Blasting into Summer

As often happens, we’ve gone from wintery weather to summer in two days. The temperature here hit 75 degrees in the shade a little while ago. Having caught up with work for the moment, I went out and did some yard cleanup. I also restarted the pond pump that runs the little waterfall and aerates the water, after cleaning out leaves and algae for the last two days. I found one small frog yesterday, don’t see him today, but our large goldfish has made it through another winter with no problem. He’s at least six inches long now. I used to feed him, but gave it up, as I don’t really want to encourage a lot of growth. He gets by fine on what’s naturally in the pond.

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Some of the daffodils have been out for over a week, more will open now, I’m sure. I wanted to plant more last fall, but somehow in October it just doesn’t seem appealing.

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I did buy a few pansies Saturday, and put them out in pots yesterday, where they’ll brighten up our front walk until it gets too warm for them.

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Every spring one or two of these small but charming wildflowers bloom in our yard. Wish I knew what they were, but I can enjoy them as “mystery flowers” all the same. The blossoms are about a half inch across.

ADDED: Found it! A non-native bulb flower originally from alpine Turkey and Greece: Chionodoxa. The resource is HERE. Described as a vigorous self-seeder. Certainly nothing I ever planted, but someone in the area did.

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I know this one, grape hyacinth. We planted a few many years ago, and one or two still come up in the lawn. I try not to step on them.

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The first of hundreds of dandelions has opened in the driveway. Pretty flowers, but annoying plants.

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The cats are quite happy to have the windows open for the first time in months, here’s Tigger on a front windowsill watching me.

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They’re also quite happy to have the sliding doors open to the porch, and I’m equally happy to get a break from constantly letting them in and out! They clearly approve of the return of the rockers, obviously intended for their seating pleasure.

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Along with all the good news comes the return of tick season. While writing, I found this lone star tick crawling up my arm. Right, nightly tick checks begin today as well!