Working on Spring

 It's so beautiful up here that I'm not hurrying anything, but I will be so glad when we can sit on the balcony.  We had a great sunny weekend, and I once got hot enough to change to a short-sleeved shirt  - but then came the rain and clouds and highs in the 50s.  The 10-day forecast looks wonderful though with 70s and 80s for the next couple of weeks and 5 or 6 days of sunshine.  I don't mind the rain when it's warm.

We're working on making the little balcony a nice place to sit with our wicker chairs and as many plants as we can comfortably have.

I found this clematis when we went back to Home Depot the other day.  For some reason, I've always had a hard time growing them and have tried them everywhere we've lived.  I might kill this one too, but I sure am enjoying it now.

I bought this cute little succulent for Emily but ended up keeping it for myself.  The tag says stonecrop,   It looks so cute in this little white pot that I used to keep in the window in Montgomery.  My wonderful succulent that I had in it froze in the car on the move up here.  Debby rooted some of it, so I'm one day going to get one of the babies.

We don't see many song birds around the apartment complex - yet anyway.  There are a few crows that might keep them away, but the birch tree (I think) has leafed out, and we thought we would try a bird feeder.  Surprisingly, we've seen one there a couple of time, but more often they're hopping around on the floor picking up spilled seeds.

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This suspicious girl might keep them away, but she doesn't go out there more than once a day, just to be offended by people and dogs and cars and trash cans and pretty much all noises.

I'm not sure I've ever had a spring without a red geranium, but Mike and Emily dislike them so much (and I haven't seen one yet) that I've substituted this little red dahlia for them.  I do plan to have at least one though, maybe on the stair landing where it will get a lot of sun.

 Look who followed us up here.  Bonnie Plant Farms is an Alabama-based operation in Union Springs that's so familiar.  

 It's a small tomato called a patio tomato.  We'll see how it does with little sun where it is.

Mike's beloved Lenten Rose that he bought up here a few years ago, transported to Montgomery, nurtured it there, and then moved it back.  It never missed a beat and is thriving in it's clay soil underneath that potting mix.

This aloe not a showpiece but I uprooted this in January and brought it with me.  It didn't freeze and is putting out new shoots.

We're already enjoying the fragrance of this pink jasmine when we step outside.  I've only ever had Carolina jessamine with the yellow blooms and no fragrance.  I wanted one that smelled good like this pink one.  Let's hope we have enough sun to please it.

Another thing we had no confidence in was this hummingbird feeder.  I think of humming birds in warm weather, but we have either several already eating or one that can't keep away.  I think it might be just one because we never see more than just this one.  This morning when I was watering, I heard the whirr of wings and saw one light about 3 feet from me and commence to drink away.  I was close enough to hear the little sounds of his sipping,  I even talked to him a little bit, and he didn't fly away immediately.  Most of the time, they just take about 15 quick sips and fly away.

The bottle was full Sunday, so someone is enjoying it.

I came back to edit something, and while I was sitting there typing, this little guy appeared.  I just picked up my camera and took it without really having time to focus.

I'll  be going over to Steller Way to babysit this afternoon for awhile, so I'll take some pictures of Ryan's lovely raised beds.  It's time to start planting those vegetables!

I just walked over to the library and took a few more pictures, most of them in front of the office.  

There is a beautiful Japanese maple that is huge.  I don't know my maples, but this one looks more like a bush than a tree.  

The people who live here are ready to start their balcony beautifying,

I guess this is a cherry tree with double blossoms.  Most of the others have lost their blooms, but this one is beautiful.

 I guess this is a snowball bush and also that it is a type of hydrangea.  This one is already blooming, while the ones at our section are still green.

I love tulips.  The Skagit Tulip Festival ended last weekend, I think.  The tulips were early this year!  We went several years ago, and it is an amazing sight.  Acre after acre of tulips and daffodils and other flowers too.  I want to go back one year.  There are a few pictures and videos here.  

Makes me sorry I missed it.  Maybe next year.

The babysitting was easy.  Graysen slept the entire time, and we got to spend time with Katherine.  When she got grumpy and wouldn't take her bottle (teething), I couldn't stand the thought of just putting her to bed crying.  So we went for a walk.  

This is about 5 minutes before falling asleep.

She's the best stroller rider I've ever seen.  She never moves but is transfixed by everything she sees.

We walked about 10 more minutes with her asleep, and when we got home, Mike and I worked together and got her coat off and tucked nicely in her crib.