Today at Iten's Acres: Chilly But the Work Goes On April 25, 2015

Chilly, wet day at The Acres. Still managed to get a few things completed. May even get a few more things done if the rain lets up now and then. Actually mowed part of The Acres early in the morning before the rain became persistent. A few more daffodils to bloom though they were not happy with the hard frost on Thursday. Columbine starting to join the party. And the redbud. Dogwoods are turning their back on winter's dormancy. The old dogwood along the driveway and the pink dogwood in the meadow should be blooming soon. And the crab apples. Silly name for such a lovely tree. I, of course, have my hopeful eyes on the iris. The dwarf iris should be blooming--if they are going to bloom--in the next couple of weeks. Tulips and bleeding hearts are starting to bloom as well. And, finally, Mom's lily of the valley have began a massive spreading campaign. Took them long enough to decide they liked it here. The most beautiful sight today were the eight to ten male goldfinch feeding on the front patio this morning. Homesteader and I were both impressed. I do hope that frost this week will be it for this spring--but there are twenty days yet to fret about. Ah, well. I shall endure. Here are some pictures from one of today's walks.

Today at Iten's Acres: Frost Work April 22, 2015

Going to be three busy evenings after school--tonight through Friday night. Frost. I knew in my FAS heart that this too warm spring was going to give me some exercise sooner of later. And some paranoia as well--too many things are up to cover them all. The Acres look as if someone lost a truckload of newspapers, and they all blew onto my property. Now, to ponder whether I leave the paper on all day tomorrow and take it off Friday morning when it's going to warm up some. Or take all the papers off tomorrow morning and put them all back on tomorrow after school. Decisions. Decisions. At least, we got the first post forsythia snow out of the way this evening.

Today at Iten's Acres: Random Thoughts April 19, 2015

Random Musings
The wind is bringing in the rain. I don't mind; rain is good. The willows in particular do the wave as a prelude to showers of blessing. The daffodils love to wave as well. The first trout lily bloomed today, and one of the bleeding hearts. I do believe that the weather folks are playing with my mind. Early last week the low on Thursday night was supposed to be 36 and mostly cloudy. What does "mostly cloudy" mean? Cloudy over every place but The Acres? Cloudy every two out of three minutes? Cloudy until morning when it's the coldest so the frost can do its work? Bah. Mid-week it was a low of 34 and cloudy. Now it's a low of 31 and mostly cloudy again. Looks as if I will be spending Thursday after school doing some covering. But what to cover? The excessive (yes, I said excessive) early warmth has brought so many things up into the world. I can't begin to cover everything. Choices. Choices. And it's still nearly a month until the frost free date of May 15. Guess I had best get use to it. FAS strikes again. Ahh Ohio.
I did see a lovely pastoral sight on the backroads. A pasture full of little lambs. Protected by moms and the resident donkey. Serenity. They were separated from the main flock. There a couple males were trying to intimidate each other--spring fever is loose. The roadways, of course, are still awaiting. You can still see over the countryside it seems for miles. Some trees are getting leaves, but not many. Out here, not many of the flowering trees have started to bloom yet. The redbuds and flowering almonds are hinting that they may be ready to beautify The Acres. Dogwoods, crab apples, and fruit trees--not yet. Hope the cold doesn't discourage them. Hmmm, there's my paranoia again. Time will tell as it always does. Rumor has it that there's weather every day. I shall take another walk and see if I can increase my anxiety. At least it will be a gorgeous anxiety.

Some loveliness from my rainy after church stroll.

Today at Iten's Acres: Work Day April 18, 2015

Work Day at The Acres: Beautiful day to be outside. MIxed in a ton of walking and sitting on the hillside with the work of course. Still a zillion daffodils everywhere and more to come. The iris continue to grow feeding my too high expectations. Hyacinth and grape hyacinth in droves. New things coming up this week--trout lily, trillium, bleeding hearts, poppy mallow, astilbe. The redbuds are getting ready. Looks like a good year for tulips. Wild things this week--tons of violets of various shades and May apples. (Should I tell them it's only April?) I've been trying for awhile to get a sweetgum started; looks as if I may have finally succeeded. I'll be Home before it grows up, but it's on its way. Love their fall color. Did some planting and mulching and moving. I've got my paranoid eyes on next week's weather. Looks as if we may be in for some frost. Sigh. At least the three snows have shown up yet, and I've got a few forsythia in bloom. Hope it's not three snows for each one! Hope you had time to be outside to day. If not, you missed a good one.

 A few of the non daffodil blooms at The Acres: