Life is what happens to us when we’re busy making other plans. A family situation has required a lot of my time and attention for the last couple of weeks (hence no blogging); between that and the stressful work situation, it’s been taxing lately. We had some time to ourselves at home Saturday so we finally got to do some spring chores around the house. It was great to spend some time in the yard. I hadn’t noticed how much growth and greenery there was.

The two Magnolia bushes have already blossomed and shed their white flowers.  They have grown out and up and completely obscure the secondary front entrance to our house. I suppose we’ll have to trim them at some point, but I like that it deters people from mistaking that other front door as our main entrance.

June is LGBTQ+ Pride month, but it’s always pride month at Breen Acres.

I love Hostas! They’re easy to plant, look great, and even I can’t kill them, so we have them all over our yard. The Hostas along our drive way have yet to fully grown in, which makes it look empty, but if you look close, there are 3 baby ones we planted last summer that will fill in this space nicely, once they’re grown.

There are also 4 Hostas along the front of the house that will look nice once they fill in, too.

The back screened in porch is back to it’s former glory and ready for morning coffees and evening cocktails. Those lilac bushes will fill in soon to give us absolute privacy from the neighbors on our right.

The covered pavilion area is set up, too, but we’ve got a nest of carpenter bees we’ve got to dispose of and discourage from returning. That paper bag shooed them away last year (they mistake it for a hornets’ nest) but it isn’t deterring them this year.

Our little green Thuja emerald trees are really growing quickly and should reach 8 feet in the next few years.

The two Dwarf Apple Trees flanking our stone bench  (a Granny Smith and a Gala) have shot up, as well. And behind them on the incline are two smaller trees (whose names escape me.)

This is our Dogwood Tree that’s huge compared to when we first planted it.

Once we were done futzing around in the yard, we headed in to put our air conditioners in upstairs. Our house is a 2 floor cape and the central air just can’t keep the temps comfortable upstairs…sigh. 

The giraffes were happy, for sure (although they were already cool!)

Today, we installed car seats with seat belts in our back seat, for the dogs. We need to acclimate Harvey and Rita Mae to riding in these seats to prepare them for our 4.5 hour trip to Provincetown in October. Usually, Rita just hangs out on the backseat and Harvey sits in my lap, because we only ever take them on short rides to the Vet’s or Mom’s (both only 10 minutes away.) But we need to keep them safer on a long trip, so car-seats it is.  We did a test drive today to the Town Hall (about 15 minutes away) and they did better than expected. Harvey whined a bit on the way, but was pretty quiet and still on the way back.

We will start going on 3 rides a week, gradually increasing the distance, and always ending with walks and treats. Fortunately, this first ride really wiped them out.

All in all, a pleasant, peaceful, productive, and much needed weekend at home.