It's beginning to look a lot like SPRING!
And I couldn't be happier!
Of course, the weather still isn't consistent. Some days its cold and icky, other days (like today) it's in the 70s and beautiful. We love days like today!!!
Anyway, last fall, Vassil and Elizabeth planted bulbs all over our yard. In the front, we stuck to daffodils, since they seem to be the only bulb the deer won't gobble up. But in the back (which we've fenced) we've added tulips (aka deer candy) and hyacinth. Elizabeth was helping me pull weeds one day. She LOVES to help in the yard. LOVES it! One of her favorite things to do is to dig a little hole, and the sprinkle the dirt on top of the bushes. Apparently, the bushes need more dirt--lol!
At any rate, we also decided to add clover seed (to our fescue) this year. I know that probably sounds really crazy. You're probably thinking, Whaaaat? You planted a WEED?! But where we live, fescue just doesn't grow. It honestly doesn't. Not unless you have a sprinkler system AND have the time/money to constantly be working on it (chemicals, fertilizers, dethatching, aerating, adding top soil, re-seeding, etc. etc. etc.). Compare that to the rich, fertile Kansas soil--where everything grows so easily. Sigh. At any rate, sprinkler systems here are ridiculously expensive due to the fact that the soil is like cement--red clay and rock; and well out of our budget. Because of that, it is pretty rare here (compared to back home) to find people who actually have irrigation systems. In our neighborhood of 60 homes, I think there are 2 that have sprinkler systems. This means that even in pretty fancy/high-end neighborhoods, you will see mostly dead grass in the summers because no one has the ability to water as much as is needed to keep it alive. To top it off, we had neighbors in our previous development who had sprinkler systems (again, not many), and even in their yards the grass was still disgusting and dead all summer long--because, again, where we live, you can't just seed and water--you have to constantly be working on it (or hiring people to work on it for you). At any rate, after years of trying, and trying, and trying... of aerating, and dethatching, and spraying chemicals, and bringing truck loads of top soil, and reseeding and reseeding and reseeding... we decided we'd had enough.
Long story short, we decided we'd embrace the "weeds." And since clover has done well in our yard previously--and because it's drought resistant, works well in any soil, is a natural fertilizer, and reseeds itself, we decided it would be the best alternative to suit our budget/abilities. Not only that, but out of all the weeds, it is the prettiest--a fluffy, dark green that when mowed, looks a heck of a lot like fescue. And at this point, I just want GREEN! And NO, this pic (above) is NOT of our yard, but of what I envision our lawn looking like one day... it's an example of a "clover lawn," which you can read more about HERE.
Anyway, aside from the clover, and the bulbs, and the beautiful weather... it's also looking a lot like spring around our house based on all the shear number of basketball games that have invaded our home over the past few weeks. Of course, we are routing for our Kansas Jayhawks. And we'll never forget the night they beat UNC, or the night they won the championship (the first and second nights in our new home). And we are flying our mailbox Jayhawk flag with pride! Liam has gotten into March Madness as well... he will now say "Jay [pause] Hawk!" Although, I'm not sure how terribly thrilled he is about all the basketball games his daddy has been watching lately. Here was a little conversation we heard the other day:
Liam: Daddy, I-wanna-play now.
Daddy: Okay, just a minute let me see the end of this game
Liam: No, daddy. Basketball all done now.
It tickled me.
Anyway, hope you are all enjoying spring as much as we are!
