, my friends. It was another sunny day yesterday. We're happy to be getting caught up on the spring things-to-do-in-the-yard. One thing I've discovered is that there is a lot of misplaced equipment involved in this task. Before one can do anything, one must first find the tools one needs. There are many places things end up in the depths of winter, and so finding the tools can take longer than the task itself. 

As I mentioned yesterday, we left early for our beloved Egg McMuffins, and then we had some errands to run. One of our stops was at Home Depot to find some large pots to replace our rotting whiskey barrels. We found just what we were looking for, and we also found some of the annuals we wanted. We ended up going to a different place for more of the annuals when we found colors and varieties somewhat limited at Home Depot. Back home, we got the kitties out for a while. Sadie enjoyed some of the grass growing under the birdfeeder.

While we were out, I noticed this "double" daffodil growing in among the other "regular" daffodils. I think it must have come with the rest of the bulbs, and I've just not noticed its difference before.

The star magnolia is putting on quite a show right now. It is covered in flowers. With no rain for the next few days, it looks as if we'll get to enjoy it for a while.

The blueberries are gaining some size and leafing out. I think we planted these about two years ago, and so maybe we'll get a little more fruit this year. I'm told it takes about five years to get fruit in any quantity. I hope we live that long.

We've noticed a lot more bee activity recently, which is very reassuring. The cherry blossoms can pop at any time. These are the flowers on the Black Tartarian.

The Bing is always the slower one to bloom, but it has flower buds too. (Note to self: check for buds on the plum tree.)

One of our whiskey barrels is a refuge for the mint. It wants to take over wherever it can get a foothold, and so it was long ago relegated to one of the whiskey barrels for safe-keeping. When it appears anywhere else, it gets pulled up immediately. With the cold temperatures and snow, I was afraid it might have been killed off completely, but yesterday I noticed it making a comeback. There are just a couple of little sprouts, but it will fill in soon enough.

Finally, I caught this little house finch at the feeders. Every day brings new and different birds to our feeders.

So, enough of this yard sight-seeing, it was time to get to work planting the annuals. There are three pots on one side of the patio. The pinwheels are our feeble attempt to keep the deer and squirrels from eating the flowers. 

In each of these pots, I planted some pansies, stock, and two colors of snapdragons. 

While I was planting, I was thinking about what I would write in today's post (as I often do throughout my day). I was thinking I'd say something funny like "I expect to go outside this morning and find these eaten off to the ground." Oh hahahahahahahahahahahaha...I'm so funny! Only then I went out later in the afternoon and found the squirrels had already dug up one of the pansies and one of the snapdragons. Both were lying on the ground beside the pot. It's possible I uttered a bad word here...yep, I'm pretty sure about that. Also, I shook my fist at them just to show them they'd really pissed me off this time. 

Mike was in the process of transporting one of those thugs to a different zip code (story to follow below). When he returned, we moved the pots to the other side of the patio. We have a whole squirrel community living among the junipers behind their previous location. Maybe moving them to a less convenient digging venue will help with this squirrelduggery. (Yes, I just made up that word. It's an excellent word, even if I do say so myself. And I do.)

Okay...moving on...in the pots that line the sidewalk, I planted geraniums, which seem to be undesirable as deer snacks.

Walking on, these are African daisies. 

These are English daisies. Aren't they cute?

Finally, in the shadiest pot, impatiens. We had good luck with these last year.

Okay, so about that other squirrelduggery...this is the deck off our dining room glass door. It also happens to be the roof to a portion of the basement below. It is sealed with a waterproof membrane. In my pre-blogging days, we had to rebuild this deck when the membrane started to leak. The deck was never built to code, and so we brought it up to standards. In the process, we discovered a cache of peanuts under the deck, deposited there by squirrels or some other animal. We never saw the animal. Just to be sure, the builders were careful to seal up any holes or access points. 

Fast forward to the present, and notice the rocks in the lower right-hand corner of the image above. Looking at the image below, there's a better look.

Well...the squirrels have dug in under these rocks, and managed to get into that area under the deck. We can hear them in the basement ceiling. Geez. If it's not one thing, it's another.

So, now we're setting a trap for them. When we can no longer hear them in the ceiling, we'll seal up this hole by filling it with concrete. In the meantime, Smitty is keeping watch for any intruders.

You'll never find a more patient or persistent hunter than Smitty. He's actually pretty good at catching squirrels.

The last thing I did yesterday was to dig up some volunteer catnip and plant it in a different spot, re-establishing the Gracie Memorial Catnip Garden.

By day's end, Sadie had achieved kitty nirvana in the glow of the sun shining in through the glass doors.

Except for some slow-stitching toward the end of the day, there was no time for sewing yesterday. This morning, we have to take Smitty to the vet for his annual physical and vaccines. He doesn't want to catch the Catrona virus, you know. I expect that will take most of the morning. There is still clean-up work to be done outside. The hydrangeas need grooming, and there are some weeds to pull. I'm only hoping I'll have some time in the sewing room today. If not, the rain will be returning by Sunday. For now, we're getting as much done outside as possible. A sunny day in Oregon is to be cherished.