Rainy Memorial Day 2017

As many of you are experiencing, our weather is wonky! We had 90 degree temperatures for two days earlier in May and this past week has been cool....and today we again have rain! Thankfully the past two days were partly sunny and the temperatures did get into the 60s.

Yesterday I went out and cut some plants - the rhododendrons are in bloom and one of the perennials is flowering. I also cut a few twigs off the shrubs to fill in and ended up with several nice displays that I've posted below.

One of the things I like about this kitchen is the small island. And lately I've been trying to use it as a display area. The reddish "flower" is from our rhododendrons and the fill is shrubs. We have a red maple tree in the front that is just lovely - and one or two branches are sticking out. So, I liberated them for this display. This shot is toward the breakfast area.

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Same bouquet other side of the island shot toward stairs to the lower level (the door is closed) and the dining room. See the picture on the wall? A close up from the Lake house. I've always liked to take flower pictures.

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To the left of the sink is a long stretch of counter topped by a "shelf" that is wide enough to use as a display area or a holding spot. This bouquet has some rhododendrons and a flower branch from the perennial planted two years ago. Anyone know what that is? The yellow and red go well together.

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And to the left of the vase above, is the final rhododendron flowers. You get a better view of the breakfast area. 

We are thankful to those who served and enabled us to enjoy this day.

Where are the May flowers?

While the calendar says May, the temperatures say very early spring. It's been abnormally cold the past several days - and cool temperatures continue into the weekend. The band of storms that caused so much damage earlier this week only gave us winds. While nothing you could call "damage", there was a lot of twigs and small branches down. I bought herbs and put them in a crate and have brought them in on two occasions due to low overnight temperatures. But, it is Spring and the trees are in bloom as are the azaleas and other flowering shrubs. 

B has been buying mulch by the car-full and we did put a lot of it down last week when we had warmer temperatures. We dumped a few bags over the past several days. These pictures were taken last week when the mulch was mostly in the bags. We are just about done!

 This lovely tree has both pink and white blossoms

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And you can see the bags of mulch all ready to put down

We replaced two azaleas and are leaving the one on the right in and pruning it. Spring wreath on the front door The front door can't be considered a "porch"!

 This pretty, small red maple is so lovely. We had a red maple at the South Jersey house. 

We have never had a "front porch" before. And even though it's facing front, it's really the side door that is next to the driveway and opens to the kitchen. It's the door we use the most. I've started on the decorations and still have a way to go.

And around the corner you can see a different view of the porch as well as a bit of the garage door. This is where we had all the mulch. 

We are anticipating warmer weather and look forward to putting some flowers in and getting those herbs planted!