April Showers and All That

Spring has landed on the Mountain Top in the most beautiful way this year. 

It takes its sweet time getting here, but once it does, it's glorious. 

We've had abundant rains this spring, which, combined with our late season snowfall, have made the grass green up nicely. 

I mowed for the first time on Saturday. The property always looks so nice when it is freshly mowed. 

You almost can't tell that it's completely taken over by dandelions. 

Let's pretend, shall we?

Every year at this time I consider getting myself a ride on mower. I have just under 2 acres of property, and it takes me much of the day with a push mower to get the grass mowed. 

With a ride on, I'd probably be done in a half hour. 

Maybe then I'd have more time to dig up some of those darned weeds. 

Or read a book and relax. 

I think I'm afraid of the maintenance involved with a ride on mower. Currently I use a battery powered mower and the only maintenance I have to do is plug in the batteries when I'm done. 

It's a great little mower, made by Worx, and it gets the job done.
If I was retired, perhaps I wouldn't mind being out there for hours doing the lawn. After all, I'm out in the fresh air, getting some excercise. 

However, I work full time, and my time off is both limited and precious. 

Anyway, I'm on the fence. If anyone has a good electric ride on mower out there, I'd love to hear about it. 

Meanwhile, the Lilacs will be blooming soon, and I truly can't wait. Last year, only one Lilac bloomed, and only produced a few flowers. This year, even a couple of the young shrubs have blooms. 

Along the fenceline, the Ninebark and Barberry are both leafing out. 

Someday this is going to be a spectacular combination. 

Just look at how gorgeous the Lemon Candy Ninebark is! You can see the Tangelo Barberry to the left, it's an orange variety. This is their third season so hopefully we'll see a little more growth. You can see more on those shrubs in this post, they are both great specimens and contrast beautifully with the evergreens on either side. 

This gorgeous display greets me when I come home each day. When the bulbs are done blooming they will be planted in the new bed next to the garden cottage. 

Which, by the way, is doing well! All the Peonies came back (whew!) 2 of the 3 Bleeding Heart plants came back (note to self, order a replacement.) Like everywhere else, it needs to be weeded desperately, before it blooms.  The garden was planted last spring, so I don't expect much from the perennials this year, but it sure is exciting to see what made it through the winter!

Meanwhile, back inside, someone else was pretty excited as well. 

May I present......

....the little Monkey, with her newest toy! She's so cute with a new toy, she has to sniff it and squeak it, and lick it all over. 

I saw this in a display of dog toys at the garden center last week when I bought all the compost for the veggie bed. 

I couldn't resist, it's a little fat cow and looks remarkably like her!

Tubby Bubbles was happy with the bag of peanut butter cookies I brought home for her. 

Hey, can I have a little privacy here, please? 

Hmmmmppphhh.