So today we finished up taking the wood out of one side of the front garden, and moved it all to the porch. I told Sam it gives the house a “quaint” look having firewood on the front porch, but it really doesn’t look bad, it just takes some getting used to.

The biggest obstacle we are going to have at the moment is a surprise we found in one of the blue spruce “bushes” that is in the front. It has a family. In fact, it has a tiny nest (seriously, it could have fit in my hand–No, I didn’t touch it!) with 5 tiny eggs. The eggs are about the size of a nickel, and they are speckled. The birds are quite tiny themselves, but I didn’t get a good look, because the mommy got scared and flew off when I got a little close to peek at her.

Don’t worry, I’ll get a picture up of the nest! But outside of that tiny hiccup, we are moving along nicely. That tree will stand until the birds move out, but we got the holly bush and the dead lavender (#2) out and planted a new lavender. We also cut down the other spruce with a lopper, but the stump is still standing. It will probably just get cut down with a saw, so as not to disturb the birdies next door.

Nour enjoyed helping with cleanup on some of the things we cut down today, and the front yard is taking on a really different look. I took pics before and after today, so hopefully I’ll get them up eventually. I’m getting the hang of the mower, except that it still gives me a sore thumb from the friction and the vibration, and I hate feeling sore for the next two days because of that. The yard is looking good, too. The weed’n'feed is really helping, our yard is greener than the two next door, which I know Sam appreciates anyway.

I’ve also had to start putting up supports for some of my vines in the veggie garden. I found bamboo supports tonight, and I’m going to use them for the peas and lighter climbing vines, but I’m going to use some metal supports for the pumpkins, because I fear that they will not hold up on bamboo, since it is rather bendy. The corn is coming along, but I think that the sun is not hitting the farthest one very well, because it’s like a backwards AT&T Wireless commercial! The one on the far left is the smallest, with the succession going larger to the right.

I also had to buy a bigger raspberry shrub today because what I had before just didn’t take off. I’m a little disappointed, because I didn’t want to have to spend more, but I really wanted one berry to work out! The blueberry is trying, but it’s just not getting large enough, but the other two never did anything but sit there and die.

I haven’t had much trouble with pests lately, which is good, but they seem to sneak a taste here and there. I need to protect my strawberries now that they are coming to ripeness, because the birds like to peck at them, too. I can make an easy enough cage for them, though. They taste delicious!

There are a lot of tomatoes coming out, too, which is exciting, because I know I’ll be eating the little ones within the month. The bigger ones, hopefully we’ll get to taste a few before we go away, but if not, we’ll definitely get some when we get home. I need a few good friends (and fam) to help take care of the garden while we’re gone so it doesn’t go to waste. I will trade veggies or fruit for help! It’s really not that hard.