Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head

Rain!  Rain!  Rain!  It has been raining the majority of the past few days.  We did have some respite over the weekend, so we took the opportunity to do a few things in our yard.  The existing fire pit was basically the size of a small campfire, so Jim has started to expand it.  It won't be anything fancy, at least for now.  It will just look like a bigger campfire.  Maybe later on, we'll make it more of a substantial/permanent structure.  I was finally able to attack the too tall forsythia bush in the front yard.  It is located by the end of the drive, and it was making it slightly difficult to see traffic when pulling out.  I think I've reduced its size by at least a third.  I might have to cut it down more, but I'll wait and see.  The bush might eventually get replaced by something else.  I wasn't too impressed with it when it was in bloom.  Anyways, I took a pic of the bush before, during, and after its trim.  I think it came out better looking than our hedges.  ^_^

More trimming/hacking of a bush

lol.  All our bushes probably live in fear of me.

The previous owner would probably be horrified if she drove by the house.  I've hacked down her bushes and have given Jim permission to mow over some of the ill-placed flowers she so dearly loved.  She told me leaving all her flowers behind was the hardest part about moving away.  Jim wanted to mow over my irises, but I wouldn't let him.  I love irises.

Speaking of which, here is a pic of my iris and peony buds in the front yard.

So far, only one iris is blooming.  It is behind the garage by a junk heap.  I'm hoping the other irises will be prettier looking.  This one kind of looks tired to me.  It is also more of a dull pink/purple.  I like the more vibrant colored ones.  Maybe it is just sad about living near a junk pile.  : P

Here is a pic of some cotton candy colored azaleas and my tired iris.

Jim was also able to mow the lawn this past weekend.  It took him 3 hours to do the entire yard (front and back).  So everyone can stop wondering now how long it takes us to mow.  ^_^

While Jim was working on the fire pit, I was busy trying to excavate all the broken glass by the ruins of a shed/garage.  The shed no longer exists, but the cement floor and foundation is still there.  I didn't realize the amount of glass in the one corner.  There are layers and layers of it.  Different kinds as well.  The glass must have been there for quite a while, because the earth started growing over it.  I've already filled one garbage can of it, and there is still more to go.  I wanted to keep working on it today, but it has been raining nonstop since this morning.  I should have it cleaned up before the first housewarming in June.  It is almost as if they repeatedly dumped glass there and left it.  This confuses me because they had young grandchildren.  Weren't they worried the kids would cut themselves on it?

Ok, change of topic.  Before Jim started to mow, I saw this huge mushroom that I had to take a picture of for you to see.  I also have some more random flowers for you to see.

I know I don't have anything to show perspective, but you'll have to trust me when I say that the mushroom top was as big as my palm.

My raspberry bushes are also blooming.  Too bad they have thorns and are choking out my grape vine.  I also took a cool pic while standing under the snowball bush and looking up.

I know my Aunt Debbie likes daisies, so I took a pic of some of them for her.  They are just starting to bloom.  I was also photo-bombed by this bee.

Jim and I had an appt last week with a real estate attorney concerning the easement.  We are glad we went.  We had our questions answered, and we are just waiting to receive some documents from the recorder's office before we do anything else.

The oven repairman is coming tomorrow to fix the heating element.  I'm starting to get tired of pasta and other such food we've been making on the stove top.  I want to eat my meatloaf and chicken enchiladas!
I almost forgot to mention the super-gross thing that happened to me!  I was getting the wheelbarrow to load up the trimmings from the forsythia bush, when I saw it.  A huge orb spider crawling up the inside of the wheelbarrow towards me!  As many of you know, spiders freak me out.  Too many legs and eyes!  *Shudder*  Anyways, I grabbed the nearest thing I could use to squash the spider.  This happened to be one of Jim's flat handled screwdrivers.  As I was taking aim, the spider's spider senses must have been tingling because it suddenly stopped moving.  This worked out for the best for me because hitting a still target is a lot easier than a moving one.  I took aim, and managed to squash it on the first try.  This is where the gross part happened.  I've squashed many-a-spider in my time, but this was by far the grossest.  It was like popping a huge pus filled pimple!  Its thick, yellow bodily fluids forcefully gooshed out of it!  There was a streak of it at least an inch and a half long on the side of the wheelbarrow.  I let out a scream of surprise and then started laughing.  Oh, it was so gross!  I didn't know what to do with the screwdriver because it was drenched in the pus as well.  I tried scraping it off on the workbench and then left it there.  I told Jim about it later so that he wouldn't be surprised my a dried yellow film on the handle of his screwdriver.  Oh, it was so gross!
Well, now that I've left you with that pleasant image, I'm off to figure out what to make for dinner.
Jya ne!