Why I Oughta...

See those green-ish strawberries forming on the vines?  This is the third year of this Strawberry plant and - if we can get to these before the birds do - we'll finally have enough to eat.

We just received the first look at our new landscape plan and there's a lot going on.  Front yard has a much-expanded landscape bed on the south side.  Where there was grass (on the left side above from about the porch back) is now planting beds.  And they've designed to rip out our existing boxwoods and move them to on either side of the stairs.  Lots to digest, but I think we're going to move on some of it soon.

Earlier this year, I was nominated and placed on the University of Illinois Department of Communication Alumni Advisory Board.  The details of the board are here on the Department's site .  I'm quite honored to be participating amongst this great group.  We recently had our first meeting of the year and the head of the department (which...by the way was called "Speech Communications" back in *my* day and is now just named "Communication") sent me this nice note and Illini tumbler.  You'll note that the card has a photo of The Eternal Flame and of the building I spent the majority of my time in:  Lincoln Hall. With the renovation of Lincoln Hall coming to a conclusion (finally) the department will be back in it's proper home this fall.  We're planning on a nice celebration down on campus this fall to mark the re-opening of the great building.  Can't wait!

According to my house/yard file, I planted these blue and white Columbines in late May of 2011.  They've come on strong this year after a lot of green growth last year.  They're blooming these incredible-looking flowers that - as their name implies - look a bit like Origami.  They have these very intricate and quite symmetrical shapes to the flowers.  They're also really a striking blue - this photo doesn't do them justice.

We planted these three Viburnum bushes in 2010 and after a bad start (we went on vacation to Michigan for an entire week shortly after we planted these and it was *very* hot), they've begun to come back strong.  Last year, I was worried that they might not come back, but this year there wasn't any question.  They were one of the earliest to put on new buds and (as you can see) there are quite a few white flowers blooming this spring. We recently hired a landscape designer to build a plan for our - currently - haphazard landscape and she pointed out how lovely Viburnum can be, but cautioned that they can get VERY big.  Me thinks these three might be planted too close together.  We'll find out this week when we get a peek at the plan.

Along with those Disney Matchbox cars in the box that arrived from my mom's house, was this toy truck that has a working magnetic crane.  Cute truck in primary colors that doesn't have a lot of wear and tear on it.  I actually don't remember playing with this thing at all.  The most interesting part is that there's a sticker on the bottom that shows where it was made.  Nope...isn't China.  Nor even Japan.  It says Western Germany. Pretty neat.  I've never seen a sticker like that on the bottom of a toy.  The whole crank thing is geared toward kids that are a bit older than the Babe, so we'll put this away until Christmas and break it out along with our Lionel Train.

My mom has begun cleaning out her attic and has started to deliver a lot of my personal effects to our house over the past few weeks.  The timing is great because we're having a garage (really...a "yard") sale next week.  At the bottom of one of the boxes that contained a bunch of childhood items were these three vintage Matchbox Disney cars.  Guess who I didn't really love?  Looking at you, Minnie.  Compare the paint job on Jiminy Cricket - and how banged up he is - compared to the relatively untouched Minnie.  Also, see that "TJ" on the front hood of Jiminy's Rolls Royce?  That's what I was called for a few years when I was a little one.  I actually don't remember that period, but I'm reminded every once in a while when one of my Aunt's calls me that at a family gathering. Don't worry.  These cars aren't going in the garage sale.  The Babe had asked recently for some 'cars' - after playing with them at her friend Mic

On the south side of our house there's a mess of perennials.  Some we've planted, some left over from the mean old lady who lived in our house before we bought it.  These tall purple iris are hers.  They've come up every spring and bloom these very pretty light purple flowers.  They don't last long, but I like them and would like to see them get a better spot than smashed in betwix all the various hodge-podge of flowers.  They provide a nice variety in terms of height and the greenery stays longer than the flowers.  We're having a landscape plan drawn up that *should* include them.  One way or another... they'll be incorporated in a nice way.

I've been drawn to ferns for as long as I can remember.  Perhaps it started with my mother and her ability to craft a shade garden.  We grew up on a heavily wooded lot that saw little direct sunlight.  That didn't stop her from going crazy with hostas.  They grow great in the shade and as a perennial, come back every year.  Things couldn't be easier. When we bought our hose, the wicked old lady who owned it before us, dug up all of her plants and took them with her when she left.  I wasn't happy at the time as there were quite a few peonies and hostas that were mature and we saw during our inspection.  But, thinking back, that harvesting of her plants turned out to be a good thing.  We basically got to start over.  We re-dug and edged new beds.  We put down mulch where there wasn't any mulch.  And, we planted new stuff that *we* liked (and....that was usually on sale at Menards or Home Depot.) But, in the back corner of our lot, right next to our neighbor'

Just like last year , May 1st feels like a good spot to top and take a quick analysis of the year thus far.  With the calendar turning to May, we're not 1/3rd of the way through the calendar.  Like last year, I'd say that the first four months went *very* fast. What's on deck for the next 1/3rd of the year? Plant my garden Stain the outside (what's left) of our fence plant grass seed in our patches Improve my backhand (tennis) Welcome a new baby in the world Clean out the garage so my car fits in there again Build a A/V center in the basement Paint the rest of the trim in the basement