Happy House

Spring is so much work! Weeds, leaves, grunge, planting, re-structuring, sealing, clearing. It's a good thing I've had loads of help this year, or we would have stayed even messier around the edges. Piece by piece, it's emerging from the weeds and brambles.

A friend of mine has cleaned the gutters, sealed the driveway, cleared out around the screen room, cut down a few trees and burned branches and brush, tuned up the whole heating system, mowed the entire place a couple of times, silicon-gelled a broken plexiglass window, and was going to tuck point the chimney - until thunderstorms threatened. Thanks, R.

S&K came by and (besides carving me a bench!) planted a garden, which is sprouting away. (My part is haphazard this year, but theirs is thriving.)

I have done a little work, too; I'm most proud of the front section. It looks ridiculously good for the small amount of work it took! And in a month it will be overgrown by vines again, because the roots are down there under all the lamb's ear, ferns and violets...but it looks good this week. It looks so good, in fact, that a neighbor stopped her car to say that it seemed to be inviting her in.

This week I might even restore the mailbox from its snowplow beating.

Mooooommmmm, come help me weed!

We've had plenty of fires in the fire ring already, despite the mosquitos...and the fireflies are just lighting!

The house is feeling happier, less ruffled. On to June!