First Daffodil of Season for Wordless Wednesday

Yard Walk Time

One of my favorite times of the year is here!  Each time I go out there is something new coming up, or something has grown since the day before. The weather may not be as warm as usual, but it is spring, and the plants know it.

This is the front of the house.  It faces south, but gets shade when the tree leafs out.

A closer view:

(Notice the 2 hellebore blooms in the top left part of the photo.)

Party dress hellebore:

I'm pleased the bleeding heart is coming up under the tree.

This lady's mantle is under the tree, also.

A brother-in-law came to see the kitchen when I was out cleaning up, and I didn't make it back out to get last year's growth on the aster by the sidewalk.

When the sun is shining, these crocus open up wide.

The area to the west of the previous bed:

This is the area created last year when the new street and curbs were put in.  I am pleased that most of the plants are coming up.

It looks like all of the daylilies are coming up.

The several kinds of sedums are poking through.

The pink tulips and lots of other things are coming up in the front yard bed that was started in 2007.

This is the second year for these.  I think they are some kind of little iris.  I'll have to look them up in my blog when I get a chance.

The surprise lilies are up.  They didn't bloom last year, which would have been their first year to bloom.  I wondered if they had died.  I'm glad I didn't plant anything in their space.

The agastache is borderline in our area.  (I'm pretty sure that's what this is.)  It looks healthy and strong.

These beds have lots of plants ready for a new season of growing.

Soon we'll be enjoying chives.  Yippee!  

Thanks for all the encouraging comments on my kitchen posts.   I've been rearranging, and probably will some more.  We are enjoying it a lot!

Happy Spring!

New Kitchen, Part Two

Almost all of the fixes in the kitchen are done.  The contractor came over today to see how everything turned out and to see what further things need to be corrected.  The electric inspector said things were fine on that end, and someone from the the county assessor's office came to the neighborhood to find out what updates people had done on their homes in the last year.  I was confused at first, because I thought he was one of the inspectors.

At one point, I was pleased with how the grid wall turned out, but as I found more boxes of things, I kept adding more and more to it.  My family agrees with me that I have put too much stuff out, but say that the kitchen is me.  That makes me feel good, I think.  I have still been putting things away in the cupboards, then moving them to other spots.  I'm getting close to figuring out where I want things, though.

The people I ordered the grid and supplies for it were awesome.  After I couldn't find any close by, I found what I was looking for at KC Store Fixtures online.  After putting in an online order, I got a message saying there was no shipping available to my area, and to call them at the store.  I did so the next day, and was told by Dianna, the shipping for the 4 by 4 foot unit I wanted would be too much, and would I be willing to get 2, 2 by 4 foot ones?  She said she'd give me the brackets to hold them together and 2 more wall brackets.  The coolest part was that I had been able to leave a message when I wasn't able to get the order completed.  I mentioned that I had a photo on my blog of someone else's grid wall in a kitchen that made me want to get one.  When Dianna was asking me if I'd take the smaller pieces, she said she'd looked at the picture on my blog and thought that it would work to use the 2 pieces.  I was so tickled that she had looked at my blog.  Then I was amazed that I got the package the day after I ordered it!  I told her I'd post photos of my grid wall when I got it installed.

We're going to put a picture up on the wall next to the window. I plan to use these open shelves for onions, potatoes and other veggies, like tomatoes, that don't need to be refrigerated.  I do have some potatoes in some of the colanders.  

I love the quartz counters, and am glad we used a different color on the south wall.  I think I mentioned they are going to have to replace part of the counter by the sink.  Today, I noticed some light spots on this one.  I couldn't find much information about it on the internet, but did come across a kitchen forum from 2008 where people were discussing pooling of colors.  I think this may be what they were talking about, but the contractor said that's just part of the coloring.  Larry said it doesn't bother him.  I don't mind as long as the life of the counter isn't affected. 

I used some of my magnets to put a few things on the refrigerator, but the front is smooth and pretty, and I haven't felt like I should put anything on it.  There is a deep scratch on each door,  The store came to see them today, and said they'd contact Whirlpool for us to get it taken care of.

If you haven't seen the before photos, and want to see them, click here or on the "kitchen" label in the sidebar.  Most of the before photos are in the last 2, and you have to click on the "older posts" in that section.

As I was putting things away, I put what I didn't know what to do with in boxes.  Today, I went through most of those boxes.  Some things, I put in a "donate" box, and others, in containers to be stored downstairs.  I hope to get it all done in the next couple days so I can garden Friday.  It's supposed to get up to 60ish that day.

Thanks for all the encouraging comments.  I hope to be back in action soon.

