Warm Weather...Finally?

well, i was getting all excited with the weather we were having there at the beginning of may and then it started to get a little brisk...and then on monday it got downright cold, and rainy, and yucky. need i go on? but, the rest of this week it has progressively gotten warmer and that leaves me pining for summer. truth be told, summer actually stresses me out quite a bit because there isn't the structure of the school day and such. i'm a give me the exact same predictable schedule every day kind of gal and summer doesn't seem to afford much of that. but, the warm weather seems to make up for it. anyway, in my excitement about the warmth we started doing some nature-ish studies here around the house. well, as much nature as you can observe in the burbs, but moving out here from the city...it seems like we're livin' on a farm i tell ya. first, the birds.we put this birdhouse in our tree out front in january when we moved in but it hadn't seen any action. that is until monday. at the beginning of this week mr. and mrs. tree swallow have made this little bungalow their very own and from the looks of all the twigs and grass they are carrying in...they are fixin' to start themselves a family. yes, i said fixin'. no, i didn't like living in the south, but there were elements of it that i rather fancied and some of the language was one of them. so sue me. anyway, back to the swallows. we're pretty sure that's what type of bird they are, thanks to this trusty manual . you should really pick one up if you don't have one. it has tons of stuff and great info about all sorts of plants and animals. the happy couple in the tree also seem to enjoy the company an eastern bluebird that happens by periodically. in hopes of attracting him and his leading lady we are going to be building a free standing birdhouse for the back yard. at first we didn't think that anything would nest in there because of all the action and foot traffic in front of our house but the tree swallows don't seem to mind it at all. they let us get very close to them and they sit on the posts and sing while we play outside. the kids love it.

now, onto the plants. in march i transplanted these strawberries from our old house to our new one.i was afraid that they wouldn't do well being uprooted in the spring but they are looking healthier than ever and are full of blooms.And look at this beautiful miniature lilac bush.i just love lilacs and the size of this one is too cute. plus, we didn't have to plant it. this was put in by the builder before we bought the house. how did they know that my husband mowed my down at the old house and i had been yearning for another ever since? but really, the choice of bushes and such buy the builder is absolutely astounding. i'm so pleased. take a look at these lovely ones.


and since it's too late at night for me to fight with blogger about where to put my pictures, you'll just have to follow the descriptions. the bush with the darker colored leaves and dark buds on it has opened in tons of beautiful flowers. i frankly can't figure out what it is, even after some research. the dark green little bush has the cutest little ruffled flowers that are dark pink with white edges. the lighter green bush that has the pinkish hint to it is growing out of control. if anybody can tell me what any of these last three bushes are called i will send you...something great...like...a heartfelt congratulations on your knowledge of horticulture. cause that's just how generous i am. ;)