The Big 4 0 and an Easter Egg hunt Garden style

"Over the hill?? HA! You are ON the hill, planting flowers and digging up roots that go to China."
- the hubby

I tend to stay on the low-key side when it comes to my birthday celebrations and yet I just love my sweet husband and how special he made my birthday for me this year!
I decided to work that morning which unbeknowst to me, was when he put my birthday surprises into action.
On my way home, of course I had to stop and pickup some more mulch, haha, it seems that is one of my main goals anytime I am out and about these days. I've learned that I love sandy loam, but it does dry out faster and mulch is absolutely necessary if I am to keep my plants alive this summer.
No surprise that I may have picked up a few plants along the way and that I had quite a carload to unpack when I arrived home. He was quick to meet me at the garage door and help me unload, making sure I didn't make it into the backyard with any of my new buys.
Once unloaded, he lead me to the back and this is what I was greeted with.


Inside the box, a clue......Ohhhh boy, my very own Easter Egg hunt (the hubby had decided that was a perfect idea since my birthday fell so close to Easter this year, I couldn't agree more.)

So as I rounded the corner, I spotted my second Easter Egg...Yippee, our first palm tree for the pool area!! My sneaky little husband had driven back down to Northhaven Garden's (we went on a field trip there the day before as part of my birthday) and bought me a tree!! He wanted me to have something for the garden that we could always look back and say, "I got that on my 40th."

Onward with the hunt, I walked around to our side yard and spotted something cold and tasty
to sip on while hunting. Far be it from me to turn down an adult beverage on my special day.


Across the way, I spotted a new development on our Mexican Plum tree and went to investigate.
Since we are not going on vacation this year, my sweetie wanted to bring a little bit of vacation to me and has treated me to a tropical pedicure at Coldwater Creek . He was a bit perturbed when the day before I had decided to give myself a pedi, now I know why. Good news is, I will get to keep enjoying my birthday for some time to come.

As I continued on my journey around the yard, I spied another "egg" resting on the straw bale. It was a super duper weeder that didn't require me to bend over! I know he got it with the thoughts of it aiding my ongoing battle with the trash trees that are sprouting faster than I can pull them up. Amusingly, as I headed over to the next "egg", I spied several of my sprouting nemesis peaking their heads up as if to mock me. HA! Now I am armed with more than just a shovel! We shall see who will win the battle now.
Next to be found in the hunt was a firepot! I wasn't sure what it was at first, but it looks really fun to use and I will look forward to breaking it in this fall when the evenings get chilly and we want to sit on the patio with our fire!

Behind the little girl, was my next "egg." Of course Mr. Technology had to make sure I had some new technological device for my big day!
I didn't even know these things existed. How cool that I can document my garden in such a neat way.


Oh boy!! More plants! It wasn't until I found this egg that I realized the hubby had gone back out to Northhaven because this was definitely a plant I had oohhed and ahhhed over the day before, but couldn't bring myself to buy since it was a bit costly. It's echinacea "tomato soup," a bright red gorgeous coneflower. It will go perfectly in mom's memorial garden and hopefully I will be able to grow more from seed next year!

Just on the other side of the shed was another plant I had given serious consideration to, but decided not to purchase. I just love the salmon colored roses and this was no exception, not to mention, it's got a fun name to say, Oso easy paprika. Try saying that ten times in a row. I am still debating it's new home, but it will be forthcoming I am sure!

As we headed back to the patio, I spied yet ANOTHER "egg"....my sweet husband had really gone crazy with the gifts. Who was I to complain though? What girl doesn't like being lavished on? Hooray! Another "tomato soup!" Now I could plant one in a separate flower bed just in case I killed the other one. Not that I would on purpose, but I think all of us gardeners sometimes accidentally kill a few along the way.


And finally, my last and most precious "egg," my favorite part of any birthday, the card.

My very last Easter egg was the sweet words written by the love of my life, and yet cleverly hidden as a last and most treasured find.

A really amazing birthday celebration! Prefaced by a trip to Northaven, a great meal with dear friends at a unique dining spot, my super fun Easter egg hunt, lunch at a quaint cafe, and mexican food with my cousin, complete with a light show by God ( great lightning storm to watch from an indoor patio) and italian cream birthday cake, which I even had for breakfast the next morning.
I think it's a great start to 40!!

