Tranquil Saturday

We spent a good amount of time on yard work today. With the temps in the 70's, lots of sun, and windy conditions keeping the bugs at bay, it was perfect weather for outdoor activities.

WS sucked up dandilion heads with the leaf sucker, then mowed. I weeded flower gardens and planted a couple of potted plants into permanent locations. Unfortunately our winter was so mild that it seems to have killed a few established plantes. i lost two of three sections of lavender and the Sheila's Perfume rose is looking to be on the ropes. All of the plants are next to the foundation at the front of the house. I usually shovel a large pile of snow on all the foundation plantings to protect them from the cold and wind. This year, aside from a couple of large snows, we didn't have snow to pile up on the plants. what snow I was able to heap up, was soon melted from the warm of the house.

The rose I have left in place, as it is entirely possible it could recover (one live cane isn't a big foundation to build upon though). The lavender has been severely cut back, but also left in place in case it decides to come back from the roots (unlikely since these are "evergreen" plants).

I planted two containers of oregano, which is supposed to be hardy to zone 4. the two plants of oregano I planted last year didn't survive, but I am hopefull that planting early will help these plants. I also planted several Gay Feathers which I had started from seed several years ago. After languishing in small pots for a couple of years, I decided that I better take pity on them and get them someplace they can grow. Hopefully I haven't stunted their growth so much that they refuse to do anything.

After our hard work in the yard, we decided to go down to the range. We took the new Hi Point carbine and WS's .22 rifle. Also took the handguns for a little plinking. The Hi Point was everything we remembered from shooting one in Kansas. Low recoil and lots of fun. several other groups were at the range and it looked like they were having as much fun as we were.

Tomorrow WS has to work tomorrow, so I'm glad we had time to get a little stress relief and fun in!