Ouch...

So sore...yesterday I weeded this flowerbed...

There were lots of weeds - the flowerbed above looked like this one before I weeded it...
I weeded a whole wheelbarrow full of weeds out of the bed. Today I weeded the other large flower bed in front of the house (the one in the photo above). Tortellini, the tortoise, enjoyed wandering around in the sunshine while I weeded. I learned that he likes to eat dianthus flowers. :-D
Last night and today, DH and DS moved all this mulch (15 yards/2 truckloads) to the flowerbeds and the area around the pool and patio. DS said that he was beginning to think that the tractor purchase was a good idea, as DH moved a lot of the mulch to the patio area with the front end loader on the tractor. It saved them both a lot of manual labor...
Don't the beds look nice now that they are all mulched? The area around the flowers was deliberately left without mulch. The mulch delivery guy said not to get the mulch up next to the flowers until the mulch had cooled off for a couple of days...otherwise, the plant would get burned by the mulch and die.
Here is another mulched bed...
And another...

Out by the patio, DH spread the mulch around these plants...
but ran out of steam here...
This yellow butterfly stopped by for a drink from this puddle today...
My yellow primrose have blossomed...
And my pink lupine...
I have been unable to embroider for a while, as my d-card that I use to transfer designs from the computer to the sewing machine was faulty and needed to be replaced. We found one on ebay and it arrived today, so I was able to make this door sign for Doris' husband...
And, as usual, Let's go PENS!!!!

Just a few new things this week...

The photo I posted the other day of the lights that DH put up between the trees behind the pool didn't show up well, so here is another photo of the lights at night...
My two sisters were visiting the week before last and one of them brought some old music that my mom sent down. We divided the music up between the three of us and I decided to frame some of my music for the walls of our music room. I found 11x14" floating frames at WalMart and bought 14 of them. Since most of the music was 9x12", the pieces fit in the frames with a 1" border all around. The music was old, most of it from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, but some of it dated back to the 1890s.
Here are a couple of the pieces close-up...
And here is one with Frank Sinatra on the cover...
I made this door sign for a friend from church (if you know Doris, don't tell her about it). I am also making one for her husband, Wayne, but I'm having issues with my embroidery card and need to get it replaced before I can embroider anything else.
We didn't get much done this weekend on the house. Friday night was a wedding for the daughter of our friends and Saturday we hosted the end-of-the-year party for our church choir. On Sunday, DH planted the five lilac trees that I bought last week. The outdoor TV is not up yet, as the pole that it was to be mounted on turned out to be the wrong size. DH ordered another one, so it shouldn't take long to get it up once the pole arrives. Here is the happy wedding couple...
Oh, and of course, LET'S GO PENS!!!!

A little of this, a little of that...

I thought I would update the blog while I watch the National Spelling Bee. These kids are amazing!

Here is a photo of one of my Hot Cocoa roses. Isn't it gorgeous? It almost doesn't look real!
I have another blossom on my Lollipop Gerbera daisy. It is a variegated pink color with some very deep pinks when it first blossoms - then it begins to fade...
This is the second garden bed near the pool/patio area. It is where I planted the hot peppers, sweet peppers, banana peppers and peas. The supports along the wall will (hopefully) keep the pea plants in line...
Here is my flower bed. This is also in the pool/patio area and has mostly perennials, with a few annuals thrown in for good measure. The plants really shot up the past couple of days with all the rain we've had. I've had a couple of my coleus die, but mostly the plants are doing really well...
DH has been working on installing a TV out by the patio/pool. It will go under the garage overhang so it will stay dry. The TV will go on this pole; the hole behind the pole is for an outlet...
Here is the view of the TV pole from the hot tub...
The bench for the half bath arrived today and I assembled it. The half bath is near the pool and will also be used as a changing area. The bins on the bookcase will provide places for people to store their clothes while they swim. I still need to purchase some large bath towels or beach towels for this bathroom...

The Pens are in the Stanley Cup Playoff game against the Detroit Redwings. The best-of-7 series begins Saturday night, so LET'S GO PENS!!!

Progress on the homefront!

The hot tub is up and running and we love it! This is a Bullfrog spa with jetpaks.

