Spring is back.....

Spring is back....

April 28th --  Last year the last snowfall was on May 2nd.  It would be nice if we only had rain and no more snow because snow this late has a nasty habit of knocking the blooms off the trees.

The dogwood, which isn't supposed to grow in these parts, but was a gift, has started to bloom, but isn't at peak just yet.  No matter, it makes one of the best shows in the yard.

This will also be a good year for the lilacs.  I had to trim some this weekend because they were getting into the gutters on the roof of the mudroom.  

Just a great excuse to cut some blooms and bring them inside.  The vases are still somewhere in a box in the garage, but a plastic cup will do just fine.

I applied a second coat of paint to the claw foot tub claws and then was inspired to add a bit more contrast.  It looks like that tub could just get up and walk away on its own.

The replacement translucent library door for the guest suite has arrived, as shown here.  It will be painted, the protective cover removed from the glass and then re-installed once the one with the shattered glass is removed -- no one is looking forward to this operation as it will take 5-6 hours.

In the meantime, more progress outside the house....

The fence posts for the front privacy fence were dug and the posts were set in concrete.  These photos show the view from the front of the house.

Here is the view of the fence posts from the deck.

More progress on the walkway from the patio to the garage and the smaller patio in front of the rear-entry of the house.

By the end of the day the landscape crew ran out of large pieces of flagstone and a few more large pieces will be picked up tomorrow by the landscape contractor.  







These photos show the view of the patio at the rear-entry of the house leading to the garage.

This last photo shows where the flagstone patio ends at the back or west end of the house.  The backyard will be covered in landscape cloth and pea gravel around the raised beds and with thick mulch close to the house.  

The lumber has been cut and I will assemble  5 raised beds (2 beds that are 8' by 8'; 2 beds that are 4' by 8'; and one bed that is 32" by 6' -- this last one is sized to accommodate old windows from the house that will serve as cold frames to start early spring greens and root veggies next year).  After I arm myself with a corded drill and 3" wood screws, I will start to assemble the raised beds later this week.