Another Bloodroot Picture

Last spring, I took a really nice pic of a fully open bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) flower. I thought I'd post it in my blog to go along with the other spring flower pics. Besides, I find bloodroot a very interesting plant. It's leaves and flowers are fascinating.

Yesterday, I spent half the day moving bushes and plants so that they'd be out of the way when we get the old wooden retaining wall replaced. I moved rose bushes, azaleas, day lilies, hardy belladonna, etc. I'm not used to doing that kind of work, so I was pretty worn out by the time I was finished. It's nice to get that job finished for now. I plan on leaving the plants that I moved in their present locations. There are a few in pots that I'm going to either re-plant or keep in the pots. I haven't decided on that now...and there are some plants that haven't started to grow yet (asiatic lilies and liatris) that I may still need to move once I can see where they're at.

Hopefully, the cold temps tonight aren't going to damage too many of the plants. The weather is supposed to warm up to be more seasonable after tonight.

First Flowers of Spring

This first picture is of the Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria). Small white flowers are always difficult to photograph. I ended up having to take a number of pictures before I was even halfway satisfied with the result, but here it is:

I love this next picture. It's of one of the bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) buds. If we were to have full sunshine today and a bit warmer weather, it would probably be open all the way. However, I think I like this picture just as it is:

Weather

This morning I woke up to fog, light rain, thunder, and lightning. It's a pretty strange combination to have all at once. At least none of the thunderstorms that we've had over the last few days have been severe.

Today, we have our annual tornado drill at work. We'll all have to leave our offices and go down to the basement of the building. Then they'll go through the building to make sure that everyone actually did leave their offices...

Tomorrow, their predicting rain and snow showers in the morning. At least the temperature is supposed to be above freezing, so any snow shouldn't stick.

The basement seems to be staying dry for the most part even despite all the rain. I think the system that was installed needs a couple of minor changes though. The system didn't go far enough along one wall, and I think it needs to be slightly changed in another area...

First Flowers of Spring

I was curious to see which flowers in the yard were going to be the first to bloom. I thought that the daffodils would be first, but I discovered last night that the Dutchman's Breeches were first. They're growing wild in the back part of the yard. Also, it looks like the bloodroot which is another wildflower is going to also beat the daffodils.

I'll post pictures later this week. I took some yesterday evening, but I haven't had a chance to download them from the camera yet. I was going to download them before work, but I got interrupted by a thunderstorm...

Miscellaneous

Last week was one of those weeks at work that I'd rather forget. I'm sure it's going to be another busy week again this week, but I just hope it's not as stressful.

This past weekend, I worked on a lot of little chores around the house. I got our office cleaned out, fingured out what was going on with an outside light, planted a few perennials to cover up the one sump pump hose, and started moving perennials that are going to be in the way of the landscapers. I also painted a strip of the drainage system that's near the fireplace so that it blends in with the tile floor and fireplace better.


We also sent to see the Blue Man Group on Saturday night. The concert was awesome! They had a lot of amazing special effects. They also got the audience involved in the show and kept them involved...I'd definitely see them again.

Landscaping Update

I got a call from the landscaper that's going to put in a new retaining wall and change the landscape on the east side of our house. When he first did the estimate, he said they were booked up into June. However, when he called yesterday, he said they'd be working on it either the 2nd or 3rd week of May. I guess someone cancelled or something...anyway, it's going to be great to get the landscaping done earlier than we thought. Hopefully, this change will also cause there to be less seepage in the basement.

Yesterday we had quite a bit of rain. We had a pretty good thunderstorm around 9pm last night too. I don't think the sump pumps have turned on since they've been installed which makes me think we didn't get much seepage from the storm yesterday.

Tonight we may get some snow. I hope we don't, but it shouldn't last long if we do.

Basement Update

The new drainage system and the new floor tile has all been installed. The tile looks great! I'm glad it only took two days to complete. This weekend we can hopefully start to move a few things back into the storage room and start working on getting rid of other things.

We discovered another drainage issue with some drain tile near the east side of our house. We'll be capping off that drain tile since it may be contributing to the seepage problem. The drain tile runs under the house to the old sump basket, but it apparently is plugged since no water ever makes it to the basket.

In the near future we'll need to start to work on the drywall and painting. That's going to be an interesting adventure!

Basement Update

The workers got the drainage system and the sump pumps installed in the basement floor. They were able to do it quicker than I thought. The pets even survived the noise from the jackhammers, but they did need a lot of attention last night. They also couldn't roam down in the basement because of the wet cement for the drainage system.

Today, the workers will be running a couple of pipes from the pumps to the outside. Also, they'll be putting down the floor tile. As long as they don't run into any surprises today, they should be able to finish the work.

Then I can start thinking about the drywall...

The Big Day Has Arrived

Saturday, we spent the day getting things ready for the workers to come and install the beaver (drainage) system in our basement. We also spent some time fixing up one of the down-spouts in the back of our house. It was draining into a drain tile that appears to have been plugged for some time. We think the water going into that drain tile may have been contributing to the seepage problem...anyway, it's routed around the house now.

Today, the workers will be starting to install the beaver system. I'm sure the pets are going to be pretty upset when they start to use the jackhammers in the basement. I'll be putting the cats in one bedroom and Weezer will be confined to the kitchen. It will sure be nice to get this work out of the way.

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Spring has definitely arrived here now. The daffodils are starting to come up, and it appears that most of the perennials that I planted last year survived the winter.

Here's another picture that I took over the weekend of a Doritaenopsis orchid.

Weezer Update

Weezer just wasn't getting much better, so I took him to the vet yesterday. We had also collected a sample for the vet to look at. The vet examined him and collected another little sample directly from the source which Weezer did not appreciate at all...once the vet was finished and went to look at the two samples, Weezer left another one on the floor of the vet's office.

It turns out that Weezer had a bacterial infection. I can't remember the exact name of the bacteria, but the vet said he most likely got it from grubbing around outside. He said it's fairly common in dogs and easy to treat with an antibiotic. So, Weezer got a shot and we went on our way.

Last night was the first good night we all have had since Weezer got sick a few days ago. He made it through the night without an accident!!!

Let's Play "Find the Spots"

By the time I got off work yesterday, Weezer had done a thorough job at leaving spots throughout the house. He managed to leave spots in every room except the bathrooms and the office.

He seems to be feeling better today even though we had a middle-of-the-night and an early morning emergency. At least we got him outside before he messed up the carpet any more.

Today, he's being sequestered to one of the rooms in the basement that had water damage a few weeks ago. I don't want to play the "Find the Spots" game again after work today!!!

April Fool's Day Surprise

Richard (OK, I'll admit I was in on this too) fed Weezer too many peanuts yesterday, so his stomach got upset during the night. When I got up we had an April Fool's Day surprise of "processed" peanuts all over the bedroom carpet. It was a stinky mess! I had to wash Weezer's butt, and we gave him some Pepto Bismol to settle his stomach. I guess we won't be feeding him peanuts again even though he really likes them.

Hopefully, I won't find more surprises when I go home for lunch today.

--------------------- Lunchtime Update -----------------------------

Yuck! It was worse than I'd expected! Weezer had been quite busy leaving his "calling cards" in two of the rooms of the basement plus a few assorted spots around the house. I cleaned up what I could with paper towels, but I'll have to get out the "Green Machine" after work to finish the cleanup...He ended up having to have his butt washed again! Poor dog!