Summer weather is here, spring was very short, it's almost like we have only three seasons now, winter, summer and fall..We've had several weeks now of sunny, hot days with temperatures between 23 and 26 degrees. My spring flowers are emerging from the ground so quickly that I almost need to walk around my whole yard every day or I'll miss something. Hyacinths have the most wonderful smell, their fragrance follows me as I walk down our laneway to the mailbox across the street. Tulips are showing off their varigated colors and the daffodils will soon be showing off their lovely yellow coats..
Summer brings with it weeks and weeks of yard work, raking leaves off flower beds, digging up the garden, taking tiny sprouts that were started a month ago, outside into the mini plastic greenhouse my hubby put together. Strangely enough by this weekend the weather is going to get much cooler again and they are predicting minus two one evening next week..so I'll have to haul all those seedlings back inside. Plus I sometimes rush the season and buy a few annuals much too early. I've planted some pansies in two hanging baskets and a box of marigolds to cheer me. The pansies can handle the cold temperatures, but I'll have to cover the marigolds with some plastic pots. I did get my peas and snow peas planted yesterday so no worries about them.
Another sight of summer is yard sales. I used to go to as many as I could cram into each weekend, but knowing we are moving in a few years to Prince Edward Island, it's time I started getting rid of some of my own things instead of adding more to the mix. But my husband did stop for one last week at the Montessori School a few blocks away in case we could find some new toys for our granddaughter Claire. We found a pink tricycle and some story books for her. She can reach the pedals but at only 2 years old isn't quite sure how to keep pedaling..It's much more fun when Nanny just pushes her all over the back yard..not so great on my back tho..
I also purchased her a doll stroller which she seems to love pushing around the yard and of course Grampy involves her in feeding the fish in our backyard pond. But after her visit this past Saturday for a few hours and again on Monday I've realized all she needs to be happy and content is two big buckets filled with water. With her little metal teapot and half a dozen plastic containers that I save for her, she will spend hours quietly filling all her containers, pouring water from one to another and even washing the socks on her dolly I keep here. And of course once the socks were washed, what better than to dump dolly head first into the bucket!
Claire loves to tease her Nanny, so we have lots of laughs which we both enjoy. We play tea party outside as well as inside and she "always" remembers we have her favorite small gingerbread cookies and fish crackers along with our pretend tea..It will keep us busy this summer making sure she doesn't climb into the fish pond, but with her own pool hopefully she'll understand which is hers and what belongs to the fish.
We enjoyed two wonderful weeks without the black flies but they are here now so we will have to spray ourselves or stay inside our screened gazebo when eating outside. Now when I garden I'll have to wear a hat which I spray with bug spray, wear long sleeved blouses and old jeans which I also spray. Somehow they always find a place to bite, especially behind one's ears..I really don't enjoy it when they fly around my eyes. Thankfully when it get's really hot they usually disappear into the grass.
I'm so grateful for the rain we had last night, we have had to repair a lot of our lawn front and backyard from the damage moles do over the winter. Plus the heat wave last summer didn't help. We can see new grass starting to grow and we are hoping to have nice thick green grass once again. Since we pay for water usage it gets too expensive to water regularly so we depend on a good rain now and then. Plus we have two rain barrels collecting water and big wash tubs under the eave troughs. And it wouldn't surprise me someday to see our little granddaughter sitting in one of those wash tubs, happily puddling away..because to put a smile on her face, all you need is water!
