Yeah for Tulips!

Well, I was so surprised yesterday to see a tulip in one of the beds outside the front door! I knew the bud was coming along, but expected it to come out next week. It's hot pink, and practically glows alongside the paling daffodils. I'm so excited and glad that warmer days are here, for the most part. (Though in a few months I'll be wishing it was cool again, because we have no A/C and I know the kitchen will be uncomfortable.) I have to learn to enjoy every day and deal with things as they come...

I planted some sugar snaps in some planters a few weeks ago, and this past weekend they popped up and are growing rapidly. I want to put them on this trellis I made out of sticks...(my new hobby is stick creations, since Papaw cut down a maple tree.) but I'm not sure they'll get enough sun on the back porch. Plus I was greeted this morning by one planter being dug out...2 plants almost destroyed and a pansy the worse for wear. Grrr. Not sure if it's the cat or dog. I'll guess the latter.

Speaking of which...I need to post some pics soon. I had to take Buck, the dog, back to the clinic today after getting snip-snipped about 2 weeks ago. He's gotten a bit inflamed...so they looked at him, said he was fine and probably has been licking too much or getting chafed somehow. So....they installed an elizabethan collar round his neck. LOL...it looks too hilarious. I feel sorry for him, of course. But can't help laughing at the way he sat up in the car seat, staring straight ahead with that collar around his face. I keep trying to remember...was it the movie "Babe" that had an animated dog with one of those collars on? Like in those little in between parts where the mice came out? That doesn't sound right...I have to figure that out, because that's what he looks like! He's not too pouty, so we'll see how he does over the next 3-5 days. Heh.

Aaron and I are sporting our first sun burns of the season. I saw this picture in a library book, and decided that since I have this huge tree available, I was going to cut a bunch of straight sticks and make this cute rustic fence with a gate and arbor for the front of the garden. I figure it has to look better than the ugly wire and poles that were there before. So I cut tons of sticks last week, and Aaron dug the postholes for me, and we put it up over the weekend. I think we talked to every neighbor because we were outside so much! One of them said he's seen a lot of fences, but never one like that. (It did look terrible at the time, because we decided to nail all the sticks up, and then come back and trim them neatly in a scallop pattern.) Hopefully he's decided it will look alright, especially after some peonies are planted behind and with gladiolas in the front.

Speaking of which, I have to get out there and dig all the bulbs up and replant, plus get the peony roots replanted. Too much to do in so little time! I'm starting to get some landscaping ideas as I've been out working around the house. The one thing I really want to get started is a climbing rose over the front entryway. I've been looking at all the roses at the Heirloom Roses website, and I think I have a variety picked out. This rose looks like it will go well with the orangey color under the eaves. Plus, I love orange and hope to develop that color scheme eventually.

Thanks for the comments!