With our new house, and now living in the state we most love, there's definitely a feeling of "opening" summer. Just like Jake's excited meow when he hears the pantry door open and the pop of the cat food can, we likewise feel a sense of excitement when summer nears. There is no Spring in Michigan--we go straight from snow to 80 degree temps, so it's a "catch me if you can" feeling once things start to warm up. This year, we did several things all within a week:
Blocks. I took Glo to Blocks, the giant nursery situated next to the Detroit airport. I warned her to just stay calm and be patient, and we would be okay...which she did, and we were...but holy smokes, nothing prepares you for it. Greenhouse after greenhouse (I think there are over 25 in all), but everyone from greater Detroit is there, all with giant shopping carts to hold their plant purchases, and all attempting to navigate the skinny aisles. We bought spikes, vines and flowers--enough for 13 large planters--as well as succulents for the patio succulent table and vegetables. This year, we aren't going to container garden around the pool seeing as we lost all of our crop last year to varmints, but we're going to try and container garden on the patio right next to the back door. Which leads me to the next item....
Planters. Glo and I spent the large part of a morning filling planters. Four on the patio off the kitchen, three off the bedroom patio, and six around the pool. Just cleaning out the old stuff from last year.... And then we planted five planters worth of tomatoes, peas, carrots and peppers for Glo. It was a long, involved process but the back yard looks good now. And while we were doing that....
The Pool. John got the pool up and running. It's not just a matter of taking off the pool cover. It's a matter of starting up filters, and starting the heater, and adding chemicals, and cleaning it. Too, the pool deck gets pretty nasty over the winter with leaves and plant garbage, so he had to spray it all down. And thankfully, the uninvited starling family that had taken up residence in our patio roof again was moving on so John spent a good hour power washing the bird poop that was covering everything on the lower level. But by the end, everything was sparkling and ready for summer. Including....
New patio cushions and umbrella. The previous owners left us a glass patio table and two chairs that I figured were only good for the garbage, but when I was at Home Depot last, I saw some cushions that I thought would fit along with a matching umbrella. I bought them with fingers crossed. Turns out, they work perfectly, and it brought me a crazy amount of joy to see a mom of three boys whom Hannah is teaching to swim sitting on one of them in the shade of the umbrella ;-) And when we got caught in a major rain storm that was completely unexpected, the umbrella kept Hannah's pathophysiology book nice and dry ;-) Now we just need to buy some lounge chairs as well so that we can better enjoy....
Windchimes and hummingbird feeders. Seeing as last year I successfully evicted the squirrel family living in our other patio roof, I don't really want to set up my bird feeders (with seed) just yet. However, I have seen a couple of hummingbirds come up to the flowers on our succulents, so I decided to try and feed them. I left my last feeder at La Maison (because I didn't want the hummers there to suddenly be without food), so I went to Meijer and bought some feeders. A few have dropped by already, but I'm hoping for more. And the wind chime that Glo bought me for my birthday that has been beautifully hanging over our kitchen island (seriously, I have great feelings now when I make my turkey sandwich and I bump into them)? It's now living outside, and we ALL notice it, even when going to bed. It's so beautiful.
John is trying to stay on top of mowing the lawn, and we're back to watching the weather, always hoping for rain. The lilacs are in full bloom as is the clematis.
The other day, Hannah and I were sitting outside, and she said, "I just love nature" which made me appreciate that even though we live just feet away from our neighbors on all sides, this home really is a respite from the outside world. In fact, when Glo was asked to record something for a local missionary FB group, she left her violin behind, pulled out her new guitar, and within a couple of days, learned "All Things Bright and Beautiful" which she recorded in our backyard. I love that there is a breeze, and the birds are singing in the background. (I can't upload the entire 2:30 video, so here's just a short clip of an outtake):
Now, if we could just get my porch swing hung!
And leaving nature for a moment, all Glo wanted on Saturday was to "eat out", Michigan style. That means, eating al fresco so we headed to Aubree's for some tasty pizza with a stop at DQ afterwards. Of course, Hannah wanted Buddy's, so we actually picked up Buddy's on the way to Aubree's and just snuck it over the fence after we ordered ;-)
And yesterday, everybody got off work early, came home, did their jobs, running and studying before we headed to a Tigers game. No masks were required, the food stands were open, and it felt like THE most perfect night.
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