Backyard Adventures

Now that I am well into spring here in western Wisconsin things are starting to warm up, and green up, which is great! I have been spending more time outdoors. Specifically, in my backyard. Here is a nice photo I took this evening of my old country farmhouse with my cute pic-nick table out back. This house was moved into town from out in the country around 1950. It is a "patch-work" type house meaning that overtime add-ons have been made and rooms have been bumped up and out. It is like an old quilt. Cozy.

My grandparents moved into this house in 1955, and there was no running water at that time! Only a pump out back and an outhouse. They also did not own a TV! Can you believe that!?! That was a long time ago. My grandma lived here for over 70 years and raised 4 beautiful sons here. One being my dad. Now that my grandma has passed on this house is becoming my home and I just love it! I spend so much time here and I love my big backyard in this small country town.

Tonight after a short bike ride in the country with my dog, José the chihuahua, in a cute pink bike basket, I decided to make a simple spring dinner to enjoy at the pic-nick table. For dinner I made a creamy garlic hummus with lemon juice, an assortment of seeds and nuts with some dried apricots mixed in. I paired this hummus with a crisp, cold white wine, and it was delicious! Here is what it looked like.

After dinner I headed out to the backyard to putz in the garden and I had the cutest neighborly chat and interaction with my neighbor's kid. He has shown interest in my pollinator garden that I am starting in my back lot. The other day he asked if he could help me water the plants and I gladly said, "yes!"

This evening he was out biking with his cool mohawk bike helmet and he saw me outside. He was over in a second to help me with the garden. I told him that I was, "putting the plants to bed". I explained that I planted some of my plants to early this year and tonight there might be a frost so I was "tucking the plants into bed" with sheets to protect them from getting frosted over and ruined. He giggled at this.

I asked the little neighbor boy if he wanted to help me and he was up for the task! He was such a big help and he was great at following my direction to not smush the plants with the pillow cases and sheets, but gently lay the sheets on top to protect them.

We also inspected the new addition to the pollinator garden, a mosaic bird bath, and of course we had to put our hands in the cool water just to make sure it was ready for the birds. It was so cute!

I love kids. I used to work in a public school with k-4 graders and I really miss the fun conversations I had with those kids. This neighbor kid this evening was a fun reminder of how great kids are. I had fun interacting in the garden and "tucking the plants in".

The other day the cute neighbor kid was over and I asked him if he wanted to help me plant. He was a big help and this is what we accomplished.

I just love being in the backyard and interacting with my neighbors. It is so great to be outdoors again after the cold winter. I enjoy seeing the sunshine and hearing the birds sing. Out back I have a cluster of plum trees and in one tree a bird built the sweetest little bird's nest. Here is a photo of the bird's nest and of some of the plum trees when they were blooming. The blossoms on the plum trees smell so wonderful. Also, the honey bees were very productive this year at pollinating the plum blossoms. I bet I saw 250+ bees buzzing around the plum trees doing their pollinator business one day.

Another fun project I completed in the backyard this spring was the installation of hanging planters on the garage. I have an old garage that has a big side to it that gets a ton of sun. Each year I keep staring at it thinking I should put something there. This year I figured it out! One morning I was out walking the dog and I noticed that my neighbor across the street had put out a bunch of free items for anyone to take. He had two oars on his lawn and I thought I know that there is something that I can do with these...but what is it?! I took the oars and marched back across the street to come up with some creative ideas. About two weeks went by and I thought, what if I hung the oars on the side of the garage and attached planters to them!? And, that is what I did! Here is what it looks like. It was such a fun creative project and now I don't have to worry about staring at a boring white wall! Ha!

These are some of my most recent backyard adventures. I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of this spring unfolds and transitioning into summer. I will keep you posted on other projects and backyard adventures as they unfold. Have a great day and thanks for reading my post! I hope you have some fun backyard adventures this spring and summer too!