The Jetpaks are interchangeable so that you can move your favorite jets to your favorite seat location. The Clusterspray jetpak is in the left in this photo; the Oscillator jetpak is on the right...
The jetpak on the left is Cascadia (it has a waterfall at the top); the jetpak on the right is NeckMasseuse...
The last jetpak is the Rainshower and it is currently located on the lounge chair in the spa. If you want a good laugh, take a look at this video on YouTube.
DH finished stringing up the lights between the trees on the far side of the pool today. They looked really nice after it got dark out. You might be able to see them better in this photo if you click on the photo to enlarge it...
DH ordered 10 blueberry bushes online - 2 each of 5 different varieties. Some of them look like they will survive...
And some look like they are already dead...
This is another rose bush that has blossomed. It smells wonderful! I can't remember the name of this one off the top of my head...
We planted a Clematis near the pool fence. We were amazed at how fast it attached itself to our fence...
I love the color of this rhododendron. I'm used to seeing the pink varieties, but love the deeper purple color of this one...
I don't know what this plant is, but the blossoms are pretty...
The dianthus keep putting out lots of blossoms...
I bought this cute pair of boots at Target and had DH drill some holes in the bottom for drainage...
I planted mini sunflowers in the boots. I hope they continue to grow and eventually flower...
DH ordered a lawn mower online and the delivery person left it in our driveway. It is a Toro TimeCutter Z...
I used it to mow the lawn last week and it is really fun to drive!
DH spent yesterday planting 18 more trees/bushes. This time he planted out near the pool. He also put stepping stones from the pool to the shower using leftover travertine from the patio. Today he finished up the shower - added the stones and the wood tiles for a platform...
Here are some more of the plants he put near the pool...
Last weekend DH re-sealed the deck. Today he worked on the light over the French doors...
Here is what the light looked like after dark tonight (ignore the clamps on each end - they are only temporary). The lights face up and reflect back down off the metal conduit...
Last week, my 2 sisters and a friend were down for the International Quilt Market in downtown Pittsburgh. While walking in the woods we came upon a mass of May apples. The flowers grow down under the large leaves and are difficult to see unless you are looking for them...
I planted some flowers out front by the driveway and sidewalks today, but didn't get any photos of them yet. I also bought 5 lilac plants at the nursery, but DH is too sore to dig any more holes for a couple of days. We'll just keep them watered in their pots for a while...

Let's go PENS!!!!!

The to-do list never seems to get any shorter...

Last weekend, we were able to get the pool cover off the pool. It was a lot more work to get it off and get it cleaned up than we thought it would be. Here are DH and DS emptying the water out of the bags that weigh the cover down...
We started up the pool vacuum and it did a pretty good job of cleaning up the leaves and dirt...
And we have more critters in the pool. I found 2 adult toads and 2 young toads. Here is one of the adults and one of the young toads...
On Thursday, the weather was fairly nice, so I ran the pool cleaner again and used the hose to spray all the dirt and leaves off the concrete around the pool. One of the adult toads disappeared while I was working out there and I was afraid that it had gotten sucked up into the vacuum. I couldn't figure out how to open the pool cleaner debris compartment though. Today DH opened it and found the toad inside the bag - he was alive and hopped away! Doesn't that pool look inviting? The water temp was only about 60 degrees though!
DH has been running the electrical wires for the hot tub. The hot tub has arrived at the dealer's and is supposed to be delivered on Wednesday. DH installed the electric panel on the far side of the deck today (I didn't get a photo of it) and here is where the hot tub will be hooked up...
I found another little critter in the garage on Thursday. Fortunately, DS had already seen it and warned me that it was there, so I didn't flip out. He's actually very cute. I used to have pet mice when I was young, but I don't like to be startled, which the "wild" ones always seem to do to me...
On Friday, the box of tiles that we needed for the outdoor shower arrived. I think they will work well and I like how they look...
Last Saturday, I went to the Oakmont Garden Club sale and came home with a lot of perennials and a few annuals. Today I planted them in the flowerbed underneath the kitchen window, out near the pool.
Here is another shot of the flowerbed...
DH planted roses out by the pool a couple of weeks ago. He planted 3 different kinds. This one is really prolific and smells wonderful! It is called a Knockout Rose...
The trees have really leaved out recently and we are quickly losing our view of the river. You can just barely see it through the trees now...

Oh, and "LET'S GO PENS!"