herculii

a yard of soil is 4x4x4.

a yard of soil is 2,000 lbs (1 ton).

a yard of soil carried up several steps to the top of the garage using 5 gallon pails helps one to recognize how much 2,000 lbs is (roughly the weight of a blue whale's heart).

here's 1/2 of the soil:


and most of it ended up in the new raised garden beds:





(no wonder he carried the buckets so quickly--they were empty.)

we also used some of the soil to re-fill all of the pots. he isn't a big fan of annuals. and i understand why. but for some reason, he's a fan of thompson nursery. i think this might have something to do with my favorite mother-in-law having a seasonal position there, leading to 50% discounts. thanks, nepotism!

here are some of those great plants:







(p.s. to the lady responsible for these nice annuals--i read the card for the goldilocks pictured above, and the tag said the plant is actually a perennial friendly from zone 3...)


the crabapple tree is in full bloom, doing much better than last year. however, wind as i type this probably means our enjoyment of the blooms is nearly over:



and, as always, hot bird action.

harris sparrow:


(they won't be here long--they're headed up to northern canada, Furthest-North-Nesting-Sparrow--one really needs all caps for that).

we've a pair of mourning doves:


and the orioles are back:





and busily maintaining the status quo, the cats thus remain unimpressed.