Spring has sprung?

It's trying...so hard. Last Sunday it was over 80 degrees (true, that's unseasonably warm for this region). I worked out in the front flowerbed for the better part of the morning, working up a sweat! (As in, I worked in the flower bed...I didn't actually do a workout in the flowerbed.) The house's previous owners planted all kinds of area-inappropriate plants and left LOTS of weeds and root systems. So I dug and pulled and raked and hauled until the bed looked somewhat like a life-giving flower haven :) We have a nice little retaining wall and need to add some top soil to fill out the bed nicely, reaching the top of the wall. The other week we bought 10 40lb. bags of soil and I laid it out last night. HA! Nowhere CLOSE! We'll need to take the trailer and buy some soil by the yard.

Anyway, Sunday was the first day we were really able to open the windows and let some fresh spring air into the house. Can I just say...I love our house in the spring just as much as I thought I would. The ceiling fans and cross breezes make it a midwest heaven. The inside of our house was actually a whopping 80 degrees! Our furnace didn't run for about three days straight. (But alas, the indoor temperature dropped down to 60 again by this morning and I heard the 'ol girl fire up again.)

Nothing much has been going on here, except Dan's battles with the grease stains in the third stall garage (he's cleaning to put down an epoxy flooring) and my constant ideas and efforts into some minor spring landscaping. The inside of the house is sooooo close to being done - just furniture, headboard and bookshelf. So close. I can't wait for the furniture delivery so I can post pictures!

I feel like this post so far has been disjointed and rambly. That's what happens when I don't blog enough. I forget how to do it. So enough talk...let's move on to pictures...

This is on the door and good 'ol Hobby Lobby (I swear I go there once every two weeks...at least). I love it.


I had to make a thank you note the other night and got to use some of my new card-making supplies! I refuse to spend $4 on a nice card, so I make my own. (If you'll remember, I tried homemaking Dan's birthday card before I re-stocked on materials and it was ultra ghetto.)

Ideas for the flowerbed...

I need either evergreen or deciduous shrubs to line the corner of the house. (The retaining walls wraps around the northeast corner of the house, starting at the front door.) I'm thinking these guys - I like that they look airy and whimsical. Plus, they naturally grow almost perfectly round so there's not much trimming involved. Also, love the name :)


Mr. Bowling Ball Arborvitae Shrub

I need an annual/perennial flower in front of the shrubs that won't be too low-lying, due to our lack of top soil. If we don't completely fill the retaining wall, it'd be nice to have something that grows about a foot high so it'll easily be seen over the wall. I like these so far, but need to do more research into their hardiness, where they can be purchased, etc. (I'm looking forward to the fall when I can plant hyacinth bulbs! They're SO fragrant!)

Bush Morning Glory


Nierembergia


Rainbow Lewisia Mix


Sweet Alyssum


Verbena

I didn't think this would take so much time, effort and thought, but I'm loving that I have another project to jump into! Now that I'm almost done (save the headboard), I'm finding that I DON'T like down time that much :) There'll be pics of my flowerbed progress. (Dangit! No before pictures! I ALWAYS forget!)

Oh. We ordered Subway for lunch yesterday at work and there are LOTS of leftover cookies. They're those ones that are super moist and just kind of pull apart when you break off a piece. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. This is bad for me. Real bad.