Wednesday:  I made a few changes, and may move one of the shelves on the left to the right between the top and second shelf, which would be just scooting it over to the right.  I took a better photo of the south cupboard and shelves, and will go ahead and post it here instead of making a new post.  It's the view from the entry way of the back door.

New Kitchen, Part One

I've been working many hours a day to get things put away, and am almost done.  The new layout of the cupboards is so different from how my old ones were, that I'm having trouble deciding where to put some of the things.  I normally visit everyone's blog who leaves comments for me, and also others I try to follow.  I hope to get things done around here, and be able to get back to blog reading this week.

People told me I would make the kitchen homey.  I didn't have time to post the whole kitchen.  The homiest part will be in the next post.

I told Larry the first thing I would cook on the new stove would be spaghetti, since that's one of his favorite foods, and I haven't been making it much lately.  I was able to fix some today, and sat on a stool in the kitchen while Larry sat at the one chair we have out so far.  The dining room is still full of stuff.

Our walk through is in the morning.  There are some things that need to be fixed, but we are had a good experience with the remodel, and are pleased with most of how it turned out.  It has been more emotional for me than I realized it would.  When I looked through my other kitchen posts to see if there was a photo that showed if the south cupboard had drawers on it, the before photos of the kitchen caused me to grieve a bit for the loss of the old kitchen, and felt sorry for it, like I had broken up with it or something.

I wonder how long it will take for me to not be unhappy the dishwasher is running because I want to use the microwave or get water from the sink, and then be tickled at remembering it doesn't matter.  Now, the kitchen can be used when the dishwasher is running, which was what made me want to remodel.  No longer will a fuse blow, and there is room to maneuver.

Some of us are enjoying spring, and others will be soon.  We have only had one day above 60.  I got some lettuce and such planted that day, and cleaned up one of the flower beds.  This week, we are supposed to get some 50s.  I hope to make it out to garden at least one day.

Gonna Flaunt Them

Katarina, at Roses and Stuff already has her Blooming Friday post up, as it is Friday in Sweden.  When I went to get the link, I saw that Tootsie from Tootsie Time hasFertilizer Friday post up, too.  Katarina's theme is to find a photo that illustrates summer.  I should have read that before exporting my few spring blooms, but Katarina never minds if we stray from her theme.  It's bed time, so I'm going to go ahead and post them, and one photo of the kitchen from today.  It's amazing to see the progress.  They think they will be finished tomorrow.  There are a few problems, but they plan to take care of them.

The first several photos are of the same clump of crocuses.  The yellow ones are the ones I showed when in bud.

The party dress hellebore is starting to open.

This clump of crocus is near the curb.

I'll post more photos tomorrow or when I get some things on the shelves.

Foliage Follow up and a Couple Kitchen Pics from Today

Pam, at Digging hosts Foliage Follow-up on the 16th of the month.  It was touch and go, but I got some photos taken today, and put a post together while visiting with my son about gardening and what he would like to plant in front of the house he, his wife, and son just moved into last summer.  We're staying with them while our kitchen is being remodeled.  They got lots done today.

The daffodils are getting larger.  

The lamiums are getting ready to see how far I will let them spread.

The arum may be thinking about getting spready, like they are in other areas.

I'm glad to see the different varieties of perennial geraniums are greening up.

This is one of the mystery plants I had asked for help in identifying last year.  I think these turned out to be poppies, which never bloomed.

The phlox are looking OK.

Some of the tulips are coming up.  I need to loosen the leaves that were flattened by all the snow we had.

Autumn joy sedum foliage is looking good to me.

I'm happy that most of the spooky dianthus made it over the winter, but sad that the seeds are no longer available, so once they die out, I won't be able to get them any more.

The iris foliage isn't so pretty, but the plants look like they will be growing nicely.

This starts with a "b" but its name is not coming to my brain.

This was taken the 15th, and shows the foliage and the different lengths of the stems of the blooms on the River Nile begonia.

The cupboards are all out, and the lazy Susan installed.  They had to adjust the ceiling above the steps to the basement.  The recessed lights are in.  I was mortified that they had to go into my cluttered room to do something with the wiring.  I made a path to help the electrician get back out so he wouldn't have to take such big steps.  

I asked this guy if it was OK for me to take a picture.  He said he didn't want to be in one, but then, I asked if it was OK for his feet to be in one, and he consented.

The new windows are in, too, and I don't know why this typing was smaller until I enlarged it, and appears to be a different font.  I like it, though.

I took more photos from my iphone when I went back to get some things I forgot this evening.  I don't have what I need with me to get the photos to the computer.  I'll get some more tomorrow.  I hope to get some time to visit the GBBD and Foliage Follow-up posts in the next few days.