Flying the flag proudly today for D-Day

70 years definitely worth commemorating.  Hats off to Gene Stientjes for his service.

New Grill in Town

Haven't grilled since the '90s.  Cindy thought it would help us eat healthier.  Hope to fire it up this weekend.

 

Here's our view from the deck.  It will be nice to enjoy it finally...

 

 

And of course Russ has to factor in somehow...

 

 

 

 

Marking my milkweed

I read where you are supposed to "thin" out the seedlings so you will have stronger plants.  Mine are pretty clumped so I pulled some to see if that helps.  I also marked my locations with a plastic knife...I counted 22 separate plantings including some into the woods.

Here are some close-ups and then images to show the locations...

Moving some things around in the front

We had a hosta that just wasn't growing like the others so we moved one over to create more of a grouping.  We'll find something to put in the open spot.

 

Milkweed progress

Slowly but surely the milkweed is coming up.  I keep finding new locations...there must be over 10 spots like what you see here.  That's a golf tee to help me keep from mowing them.

Here come the milkweed!

I posted that I planted milkweed seeds last November.  In reading more about it, I wondered if I planted to deep.  I would have considered my efforts a success if one plant came up.

Well the warm temperatures seemed to do the trick...I can see them starting to pop!  They are very clustered...that's the way I planted the seeds.  The pictures below are from different sites and are only a fraction of what I planted (I planted some just into the woods).  The spots below are just outside of my back fence and not yet into the woods.

Spring spruce up

Got outside and took advantage of the nice weather.  We are always trying to figure out how to work with our flower bed/hosta area in front of the house.  For now, we lined with landscape bricks and laid down some new mulch.

We plan on painting the wood on our front porch.  Still deciding what to do there.  Here are some pictures from the weekend including Russ wondering what's going on in the front yard.

Pre-mulch

 

We added two hanging baskets.

 

 

Here are some close-ups of our "Pella" tulips...

 

And Russ...