Blowing Winds

Chasing after the bunny and barbie was a whopper of a spring storm! It was the second major weather event we have experienced since living here and WOW, mother nature really knows how to dress up the weather. I was hoping for rain and got hail and 70mph winds. Thankfully, all of my plants survived but our poor fence was another matter. We knew we needed to be thinking about replacing it since it was old and not in the greatest of shape, we just didn't realize the time line for that project would be so close behind the pool remodel.
I remember looking out the window to see how our new french drains were holding up only to see our neighbors truck and alot of the park...blink, blink, wait.....that's not right. We lost about 80 feet of fence and talk about getting a more open feel to the yard, not that we needed that, but we got it.
On the bright side, now I can start planting my vines and perimeter plants that I had been holding off on as soon as the new fence goes up.







Our beautiful sparkly blue pool had quickly changed to a swampy shade of green and littered with a thick layer of debris and some large branches.


It was my first clean up project of the day and while it took several hours, I am proud to say that by early afternoon we were back to sparkly blue.

I've never been a huge fan of Bradford Pear trees, but they are pretty. Our house came with two of them and would you believe in the short time we've lived here we have now lost both?
One was a victim of the crazy storm winds, the other one didn't make it through the freeze in February.




All in all, it could have been much worse and I am thankful it wasn't. We got out without roof damage save a few dings in the whirly birds, but hey, it adds character right? And honestly, I don't know anyone else except an insurance adjuster that would notice anyways.
I am grateful for our generous neighbors that helped us cut the downed tree off the driveway and also helped us get up a temporary fence. I think that was another hidden gem of the storm, watching how our neighborhood stepped up and helped each other out while cleaning up the mess. We are so very blessed!

Now we wait for the new fence to be installed! As a bonus for the dogs, they have figured out that the next door neighbors love to give them cookies by the temporary fence. It's one of the first places they check out when going outside now.

Barbie

One of the traditions I have taken on and cherished over the last thirteen years is making the birthday cakes for my "rent a kids." It doesn't matter what they ask for, I will make it. Some have been prettier than others and some I have had to brainstorm how to put together, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a great joy to make these delicious wonders and put smiles on the faces of the children that make my life complete.
I have five girls and honestly can't believe that I went this long without getting the request for Barbie,



but my sweet little butter bean made that request this year. It was a bit intimidating, but at the same time a fun challenge and it was totally worth the smile it put on her face!

Bunnies!

I know many gardeners find bunnies to be nothing but pests, but I do enjoy the bunnies that visit our yard. We have a couple of regulars that spend many meals dining on our weeds and tender grass buds. I suppose if they find my vegetables, I might change my mind about how cute they are, but in the meantime, they are entertaining guests.
Of course, entertaining takes on a new meaning when you find one in your pool skimmer! I've been careful opening the skimmer lid lately since it's spring and I've heard plenty of stories about snakes (GAH!) . So imagine my utter surprise when I looked down to see a baby bunny and, gasp, still alive! I scooped him up quickly and wrapped him in a towel, trying to be as gentle as possible. Poor little guy was really stressed out. As he sat in the towel on my lap with only a little nose sticking out,





I called a wild life rehabber to find out how to take care of my new little friend.
The plan was to put him in a box with some straw, munchies (evening primrose from the yard) and some water and let him chill out.





Lil guy burrowed into the straw and just rested for a spell. I would check on him periodically through the kitchen window and saw that as the time went by, the closer he edged to the open end of the box. After a few hours, he had hopped back out into the world to go on new adventures.

The "New" Pool

While I have been busily working on my new flower beds, there is not much to show just yet...besides that, I've been getting our newly remodeled pool up and running as well. I've never appreciated my polaris so much as I have since taking to vacuuming the pool on an every other day basis. It's good exercise but wow it demands my full attention. The quest to get every little leaf and twig becomes an obsession. and with the high winds we've had lately, there are ALOT of leaves and twigs, and sometimes even large branches, but that's for another post.
Hooray! Friday is the day my little sweeper friend can go swimming and start cleaning the pool for me again and I am down to brushing the pool only every couple of days. I am starting to feel fairly confident in my chemistry balancing skills too.
The water is still a bit cold, but hopefully in the next few weeks it will warm up so we can break it in finally! I am already plotting and planning for my Friday afternoon pool parties for the kiddos this summer and I eagerly anticipate the joys of jumping in the pool to cool off while gardening when it gets hot.