Gifts from the squirrels

While the squirrels might be little jerkfaces who steal bulbs (still no sign of any Queen of the Night Tulips), what they taketh, they also giveth back...

I didn't plant any hyacinths....

Now Dad gave me a bunch of mixed tulips from his garden, and at first I thought there must have been a hyacinth mixed in. Until it bloomed. Dad has purple hyacinths.. not pink!
But it looks so pretty with the Turkistan tulips!

There's also this skinny little grass-like plant

I'm thinking it might be a grape hyacinth, but there are no buds on it yet. But either way... thank you Mr. Squirrel!

And in other surprising news... my Dianthans (which were suppose to be annuals)...

 Have bloomed already! I didn't expect to see blooms for a few more weeks, but I guess a few days of summer-like weather and there you go...

I just hope that not too many gardeners give into the itch to start planting the rest of their gardens... Mother Nature can still turn into a frosty bitch for another week or two!

For Queen and Country

You know me and my quest for perfect buttons....

Well, even though Sherlock is nowhere close to being finished,  I was on the hunt for buttons for it. And not just any buttons... perfect buttons..... I'd considered some sort of skull , but I didn't want to over do it... then it came to me...

The Royal Coat of Arms in a little nod to Mycroft.... they arrived last week.

And they are going to be just perfect... it was elementary, really!

Woe of the roses

Things were really starting to look bad for the white rose bush

After posting about them a few weeks ago I did a little research about pruning. It suggested pruning all the dead stuff off, right back to where the inside of the wood turned white again so the plant can focus on new growth. So I did just that.. there was a lot of "dead" stuff, and I was a little worried. But the pink rose flourished.

 But the white one

I was just about ready to give up on her (which is a shame - she smells amazing!) when I looked a little closer.

That wood was getting some colour! And just a few inches from that...

A leaf bud! I'm so happy she survived the winter! Now I've got to get them some mulch and more beach rocks to surround their bed. And maybe a new rose friend!

Christmas in May

Yeah, sadly, my three favourite little munchkins had to wait five months for their Christmas presents. I'm such a bad Auntie. The presents were done in time, but Sam and I just haven't had a chance to get together.... but they won't grow out of them for a while yet so...

Deathflake in Fat Cat

Cranberry Bonnet in Alley Cat

Spideyboy in Fat Cat.

Man these three are growing up too fast!

Running in the sun

Yesterday was the first Saturday in May, so that meant....

I think she brushed her hair - because I still have convertible head!)

It was time for our Annual Sam Runs her Ass Off  While I Sit and Knit. We had an absolutely perfect day for it. The first year we did it, it was sunny but cool. Last year it was chilly and rainy. But this year....

Knee socks make you faster

We were able to put the top down on Stella.

At about 4:30 p.m., I put Sam on the shuttle bus to the start line.

Don't lick the windows!

and I headed over to the finish line at Lakefront Promenade Park. 

Such a pretty park

The race didn't start until 6 and I had a little more than an hour to kill. So I settled in to do what I do best.

and try to get a bit of sun on those pasty legs.

I knit away and watched the ducks swim by

Quack!

It was much cooler down by the lake (Sam was very glad she wore those knee socks) and just as she was starting to run, I had to put the knitting away because my fingers were too cold.

But I managed to get several repeats done on Sagittarius... I told you it was a fast pattern... I'm already half way down the foot.

And 25 minutes after the starting gun

She was cruising past the finish line! And we get to do it again next year!

Rock on, baby!

For a while now, I've been mulling over ideas for garden edging. Not only did I want edging because they look nice, but also because the maintenance company that mows the lawns here doesn't always seem to pay attention and there have been a few close calls.

There are lots of options out there - but I was looking for one that was extremely budget friendly.... free if possible. I found free railway ties and free cinderblocks on Kijiji.... but not only would I need help carrying them... I need something to transport them in - my poor Stella just isn't up to that job.

And then I remembered that I lived by the shore of a big ass lake.... a big ass lake full of big ass rocks.... okay... I don't really need (not to mention can't lift) the big ones... but there's lots of littler ones.

So I stopped on day after work, grabbed a reusable bag I had kicking around in my trunk... and went rock hunting.

I scoured the beach (not a tough job.... they are EVERYWHERE!!!) and filled the bag until I could barely lift it (rocks are heavy!) and brought my bootie home.

Foot included for scale....

Since I'm only able to get one bag at a time, I decided to start with the front garden as it's the smallest.

I definitely needed something... don't you think? Well a few moments later and....

Perfection! It's just what it needed!

The area to the upper right in that picture is going to get a garden this year. The bee garden is expanding, the veggie garden will grow a little and the backyard shrubs will be removed and replaced with something else.... I think I need at least four or five more bags of rocks to wall everything in! But it's a nice stop on my way home from work! (Not to mention, good exercise....)

Bunnylove

Although I call them all Bunbun... there are actually several bunnies that visit our yard each year. But this year, we seem to have a special one.

This wee guy visits almost every morning and evening. Last week, Rocky and he were out munching on the lawn together.

Sunday morning, he came booting into the yard from under the fence while the cats and I were all sitting out in the yard. He caught sight of us pretty quick, but didn't run away. Just kept one ear twitched toward us while he munched the bird seed. Peno was no more than a foot away from him (and looking hungry).

Even I can get really close.

Almost close enough to touch that fluffy tail....

A few more carrots and who knows... I might just be able to.